Isaiah David Hart – Jacksonville Blogger

Isaiah D. Hart’s Westside Plantation

(About 1840 near now called Marietta)

Isaiah D. Hart, the founder of Jacksonville died September 4, 1861 at the age of 68. He was born in Georgia before moving to King’s Ferry along the St. Marys River . He came to the Cowford, (former Jacksonville), planned and had platted the area into streets and a township in 1822. T. Frederick Davis, author of History of Jacksonville wrote: “At one time or another he owned nearly all the land now known as the old city, and the most of Springfield”. We know he also owned property in West Jacksonville out by Bulls Bay as documented in old records, by former historians and recently online at Wikitree.

It is believed that he had seen the business of Dawson and Buckles near the St. Johns River where two men who opened a general merchandise store and were finding success being near the place where people crossed, fording cows and the like. Hart purchased 18 acres of land in the area and established a town, now called Jacksonville, Florida.

As a young man, Hart was in favor of Spain returning Florida and joined in the Patriot raids which “raided Florida plantations for slaves and called and drove them northward into Georgia selling them”. About that time he married Nancy Nelson and as the United States took control of Florida Hart was busy securing land in the Cowford and other Florida areas beginning to make his fortune.

By 1840, Hart and his family were living on his Paradise plantation in West Jacksonville. According to a census taker in 1850 he was named as a “planter” with his estate being valued at $35,000 having 48 slaves(21 female and 27 male). By 1860 his owning had diminished having 12 female and 14 male slaves.

Hart had 8 children and at his death his son Ossian was assigned to settle his estate. Ossian chose to live at the plantation Hart owned on the outskirts of Jacksonville near Marietta in now West Jacksonville even though Isaiah had other property. These were Civil War years and change was on the rise.

The Civil War began in April of 1861 and with Hart’s passing in September of that year, times were beginning to change even in Florida. By the 1860’s, Hart was quite established.

The Civil War and the battle about emancipation was on the minds of many. Although two of the most significant battles did not occur in Florida until 1864 near Olustee and Lake City, Hart’s ,Paradise Plantation in West Jacksonville was only 40-50 miles from those battle areas. Change was on the rise.

Only 4 years before his death, in 1857 Hart added all of his property holdings to the Jacksonville map and established a public square. After his death the family deeded the village green which was known as City Park to the city. In 1800 Civil War veteran Charles C. Hemming installed a 62 foot tall confederate monument and the park was renamed Hemming Park about 1898 and remained so until the unrest of the police killing of George Floyd. This sparked outcry nationwide. In 2020, the City Council voted to change the name of Hemming Park to James Weldon Johnson Park in honor of a former Black Jacksonville musician and “accomplished resident.”

Ossian, Hart’s son had been born in Jacksonville in 1821. He was educated in Jacksonville and Washington, Dc according to the Governor’s Association. He studied law and was admitted into the Florida bar. Serving in the Florida Legislature as a one-term member in 1844 he became Florida supervisor of elections and helped in the restoration of the state. Hart was a Unionist and avoided the Confederate army due to medical concerns. When his father died, he managed his father’s property dividing the estate. His father was one of the richest men in Florida owning stocks in” the Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, the Jacksonville Natural Gas Company, the Banks of St. Johns County a steamship line, a great amount of property and 53 slaves” From that time of 1861 until after the Civil War, he worked in government serving in 1873 on the Supreme Court. He was elected the 10th Florida governor. Ossian’s position on slavery was in helping them and offering freedom as he managed his Father’s 30 year old plantation estate.

It is said that Hart’s slaves were freed after his death and when his son served as governor worked in an effort to help with the freedmen and new accomplishments and freedoms for Blacks. For example, Ossian Hart appointed the first Black superintendent of public instruction, Jonathan Gibbs during the Reconstruction era.

Ossian Hart came down with pneumonia while serving as Governor and died in office on March 18, 1874. He is buried next to his father in Evergreen Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida.

There’s so much more, so….

See you tomorrow,

SourcesL The Governors Association, Wikipedia, Ancestry, Canter Brown, T. Frederick Davis, Wikitree, Geological map, Florida Memory.

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January 5

Could That Be Isaiah D. Hart’s Wagon?

Indeed it was not but I could visualize just the same.

Found in the yard of Lachapelles off Bulls Bay Rd.

I felt as if I might have found a remnant of the old Isaiah David Hart Plantation which was called “Paradise” and located West of Bulls Bay in West Jacksonville, Florida in the 1800s. Of course, Hart himself would have more than likely been riding on a wooden buckboard, buggy or carriage. Hart established the town of Jacksonville, Florida along the River St. Johns in 1822. He is counted by many as the actual 7th resident in the city and his brother, Daniel being the 8th but Hart is most known for being responsible for platting the city and having the streets laid out for an actual town which was called Cowford .(There are some who say the 2nd resident but…). Cowford, as it was called, was at a narrow place in the river. Its renaming was later suggested by John Warren to be named after Andrew Jackson the first provisional governor. Hart grew the area and later had a thriving Plantation West of Jacksonville in near-now called Marietta.

Today, I witnessed tall and I mean huge pine trees, willowing moss hanging from the massive Oak trees, dirt roads and several tributaries seemingly flowing from the Cedar River. Birds of every kind, especially blue jays, were talking among themselves and flying all around. All of those were marked items describing Hart’s former, some 2,000 acre plantation. There was no obvious log cabin or out-buildings built in the mids 1800’s that were present in today’s visit to the Bulls Bay area, but there was a buggy that I could definitely envision Hart or maybe his son, Ossian, who also lived on this land and was the 10th Governor of Florida riding in. (I am quite sure that was not his either but I still could envision it).

Over the years, this rural area has been used for sand excavating, sewage disposal, solid waste, borrow pits, drainage, reservoirs, waste land, marsh, swamps, animal out-growth, and of late, a slew of trucking and auto businesses tucked often on dead-end streets along Bulls Bay, Commonwealth Avenue and Prichard Road. The majority of the land though is pristine and unbothered. There are acres and acres of tall timber and agricultural promise.

This seems to have been built in the 1920’s or later-

In 1999, the City of Jacksonville purchased 1,222 acres which is now called Bulls Bay Preserve. There are a lot of wetlands, and tributaries from the Trout River, Ortega River and Cedar Creek waterways.

The Baldwin- Rail Trail is on the edge of this area with opportunities to hike and ride mountain bikes in flat Florida. There is even a “small waterfall” which is highlighted on the JaxParks page.

Walking/Biking trail running East and West parallel to commonwealth.

You are encouraged to visit the area where Jacksonville ’s founder once lived.

See you tomorrow,

Sources:

JaxParks, Visit Jacksonville, Jacksonvilleblogger.com, Wagon- Guy Lachepelle

Go visit: 8017 Old Plank Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32220

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