Harriet Wilson (Sharp) Hart (1844 - 1896)

Born 1 Feb 1844 in Royston, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Wife of John Blood — married 26 Aug 1866 in Barnsley, Yorkshire West Riding

Wife of Reuben Hart — married 31 Dec 1878 in Central City, California

Descendants

Died 7 Oct 1896 at age 52 in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, California, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jim Harris [send private message]

Biography

Harriet (Sharp) Hart was an immigrant pioneer who participated in the westward expansion of the United States. Join the Immigrant Pioneers Project.

Harriet Sharp was born on 1 February 1844 in Royston, Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Samuel Sharp and Hannah Armitage.

Harriet grew up to be a strong suffragist, especially feeling very strongly on women’s economic and political rights and could not tolerate the laws of England where the eldest son was always head of the household and the wife a mere chattel. Harriet felt there should be something far more meaningful for all women. If she lived today she would be labeled a feminist fighting for the rights of women to be free to choose their own life style be it in the home, pursuing a career outside, or both.

Harriet was married in England to John Blood and in their early years together she bore him two daughters. Laura Wilson, born October 20, 1864, my grandmother, and Lucy Armitage, born January 24, 1868.

Harriet’s life in Yorkshire, England, after her marriage, was a very unhappy one and she seldom talked about it at all. England itself was in a state of unrest at that time and a divorce was a sin according to the Church of England. Blood was a forbearing Englishman who was tyrannical and unjust at times in his treatment of his wife and daughters.

At this point in their lives Harriet and her parents, the Samuel Sharps, finally made the momentous decision to leave England and come to America to begin a new life for them. Harriet was a persuasive and courageous woman and she was determined to seek out a totally new way of life for all of them, her parents, sisters and brothers and her own children.

A few months after the birth of Lucy Armitage in May of 1868 when Laura was a child of only 3 ½ years, in the spring of that year, they all left England together. In 1878, after the divorce, Harriet left for the west coast in search of the kind of environment she thought suitable for her family, and traveled to San Francisco. The east west railway system had just been completed a few years before - connected by the historical driving of the “golden spike”. This event was of large importance to the transportation system via passenger trains. Traveling was rugged and challenging, especially for a young woman alone, but Harriet was equal to goals she set for herself.

She established a sewing shop in San Francisco and made a living as best she could, eventually going on the road for the White Sewing Machine Company representing their product. Her travels took her to Central City, a growing pioneer town of the Central Coast which suited her life style. After settling here permanently she sent for her daughters. She made arrangements with a friend who was going east to be married to bring Laura and Lucy back to California with him and his bride. A strange kind of honeymoon for the newly weds it was, but it resulted in re-uniting Harriet and her family.

Central City was a bustling town during the 1870’s and more and more of the early pioneers from the European countries found their way here to build a new life.

One of the most prominent developers was Reuben Hart who later would marry Harriet Sharp. She took a job as a housekeeper for him in his home at Church and Broadway Streets.

Reuben Hart was united in marriage to Harriet Sharp on December 31, 1878 and she and her two daughters became his “ready made” family. They lived in the house Mr. Hart built on the northeast corner of Church and Broadway Streets, the house which still stands today in the 400 block of South McClelland Street.

By 1888 Mr. and Mrs. Hart opened The Hart House located on the corner where the blacksmith shop and livery stable had been. They still owned all the property on the east side of Broadway in this block. Thompson and West “History of Santa Barbara County” has two sketches showing the entire complex of buildings, as it looked before 1883. On the next page is a rare photograph copied from the original owned by Gaylord Jones. Taken in 1884 the name R. Hart is plainly visible over the door of the blacksmith shop.

The Hart House became a big achievement in the business world and highlighted the career of the man who came to be known as “The Father of Santa Maria”.^[1]

Harriet died on 7 October 1896 in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, California.

Sources

1. ↑ "Where Pioneers Dwell" Family History by Jane Harris Sahyun Library Catalog - Santa Barbara Genealogical Society

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SPMT-RHK), Harriet Sharp in household of Samuel Sharp, Yorkshire (West Riding), England; citing p. 6, from findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7NM-DJW : 3 March 2021), Harriet Sharp in household of Sarah Boshill, Leeds, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-RMV7-H?cc=1849782&wc=MX6L-9P8%3A165824901 : 26 November 2014), 294 - 5 May 1868-18 May 1868 > image 112 of 610; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZ5C-K42 : 29 May 2021), Harriet Blood, Year: 1870; Census Place: Upper Merion, Montgomery, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1379; Page: 489B

• "United States Western States Marriage Index", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZXD-8PB), Reuben Hart and Harriet W. Sharp, 1878.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6PJ-CJ8), Harriet W Hart in household of Reuben Hart, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, California, United States; citing enumeration district ED 86, sheet 570B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.

• Great Register of California 1880

• Find A Grave: Memorial #71349098

Research

Searching for the father. Laura's birth registration did not list a father. Laura's mother Harriet did not marry John Blood until almost 2 years after Laura was born, making it seem likely that Laura was not his daughter.

I have uncovered a large family tree, currently 108 DNA matches on Ancestry, that led to one Cooper family in Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1864. This was is the time frame when Laura was concieved. The 1861 census put Harriet at a home in Leeds as a servant, age 17. A census fan search placed the two residences approximately 5 blocks apart in 1861.

The Cooper family emigrated to the US between 1854 and 1864 as Mormon pilgrams. I appear to have no other relationship to this family tree. There are 3 Ancestry members from this list that are also on GEDmatch and of those three I match one on the X-chromosome at 22 Cm (overall match on 5 DNA segments plus X-chromosome). All three on also tringulate on GEDmatch and myHeritage. By comparing the likely alignment of our family trees the X match is a 4th cousin. I am currently looking for a male-female relationship prediction for X chromosome.

• Ordnance Survey of West Leeds for 1861 census
• 1852 Ordnance survey
• Google map Wade Ln at intersection where Rockingham St continued in 1852 survey
• Fan search in 1861 census looking for father named Wilson
• James S. Wilson
• Possible DNA match James Wilson (1843-1873) Ancestry member bvarhol