Deacon Stephen Hart

This book contains this man on page 5 https://archive.org/details/williamahartfami00np/page/n7/mode/2up and his descendants

One of his lines https://archive.org/details/hartfamilyhistor00hart_0/page/n9/mode/2up

http://mariah.stonemarche.org/famfiles/fam05672.htm

Ecclesiastical and Other Sketches of Southington, Conn by Heman Rowlee Timlow, pp. cvii-cviii

"STEPHEN HART is supposed to have come from Braintree, Essex County, England, with the company that settled Braintree, Mass., and subsequently removed to Newtown, since called Cambridge, and constituted the church of which Rev. Thomas Hooker was invited from England to become their pastor. He was in Cambridge in 1632, and admitted a freeman there, May 14, 1634. He came to Hartford with Mr. Hooker's company, in 1635, and was one of the original proprietors of that place. His house lot was on the west side of what is now called Front Street, near where Morgan Street crosses it, and there is a tradition that the town was called from the ford he discovered and used in crossing the Connecticut river at a low stage of the water, and so from Hart's Ford it soon became Hartford, by a natural and easy transition. Tradition further says that as he and others were on a hunting excursion, on Talcott Mountain, they discovered the Farmington River Valley, then inhabited by the Tunxis, a powerful tribe of Indians. The meadows were probably then cleared, and waving with grass and Indian corn. Such lands were then much needed and coveted by the settlers, who soon -- probably as soon as 1640 -- made a bargain with the Indians, and settled among them with their cattle. They still continued, however, connected with the settlement at Hartford, attended public worship, and perhaps wintered there, until about 1645, when the town was incorporated by the name of Farmington, from the excellent farms there. About this time Mr. Roger Newton, a student of theology with Rev. Thomas Hooker, whose daughter he married, began to preach for them, and in 1652 was ordained their pastor. Stephen Hart was one of the seven pillars of the church, and was chosen their first Deacon. The other pillars were Rev. Roger Newton, pastor; John Cole (Cowles), John Bronson, Robert Porter, Thomas Judd, and Thomas Thompson.

Stephen Hart appears to have taken the lead in the settlement among the Indians in Farmington, and purchased a large tract on the border of the present town of Avon, and known to this day by the name of Hart's Farm. He was one of the first Representatives in 1647, and continued, with one exception, for fifteen sessions until 1655, and once in 1660. No man in the town was more active, influential, and useful. His house lot, which was four or five times as large as any other, was on the west side of Main Street, in the village, opposite the meeting-house, and contained fifteen acres, extending from Mill Lane to the stone store south.

He was a farmer and large land-holder, located in the village of Farmington, and was a man of great influence, and a leading character. He died March, 1682-3, aged 77 years."

Probate Records, Hartford District, v. IV p. 119. HEART, Steven, Deacon, sen., Farmington. Invt. £340-04-00. Taken 31 March, 1682-3, by Thomas Heart, John Heart. Will dated 16 March, 1682-3.

I Stephen Heart of Farmington do make this my last Will & Testament: For the settleing of this my Estate, my Will is as followeth: That my Farme which I formerly have given to my three sons, John Heart, Steven Heart & Thomas Heart, the ½ of my Farme to John, ¼ to Steven, the other quarter to Thomas. I give to my gr. son Thomas Porter & to my son-in-law John Cole my plowing Land & Meadow & Swamp which was sometime part of Andrew Warner's Farme, & abutts on my son Steven Heart's Land on the North. I do give it to them to be equally (divided) betwixt them, the ingagement of my wife being fulfilled. I give to my sons Steven and Thomas Heart that 10 acres of Land which I bought of Andrew Warner, that lyes in the Farme Meadow, to be equally divided betwixt them. I give to my sons Steven and Thomas Heart and to my daughters Sarah Porter and Mary Lee, my Swamp Lott in the Great Swamp and all the rest of my Upland Divisions, divided or undivided, to be equally divided betwixt them. I give to my gr. child Dorothy Porter £10. I give to my gr. child John Lee £3. I give to my gr. child John Heart, my eldest son's son, £3. I do give to my beloved wife a little Kettle that holds about a peck, as also a colt which I gave her, which was recorded to her. And as to all the rest of my Estate, within dores and without, all dues & Debts (except 1-3 part of all my Linen, & a Cow, & £10 given to my wife, as also £5 of Annuity during her natural life in case she survive me, as may appear by a former Instrument), And as for the rest as abovesd., I give to my sons, Steven and Thomas Heart, and my beloved daughters, Sarah Porter and Mary Lee, and my son-in-law, John Cole, whom I make my Executors.

                       Steven Heart.

Witness: John Wadsworth sen.,

                 Robert Porter.

