Hart, John, c. 1711-1779

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>12/31/1775 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

John Hart was a New Jersey farmer. His exact date of birth is not known. His father had moved from Connecticut to a farm near Hopewell New Jersey. He helped to build, and later inherited, that very successful farm and was a leading member of his community. His first public service was a justice of the peace. In 1761 he was elected the New Jersey Assembly, there annually reelected until the assembly was dissolved in 1771. In 1775 he was appointed to the local Committee of Safety, the Committee of Correspondence, and a judge to the Court of Common Pleas. He was elected to the newly formed Provincial Congress of New Jersey in 1776, and sent as a delegate for New Jersey to the Continental Congress that year. Hart's property was looted in the course of the war. His Wife died on October 8, 1776. When the area was overrun by the British in November of that year, he was forced to hide for a time. He was engaged in public service throughout the war, twice reelected to the Congress and also serving the Commitee of Safety and as Speaker of the New Jersey assembly. On June 22nd 1778 he invited the American army to encamp on his farm. Washington had lunch with him, then had his famous Council of War at the nearby Hunt House. Twelve thousand men camped on his fields-during the growing season. After resting and preparing for battle the troops left on the 24th. On Tuesday, May 11th 1779, he died at the age of 66.

<p>John Hart (born between 1706 and 1713 – May 11, 1779) was a public official and politician in colonial New Jersey who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. He is thus considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.</p>

<p>Sources disagree as to the year and place of Hart's birth. He was perhaps born in 1706 in Stonington, Connecticut, or in 1713 in Hopewell Township, Burlington (now part of Mercer) County, New Jersey.</p>

<p>Hart was baptized at the Maidenhead Meetinghouse (now the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville) on December 31, 1713. He was the son of Captain Edward Hart, a farmer, public assessor, justice of the peace, and leader of a local militia unit during the French and Indian War. Hart was the grandson of John Hart, a carpenter who came to Hopewell from Newtown, Long Island.</p>