Milton Lumberman John F. Hart, 2nd (1855-1916)

By Muriel Bristol | October 30, 2022

John Fox Hart was born in Milton, May 1, 1855, son of Edward and Sally (Fox) Hart. (John F. Hart,”2nd” (1855-1916) should not be confused with Milton merchant John Francis Hart (1829-1896)).

Brother George Edward Hart was born in Milton, November 1, 1859.

Edward Hart a farmer, aged sixty-eight years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Tenth (1880) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Sally Hart, aged fifty-nine years (b. ME), and his children, Hattie H. Hart, works in woolen mill, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), John F. Hart 2d, a school teacher, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), and George E. Hart, a farm laborer, aged twenty years (b. NH). John F. Hart 2d had attended school within the year. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Samuel G. Chamberlain, a farmer, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), and Daniel Philbrick, a farmer, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH).

J.F. and G.E. Hart appeared in the Milton directories of 1880, 1881, 1882, 1884, 1887, as Milton Mills carriage merchants.

UNION. Mr. John Hart of Milton Mills has purchased an interest in the saw mill here, and, it is reported, contemplates going into the excelsior business (Farmington News, December 17, 1880).

UNION. The mills are running on full time. J.F. Hart & Co. have averaged to cut out over fifteen tons of excelsior a week since last February, which has not been enough to fill the orders received (Farmington News, June 27, 1884).

UNION. Seven thousand one hundred and ten pounds of excelsior were cut and put up at the mill of J.F. Hart & Co. on the 13th, in 13 hours, with four men and eight machines. The Messrs. Hart are running their mill day and night (Farmington News, January 23, 1885).

Father Edward F. Hart died in Lebanon, May 12, 1885.

John G. Hart married in Kankakee, IL, October 14, 1885, Susan Gilliatt. Both were aged thirty-one years. She was born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Canada, December 1, 1854, daughter of Captain William and Frances S. “Fannie” (Starr) Gilliatt.

Daughter Maude Hart was born January 1, 1887.

Sister Harriet A. Hart married in Milton, August 20, 1887, Asa A. Fox, both of Milton. He was a widowed undertaker, aged forty-nine years, and she was a lady, aged thirty-five years. Rev. C.M. Anderson performed the ceremony. Fox was born in Milton, February 3, 1837, son of Asa and Harriet W. (Wood) Fox.

Brother George E. Hart married (1st) in Milton, September 1, 1887, Ita Belle Carter, he of Wakefield, NH, and she of Milton. He was a manufacturer, aged twenty-seven years, and she was a music teacher, aged twenty-one years. Rev. G.G. Butler performed the ceremony. She was born in Lyman, ME, circa 1865, daughter of Alba B. Carter.

Among the Woodworkers. On the tide flats at Tacoma, W.T. [Washington Territory], will be built at once a large saw-mill, which will run two circulars, one band-saw, and two 48-inch gangs, and will have a capacity greater than any mill on the Sound. The mill will be built by John F. Hart, E.N. Ouimette, S.M. Nolan, John E. Burns, and A.J. Littlejohn, and will be directly connected with the timber lands lying south of Tacoma by railroad – Pacific Lumberman (Wood Worker, May 1889). 

Son John Edward Hart was born in Tacoma, WA, September 9, 1889.

UNION. George E. Hart of Tacoma, Washington, arrived here Tuesday on his way to Milton Mills to see his wife, who has been very sick, but is now improving (Farmington News, February 7, 1890).

REAL ESTATE MARKET. Sales Recorded in the Auditor’s Office Yesterday Amounted to $50160. John F. Hart et ux to the Commencement Bay Land and Improvement company, lots 7 and 8, block 27, lots 3 and 4, block 54, Commencement Bay addition – $4000 (Tacoma Daily Ledger, April 11, 1890).

REAL ESTATE MARKET. Sales Reported Yesterday by the Fidelity Trust Company Amounted to $78462. George W. Byrd et ux to John F. Hart, lots and blocks in Southeast Tacoma – $16,000 (Tacoma Daily Ledger, May 2, 1890).

