Edward Hart

Biography

Edward of England probably came to America in 1630 in the ship "Mary and John" Edward Hart and Stephen Hart,maybe a brother, were in Boston in 1634. Edward received a land grant in Dorchester Mass. in 1635.. He and his wife Margaret joined Roger Williams in a new settlement in Providence, R.I. in 1638 for religious freedom. In 1644 Edward Hart and others moved to Flushing, Long Island. At this time Long Island was under Dutch Rule. They found that there was intolerance there, also. In 1657 Edward Hart and others drew up a protest called "The Flushing Remonstrance" protesting the persecution of Quqkers by the Dutch. He was put in prison by Gov, Peter Stuyvesant.He was released from prison in 1658..

Edward Hart is reported to have been born in Braintree, Essex County, England about 1616. It is also believed that he may have been among the first major migration of Pilgrims to arrive in Massachusetts in 1630, on the ship Mary & John. His name has not been found on any ship's log. However, original records of the passengers of the Mary & John have never been found. The only records existing are incomplete. He married Margaret (last name unknown) and had at least two children, Thomas and Jonathan. After Edward's death, Margaret returned to Rhode Island to marry John Gould.

Edward's name appears on a 1638 map of Providence with the original 52 founders of Providence, Rhode Island. ( "Edward Hart, descendants and allied families" by Clara Hart Kennedy". It is interesting to note,that Providence was founded by a Baptist preacher named Roger Williams who was excommunicated from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Edward's son, Thomas, married Roger Williams' daughter Freeborn. Edward was one of Roger Williams' friends who received his home lot in Providence and signed the Compact of 1640 ("Providence Home Lots" by Hopkins" .Baptists were generally unliked by the Puritans, as were Quakers.

According to Clara Hart Kennedy, "Edward and (Deacon) Stephen Hart were admitted freemen at Boston, May 14, 1634 (New England Register, Vol. 3,pg. 92) with the Thomas Hooker party" (probably was Edmund Hart rather than Edward). Also, Edward received a grant of land at Dorchester, MA in1635 (N.E.R. Vol. 21, pg. 335).

He next turns up at Flushing, on Long Island, (which, from the best attainable data, appears to have been first settled about 1643, and chartered by Gov. Kieft, in 1645), as one of the twenty-one original patentees of that town. Although under the Dutch government of the New Netherlands, the little community of Flushing had a liberal mixture of Englishmen, from the New England colonies, and of Friends, or Quakers,from Holland. The previous experience of this class of Flushing settlers in civil and political liberty, and their sturdy independence, naturally led them to resist any encroachments of the Dutch Governor and his Council upon what they considered to be their vested rights; and to refuse to render to the Colony any assistance other than that nominated in the bond of their charter. Having felt the keen blasts of proscription and outlawry on account of their religious views, and having sought this place as a permanent refuge, relying upon the well accredited liberality of the government of Holland, which had purchased for its subjects the price of religious liberty at a terrible cost of blood and treasure, and which was disposed to accord the privileges it had gained to the oppressed of every nation--the people of Flushing were surprised to find,within three years from the date of their charter, that Governor Kieft was about to enforce upon them arbitrary and uncalled for restrictions in civil matters, as well as to impose upon them the maintainance of a minister of the Reformed (State) Dutch Church. As his support would have to be made a tax upon the people, the Quakers resisted; and in this they were evidently joined by the English element in the community.

On January 17, 1648, according to an original document in the Secretaryof State's office, at Albany, N. Y., "John Townsend, Edward Hart, Thomas Stiles, John Lawrence and John Hicks,inhabitants of Flushing, in New Netherlands, with a few others,who are principal opponents who resist the votes of their neighbors, so [both, i. e.,as well as] in contributing their share to the maintenance of the Christian and pious Reformed minister, and also [in the matter] of the nomination of the Sheriff, pretending [alleging] that it is contrary to the custom of the Fatherland to nominate only a single individual, and then to request the Director and Council to [ ] him;" the said persons were summoned before the Court of January 23rd next [1648] under penalty of prosecution.

Edward should be remembered for his writing of the "Flushing Remonstrance" in 1657. This was the first declaration of religious freedom by private citizens in the Colonies, and was the forerunner ofthe First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which was written 119 years later. In 1957, a 3 cent stamp was issued, commemorating the 300 year anniversary of the Remonstrance.

There isn't a doubt that he was an educated man for his day, for the language of the Remonstrance is rather elegant. There is also no doubt the Edward was a man of strong religious convictions and that he was more than familiar with the words of the Old and New Testament. Also; he was elected Town Clerk of Flushing, which meant he had some considerable education for the time and was well respected. For his part in the Remonstrance, he was sentenced to an indefinite amount of time in jail by the Dutch Governor. Due to his age and frail condition and pleadings by his family, he was released after three weeks.

Family

HART

Edward Hart b. England d. (-) m. Margaret- d. 1671 She m. (2) John Gould

Children, Hart:
1. Thomas m. Freeborn Williams
2. Jonathan m. Hannah Budd Probably others

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