John Morgan Hart |
b. About 1836, in Illinois
m. (date unknown)
d. (date unknown)
| Parents | Spouse | Children |
|---|---|---|
|
William Morgan Hart Elizabeth Hart |
(wife unknown) | (at least one son) |
John Morgan Hart was born about 1836 in Illinois, a son of Elizabeth Hart and her husband, William Morgan Hart. It is believed John Morgan left his home in Mercer County, Missouri when a teenager and lived with relatives in Iowa, probably his grandmother, Hannah Hart in Warren County, and eventually "went West," probably to Montana.
According to "Descendants of Peter and Dority Hart, 1740-1995, Virginia and North Carolina and Allied Families", by Ruth Gibbs Hart and Karen L. Cooper, (1996):
John Morgan Hart, is found living at home, at the age of 13 on the 1850 Mercer County, Missouri census. We have been told that he did not get along well with his stepmother [Rebecca] and left home at age 16 to "live with relatives" in Bloomfield, Davis County, Iowa. We do not know of any "relatives" living in Davis County in this time period and do not know if this story is accurate. We have searched for John Morgan Hart on the 1860 Iowa, as well as later, Census both in Iowa and in other states. We have been unable to find him. He is listed in his father's estate settlement in 1876, with his residence given as "unknown". His family did not know where he was, and at one time we felt he might have died at a young age, in another state with no one knowing where his family lived, to notify them. But, recently, we have obtained a copy of an undated letter that we feel was written in the 1950's or 1960's. This letter was written by Mrs. Grace Friede (now deceased) of Chinook, Montana. Mrs. Friede was trying to trace her Hart ancestors, and in talking to the local barber in Chinook, Clarence Hart, she discovered that he was the grandson of John Morgan Hart, and the great-grandson of William Morgan Hart. We have tried to find Clarence Hart, with no success. We are told that he and his family moved from Montana to California, many years ago. It has been a frustrating attempt to find the family of a man who left home in about 1853 and apparently was never again heard from by his family. Yet, he did marry and have children - and his grandson, Clarence Hart had been told that William Morgan Hart was his great-grandfather.