Mr. John F. Hart emphatically denies that he has entered into any arrangement with the Northern Pacific for a transfer of his right-of-way through the gulch extending from the head of the bay southward (News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), July 9, 1890).

Granite State Land Company. Articles of incorporation were filed today of the Granite State Land Company, capital $250,000, divided into 2500 shares of a par value of $100 each. John F. Hart, George P. Hart and L.W. Walker are the incorporators and Tacoma is named as the place of business (News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), July 12, 1890).

The Tacoma Eastern Railroad Company was recently incorporated by John F. Hart, George E. Hart and L.W. Walker with a capital stock of $250,000, divided into 2,500 shares of $100 each. The trustees are J.F. Hart, Geo. E. Hart, L.W. Walker, Charles Hotchkiss, and A.S. Kerry, residents of Washington, and R.H. Pike, of New Hampshire. It is said the company will build and operate a railroad over the franchise owned by J.F. Hart from the head of Commencement bay southward. This road has been partially graded and the ties for about ten miles are on hand (Western Shore, July 12, 1890).

The Tacoma Eastern Railroad enterprise had been a tempting lure to the voters [of 1890], and while they accused its promoters of deception the charge was not altogether fair. The road had been run up the gulch by John Hart, who owned a sawmill out Bismarck way. At first it was a mere tram, with wooden rails, but it answered Hart’s purpose of getting lumber to tidewater. There became interested with him Isaac W. Anderson, of the Land Company, Edmund Rice and the noted engineer, Virgil W. Bogue. They formulated elaborate plans and attempted to get money to carry them out, but the financial storm of 1893 prevented. Wright could not help them. He was no more able than others to lay hands on cash in that period. And so that upon which the community had set such a store of hope went glimmering and it was not until 1900, when John Bagley and the Ladd interests procured the line, that the earnest development of it began (Hunt, 1916).

UNION. John F. Hart of Tacoma, Washington, is spending a few weeks in this section visiting his sister and attending to business matters (Farmington News, November 14, 1890).

UNION. R.H. Pike, Esq., mine host of the Union House, was the recipient of a valuable gold watch as a New Year’s present from John F. Hart of Tacoma, Wash. Mr. Hart was formerly engaged in the lumber and excelsior business with Mr. Pike (Farmington News, January 16, 1891).

Daughter Elsie Mary Hart was born in Tacoma, WA, July 21, 1891.

John F. Hart appeared in the Tacoma, WA, directory of 1892, as secretary and manager of the Tacoma Eastern Railroad (tel. 607), with his residence at 3109 Pacific Avenue (tel. 369). The Tacoma Eastern railroad appeared as being at 611 Fidelity Building, with Edmund Rice as its president, John F. Hart as its secretary, and W.G. Gaston as its treasurer.

J.H. Hart, real estate, aged thirty-six years (b. NH), headed a Tacoma, WA, household at the time of the Washington State Census of 1892. His household included Susan G. Hart, wife, aged thirty-six years (b. Nova Scotia), Maude Hart, at home, aged five years (b. WA), Jno E. Hart, at home, aged three years (b. WA), and Elsie Hart, at home, aged one year (b. WA).

G.E. Hart, a lumberman, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), headed a Tacoma, WA, household at the time of the Washington State Census of 1892. His household included Ita B. Hart, aged twenty-five years (b. NH).

Companies Incorporated. Port Gardner, Lake Stevens & Eastern. – Incorporated in Washington to build a railway in Snohomish county Capital stock, $250,000. Incorporators John F. Hart and J.M. Davis of Tacoma. Principal office, Everett, Wash. (Railway Age & Northwestern, July 8, 1892).

Projects and Surveys. Port Gardner, Lake Stevens & Eastern – Projected. Everett to Lake Stevens, 5 miles. John F. Hart, Everett (Engineering News, December 8, 1892).

Tacoma Eastern. Completed from the head of Commencement Bay south, 6 miles. Will be operated as a lumber road for the present. Will be extended southwest of Tacoma to the Nisqually River. John F. Hart, Gen. Man., Tacoma Wash (Poor’s Railroad Manual, 1893).

