Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Hart, John D., 1927 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ JOHN DREW HART John Drew Hart was born at the old Hart Homestead near Sunbeam in Southampton County, December 25, 1869, and died at his home in Boykins August 9, 1927. He was the son of the late Captain Robert Hart and Mrs. Cornelia Majette Hart, both members of prominent families of this section. When quite a small boy he went to Mississippi and lived with his grandparents, Captain John Drew Hart and Mrs. Emeline Hart, the family name, John Drew Hart, occurring in each generation for the last century and a half since the day of an ancestor of other same name, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. At nine years of age he returned to his former home in this county, remaining on the farm until about 20 years old when he went to Washington for a short while, afterwards living with his mother and sisters in Franklin for several years and alter removing to the Como community in Hertford County, North Carolina, where he farmed for some time. On June 27, 1900, he married Miss Mary Little of Como, a daughter of the late George Little of Littleton, N.C., and Mrs. Homoiselle Vann Little of Como, and a granddaughter of Colonel George Little of Raleigh. Spending the first two years of their married life in Como, they moved to Boykins 25 years ago where they lived until his death. Besides his wife, who survives him, are their two daughters, Misses Retta and Cornelia Hart; a brother, J.R. Hart of Sunbeam, and two sisters, Mrs. Fannie Bryant of Boykins and Mrs. Sallie Edmonds of Pittsburg, a large family connection and a wide circle of friends. Mr. Hart was a useful citizen, a conscientious Christian and faithful member of the Boykins Baptist Church, and one of the most devoted husbands and fathers within the acquaintance of the writer. Fitting indeed were the works spoken at the graveside by Dr. W.V. Savage of Churchland, a cousin of Mrs. Hart’s when tenderly recounted the husband’s many patient years of loyal, affectionate and constant service to his wife who has been an invalid during almost all of their wedded life, and who is now critically ill at her home in Boykins. This unselfish, unsparing and self-sacrificing devotion to the comfort and care of Mrs. Hart was know and admired by all who visited in that home and by the neighbors of the town in which they lived. Always loyal to his friends, the services of his church and the best interest of his town, his tender solicitude for his afflicted wife was nevertheless the beautiful and outstanding motivating influence of his life winning for him the universal esteem of his acquaintances, and now doubly bereaving the home form which he and been taken. His Pastor, the Rev. Frank B. Handley of the Boykins Baptist Church, conducted the services, assisted by Dr. Savage; some favorite hymns were sung by members of the church choir, and many beautiful floral tributes covered his grave. The body bearers were intimate friends and neighbors: W.F. McKinstry, A.L. Knight, W.W. White, Jr., B.F. Britt, S.J. Myrick, W. Hugh Powell, E.R. Bryant and Patrick T. Person. The honorary pallbearers were selected from a large list of friends and members of his Sunday school class in his home community, throughout the county and from Como, Murfreesboro and other places. John Drew HART, b. 23 Dec 1859, near Sunbeam, d. 9 Aug 1927, at home, Boykins, interred in Beechwood Cemetery (Annex 1, Section J, Plot 6*), Boykins, 16 Aug 1927, "The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), Aug. 19, 1927, p. 1 *Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project, Beechwood list: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/beechwd.txt His widow's obit ("Tidewater News," Jan. 3, 1936) is posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/h630m1ob.txt His parents' marriage record, which gives John's grandparents as John D. & Sophia E. HART, is appended to obit ("Tidewater News," Sep. 2, 1932, p. 1) of John's nephew Hart D. GIBSON, posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/g125h1ob.txt Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), and re-formatted by File Manager. file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/h630j1ob.txt