The Hart family believes their earliest American Emigrant came from County Kent, England to New England around 1640.  Their book begins giving details about James and Elizabeth Hart who received a land grant from King George III in 1773 in what is now Saluda County, South Carolina.  James was a Baptist, a Mason, and a slave owner.  His will divides his possessions between his six children equally at the time of his death in 1830.  He was a "Sergeant in Moore's Troops, Middleton's Regiment, Sumpter's Brigade" in the American Revolution.

One of the six children of James and Elizabeth Hart was Derryl Hart who moved to Cusseta, Chambers County, Alabama and married Jane Pitts in 1815.  They raised one daughter and eight sons.  Derryl Hart called all his children to his bed side a few days before he died in 1855 and instructed them on how to handle his estate and encouraged them to live Christian lives and he also exhorted his servants to do the same.  The expenditures of the Darryl Hart family and the distribution of the extate worth $70,515.40 is extremely interesting.  For instance each slave is listed by name with their value.  Each family member has a bill of sale for their share of the estate.  Any black American that tries to trace their family must rely on documents like this one.

One of the sons of Derryl Hart was Robert Johns Hart, 1834-1907, who married Martha Elizabeth Stanley in 1855.  They were the parents of Milledge Alfonso Hart, 1859-1944, who moved to New Boston, Texas in 1884.  Milledge A Hart married REbecca Lucinda Barrow, 1861-1932, in Summerfield, Louisiana in 1881 and they had four sons and two daughters.  He was a cotton broker, farmer, merchant, and dealer in horses and mules.

We are interested in family members who came to Bowie County, Texas and so I should mention a sister of Milledge A Hart.  Bobbie J Hart, 1875-1953, married John William Stanfield.  They lived in Texarkana.

In 1905 the "Bowie County News" carried an article about the golden wedding anniversary of Robert Johns Hart and Martha Elizabeth Stanley who had a large party for family and friends.  Three sons and four daughters were living at that time.  They had lost one daughter.  The children of their son Milledge A Hart Sr and his wife REbecca Lucinda Barrow were:
1. William Barrow, 1882-1948, born in Summerfield, Louisiana, married Willie Hicks
2. Bertha Lee, 1883-1972, born in Summerfield, Louisiana, married Robert Moss Hubbard
3. Ida Lou, 1888-1962, born in New Boston, Texas, married Eli MOrres Watts
4. Milledge Alfonso Jr, 1893-1936, married Ruby Neil Walker
5. Robert Johns, born 1897 in New Boston, Texas, married Jennie Sunshine Irby
6. Joseph Carroll, born 1901 in New Boston, Texas, married Emeline Conner from Daingerfield

Milledge Hart came to the community of New Boston the the new railroad to sell fruit trees to the settlers.  His love of animals caused him to change to horse and mule trading.  The reason for his success was that his word and his bond and his hand shake closed a solid deal.  Anytime a customer bought an animal that was not satisfactory, he could bring it back to the sale barn and pick another in exchange.