The financial Panic of 1893 took hold in late February 1893. Brother George E. Hart was accused of burning his Tacoma sawmill for the insurance on November 30, 1893.

A TACOMA SENSATION. Suit to Recover Insurance Leads to Startling Allegations. DEFENSE CHARGES ARSON. Two Prominent Millmen Are Involved in the Case. TACOMA, May 8. – [Special.] – A big sensation promises to be the outcome of a suit instituted today by Snell & Johnson on behalf of George E. Hart, to recover $10,000 for insurance on the Hart sawmill, which was burned a few months ago. The insurance companies have refused to pay the insurance, and when Crowley & Sullivan, representing them, file their answer to Hart, the charge that Hart fired the mill, Mr. Sullivan says, will be one of the citations. But the charge of arson, if made as Mr. Sullivan says it will be, is only the beginning of the sensations which seem bound to develop. Shortly after the mill burned. Mr. Hart was all ready to leave for San Francisco on business of importance, when he was actually arrested and detained for some time, at the point of a revolver, it is said. Those causing the arrest and detention were promoted by the belief that Mr. Hart was about to flee and become an absconder. A member of the police force and a detective acting together caused the arrest, and for their pains they have been threatened with suit charging them with blackmail. They told Mr. Hart of their suspicions. and an order for $3,500 from him on the $10,000 insurance due the mill property was taken before he was released and allowed to proceed to San Francisco. Mr. Hart subsequently asserted that this order was secured forcibly from him, and his friends have assumed that it was nothing short of robbery to have compelled him to sign the order for the $3,500. Of course those securing the order held the same, it is claimed, as a sort of security for Hart’s person. Besides, it is held that Mr. Hart gave the order, or at least wanted to give it, in order to have the officers hush the matter up. At any rate, the order was taken, but the men who took it have not been made defendants in a blackmailing suit, as was promised. This action, however, is one of the several sensational things which are looked lor. The mill was burned early in the evening, almost in the afternoon. If it was set on fire the firebug did not choose a desirable hour for his work. Again, Mr. Hart was in this city at the time, and had to be taken out to the burning mill in the mill locomotive. It is said that only a few months before the mill burned he increased his insurance from $6,000 to $10,000. That is true, but at the time the increase made, a partner, Herman Jewell, was taken into the business, and it is said that he insisted on having the mill insured to its full value before he would become interested and would put $4,000 in the business. Witnesses, if they have not left the country, will be called to testify that overtures had been made to fire the property; also that a man was seen setting fire to the property; that the night watchman quit because he feared that when the property was fired he would be charged with being a firebug; that there are in existence stenographic notes describing an interview between Mr. Hart and another, in which the former made a proposition to burn the mill, etc. Mr. Hart is at Everett, where he has considerable property interests. The companies sued and the amounts sued for are: Hamburg-Bremen, $1,000; Providence, of Washington, $3,000; Niagara, $1,ooo; Phoenix (Brooklyn) $1,500; Connecticut, $1,500; New Hampshire, $1,000; American, $1,000, The Pacific insurance union sent a man here to investigate, and subsequently the attorneys were notified that it would not pay insurance. That decision was reached some two months ago. George E. Hart is a brother of John F. Hart, projector of the Tacoma Eastern railroad, which is known as the Hart road. Both are among the best known business men in the city. It is claimed that the mill foreman, one Carey, of Seattle, was to have burned the mill on Thanksgiving evening for S300, but that the fire was put out by a Mrs. Hurlburt and others witnessing the same. The mill was burned on November 30. On one occasion, it is alleged, cans of coal oil had been placed convenient for use; that the key to the oil safe had been given to the mill foreman by one of the interested parties, and it is assumed that if there had been any incendiary suspicions then the fact that the key was found on the foreman would have lodged the crime on him. Jewell became interested in the mill October 17, and at the same time assumed a third interest in the $1,000 mortgage held by the Pacific National bank on the mill property. This mortgage was to be covered to its face value by $10,000 insurance, and it is said that when the insurance was refused, the bank, in order to protect itself, would have had to take up the case even if Mr. Hart did not. In order to secure release during the night he was detained, it is said Mr. Hart made various overtures to his captors to gives notes for $1,000, and at another time for $2,ooo in addition to the order on insurance for $3,500 in the first instance and $2,000 in the latter instance, and also to secure the notes with stock in the Summer Excelsior Company. The arrest occurred on the night of January 11, when he was about to leave by the Portland train, although it is claimed he had agreed not to leave the city. In an affidavit made by one of the principal witnesses Hart is put in the light of having been anxious to arrange for burning the property, and the man making this affidavit brings Kerry into the case. Kerry now has charge of Hart’s mill at Seattle. Snell & Johnson say it will be shown that an attempt was made [to] blackmail Hart; that he was detained and arrested while en route to San Francisco to arrange for the sale of the Tacoma Eastern railroad to the Southern Pacific. There is evidence that the officer, who is not now a member of the police force, who arrested Hart, did not insist on throwing him into the city jail, but allowed him to remain all night in the office of the McNaughton detective service. At first both McNaughton and the officer opposed this, but after talking with Hart they were satisfied he would not attempt to escape, and took his order for the stock and notes on the theory, it is claimed, that such evidence would make a better and stronger case against Hart. It is claimed they were satisfied that the order on the insurance was no good as the Pacific Insurance Union, it was believed, would not pay the loss. Thomas McCarthy, special representative of the Pacific Insurance Union, investigated the case and with the result that the insurance union refused to settle. Hart never made proof of loss, but Jewell, his partner, did (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1893).

