Ephraim Hart (December 27, 1774
Farmington
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*Farmington, British Columbia
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United States
*Farmington, Arkansas
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,
Hartford County, Connecticut
Hartford County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. According to the 2020 census, the population was 899,498, making it the second-most populous county in Connecticut. Hartford County contains the ...
- February 14, 1839
St. Augustine,
St. Johns County, Florida) was an American politician from
New York.
Life
He was the son of
Thomas Hart (b. 1749), President of the
Hamilton-Oneida Academy and assemblyman in
1806, and Mary (Hungerford) Hart (1751-1823).
In 1815, Ephraim Hart removed from
Clinton to
Utica.
He was a
Democratic-Republican/Clintonian member of the
New York State Senate from 1817 to 1822.
In 1818, he was appointed by Governor
DeWitt Clinton to the
Erie Canal Commission
The Commission to Explore a Route for a Canal to Lake Erie and Report, known as the Erie Canal Commission, was a body created by the New York State Legislature in 1810 to plan the Erie Canal. In 1817 a ''Canal Fund'' led by ''Commissioners of the C ...
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
Joseph Ellicott
Joseph Ellicott (November 1, 1760 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania – August 19, 1826 in New York City) was an American surveyor, city planner, land office agent, lawyer and politician of the Quaker faith.
Life
Ellicott was born in Bucks Co ...
. Though Clinton selected Hart based on his proven ability, he failed to take into account Hart's longstanding and vociferous opposition to the
Federalist Party. As a result, the
Bucktails
The Bucktails (1818–1826) were the faction of the Democratic-Republican Party in New York State opposed to Governor DeWitt Clinton. It was influenced by the Tammany Society. The name derives from a Tammany insignia, a deer's tail worn in the ha ...
in the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...
were able to win the support of enough Federalists to deny Hart confirmation to the board, electing instead
Henry Seymour as his replacement and allowing the Bucktails to capture a key part of the governor's political power base.
[John Niven, ''Martin Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics'' (new York: Oxford University Press, 1983), p. 74.]
State Senator
Truman Hart
Truman Hart (December 9, 1784 Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut - February 7, 1838 Palmyra, Wayne County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
Life
He was the son of Thomas Hart (b. 1749), President of the Hami ...
(1784-1838) was his brother. Congressman
Roswell Hart (1824-1883) was his nephew.
References
Sources
''The New York Civil List''compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 40 and 377; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
Obit in ''Florida Herald and Southern Democrat'', St. Augustine, February 14, 1839
''Thomas Hastings: An Introduction to His Life and Music''by Hermine Weigel Williams (2005; page 17, note 14)
1774 births
1839 deaths
Erie Canal Commissioners
New York (state) state senators
Politicians from Utica, New York
People from Farmington, Connecticut
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