Court Record, Page 69 -- 4 April, 1683: Will proven. Mrs. Margaret Heart, Ensign Thomas Heart, Sarah Porter and Mary Lee personally appeared and made oath to the Inventory.

Born in England by about 1599 (based on estimated date of first marriage. Married ____ ____ & they came to Massachusetts Bay in 1633 with their two eldest children. They settled first in Cambridge, then in Hartford in 1636, and finally in Farmington where she died in 1678 after apparently bearing six children. (The gap of seven years between their second and third children suggests the possibility that Stephen's children were by two wives, but the ages of the two eldest children may also be overestimated.) Stephen married second, after 1678, Margaret (____) (Smith) Nash, widow of Arthur Smith and Joseph Nash. She died at Farmington between 18 Feb 1691/92 and 1 March 1693/94. He died at Farmington between 16 March 1682/83 (will) and 31 March 1683 (inventory). Source Anderson's Great Migration Begins.

Family links:

Spouse:

 1st wife Hart (____ - 1679) 

Children:

 Mary Hart Lee (____ - 1710)

 Sarah Hart Porter (1622 - 1697)

Burial: Unknown Created by: Linda Mac Record added: Mar 05, 2009 Find A Grave Memorial# 34483176 -tcd

Biographical Summary:

Stephen Hart, Cambridge, 1632; freeman, Massachusetts, May 14, 1634; an original proprietor at Hartford, his home-lot in 1639 was on the west side of the road to the Neck, now Front St., near where Morgan St. crosses it. He removed to Farmington; one of the original members of Farmington church, October 13, 1652, and Deacon; deputy from Farmington, May, 1647 to 1655, and again in 1660; one of the eighty-four proprietors of Farmington in 1672; Married (1) name unknown; (2) Margaret, widow of Joseph Nash, and before him, of Arthur Smith; died March, 1682-3, aged 77; will dated March 16; inventory March 31, £340. 4. His widow survived him, and died March 1, 1693-4.

SOURCE: James Hammond Trumbull, editor, The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Volume 1 (Boston, Massachusetts: Edward L. Osgood, 1886), page 242. Retrieved: 3 May 2011 from Google Books

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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF STONINGTON, County of New London, Connecticut, from its first settlement in 1649 to 1900, by Richard Anson Wheeler, New London, CT, 1900, p. 416