Handed in a Sealed Verdict. Tacoma (Wash.), Nov. 20. – The jury in the George E. Hart millionaire suit handed in a sealed verdict this morning. The same will be opened to-morrow. It is stated that a verdict will be found for Mr. Hart and against several fire insurance companies, members of the Pacific Insurance Union, which refused to pay $10,000 insurance on the burned property. It was alleged that Hart either burned or caused the mill to be burned (Sacramento Record-Union, November 27, 1893).

The Tacoma Eastern Railroad’s planned expansion was struck down by the financial Panic of 1893. The Commercial Bank of Tacoma called in a promissory note given by John F. Hart of Tacoma, WA, in 1894 (Kreider, 1895). As mentioned above, the Tacoma Eastern Railroad would not proceed until taken over by other interests in 1900.

Nephew Victor K. Hart was born in Fall River, MA, January 9, 1897.

Mother Sally (Fox) Hart died in Milton, May 22, 1897.

John F. Hart, a lumberman, aged forty-five years (b. NH), headed a Tacoma, WA, household at the time of the Twelfth (1900) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of fourteen years), Susie J.G. Hart, aged forty-five years (b. Canada), and his children, Maud S. Hart, in school, aged thirteen years (b. WA), John E. Hart, in school, aged ten years (b. WA), and Elsie M. Hart, in school, aged eight years (b. WA). John F. Hart rented their house at 3024 Pacific Avenue. Susie J.G. Hart was the mother of three children, of whom three were still living. She had arrived in the United States in 1875.

John F. Hart appeared in the Tacoma, WA, directory of 1901, as a lumberman, resident at 3024 Pacific Avenue.

Brother George E. Hart married (2nd), circa 1903, May E. Guertin. She was born in Liberty City, TX, May 1, 1876, daughter of Louis G. and Cecile C. (Key) Guertin. (She had married (1st) in New Bedford, MA, April 22, 1896, Arthur T. Jalbert, she of New Bedord, MA, and he of Fall River, MA).

Niece Sally J. “Juanita” Hart was born in Los Angeles, CA, March 20, 1904.

Brother George E. Hart and his wife bet and lost $15,000 on a whist game in August 1908.

