View source for John De Hart

{{Short description|American judge}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{similar names|John Hart (disambiguation)}}
[[File:John De Hart.jpeg|thumb|right|250px|Portrait of John De Hart]]
'''John De Hart''' (July 25, 1727 – June 1, 1795) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]. He represented [[New Jersey]] as a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] in 1774 and 1775 and signed the [[Continental Association]].

==Biography==
De Hart was born at Elizabethtown (since renamed as [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]) to Jacob De Hart (1699–1777) and Abigail (Crane) De Hart. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1770. He married Sarah Dagworthy, and they had eight children (John, Jacob, Matthias, Stephen, Sarah, Abigail, Jane, and Louisa).

In 1774 he was named as a delegate to the [[First Continental Congress]]. While he supported the [[Continental Association|non-importation agreement]] and the first [[petition to the King]], he was in favor of reconciliation. He was returned to the [[Second Continental Congress|Second Congress]] in 1775, but as differences with [[Great Britain]] became more pronounced, the Congress began to adopt a harder line. Finally, on November 13, 1775, he wrote his resignation to the [[New Jersey General Assembly]], and they accepted it on November 22.

In 1776, New Jersey began crafting an independent government. De Hart attended the convention and served on the committee that drafted the [[New Jersey State Constitution]] in June. He was appointed to serve on the [[Supreme Court of New Jersey|New Jersey Supreme Court]] on September 4, 1776, but also made a living practicing law. Governor [[William Livingston]] replaced him in February 1777 for failing to attend court sessions.

De Hart's last act of public service was as [[Mayor of Elizabeth, New Jersey]] (then Elizabethtown). He was elected in November 1789 and served until his death. He died at his home in 1795 and is buried in [[St. John's Episcopal Church (Elizabeth, New Jersey)|St. John's Episcopal Churchyard]] in Elizabeth. The home that he built in 1766 and lived in for 29 years was called the ''De Hart House'' and stood at the intersection of Rahway Avenue and Cherry Street in Elizabeth.

His daughter Abigail married John Mayo, a prominent Virginia planter, and had a daughter, Maria D. Mayo, who was married to General [[Winfield Scott]].

==External links==
*{{CongBio|D000199|John De Hart}}
*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/dehart-deland.html#S0619HM60 John De Hart] at [[The Political Graveyard]]

{{Signers of the Continental Association}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dehart, John}}
[[Category:1727 births]]
[[Category:1795 deaths]]
[[Category:Continental Congressmen from New Jersey]]
[[Category:18th-century American judges]]
[[Category:18th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:18th-century mayors of places in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Mayors of Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Union County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Lawyers from colonial New Jersey]]
[[Category:Signatories of the Continental Association]]


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