Terrell-Sumter-Troup County GaArchives Biographies.....Hart, Thomas Jerome 1827 - 1904 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 22, 2004, 6:38 pm Author: William Harden p. 921-923 THOMAS JEROME HART. Conspicuous among the active and enterprising men who settled in Dawson while it was yet a small village, and who became an important factor in developing and advancing its manufacturing and mercantile prosperity, was the late Thomas Jerome Hart, whose death on January 25, 1904, removed from the city one of its most respected and esteemed business men. Mr. Hart was born in Tuscumbia. Alabama, December 1, 1827, coming from honored New England stock. His father, Thomas Jerome Hart, Sr., was born in Connecticut, of early English ancestry. When a young man he migrated to Alabama, settling in Tuscumbia, where he was engaged in manufacturing until his death, a few years later. He married Susan Allen, who was of Virginian ancestry. She was quite young when left a widow, with three small children, Thomas Jerome, the subject of this sketch; William; and Robert. Robert died unmarried. William, who died in early life, left a family, and his descendants are now living in Alabama. Brought up and educated in Alabama, Thomas Jerome Hart served an apprenticeship at the carriage-maker's trade, making excellent use of his native mechanical ability. Subsequently locating in Dawson, Georgia, he established a carriage factory in the village, and subsequently erected the first brick building in the place. Making a specialty of manufacturing buggies, the products of his factory found a ready sale, and he became known far and wide as the manufacturer of the "Hart Buggy," which was recognized as the very best in the market. Successful from the start, Mr. Hart continued in active business in Dawson until called from the scene of his earthly labors to the life beyond. Mr. Hart was twice married. He married first, soon after coming to Dawson, Sally Lassater, a native of Sumter county, Georgia. Her father, David Lassater, presumably a native of Jasper county, moved from there to Sumter county in pioneer days, and having purchased land near Plains carried on farming with slave help. Mr. Lassater married Elizabeth Asbury Speer, who died November 4, 1861, leaving eleven children, as follows: John H.; Martha G.; William F.; James A.; Amanda A., wife of Bynum H. Hood, of whom a brief personal record may be found on another page of this work; Simeon M.; Jeremiah C.; Henry F.; Margaret J.; Mary E.; and Sarah C., more familiarly known among her friends as "Sally." Mrs. Sally Hart died at an early age, leaving one son, Willie, who died in early manhood. Mr. Hart married second, September 4, 1890, Mrs. Mattie (Harris) Keith, who was born in Terrell county, Georgia, a daughter of Edmond Jackson Harris and granddaughter of Edmond Harris, a pioneer settler of La Grange, Troup county. Edmond Jackson Harris was born in La Grange, and having received excellent educational advantages was admitted while young to the bar. Instead of entering upon a professional career, he chose the more peaceful pursuit of agriculture. Locating in Terrell county soon after its organization, he bought a tract of land lying twelve miles east of Dawson, and began its improvement. During the war between the states he served in the Confederate army, through exposure and privations while a soldier losing his health, and never fully recovering his former physical vigor. At the close of the war he sold his plantation and purchased land a mile and a half west of Dawson. For a while thereafter he was engaged in the warehouse business in Dawson, but he maintained his residence on the farm until his death, at the age of seventy-two years. The maiden name of the wife of Edmond Jackson Harris was Martha Ann Bryan, who was born in Thomas county, Georgia, of pioneer ancestry, her parents, Loverd and Edith (Wytch) Bryan, having been the first couple married in Thomas county, while her grandfather, Clement Bryan, was one of the first settlers of that county. She died at the age of seventy-five years, having outlived her husband. She reared eight children, as follows: Edmond S.; Mary Elizabeth, who became the first wife of John W. Peddy, and the mother of Mrs. Lee Clark Hoyl; Susan R.; Goodwin Hall; Mattie, now Mrs. Hart; Clare E.; Theo. Jackson; and Clementine Bryan. Mattie Harris, now Mrs. Hart, married first Robert Anson Keith, who was born in Dalton, Georgia, a son of John W. Keith, who came to Terrell county many years ago, and having purchased land lying a mile west of Dawson resided there until his death. Robert Anson Keith was reared and educated in north Georgia. Coming to Georgia with his father, he became associated with him in the ownership of the land they bought, and in its management, living on the home farm until his death, which occurred three weeks after his marriage with Miss Harris. Mrs. Keith subsequently married, as previously stated, Mr. Hart. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hart two children were born, namely: Thomas Jerome Hart-and Edmund Harris Hart. Mr. Hart was reared an Episcopalian, but while a resident of Dawson attended the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Hart is a member. Additional Comments: From: A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA BY WILLIAM HARDEN VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1913 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/terrell/bios/gbs414hart.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 5.8 Kb