FRUIT CROP STAKED ON A WHIST GAME. Los Angeles Society Woman, Her Husband, and Two Nevada Mining Men Dispose of Fifteen Thousand Dollars, Former Losing. THE fiercest game of cards since the wild poker days of forty-nine was played Tuesday night in a summer cottage at Corona Del Mar, near Balboa Beach. It was whist. The stake was a fruit crop worth $15,000. The players were Mrs. George E. Hart, a beautiful Los Angeles society woman; her husband, a prominent broker, and two Nevada mining men named Nelson.
The rough-and-ready cow-puncher luck of the Nevada men won the great prize in spite of the brilliant and bewildering game played by the Harts. The Harts had leads and return leads, and American and International whist signals at their fingers’ ends, but the Nevada men had the trumps. It was an exciting, dramatic contest. Although women are always said to be bad losers, Mrs. Hart saw her $15,000 go without a wince. As the winners grabbed the last trick, she gave a little laugh, and said lightly, “Now you are all my guests for a little supper.” And it was a fine supper, too.
OUTCOME OF LAND TRADE. The game was the outcome of a real estate trade. The miners traded a California town for a ranch owned by the Harts. The Harts had ninety-two acres in Simi Valley, thirty-seven miles north of Los Angeles, planted to 12-year-old prunes, peaches, apples, olives and other fruit. It is valued at about $60,000. The Nelsons – Hugh W. and George A. – owned the townsite of Winchester, Riverside county, consisting of 264 town lots, 105 acres of alfalfa land, and a two-story brick building. They agreed to swap, and the Nelsons agreed to assume a certain mortgage. But on one point they stuck: they both Insisted on having this year’s crop of fruit from the ranch. Hart and the two Nelsons met many times in the office of Arthur G. Munn, No. 202 Mason building. They talked trade and argued about the fruit crop, and between whiles they gossiped. The talk frequently turned to whist, all being enthusiasts. Finally, Mr. Munn, the agent, said to Mr. Hart, “Why don’t you play a game of whist with the Nelsons to settle this controversy about the fruit crop?” Hart’s eyes brightened, and he said he would talk it over with his wife. He came back next day and said his wife was willing. The Nelsons decided very briefly. Munn mentioned it to them and one of them sort of glanced out of the corner of his eyes at his brother and said, “It’s a go.”
MEET FAIR PLAYER. It was arranged that the game should be played Tuesday night at the Hotel Corona Del Mer, owned by the Harts, near Newport Beach. The Nevada man did not know exactly whom they were to play against, as Hart was to be allowed to choose his partner. Probably with some trepidation they boarded the trolley car in Los Angeles in the afternoon, arriving about sundown. They were met at the beach by an electric launch, one of whose passengers was a most attractive woman – Mrs. Hart – who, they learned for the first time, was to be her husband’s partner in the big game. They were taken at first to the hotel, but the news of the great game had crept out in some way and the summer people were in a great state of excitement. Consequently, they decided to go to a vacant summer cottage near the hotel. The public was shut out, but the summer people clustered around the front walks and tried to peek, and waylaid the bell hop every time he came to the cottage with ice water.
CUT TO FIFTY POINTS. Promptly at 7 o’clock they sat down, and the game began. “For 1oo points?” asked one of the Nelsons, as Hart brought out the new glistening deck. “Oh, no; that’s too long,” said Hart, putting down the deck in consternation. “I couldn’t stand it playing that long.” Mr. Hart’s health is not of the best. At his objection, the Nelsons good naturedly agreed that the game should be half as long – fifty points. “Our only idea,” they said, “was to make it long enough so neither side could win on a streak of luck.” As Mrs. Hart’s slender fingers reached out to cut the deck. It is probable that each of the four saw, in fancy, a great pile of gold coins the equivalent of $15,000 heaped on that table between them. They each picked up a little section of the deck and turned the bottom card upward. Mrs. Hart had won the deal. She shuffled the deck lightly and sent little flurrying card showers across the polished table as she rapidly dealt the four hands. Hearts were trumps.