GEDCOM Note

<p>[g675.ftw]</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>DEACON STEPHEN HART Braintree, Eng; Cambridge, Mass.; Hartford and Tunxis, Conn.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Deacon Stephen Hart, son of ? ,</p></p><p><p>and his wife, ? , born about 1605, at</p></p><p><p>Braintree, in Essex County, Eng. He</p></p><p><p>came from there to Massachusetts</p></p><p><p>Bay about 1632, and located for a</p></p><p><p>time at (Newtown,) Cambridge,</p></p><p><p>Mass.; married ? . She died ? ,</p></p><p><p>when second he married Margaret,</p></p><p><p>the widow of Arthur Smith, and</p></p><p><p>daughter of ? . She survived Deacon</p></p><p><p>Hart, and was admitted to the</p></p><p><p>church in Farmington, March 17th,</p></p><p><p>1690-1. She died in 1693. Deacon</p></p><p><p>Hart and his first wife were</p></p><p><p>constituent members of the church</p></p><p><p>in Farmington, organized November,</p></p><p><p>1652, with Rev. Roger Newton</p></p><p><p>pastor. Mr. Hart had been deacon of</p></p><p><p>Rev. Thomas Hooker's church, at</p></p><p><p>Cambridge, Mass., and at Hartford,</p></p><p><p>Conn. He was one of the fifty-four</p></p><p><p>settlers at Cambridge, Mass., was a</p></p><p><p>proprietor at Hartford in 1639, and</p></p><p><p>became one of the eighty-four</p></p><p><p>proprietors of Farmington in 1672. In</p></p><p><p>1647 he was one of the "deputyes"</p></p><p><p>of the General Court of Connecticut,</p></p><p><p>at their May session. In 1653 he</p></p><p><p>was appointed a comissioner, by</p></p><p><p>the General Court, for the Town of</p></p><p><p>Farmington, to aid the constable in</p></p><p><p>impressing men into the army, then</p></p><p><p>being raised.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Stephen hart is supposed to have</p></p><p><p>come from Braintree, Essex County,</p></p><p><p>England, with the company that</p></p><p><p>settled Braintree, Mass., and</p></p><p><p>subsequently removed to Newtown,</p></p><p><p>since called Cambridge, and</p></p><p><p>constituted the church of which Rev.</p></p><p><p>Thomas Hooker was invited from</p></p><p><p>England to become their pastor. He</p></p><p><p>was in Cambridge in 1632, and</p></p><p><p>admitted a freeman there, May 14th,</p></p><p><p>1634. He came to Hartford with Mr.</p></p><p><p>Hooker's company in 1635, and was</p></p><p><p>one of the original proprietors of that</p></p><p><p>place. His house lot was on the</p></p><p><p>west side of what is now called</p></p><p><p>Front Street, near where Morgan</p></p><p><p>Street crosses it, and there is a</p></p><p><p>tradition that the town was called</p></p><p><p>from the ford he discovered and</p></p><p><p>used in crossing the Conecticut</p></p><p><p>River at a low stage of the water,</p></p><p><p>and so from Hart's Ford it soon</p></p><p><p>became Hartford, from a natural and</p></p><p><p>easy transition. Tradition further</p></p><p><p>says that as he and others were on</p></p><p><p>a hunting excursion on Talcott</p></p><p><p>Mountain, they discovered the</p></p><p><p>Farmington River Valley, then</p></p><p><p>inhabited by the Tunxis, a powerful</p></p><p><p>tribe of Indians. The meadows were</p></p><p><p>probably then cleared, and waving</p></p><p><p>with grass and Indian corn. Such</p></p><p><p>lands were then much needed and</p></p><p><p>coveted by the settlers, who soon -</p></p><p><p>probably as soon as 1640 - made a</p></p><p><p>bargain with the Indians, and settled</p></p><p><p>among them with their cattle. They</p></p><p><p>still continued, however, connected</p></p><p><p>with the settlement at Hartford,</p></p><p><p>attended public worship, and</p></p><p><p>prehaps wintered there, until about</p></p><p><p>1645, when the town was</p></p><p><p>incorporated by the name of</p></p><p><p>Farmington, from the excellent</p></p><p><p>farms there. (The Principal leaders</p></p><p><p>in this settlement were John Steele,</p></p><p><p>William Lewis, Stephen Hart,</p></p><p><p>Thomas Judd, John Bronson, John</p></p><p><p>Warner, Nathaniel Kellogg, Thomas</p></p><p><p>Barnes, Richard Seymour, and</p></p><p><p>Thomas Gridley.) About this time</p></p><p><p>Mr. Roger Newton, a student in</p></p><p><p>theology with Rev. Thomas Hooker,</p></p><p><p>whose daughter he married, began</p></p><p><p>to preach for them, and in 1652 was</p></p><p><p>ordained their pastor. Stephen Hart</p></p><p><p>was one of the seven pillars of the</p></p><p><p>church, and was chose their first</p></p><p><p>deacon. The other pilars were Rev.</p></p><p><p>Roger Newton, pastor, John Cole</p></p><p><p>(Cowles), John Bronson, Robert</p></p><p><p>Porter, Thomas Judd, and Thomas</p></p><p><p>Thomson.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Stephen Hart appears to have taken</p></p><p><p>the lead in the settlement among</p></p><p><p>the Indians in Farmington, and</p></p><p><p>purchased a large tract on the</p></p><p><p>border of the present town of Avon,</p></p><p><p>and known to this day by the name</p></p><p><p>of Hart's farm. (Probably located at</p></p><p><p>or near what is now called Cider</p></p><p><p>brook, on the east side of the river,</p></p><p><p>and near the bridge, some three</p></p><p><p>miles north of Farmigton Village.)</p></p><p><p>He was one of the first</p></p><p><p>representatives in 1647, and</p></p><p><p>continued, with one exception, for</p></p><p><p>fifteen sessions, until 1655, and</p></p><p><p>once in 1660. In short, no man in</p></p><p><p>the town was more active,</p></p><p><p>influential, and useful. His</p></p><p><p>house-lot, which was four or five</p></p><p><p>times as large as any other, was on</p></p><p><p>the west side of Main Street, in the</p></p><p><p>village, opposite the meeting house,</p></p><p><p>and contained fifteen acres,</p></p><p><p>exending from Mill Lane to the stone</p></p><p><p>store south. This large house-lot</p></p><p><p>was granted to Deacon Stephen</p></p><p><p>Hart as an inducement to erect and</p></p><p><p>continue a mill on the premises, to</p></p><p><p>be perpetuated and kept in motion.</p></p><p><p>The mill was erected originally by</p></p><p><p>the Bronsons, to whom, as a</p></p><p><p>consideration, was granted, viz: a</p></p><p><p>tract of eighty acres, on the</p></p><p><p>Pequabuk River, now known as the</p></p><p><p>"Eighty Acres." The south part of</p></p><p><p>this house-lot he gave to his son</p></p><p><p>John, and the north part to his son</p></p><p><p>Thomas. Thomas gave it to his son</p></p><p><p>Josiah, and it descended to the wife</p></p><p><p>of Roger Hooker, his only surviving</p></p><p><p>child, and to her only son, Thomas</p></p><p><p>Hart Hooker, who sold it to Samuel</p></p><p><p>Deming. The Demings andtheir</p></p><p><p>descendants hold it to this day -</p></p><p><p>1874. These lots and lands, in</p></p><p><p>some respects, are the most</p></p><p><p>desirable and valuable of any in the</p></p><p><p>old town of Farmington. He was a</p></p><p><p>representative to the General Court</p></p><p><p>of Connecticut in 1647, and most of</p></p><p><p>the succeeding years to 1660, from</p></p><p><p>the town of Farmington. His widow,</p></p><p><p>Margaret, gave her property to her</p></p><p><p>sons, John and Arthur Smith, and</p></p><p><p>daughter, Elizabeth Thompson. She</p></p><p><p>had grandchildren- Elizabeth, John,</p></p><p><p>and Ann Thompson.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Deacon Hart's Will was dated March</p></p><p><p>16th, 1682-3. He mentions the farm</p></p><p><p>he formerly gave his threesons,</p></p><p><p>John, Steven, and Thomas, viz:</p></p><p><p>one-half to John, one-fourth to</p></p><p><p>Stephen, and one-fourth to Thomas.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Item. - I give my sons, Steven and</p></p><p><p>Thomas, and my daughters, Sarah</p></p><p><p>Porter and Mary Lee, my Swamp Lot</p></p><p><p>in the great Swamp, (The Great</p></p><p><p>Swamp means Kensington Parish,</p></p><p><p>now part of Berlin) and all my</p></p><p><p>uplands to be equally divided</p></p><p><p>between them. Item. - I give my</p></p><p><p>grandchild, Dorothy Porter, 10</p></p><p><p>pounds. Item. - I give my</p></p><p><p>grandchild, John Lee, 3 pounds.</p></p><p><p>Item. - I give my grandchild, John</p></p><p><p>Hart, my eldest son's son, 3</p></p><p><p>pounds. Item. - I give my beloved</p></p><p><p>wife, +c.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>The Inventory was taken by Thomas</p></p><p><p>Hart and John Hart, Selectmen.</p></p><p><p>Issac Moore and Benjamin Judd,</p></p><p><p>Appraisers. Taken March 31st,</p></p><p><p>1682-3.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Amount 340 pounds, 4s. House and</p></p><p><p>homestead, 70 pounds; land at Nod,</p></p><p><p>east of river, 40 pounds.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Deacon Hart was a farmer and large</p></p><p><p>land-holder, located in the village of</p></p><p><p>Farmington, and was a man of great</p></p><p><p>influence, and a leading character.</p></p><p><p>He died March, 1682-3, aged 77</p></p><p>years.</p>

