Obituary of Robert S. Hart

Robert S. Hart is the father of three men buried in the cemetery, including his namesake R. Stewart Hart, who died in the Civil War. You can read my full post on the Harts here, but I thought I'd make a separate post for his 1887 obituary since it's very long.

ROBERT S. HART
We last week announced the sudden death of our distinguished townsman, Judge Hart. His prominence as a citizen and lawyer calls for a more extended notice than we could then give.

Judge Hart was 76 years of age, and was born in the city of New York, where his father, Nathaniel Coleman Hart, was at one time Superintendent of the House of Refuge, and, while holding that position, our subject assisted him in planting what are now the largest trees in Madison Square. His mother was a Stewart. He inherited the blood of the prominent Nantucket families of the Folgers, Colemans, Stewarts, and Coffins.

He was educated in New York city, began the study of the law in the office of Peter A. Jay, and continued it with Warren Tompkins, at White Plains. He was admitted to the bar in Utica, and began practice at Bedford, then a half-shire town of Westchester County.

He was induced to settle there because of the healthfulness of the village, he being at that time too delicate to admit of his living in the city. Bedford was then the centre of public business for the upper half of the county, and Robert s. Hart quickly became prominent among the lawyers of the county.

In March, 1846, he was appointed by Governor Wright, First Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and his position was similar to that of the Presiding Justice of our present Supreme Court. He served in this position until June, 1847, when the Court of Common Pleas ceased to exist, under the Constitution of 1846. The judges were then made elective. Under the Constitution of 1821 they were appointed by the Governor of the State. He was also for a time Master in Chancery.

A number of prominent cases were tried before Judge Hart. One of great interest was that of Dr. Seth Shove, who was charged with murder, because of the death of a patient upon whom a surgical operation had been performed. Judge Hart's charge to the jury was thought to have acquitted the prisoner. He laid stress upon the fact that the operation had been shown to have been very bunglingly performed, while Dr. Shove was proved to have been a very skillful surgeon, and therefore could not have done the work. He also impressed upon the jury the irreproachable character of the accused.

While he was Judge, the good order preserved in his court was the subject of remark. It was then necessary to have permission of the court to make an appeal from its decisions. Judge Hart always granted such permission, and but one of his decisions was ever reversed by the Appellate Court.

During his long practice he had charge of many important cases. In 1842 began the contest in Somers, between the Old and the New Schools of the Presbyterian Church. This attracted wide attention as a test case. The plaintiffs, represented by Judge Hart, were successful.

The will case of Lyon vs. Lyon was a prominent one, as it depended upon the meaning of the word "home." Judge Hart was successful in establishing the most comprehensive meaning of that particular word.

The Baylis will case, of Tarrytown, was a noted one. It had been tried three times, and on the fourth, was won by Judge Hart on his own lines, after having been deserted by all the other lawyers who had been connected with it.

He was Horace Greeley's counsel for a number of years. He had charge of the case of Bliss vs. Greeley, and afterward appeared in the Greeley will contest.

In the management of cases before juries, he was a shrewd and careful cross-examiner, a logical, and earnest speaker, while his fine presence and dignity of bearing commanded the attention of judge and jury, alike.

He was the presiding Referee in the important case of People of the State of New York vs. Munson L. Luckwood, who had been agent for the Sing Sing Prison, and had charge of the expenditure of large sums of money.

A remarkable number of distinguished lawyers studied law under Judge Hart, including Odle Close, Wm. H. Robertson, Silas D. Gifford and others.

Robert S. Hart married Miss Harriet Wing Russell, of New Bedford, Mass., who was a lady of singular refinement and grace. They had three children, all born in Bedford. The eldest was Nathaniel Coleman, who was a versatile genius, alike accomplished in music, languages, and letters. He died in 1861. The next was R. Stewart, who had a bright, penetrating and logical mind, who was an effective public speaker, and whose head and face strikingly resembled those of William H. Seward. He entered the army, at the outbreak of the war, as 1st Lieut. 17th N.Y. Vols., Col. Lansing, and died in the service. The youngest, Reginald, alone survives. Mrs. Hart died in 1879.

In 1840, Judge Hart removed his office from Bedford to this village, where it has since remained. In the following year, his family removed from Bedford to the house of Henry Wood, a mile north of this village, where they resided three years. They then came to this village, where Judge Hart built the house in which he has since lived, and where he died.