PICTURESQUE CONTRASTS. The contrasts of the whist game were picturesque. The Nelsons settled deep down in their chairs and scowled blackly at their cards. Out in Nevada they don’t worry much about what partners are doing. They hang to the trumps to the last and bring them in with a thundering volley. Leads and returns and signals are unexplored mysteries. They played with their heads down never looking up. Mrs. Hart and her husband played with intricate science. Mrs. Hart’s is a game of great brilliancy. Every signal known to European or American whist experts was as plain as a child’s alphabet to the opponents of the Nevada whist players. When Mrs. Hart dropped a deuce to the table, the Nelsons only looked at it with mild indifference and moodily returned to an abstracted consideration of their hands; but Mrs. Hart’s partner, schooled in the Improved American Leads, understood as plainly as though printed on a hand bill that his wife was fortified with four trumps. When a queen came down from Mrs. Hart’s hand, the Nelsons glittered with premature triumph. Out in Nevada, you don’t lead an honor unless it’s the ace. If a Nevada man leads a queen, you suspect him of selling you out. But to Mrs. Hart’s husband it was the whist experts’ signal that the lady held four honor cards.
LUCK VS. SCIENCE. For about thirty-five points, that whist game was like a tiger cat fighting a bear. This fancy whist strategy was too much for Nevada. The Nelsons plugged doggedly along – continually losing. Every time the bell boy came out with an empty ice water pitcher, the summer people fell upon him and learned the same thing. “Yas ‘um,” said the bell hop, excitedly. “Yas ‘um, SHE’S in the lead. Them desert gents is sittin’ on the edge of the chairs and HER score card looks as long as a telephone line.” Every time his report to the besieging summer people was the same. They proudly fancied that She had the sage-brush whist-players blown clear off the roof. But about midnight the bellhop left the ice-water pitcher behind in his excitement “Them Goldfield men is hittin’ an awful pace,” he said, “One of em – that young-looking feller – has a bunch of trumps you couldn’t stuff into a trunk, and SHE haint got nuthin’ but dueces ‘n three spots.”
TENSE SITUATION. No more rings came for ice water, but the situation got so tense that one of the summer girls snatched up a pitcher of ice water; thrust It into the bellhop’s hands, and fairly shoved him into the house again. He came out with eyes starting from his head. “Them fellers ‘ll pass her sure in the stretch; they ain’t got nuthin’ but trumps; they are gaining a lap every minute.” The game had now become tense. They were almost tied at forty points. All four players were outwardly cool and self-contained; between hands, they exchanged a few words of light talk as indifferently toned as though they were playing for toothpicks.
MAKING IT BLACKER. When they were almost neck and neck, Mrs. Hart, who was keeping score, appeared to make an extra mark opposite the Nelsons’ names. “Excuse me, Mrs. Hart” said one of the Nevada men gallantly; “but I think you have given us one point too many.” “Oh, no,” said Mrs. Hart smiling; “I was only making one of your score points blacker.” From the thirty-fifth point at which time the Harts were way ahead, luck turned blindly for the Nevada men. It seemed though they couldn’t hold anything but trumps. Mrs. Hart and her husband struggled splendidly; everything known to whist science was thrown out to block the blind, headlong luck of the desert men. At forty points, they were even. Then the real struggle began. The Nelsons shot ahead; then the Harts slowly fought their score up. A few minutes before 1 o’clock in the morning, an avalanche of trumps seemed to fan into the Nelsons’ hands. They made a brilliant finish, – scoring 61 to the Harts 47. The big game was over. They all sat back and exchanged glances. How would the woman “take” the loss of $15,000 by four points? Without a sigh or an unpleasant word, Mrs. Hart swept the cards from the table; brushed off her dress and slightly yawned. “Aren’t you tired? Now you must all be my guests at a little supper?” she said lightly. “Honest truth,” said one of the Nelsons, yesterday, “we were ashamed to beat, but the cards all seemed to come our way.”(Los Angeles Times, August 7, 1908).

