David Hart
David, brother of Thomas and
Nathaniel Hart, and fourth son of Thomas Hart of Hanover County, Virginia and Susanna Rice, was born about the year
1732. With his mother and other members
of the family he removed from Hanover County, Virginia, to Orange County, North Carolina, about 1757. In 1758
and again in 1760 he was appointed by the
Governor's Council a justice of the peace for Orange County. On August 6, 1759,
he received a crown grant for 292 acres in Orange County, located on a branch
of Hosrsley's Creek. On March 3, 1779, he was granted by the State of North
Carolina '640 acres on both sides of Hart's Hillsborough road and the waters of
Country Line Creek, adjoining Israel Barker, Wm. Mitchell, George Simms, and
his own land,' and on October 13, 1783, he was granted two tracts of 640 acres
each: one 'on the waters of Country Line Creek - adjoining Edward Hogard, Geo.
Oldham, and his own land,' the other on the main ridge between the waters of
Crooked branch and Stony creek, adjoining his own land [and] the lands of
William Mitchell, Moses Oldham, and George Simms.'
Captain David Hart took an active
part in the suppression and defeat of the Regulators. He commanded a company of
the Orange Regiment of Militia, which originally numbered 39 and, during the
course of the campaign of 1771 which ended in the defeat of the Regulators at
the Battle of Alamance, May 16, 1771, was recruited up to a strength of 49.
Their pay for the campaign at 40 shillings each was 98 pounds. In February,
1773, David Hart presented to the North Carolina House of Commons claims for
15.4.10 pounds. On the campaign David Hart's company was furnished 245 rations;
and on the return to Hillsborough 68 rations.
When the Transylvania Company was
organized, January 6, 1775, there were nine shareholders, David Hart and
Leonard Henley Bullock each holding only a half share, or one-sixteenth interest.
In the spring of 1776, David Hart went to Kentucky and spent some time there
with his brother, Nathaniel, near Boonesborough; and assisted, along with
Nathaniel, in the rescue of Elizabeth and Frances Callaway and Jemima Boone who
had been kidnapped by the Indians, July 7, 1776. Not long afterwards he
returned to his home on Country Line Creek, near the residence of his brother,
the Red House, in Caswell County. On March 10, 1778, he sold to William Gooch
262 acres of land, the tract on Horsley's Creek for which he had obtained a
Crown grant on August 6, 1759. During the American Revolution he was a leader
in his section, served as justice of the peace and road overseer, and as
assessor and tax collector for Caswell and St. David's districts in 1779 and
1781 respectively. On June 22, 1779, he, James Sanders, and Stephen Moore were
appointed commissioners for collecting Tory property, agreeable to an Act of
Assembly, Halifax, February 12, 1779. On June 20, 1780, he John Williams, and
John Campbell were appointed Commissioners to dispose of Tory Property for Caswell County.
In the early part of 1781, when
Cornwallis was approaching the neighborhood of his home, David Hart raised and
was chosen lieutenant colonel of a regiment of light horse. This regiment
joined the American force under Colonel Henry [Light-Horse Harry] Lee and took
part in the surprise and virtual massacre of some 200 Tories under the command
of Colonel John Pyle, with headquarters at the home of one Holt. Hart also
commanded his regiment at the Battle of Guilford Court House, March 15, 1781,
and he and his men fought bravely. Writing to Nathaniel Hart almost seven
months after this battle, Thomas Hart gives a concise account of the military
activities of their brother David.
'I have recd two
letters from Col. David both short and chiefly on the subjects of his Military
Exploits for you must know that after the enemy had crossed the Yatkin [Yadkin]
and on their march to his neighborhood himself and many others turn'd out as
volenters and form'd themselves into Regimt. of Light Horse over whom Wm. Moore
was appointed Col. and himself Lieut. Col. Join'd the army whish [whilst] the
enemy were in Hillsbo. were at the ingagme. or rather the Massacreing of the
Tories at Holts and after in the Ingagement at Guilford where they both behav'd
with gallentry and acquired some share of honor I would suppose from his
letters to me that he has not experienced any great loss by the Enemy.'
In compensation for his services in
the settlement of Kentucky and in the military engagements above mentioned he
secured several valuable tracts of land. On December 21 1779, at Boonesborough,
David Hart secured from the Virginia land court the issuance of a certificate
for 1,400 acres of land 'lying on the waters of Silver Creek...by raising a
crop of corn in the country in the year 1776.' On July 11, 1788, he received
from the State of North Carolina a military grant of 274 acres on the waters of
Goose Creek in Sumner County; and on April 18, 1789, a military grant also from
North Carolina, of 2,250 acres on the north side of Big Hatcher River in the
Western District. Writing to his brother Nathaniel in 'Transylvania', in March,
1780, David Hart 9in part0, says:
'I received Yours of the 9th Feby.
with my Certificate for Settlement and Preemption [on Silver Creek] and am much
pleased to hear you have laid it to so good advantage...I could fain have been
with you this spring but could not make it convenient I have not sold my land
yet but still hope to get a markett for it time enough to be out this somer I
have gott a thousand acre warrent and must beg of you to get it located to the
best advantage either by giving part of the warrent on a sufficiant sum of
money. I have sent you six or seven hundred pounds which you will dispose of to
best advantage.'
David Hart's intention to visit Kentucky again was never realized. He settled down to a prosperous and uneventful
career at his home on County Line Creek and there resided with his family until his death
about the year 1791. One of the most distinguished of his descendants was his
grandson, Archibald Dixon, lieutenant governor of Kentucky, United States
Senator, succeeding Henry Clay in 1852, and author of the famous
Kansas-Nebraska bill."(Henderson)
