Early in life he was considered by the public as a man of integrity, sagacity, and thoroughness. In the office of constable he was much employed; and in cases where discretion, great bodily strength, and fearlessness of personal danger were requisite, he was the man for the occasion. When the war for Independence came, his person and his property were at the service of his country, and he was in service or in captivity during the greatest part of the time of the war. In 1776, he commanded a regiment, and when Washington evacuated New York, he was cut off and captured by a body of the enemy's forces which had ascended the Hudson River and landed above him. Ignorant and ill-natured people made many remarks on the occasion, but it was never shown but that he understood his duty, and well performed it. He was stationed in order to cover the retreat of the main body, and if he had been less faithful and less brave, hc might have abandoned his post and perhaps have escaped captivity as many others did. The cruelties and miseries which prisoners suffered in New York in those days, have been often told and recorded, and this Col. Hart suffered nearly two years, during the most of which time his wife knew not whether he was living or dead, and when he did return, it was to her as if he had risen from the grave. Subsequently he commanded a brigade until the close of the war. He then resumed his avocation of farming, and the condition of his lands, fences, buildings, utensils, crops, and animals, showed that the owner and master was sagacious and thorough.

Probably no farm near his produced so much at so great a profit, in proportion to the acres used, as did his. He thought more of good crops and the profitable use of labor, than of a large number of acres under partial culture. As he was a man of but few words, some supposed him to be lacking in social feeling, but they were in a mistake. He loved society, and but few would more readily discern and feel what should move human sympathy, or more certainly show it in action. He was hospitable to friends and way- farers, and he considered the unfortunate and the poor, both to relieve their present necessities and devise for their future welfare. He took a very young colored child to bring up, named Jack, who was legally a slave, but Jack's living, clothing, and education were better than the average of the white lads in the vicinity enjoyed, and when the lad became twenty-one years of age, the master said to him: "The law would give me four years more of your service, but I think you have a right to be free, and you are at liberty to go away, or stay with me and receive wages." Gen. Hart was singularly thoughtful and active for the public weal. The interests of the town he made his own in some sort, as when he was its Treasurer, in cases of deficiency, his own