Susie G. Hart, aged fifty-five years (b. Canada), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included her children, Maude S. Hart, an electric stenographer, aged twenty-three years (b. WA), John E. Hart, a claims bureau stenographer, aged twenty years (b. WA), and Elsie M. Hart, a photograph studio retoucher, aged eighteen years (b. WA). They resided at Suite C of “The Peabody” on Ashmont Street. Susie G. Hart was the mother of three children, of whom three were still living.

George E. Hart, a real estate investor, aged fifty years (b. NH), headed a Los Angeles, CA, household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of seven years), May E. Hart, aged thirty-six years (b. Canada), his children, Victor Hart, aged thirteen years (b. MA), and Juanita Hart, aged five years (b. CA), and his servant, Marie Carlson, a private family servant, aged twenty-five years (b. Sweden). George E. Hart owned their house t 619 West Lake Avenue, free-and-clear. May R. Hart was the mother of two children, of whom two were still living.

Niece Sally J. “Juanita” Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, March 21, 1912.

VITAL RECORD. DEATHS. HART. At Alhambra, March 21, 1912, S. Juanita, daughter of George E. and May E. Hart, aged 7 years, 9 months. Funeral private, at the residence, No. 201 Bouth Bonnie Brae, Saturday at 2 o’clock (LOs Angeles Times, March 23, 1912).

John F. Hart died in 1916.

Sister Harriet A. (Hart) Fox died in Wells, ME, December 13, 1918.

Susan G. Hart, a widow, aged sixty-five years (b. Canada), headed a Los Angeles, CA, household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. Her household included her children, Maude S. Hart, an oil company secretary, aged thirty-two years (b. WA), John E. Hart, an office auditor, aged thirty years (b. WA), and Elsie M. Hart, aged twenty-seven years (b. WA). Susie G. Hart owned their house at 2634 17th Street, with a mortgage. She had arrived in the United States in 1875 and had been naturalized in 1885.

Daughter Elsie M. Hart died of illuminating gas asphyxiation in Los Angeles, CA, February 17, 1920, aged twenty-eight years.

YOUNG WOMAN, ILL, INHALES GAS, DIES. FOUND LOCKED IN BATHROOM WITH REVOLVER BY HER SIDE. Apparently despondent over ill health, Miss Elsa M. Hart, 24 years old, ended her life by inhaling illuminating gas in the bathroom of her home at 2634 West Seventeenth street, last night, according to the report of detectives from University Police Station. The body was taken to the Ivy Overholtzer undertaking parlors. Miss Hart had been ill with influenza for some time, but appeared in good spirits yesterday afternoon, according to her mother. Mrs. Hart left her late in the afternoon to go the grocery store and upon her return, about an hour later, found all doors to the house locked. Thinking that her daughter had gone out for a few minutes, Mrs. Hart waited on the doorstep for her return, according to the police report. At 6 p.m. her son, John Hart, arrived home, and when told by his mother that all the doors were locked, he broke open the bathroom window and climbed through. He found his sister lying in the bathtub, with an automatic revolver in the bathtub beside her and the room full of illuminating gas from a tube attached to the gas heater. The revolver had not been discharged. Dr. A W. Hitt was summoned from his office in the Story Building. He used a lung-motor but the victim died within a few minutes. She is survived by her mother, her brother and a sister (Los Angeles Times, February 18, 1920).

Brother George E. Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, June 24, 1920. Sister-in-law May E. ((((Guertin) Jalbert) Hart married (3rd) in Long Beach, CA, September 30, 1920, Henry F. Burmester.

MRS. HART AND H.F. BURMESTER MARRIED. Cards received in this city today announce the marriage of Mrs. May Evelyn Hart and Henry Finch Burmester solemnized in Riverside last Thursday. Both have a wide circle of friends in this city. Burmester has resided at 1908 East Ocean boulevard since coming to this city a little less than two years ago. She has spent much of her time in Los Angeles of recent years and has been active in the Ebell and Friday Morning clubs of that city, and is a golf enthusiast and player of exceptional ability. Mrs. Burmester is a descendant of Francis Scott Key, author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and a member of the Key family of Maryland. Mr. Burmester is a graduate of the University of Utah and is one of the best-known newspaper men on the Pacific coast. He joined the staff of The Press two years ago and some months later became city editor, which position he held up to few weeks ago. He will rejoin The Press staff within a few months. Mr. and Mrs. Burmester are spending their honeymoon at Big Bear lake but expect to return to Long Beach to make their home by November 1 (Long Beach Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), [Thursday,] October 7, 1920).

