Hart, Myer

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HART, MYER

HART, MYER (d. 1797), early American merchant, and a founder of the town of Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1752. Hart, an immigrant to the colonies, prospered with the town, and by 1763 was Easton's largest taxpayer and civic leader. Although he became a British subject in 1764, he actively supported the American Revolution. Hart was appointed to the Pennsylvania State Commission charged with the care of British prisoners of war, and in 1778 he testified that, despite contradictory reports, the Englishmen were well treated. In 1782 he moved to Philadelphia; his business there failed some years later.

bibliography:

E. Wolf and M. Whiteman, History of the Jews of Philadelphia (1957), index; Rosenbloom, Biogr Dict, s.v. incl. bibl.

[Neil Ovadia]

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