In an early blog post, Lost Line from Canada, dated July 18, 2020, I expressed my frustration with the lack of information that I have on my 2nd great grandfather, Samuel Hart. He was married to Honora (or Hannah) Rouen, and they had two children, Frank and Mary Ann Hart. See my previous blog post for more on Honora.
As I noted in that blog post about Samuel Hart, our family lore and notes indicate that Samuel “had lived as an orphan in a lumber camp in Canada. The cook, who had known his parents, was to tell him about them, but apparently did not before he was killed.” And my research has not yet revealed anything about Samuel’s parentage.
To revisit, here is what we do know about Samuel Hart:
Samuel Hart was born in Canada. The 1865, 1870, 1875 and 1880 censuses for the Hart family, including his wife and children, all show him to be born in Canada. Also, the death certificates for both of his children note that their father was born in Canada.
Samuel’s name variations, as noted in documentation, include the following:
Justice Heart – 1865 census; 30 yrs; laborer; w/ Hannah, Francis & Mary A in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer, NY
Samuel Hart – 1870 census; 34 yrs; farm laborer; w/
Hannah, Frank & Mary in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer, NY
Samuel Hart – 1875 census; 44 yrs; farm laborer; w/
Hannah & Mary A (Frank as laborer was 3 houses away) in Schaghticoke,
Rensselaer, NY
Samuel Hart – 1880 census; 46 yrs; farmer; w/ Hannah,
Francis & Mary in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer, NY
Samuel Hart – per son Frank’s 1916 death certificate
Justus Hart – per daughter Mary Ann’s 1926 death
certificate
Justin or Justus Hart – per family notes written in
1977 by Louise Nash Egbert
Most references cite his first name as Samuel and a few as Justus. My mother had once mentioned that she had been told that he didn’t like his first name. I’ve always thought of him as Samuel Justus Hart or Samuel J Hart … however maybe his name was actually Justus Samuel Hart?
Samuel Hart was likely born about 1831. Census records place his birthdate somewhere between 1825 and 1836. I have found a 1902 death certificate for a Samuel Hart that I believe might be our Samuel. He died in Troy, NY (where our Samuel’s son, Frank lived) and it lists him as having died at 71 years (i.e. birth year of 1831), occupation as farmer, married, and born in Toronto, Canada. This death certificate noted that Samuel was buried in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer, NY. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find the place of burial for either Samuel or his wife, Honora/Hannah. Interestingly, this 1902 death certificate marks the first time that a specific location in Canada has shown up in my research.
Samuel’s primary language was French. According to family letters, Samuel’s native language was French which he spoke almost exclusively. And Samuel's wife, Honora was well educated and also fluent in French, though she was born in Ireland. It is reasonable to assume that Samuel was raised by a French speaking family in Canada.
“About Grandma [Mary Ann Hart] … her Mother was a Rouen and her father was a Hart, who was a French Canadian” “I believe that I have heard that [Samuel] Hart, the great grandfather spoke very little or no English. I would presume that the former Miss Rouen must have been bi-lingual to a degree for the matter of communication.” – Source: Maurice Eugene Nash [great grandson of Samuel Hart & Honora Rouen Hart] family letter; 1963.
And another similar bit of information from family stories:
“I have heard (I can’t remember where) that Grandma Watson [Mary Ann Hart] lived in New York state; that her father [Samuel Hart] raced in the Hudson River Ryatta [sic Regatta]. She was brought up not to have to work but well-trained in all household activities (as her later life would indicate) so she could properly supervise… Grandma [Mary Ann Hart] spoke very little, as far as I can find out, about her family... she loved books and poetry … always Classics.” – Source: Louise Nash Egbert [great granddaughter of Samuel Hart & Honora Rouen Hart] family letter; 1977.
And now for a course correction. I mentioned in the Notes section of the Lost Line from Canada 2020 blog post, that at the time I believed that our Samuel Hart might somehow be connected to the notable Hart family that originated in the French speaking area of Quebec in the late 1700’s.
Aaron Hart (b.1724) and Dorothea Catharine Judah (b.1747)
emigrated from England in 1781 and established the prominent Hart family in
Quebec. They had eight children, including four sons, and their
extended family grew to be quite large. At his death in 1800, it was
believed that Aaron Hart was the wealthiest citizen in British Canada.
Aaron Hart has been referred to as the father of Canadian Jewry. Hart is known to have been an Ashkenazi Jew, and I assume that his wife, Dorothea was Ashkenazi Jewish as well, since she was also Aaron’s cousin.
I was recently reviewing the information that I have on Samuel Hart, when it occurred to me that if Samuel was a descendant of the Canadian Aaron Hart family, then wouldn’t I find some Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity in my DNA results? Several years ago I took the Ancestry DNA test, and it does not show an Ashkenazi Jewish DNA component for me.
At first I thought that might mean that our Samuel Hart doesn’t link to the Ashkenazi Jewish Canadian Hart family line. However, I discussed this with a distant cousin who is related to me through my same Hart line, and he tells me that he has had his DNA done with five different companies and that two of the five results show traces of Ashkenazi Jewish DNA. And as you probably already know, the amounts of DNA that each generation can get from a parent can vary greatly. And of course, if he does have Ashkenazi Jewish DNA in his line, we currently have no way of determining if it is in the Hart segments.
Thus, with the information that I have today, I really can’t establish that our Samuel Hart descends from the Ashkenazi Jewish Canadian Hart family founded by Aaron and Dorothea Hart. If anyone else in my Hart family line has taken a DNA test, I would love to hear from you as to whether you see any Ashkenazi ethnicity or not in your results.
* * * * *
Key Individuals:
Samuel J Hart (abt
1830 – 1902?)
Honora Rouen or Hannah Roughan (abt
1830 – unknown)
Francis/Frank Hart (1861 –
1916)
Mary Ann Hart Nash Watson (1862 – 1926)
– Jane
Scribner McCrary
No comments:
Post a Comment