Ossian B. Hart

Ossian Bingley Hart ( born January 17, 1821 in Jacksonville, Florida, † March 18, 1874 ) was an American lawyer and politician and from 1873 to 1874, the tenth Governor of the State of Florida.

Early years and political rise

Ossian Hart grew up on the plantation of his parents on the St. Johns River. He attended schools in Jacksonville, but also in Washington. After studying law, he was admitted as an attorney in Florida. His political career began in 1844 with his election to the House of Representatives of the Florida Territory. Hart was in Florida to the slaveholders, but he was a staunch supporter of the Union and against all secession plans. With this attitude he had in Florida increasingly a difficult time, especially during the Civil War.

Governor of Florida

After the war, Hart was a member of the Republican Party. He tried to participate in the rebuilding of the state. Under the provisions of the Reconstruction Act of 1867, he was charged with supervising the elections and the restoration of the administration. Since 1868, he was a judge on the state Supreme Court. He held this position until 1873. Meanwhile he had been nominated for the Republican candidate for the gubernatorial election of 1872. After the successful election, he took up his new post on January 7, 1873 as the successor to Harrison Reed.

In his tenure, improved the fiscal position of the state mainly because the governor sold government bonds and thus brought money into the treasury. In addition, a first, but still not sufficient Civil Rights Act was enacted. Hard but there was no time for further political reforms. He retired to pneumonia, where he died on 18 March 1873. His term was finished by his Deputy Governor Marcellus Stearns. Ossian Hart was married to Catherine Smith Campbell, with whom he had two children.