| Ossian Bingley Hart | |
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10th Governor of Florida
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| In office January 7, 1873 – March 18, 1874 |
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| Preceded by | Harrison Reed |
| Succeeded by | Marcellus Stearns |
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| Born | January 17, 1821 Jacksonville, Florida |
| Died | March 18, 1874 Jacksonville, Florida |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine Smith Campbell Hart |
Ossian Bingley Hart (January 17, 1821 – March 18, 1874) was the tenth governor of the U.S. state of Florida, and the first governor of Florida who was born in the state. Born in Jacksonville to Isaiah Hart, one of the city's founders, he was raised on his father's plantation along the St. Johns River. He was lawyer in Jacksonville. He moved to a farm near Fort Pierce in 1843. in the 1845, became Florida State Representative for St. Lucie County. In 1846 he moved to Key West where he resumed his law practice. In 1856, he moved to Tampa.
Despite his upbringing, Hart was a Republican and openly opposed secession from the United States, causing some difficult times for him during the American Civil War. Following the war, he helped reestablish the governments of the state and of the city of Jacksonville. In 1868, he was appointed a justice of the Florida Supreme Court. In 1870, he ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Congress, only to be elected governor two years later on January 7, 1873. He appointed Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs as Florida's first African American Superintendent of Public Instruction. Following the campaign, he fell ill with pneumonia and died in Jacksonville. He was succeeded by lieutenant governor Marcellus Stearns, Florida's last Republican governor until 1967.
References
- Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida
- Brown, Canter, Jr. Ossian Bingley Hart: Florida's Loyalist Reconstruction Governor. Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1997.
- Morris, Allen and Joan Perry Morris, compilers. The Florida Handbook 2007-2008 31st Biennial Edition. Page 313-4. Peninsula Publishing. Tallahassee. 2007. ISBN 978-0-9765846-1-2 Softcover ISBN 978-0-9765846-2-9 Hardcover.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Harrison Reed |
Governor of Florida January 7, 1873 to March 18, 1874 |
Succeeded by Marcellus L. Sterns |
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