Probates: Reginald Hart

When I researched Reginald Hart back in 2013, I was able to find out many details about his life: he was born in 1846, the son of Robert S. Hart and Harriet Wing Russell; his brother Nathaniel studied law at Columbia and graduated from Amherst College, and died at age 25 in 1861; his brother Robert died of measles while serving in the 17th New York Infantry Regiment in the Civil War; he graduated from Trinity College in New Haven and became a lawyer like his brother and father; he was a friend of Horace Greeley; he married 21-year-old Emma K. Farley in 1877, only to be widowed two years later; he suffered from tuberculosis, which he treated by occasional trips to warmer climates; as a widower, he lived with his father, and then after his father's death in 1887, with two servants, Elizabeth and Maggie Mann, until his death in 1902 at the age of 57. You can read the full account here, and the obituary of Reginald's father here.

What I didn't know - until I read Reginald Hart's probate records - is that Reginald, widowed and childless, left the vast majority of his small fortune to Elizabeth Mann, his servant and companion of more than twenty years. To be more specific, Reginald left his fortune to three people, none of them relatives. The first was William H. Brown of Mount Kisco, to whom he left $545. The second was Evelyn J. Brown of Mount Kisco, to whom he left $691. And the third was Elizabeth Mann, to whom he left the remainder of his estate, valued at $15,491.38. Elizabeth Mann was also Reginald's executor; Evelyn and William Brown were her niece and nephew.

What was the nature of the relationship between Elizabeth Mann and Reginald Hart? Was she simply a loyal servant or was she his common-law wife? 

I can't say for sure, but what I do know is that Elizabeth Mann was born around 1849 in Ireland, and is first recorded living with the Harts in the 1880 census. She was five years younger than Reginald Hart, and would have been about 53 when he died. She may have known his wife Emma, but she probably did not. The probate records mention that she has known Reginald for "twenty years," suggesting that she first came into his life around 1880, not long after Emma died. Elizabeth seems to have never married; she is consistently listed as "single" in the census. Her niece and nephew were forty years younger and also unmarried, and are recorded as living with her in her house at 101 Carpenter Avenue in 1910 and 1920.

Interestingly, in the 1910 census Evelyn Brown is listed as an artist. Reginald Hart left her "my paints, paint box, brushes, and easel." In 1920 she was working in a drug store.

William Brown worked as a clerk in the post office in 1910 and as a salesman for a hair dresser in 1920.

The only other evidence I have found is this notice in the Mount Kisco Recorder from December 16, 1887:

As we last week stated, on the day of his death, Judge Hart went to the city, attended the funeral of John H. Johnson, and accompanied the remains to the grave in Oakwood Cemetery. He seemed in his usual health in the evening, and retired soon after ten. Shortly afterward groans were heard by his faithful housekeeper, Lizzie Mann, who had been Mrs. Hart's attendant, and who, with her cousin, Mary Pierson, enjoyed Judge Hart's entire confidence. They hastened to his aid, but in a few moments he was dead. His heart had failed in its functions, and he passed away without apparent pain.

Will of Reginald Hart

I Reginald Hart of the village of Mount Kisco, town of Bedford in the county of Westchester and state of New York, do publish and declare this my last will and testament in manner following, that is to say,

First: I give and bequeath to William Mann Brown, nephew of Elizabeth Mann, five hundred dollars, my gold watch and chain (the watch being number 33915 made by Augusta Sallzman), my double barrel gun, cane and loading apparatus, my fishing rod, line, and reel.

Second: I give and bequeath to Evelyn Jane Brown, niece of Elizabeth Mann, six hundred dollars, the gold watch and chain formerly worn by my mother, my paints, paint box, brushes, and easel.

Third: I give and bequeath to Elizabeth Mann the sum of seventy-five dollars in trust to purchase a gold watch for Evelyn Jane Brown, such watch to be purchased as soon as possible after the probate of this will.

Fourth: All the rest, residue, and remainder of my property, real, personal, and mixed, I give, devise, and bequeath to Elizabeth Mann, commonly called Lizzie Mann, whom I hereby nominate and appoint sole executor of this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills by me made.

In witness thereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twelfth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and one.

Reginald Hart

Witnesses: Howard F. Bailey, Mount Kisco, NY; Frederick J. Carpenter, Mount Kisco, NY

Estate Inventory

Personal Estate

• Antom Leibler note ($22 / worthless)
• Cash in bank ($906.56)
• Award due from City of New York ($3581.08)
• Old law books ($100)
• Six silver tablespoons ($6)
• Six silver forks ($2)
• One gold watch and chain ($30)
• Furniture and Household Effects
• Two black walnut bedsteads ($10)
• Two black walnut bureaus ($12)
• Black walnut bookcase ($10)
• Two black walnut chairs ($1)
• Three old couches ($6)
• One old piano ($30)
• Lady's watch and chain ($15)
• Gun case and loading apparatus ($10)
• Fishing rod, reel, and line ($5)
• Paints and brushes ($1)
• 75 yards carpet 35 years old ($15)
• One dining table and six chairs ($5)

Real Estate

Real estate consists of house and about five acres of land in village of Mount Kisco.

• Situated on road leading from Mount Kisco to Bedford Station and on avenue running southerly from said road ($12,000)
• A tract of nine cares in swamp south of village of Mount Kisco in town of New Castle ($100)
• One hundred and fifty acres of land in town of Pawling, Putnam County ($1200)
• Strip of land ten feet wide running around a small vacant lot in the back part of town of Bedford on road leading from Bedford Station to Bedford Village ($10)

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.

