James Henry Hart

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868 Jacob Hofheins/Matthew McCune Company (1857) Age 31

 "New York Company, later the St. Louis Company"

Departure: 6 June 1857 Arrival: 21 September 1857

Company Information: About 204 individuals and 41 wagons were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post at Iowa City, Iowa.

Find a Grave

Birth: Jun. 21, 1825, England

Death: Nov. 21, 1906

Family links:

Spouses:

• Sabina Scheib Hart (1839 - 1919)
• Emily Ellingham Hart (1821 - 1892)*
• Mary Elizabeth Thomas Hart (1843 - 1904)*

Children:

*Alice Catharine Hart Osmond (1864 - 1942)*

• Eugene Scheib Hart (1867 - 1950)*
• Nellie Thomas Hart (1868 - 1882)*
• Arthur William Hart (1869 - 1949)*
• Alfred Augustus Hart (1871 - 1955)*
• Sabina Hermoine Hart Roberts (1875 - 1911)*
• Henry Jason Hart (1880 - 1950)*
• Emily Rosina Hart Batt (1889 - 1940)*

Burial: Bloomington Cemetery Bloomington Bear Lake County Idaho, USA Plot: 14-4

Biography

Judge James H. Hart was born in Abingford, Huntingtonshire, England, on June 29. 1825, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Marriott) Hart, descending from ancestors whose lineage runs back unbroken through many generations of active usefulness in his native land, his paternal grandfather, John Hart, being a native of the same county with himself and where his father was also born. Thomas Hart was the third in a family of eight children and engaged in the vocation of a builder for his life work, and, after performing most creditable labors in his chosen profession, and after attending with faithfulness to his duties as parish clerk and sexton for over half a century, his remains now repose in the old time cemetery at Abingford, side by side with the mother of Judge Hart, who long ago passed to the Great Beyond.

In this religious atmosphere Judge Hart attained maturity, acquiring the elements of a solid literary education in the parish schools and supplementing this instruction in the full course of stenography, following this as a profession for some time. A man beyond the ordinary in reasoning powers and mental endowment, James Hart was early convinced of the truthfulness of the religious doctrines of the Church of Latter Day Saints, and became a member of that body when he was twenty-two years old, later being called by the church to fill important missions in London, Birmingham, the Island of Jersey, Germany and in several departments of the church established in France, notable among them being St. Malo, Paris and Havre, his efforts receiving attention and securing large additions to the members of the faithful. From France he was transferred to St. Louis, Mo., in 1857, in which city he was prominent in church activities and most capably performed the onerous duties of managing editor of the newspaper publication entitled St. Louis Luminary, in addition to these duties diligently working at carpentry. From St. Louis in 1857 he was placed in charge of an ox train of Mormon emigrants en route for Salt Lake City, and brought them safely through to their destination, arriving there on October 9th of the same year.

Remaining in Salt Lake City and vicinity, engaged in various occupations until 1864, Judge Hart then made his home in the new town of Bloomington, Idaho, where he became a worker in wood, being a carpenter and also making all the doors and tables of the place. He was also commissioned as the first postmaster of Bloomington. holding the position for seven years, was chosen and served as a popular justice of the peace, and in 1870 he was nominated and elected judge of probate of the county, discharging the important functions of the office with great acceptability for the term of four years and thereafter representing the people of his district in the lower house of the state Legislature for six consecutive years, and later, in 1900, being nominated again, as the candidate of the Democratic party, for his former judicial office, judge of probate, and receiving a flattering endorsement and election at the polls. This term of office expired on January 10, 1903, For the past twenty years Judge Hart has practiced the legal profession at Paris, and occupies a leading and prominent position among the members of the bench and bar, having many friends and being noted for his constancy to his clients, his comprehensive grasp and presentation of the merits of his cases before the courts, and the affable courtesy of his manner.

Always deeply devoted to the interests of the Church of Latter Day Saints, Judge Hart has from the first held official position therein, rendering also distinguished service for n long term of years as one of the stake presidency, being in this connection the superintendent and manager in the construction of the Fielding Academy of Paris.

Miss Emily Ellingham, a native of Hertfordshire. England, and Judge Hart were united in matrimony in the city of London in 1852. She was the daughter of Thomas and Ann Ellingham, and of this union there is but one surviving child, James Ellingham Hart, now serving in his second term of four years as auditor and recorder of Bear Lake County. By his second wife, Sabina Schieb, to whom he was united in 1862, he had nine children, of whom seven are now living. The oldest, Charles H., is serving his second term as judge of the First judicial district of Utah. The others are Alice C., who married Anson Osmond, has seven children and lives in Bloomington; Eugene S., a popular teacher of Fremont County; Arthur W., an attorney at Preston, Idaho. Both of the last named have performed missionary service, the first in Missouri, the latter in Germany. Alfred A., o-f Bloomington, a graduate of the Agricultural College of Utah, has recently performed a mission of two years in Wisconsin; Hermoine, a graduate of the Agricultural College of Utah, is a teacher at St. Charles; Rosina, now Mrs. Ivan Woodward, of Franklin, Idaho; the family includes also one adopted son. Henry J. Hart, a carpenter, of Montpelier, Idaho.

To sum up, there is no one individual throughout the whole extent of southern Idaho who has more completely lived up to the high standing of his ideals than has Judge Hart, and it stands in evidence, without an attempt at contradiction, that no man has filled important functions with greater fidelity, or ever discharged his duties as a citizen or church member with a clearer perception of their requirements or with a nobler result.

[Source: Progressive men of Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Fremont and Oneida counties; By A.W. Bowen & Co; Publ. 1904; Transcribed and submitted by Andrea Stawski Pack.]

Link: History and Genealogy for Bear Lake County