Timothy James Hart was born 14 March 1834 in Chariton County, probably the fifth child of Caleb and Sarah (Lawson) Hart. We know nothing about his early life in Missouri, excepting that his mother passed away before 1842. By 1847, his family had emigrated to Collin County, Texas as part of the Peters Colony. Timothy got to experience what must have been the great adventure of being part of a family settling "virgin" land.
We know from history excerpts that the Hart home was a religious home and that Timothy James received a Christian upbringing. His father, Caleb, opened their home in 1847 to the first meeting of the Presbyterian faithful in Collin County. Later in 1852, the Hart family was part of establishing the Walnut Grove Presbyterian Church. This church was still holding worship services up through August 1978, when the author visited.
Timothy married Mary A. "Polly" Adamson on 21 July 1858. They had two sons - Lorenzo Dow, born 4 September 1859 in Montague County, Texas, and Lowery Adams, born 2 July 1861. Polly died from complications with this birth on 12 July 1861. Lowery died on 3 November 1863.
Timothy then married Sarah Ann Welborn on 10 June 1864 in Cooke County, Texas. To them were born 3 sons and 5 daughters - Saphronia "Fronia," born 16 March 1866; Joe Ann, born 14 March 1868; John Caleb, born 17 January 1870; James Timothy, born 26 December 1871; Nora Francis, born 1 February 1874; Erlon Frederick, born 20 December 1875; Ruth Ann, born 20 November 1881; and Lee Pearl, born 27 December 1885. All of these children are believed to have been born in Cooke County, Texas. Two of the daughters, Joe Ann and Alta, died in childhood.
We have some brief glimpses into the life of Timothy James. James Ruben Hart, eldest son of James Timothy, wrote the following in 1955:
"Biography of Timothy James Hart. All that is known of Timothy James Hart, at
present, follows: {much of this information was furnished by Lorenzo Dow Hart, Jr., as he
could recall what his father told him.) Timothy James Hart was affectionately called
'Uncle Tim;" he was very fond of harmony music; he came from Virginia but no one
seems to remember where in Virginia or just when and where he settled, more than is stated
about the place of his death; he made a trip back to that state possibly during the 1880's
and presumably on the first railroads to come to Texas; his father went to California,
probably before the Civil War -- during the 1849 Gold Rush -- where he and his party
became stranded due to a hard winter, after which a party was made up and went to their
rescue. Timothy James Hart was killed when his horse fell with him on April 8, 1890, and
he was buried at Antelope, Jack County, Texas."
Another brief excerpt has been found written 25 October 1958. There is no indication who wrote it, but it was also probably put together by James Ruben Hart:
Timothy James hart came from Virginia – (not known where).
Tim Hart’s father went to California. (northern California) – got snowed
in with no money; citizens of his home county (probably in Virginia) sent him money to get
him home. [told to Dow by his father.]
Tim Hart was run out of his home in north central Texas as a result of some kind of
feud. Think he went to Indian Territory & stayed 2 yrs. before coming home.
– L.D. to Dow.
Tim Hart made a train trip back to Virginia one time, shortly after railroads were built
into Texas. Told L.D. “when the train went around those mountains, it looked
like it would fall off down into nothing.”
The story about the "feud" helps explain why Timothy is located away from the rest of the family and has not been found in Texas on the U. S. Census of 1860. According to this story, he was in Indian Territory, probably during the time of the 1860 U. S. Census, living there with his first wife, Polly. Much of his adult life appears to have been spent along the border between Texas and Indian Territory - Cooke County and Montague County.
While doing research to uncover the Welborn family ancestry, the author found the following two excerpts from probate records in Cooke County, Texas, which give us a little glimpse into what life was like for the Hart family living there from the 1860s through the 1880s. They were written by Dr. John T. Wilbourn / Wilburn, who was reporting to the judge on his responsibilities as guardian of his grandchildren:
on 31 December 1866 (explaining to judge his being detained from filing the report on
time),
"... all fall to guard the Indians from my family and property ..."
on 29 November 1869,
"... but the great fire the other day on the prairies burned their farm up and their
place is now as worthless as wild land ..."
