Silas Hart (1760 - 1828)

Born 19 May 1760 in Canaan, Litchfield County, Conn

Ancestors

Husband of Unknown Unknown — married 1782 in Litchfield County, Conn

Husband of Phile (Swift) Hart — married about 1787 in Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States

Descendants

Died 7 Aug 1828 at age 68 in Palmyra, NY

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Biography

Silas was born to John and Huldah in Canaan, Connecticut on May 19, 1760.^[1]

He married a woman (name unknown) around 1782, and they had a daughter in 1784. His wife died around 1785. In 1787, he and Phile Swift were married. They had six children. The family were members and regular attendants of the Presbyterian Church, the first church established in Palmyra.^[1]

In 1795 or 1796, they moved to Palmyra, New York, becoming some of the first settlers in his brother-in-law's new colony. Silas purchased 40 acres of land from John Swift on February 17, 1797. In June of 1797, he purchased 100 acres, and another 32.5 acres in 1813. Around 1805, Silas built a house on the south side of Main Street near what is now Gates Avenue. The house was moved in 1855 (by its then-owner Daniel Gates) to the west side of Gates Avenue about three hundred feet south of Main Street. According to Dr. Horace Eaton, in his 1857 history of the town, the house was the first two-story frame house erected in Palmyra.^[1]

In April of 1800, Silas was granted a marker, used for marking livestock. His was "a swallow's tail in the right ear."^[2] He assigned this marker to Hubbard Hall on November 14, 1816.^[1] At the annual town meeting in April of 1801, Silas was chosen "Overseer of the Highways for the Third Road District of the Town of Palmyra."^[1]

After his wife died in 1813, Silas sold the bulk of his New York land. He and his sons John Swift Hart and Julius C. Hart, and his daughter Julia Maria Hart, emigrated in the spring of 1814 to Columbiana County, Ohio. They first settled in Butler Township^[3]. In 1816, he purchased land in New Lisbon.^[4] He sold it the next year.^[5] In 1818, he was twelve miles south, in Washington Township. He purchased land there in 1821 from President James Monroe by government patent.^[6] He sold sixty acres,^[6] and the remaining 100 acres became the Hart Homestead.^[1]

Silas helped John and Julius get started as farmers on the borders of Yellow Creek. His son John was married in 1819, and the pair lived on the Hart homestead. After Julia married in 1820, Silas headed back to Palmyra, where he was engaged in canal shipping for a few years (the great Erie Canal was opened in 1822).^[1]

Silas died on August 6, 1828. He was buried in the old cemetery on Chapel Street in Palmyra, directly north of his wife.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Hart, William Lincoln, "Hart Family History: Silas Hart, His Ancestors and Descendants" Alliance, Ohio. (1942), Pages 22-29, Accessed online 23 Dec 2022.
2. ↑ Palmyra Town Records A, page 63
3. ↑ Ontario County Record of Deeds, Vol. 299, page 1; Vol 38, page 397.
4. ↑ Columbiana County Record of Deeds. Vol. 5, page 118
5. ↑ Columbiana County Record of Deeds. Vol. 5, page 213
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Columbiana County Record of Deeds. Vol. 7, page 371

See also:

• Andrews, Alfred, "Genealogical history of Deacon Stephen Hart and his descendants" Hartford, Conn., The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co. (1875) Page 49, #54 Accessed online 23 Dec 2022.