https://archive.org/details/williamahartfami00np/page/n7/mode/2up

Deacon Stephen Hart

• BIRTH 25 Jan 1605 - England
• DEATH Mar 1683 (aged 78) - Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA
• BURIAL Ancient Burying Ground - Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA
• MEMORIAL ID 35679171 · View Source

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35679171/stephen-hart

Born by about 1599, based on the estimated date of first marriage.

Came to Massachusetts Bay in 1633 & first settled in Cambridge MA. Moved to Hartford in 1636, & later to Farmington.

Died in Farmington between 16 March 1682/3 (date of will) and 31 March 1683 (date of inventory).
Married: (1) By about 1624 _____ _____. Died Farmington by about 1678. (The gap of seven years between the second and third children suggests that possibility that Stephen Hart's children were with two wives; on the other hand, the first two children may have been a few years younger than the estimates given below, in which case the gap would disappear.)
(2) After 1678 (death of second husband) Margaret (_____) (Smith) Nash, widow of Arthur Smith and Joseph Nash. She died at Farmington between 18 February 1691/2 (date of will) and 1 March 1693/4 (probate of will).
Banks suggests both Braintree, Essex, and Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, as origins for Stephen Hart. Neither proposal has any evidentiary support. Ernest Flagg found a baptism of a Stephen Hart on 25 January 1602[/3?] at St. Nicholas, Ipswich, Suffolk, which he thought might be the immigrant, but more evidence would be needed to accept this identification. Savage suggests that Stephen Hart was brother of John Hart of Marblehead and Boston or of EDMUND HART of Westfield, or of both, but without evidence.
Source: Anderswon's Great Migration Study Project

Children

Sarah Hart Porter
1622–1697

John Hart
1627–1666

Mary Hart Lee Strong
1630–1710

Stephen Hart
1634–1689

Rachel Hart Cole
1642 – unknown

Thomas Hart
1643–1726