Long Beach Man Sues for Divorce and Settlement. By a “Times” Staff Correspondent. LONG BEACH, Jan. 27. H.F. Burmester, former president of the local Chamber of Commerce yesterday filed two actions against his wife, May Evelyn Burmester. One asks a divorce, charging cruelty. The other asks $200,000, asserted to be half the rentals of her property since September, 1920, when they were married. An accounting and temporary restraining order are asked. Burmester asserts that at the time of their marriage, his wife induced him to leave his position as city editor of a local newspaper to manage and direct her property, then valued at $200,000. He says that largely through his efforts the property, which consists of a large beach cottage resort, is now worth $400,000. In his divorce action he says his wife nagged him, complained when he attended official dinners instead of coming home to eat, and on one occasion called her adult son to eject him from his home (Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1927).

Susan (Gilliatt) Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, March 4, 1929.

DEATHS. HART. At 2634 West Seventeenth street, March 4, Susan O. Hart, loving mother of Maude S. and John E. Hart of this city. Funeral services Wednesday, March 6. at 10:30 a.m., from the chapel of R.C. Dellenbaugh & Co., 630 Venice Boulevard (Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1929).

Daughter Maude S. Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, May 11, 1929.

DEATHS. HART. Funeral services for Maude Susan Hart will be held today at 1:30 p.m. from the chapel of R.C. Dellenbaugh & Co., 630 Venice Boulevard (Los Angeles Times, May 15, 1929).

Sister-in-law May E. ((((Guertin) Jalbert) Hart) Burmester) Pharr, aged fifty-nine years (b. TX), headed a Los Angeles, CA, household at the time of the (1940) Federal Census. She owned her house at 17 West Seaside Street. (Her son, Victor K. Hart, an apartment and hotel manager, aged forty-three years (b. MA), rented his family’s residence at 9 West Seaside Street).

Sister-in-law May E. ((((Guertin) Jalbert) Hart) Burmester) Pharr died in San Bernadino, CA, May 17, 1940.

Mrs. May Pharr Taken by Death. Mrs. May Evelyn Pharr, prominent for many years in women’s organizations of the city and who owned extensive real estate properties here, died this noon at her Lake Arrowhead home. Her son, Victor K. Hart and wife, were with Mrs. Pharr when the end came. The body is being returned to the J.J. Mottell Mortuary, which will announce funeral arrangements. The well-known club figure was a native of Texas and came to Long Beach in 1916. She also had resided in Los Angeles. The Venetian Square Apartments were among the many properties owned by Mrs. Pharr. Survivors include a brother, M.K. Guertin, Long Beach, and an aunt and uncle here, Mr. and Mrs. Samuiel D. Miller (Long Beach Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), May 17, 1940).

Son John E. Hart died in Los Angeles, CA, October 15, 1944, aged fifty-five years.

U.S. Employee Found Dead in Parked Auto. John Hart, 55, of 1909 W. Adams Blvd., yesterday was found dead in his car parked at an isolated part of Mulholland Cove in the Hollywood Hills in what police said apparently was suicide by carbon monoxide gas piped by a hose from his automobile’s exhaust. He had been employed as an accountant In the U.S. Bureau of Internal Revenue, officers said. He left no notes (Los Angeles Times, October 18, 1944).

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References:

Find a Grave. (2012, October 13). George Edward Hart. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/98826261/george-edward-hart

Find a Grave. (2005, June 26). John Fox Hart. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/11237361/john-fox-hart

Find a Grave. (2021, October 8). Robert H. Pike. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/232830852/robert-h-pike

Hunt, Herbert. (1916). Tacoma: Its History and Its Builders; a Half Century of Activity. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=MYEUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA135

Krieder, Eugene G. (1895). Washington Reports: Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of Washington. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=VnwtAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA303

Wikipedia. (2022, June 20). Panic of 1893. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893