[Ed. Note - This is referencing the "little farm" left to Rufus'
children.] Rufus was the oldest son of John T.]
The threat of Indians during that period of time was still very real and the danger presented by prairie wildfires was one of the great fears of pioneers during this time in history.
There was a suggestion by one family researcher that T. J. Hart was in the Civil War as part of the Confederacy, fighting with a group of fellow Texans. The author has never found anything to substantiate this. He has found reference to a T. J. Hart from Texas in the Confederacy, but everything known about him suggests he is not our Timothy James Hart, starting with the fact his birth is recorded to have been in Georgia.
"T. J." as he seems to have preferred being called, was definitely not someone to trifle with however. The author, in a family history trip to Cooke County, found record of a trial where T. J. was accused of killing someone. He was found innocent by reason of self-defense, i.e. he did kill someone, but they provoked him. The author has not had time to fully transcribe the record of the trial, but recalls that the event took place near his property in the SW corner of Cooke County, near the border with Montague County. He rode up on his horse into a gathering of men to talk about a previously arranged deal for some cowhides or something like that. During the discussion, there was some dissatisfaction with quality or something and T. J. was approached from both sides by men he believed were intent to do him harm. He killed one and wounded the other and escaped on his horse. From the transcription record, there was the impression that these fellows were known by locals to not be of the best character.
For years, the author had known that Timothy James Hart was buried in Antelope Cemetery, just outside the small village of Antelope, Jack County, Texas. It was always a mystery why he was buried there, since there is no record of him ever having done any business in that county. One story indicated he may have been killed by Indians. However, his 97-year old granddaughter, during a visit by Sidney Field in April 2001, set the record straight. As the above story indicates [which she had in her possession], while riding through the area, Timothy James' horse stepped into a gopher hole and fell on him. We can speculate that the local people did not know who he was and could not get him back home to be buried, so he was buried there.
The author visited his gravesite on August 1978 and transcribed what was found on his stone. In a return visit in January 2001, the stone, while still standing, was all but illegible.
After his death, Timothy's family, with the exception of Saphronia "Fronia," started moving further West. The family has no record of why this migration took place. Fronia married [lathough no marriage record has ever been found] George W. Roberson in Cooke County, Texas in 1880. For awhile, they probably lived around the rest of the Hart family. Later, however, when the Hart family moved out to Lubbock and Hale County, Texas, before 1900, the Roberson family moved up into Indian Territory, settling in Pottawatomie County before 1895. [Ed. Note: George and Fronia are the author's 2nd-great grandparents.]
In the Dickens County Courthouse, Deed Record, Book 8 - 9, p. 315 and 410, there are two purchases of land by "S. A. Hart" for $5.00 each. They are two lots of land in the town of Dickens and they were purchased on 19 April 1892 and 7 June 1892. Her step-son, Lorenzo Dow, was married for the second time in Dickens County on 24 May 1892 to Martha Elizabeth Carlisle - the mother of 8 of his children.
By the U. S. Census of 1900, Sarah had purchased land and was living in the southern part of Hale County near the present day town of Abernathy. Descendants still own property in the area. The rest of her children were married in Hale County and Lubbock County and there are many descendants of this large family still in West Texas. Prior to settling down, at least two of her children - John Caleb and Erlon Frederick "Lonnie" - were working as cattle drivers. There is a family story about their involvement in a locale NW of Lubbock called Hart Camp. Part of the pioneering spirit of this family is captured in the personal history of James Timothy Hart made by his son, Nolan Erlon. Please read it!
More of the pioneering spirit of the Hart family continued on through Timothy and Sarah's grandchildren, with some playing a role in establishing the area that today is known as Ruidoso Downs, Lincoln County, New Mexico. Three generations of the Hart family lived in the area at one time or another - Erlon Frederick "Lonnie" Hart, William Albert Hart, and Don Ross Hart - beginning before 1930.
Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr. • Last updated: 11 January 2003