Reginald Hart

The plot outlined with an iron fence in the foreground of this photo is that of the Stanton family. A few feet beyond it, in the middle of the photo, is the large, plain obelisk that belongs to the Hart family. Strangely, three of the Harts' graves seem to have been marked with pairs of two footstones each (shown with arrows in the photo above) - that is, two footstones instead of a headstone and a footstone. There should be a total of six, but there are only five. Each footstone is marked with its owners' initials.

This is the side of the Hart obelisk that I cleaned today:

Reginald Hart outlived the rest of his family by quite a few years. Though he died before 1914, the transcription taken that year doesn't list him. Instead, it lists:

Joseph P. Hart, died 1848 age 64
N. Coleman Hart, died 1861 age 25
Nancy Hart, wife of Joseph, died 1821 age 26
R. Stewart Hart, died 1861 age 22

The Hart brothers (N., R., and Reginald) were not, in fact, the sons of Joseph and Nancy Hart, but of Robert S. Hart, a lawyer and county judge, and his wife Harriet Wing Russell. Robert was the son of Nathaniel Coleman Hart and his Irish-born wife Susannah Stewart. I am actually unsure of how Joseph and Nancy Hart are related to the rest of the Harts.

N. Coleman Hart was Nathaniel, named for Robert's father. He studied at Columbia College and Amherst College, learned how to practice law from his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1857 at the age of 22. In 1860, Nathaniel lived with his parents; his brother R[obert] Stewart Hart, who was a law student; and his 14-year-old brother Reginald.

 

1860 US Federal Census

Nathaniel died in New York City of scarlet fever on June 4, 1861. His brother Robert died on June 24 of measles, having enlisted in the 17th New York Infantry Regiment on May 7. Update, February 28, 2022: A poster alerted me to the sale of a portrait medallion of Robert Hart, sold today on eBay. The inscription on the back reads: "To R. Stewart Hart, who died June 24th, 1861, aged 22 years, this offering of affection is inscribed by his father Robert S. Hart."

The 1870 census shows Robert and Harriet Hart with their surviving son Reginald, who is incorrectly identified as Robert Hart.

1870 US Federal Census

Reginald Hart had in fact become a lawyer like his father and brothers. He graduated from Trinity College in New Haven and was admitted to the bar in 1870.

In 1872, Reginald was called to testify about the will of Horace Greeley, to which he had been a witness, in front of his father, Judge Hart. Apparently the case concerned whether or when Horace Greeley had gone insane. Reginald's testimony is printed in the New York Sun of December 19, 1872, which describes him as a "good-looking bachelor" (the article is called "Horace Greeley's Wills: Important Evidence of Thomas N Booker - He is satisfied that Mr. Greeley was insane as early as November 14 ..."). Reginald stated that he was "over twenty-one years of age. I don't suppose (blushing) that there is any need of my saying how old I am. I have been acquainted with Mr. Horace Greeley about twelve years, and know his handwriting."

On June 5, 1877, 31-year-old Reginald married 21-year-old Emma K. Farley, the daughter of William C. Farley, in New York. She died two years later. They don't seem to have had any children, and Reginald didn't remarry. That same year, his mother Harriet Wing Hart died. In 1880, the widowed father and son were living together, along with two servants.

1880 US Federal Census

Reginald suffered from tuberculosis in the mid-1880s, and spent the winter of '86-87 in Florida in hopes that the warm climate would improve his condition. According to the local newspaper of May 6, 1887, "[h]e was supposed to have returned last week, but was detained in Charleston, S.C., by the pressing hospitality of several of his friends, who wished him to be present at the unveiling of the Calhoun monument." This is most certainly the statue of John C. Calhoun that stands on Marion Square and was erected by the Charleston Ladies' Calhoun Monument Association. Though the monument wasn't finished until 1896, it was unveiled in an unfinished state on April 26, 1887.

Robert S. Hart died in December of 1887, at the age of 74. I have transcribed his lengthy obituary here.

In 1890, several prominent "business men and property owners," led by James Wood, gathered in the opera house to discuss how the town might be developed as a residential area. According to an article in the local newspaper,

the Harlem R. R. Co. had almost definitely decided to remove their round-house here from White Plains, and all their car-yards, &c., owing to the very generous offer of Mr. Reginald Hart to give to the R. R. Co. free of cost, all the land they wanted, east of the track, and at the rear of the Amerman [?] property. The railroad officials said that this offer had virtually settled the question, and they were to come up this week to look over the ground and see how much of it they wanted, and decide upon plans ... The announcement of Mr. Hart's generous offer was received with applause.

In 1899, the New York Tribune reported that Reginald Hart had presented a portrait of his father Robert Hart to the Board of Supervisors of Westchester County in White Plains: "Judge Hart was one of the old-time justices of Westchester, and his portrait, which is said to be an excellent one, will be placed in the Supreme Court room, which already contains portraits of Judges Jay, Dyckman, and Robertson."

Reginald Hart died in 1902 at the age of 57. 

1. Nathaniel Coleman Hart m. Susannah Stewart
1. Robert S. Hart (1813-1887) m. Harriet Wing Russell (1815-1879)
1. Nathaniel Coleman Hart (1835-1861)
2. Robert Stewart Hart (1839-1861)
3. Reginald Hart (1846-1902) m. Emma K. Farley (1856-1879) in 1877