Following the so-called "Patriot's Rebellion" of 1812, the son of treacherous William Hart, Isaiah David Hart, married Nancy Nelson in 1818 and settled with her at King's Ferry in East Florida, near where the old King's Road crossed the St. Marys River.
After the United States finally succeeded in annexing Florida, Isaiah saw an increase in traffic on the road as settlers came south from Georgia and the Carolinas into the new Florida Territory. He realized that the location offered economic opportunities and on May 18, 1821, Isaiah bought 18 acres of land for $72 worth of cattle. He built a store-cum-tavern that served as his residence, as well as a riverfront dock called Hart's Landing. Over the years, Isaiah became prosperous enough to establish himself as a man of means.
When Duval County was incorporated in 1822, Isaiah saw more opportunities for development and persuaded his neighbors to found a new town, naming it Jacksonville after Gen. Andrew Jackson, the provisional governor of the Florida Territory. By this time, Isaiah had become prominent enough that, he was appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal of East Florida, and in 1826 as the Clerk of the County Court, an office he held until 1845. He successively held public office as postmaster, commissioner of pilotage (whatever that is), and judge of elections in Duval County.
By 1830, Isaiah owned four slaves and managed his own farming and ranching operations, as well as a timber business. He continued to buy more real estate and by the mid-1830s had acquired 2,000 acres of land ten miles west of Jacksonville, where he established a plantation called "Paradise." His various enterprises prospered and as his fortune increased, he invested in railroads and banks, and bought more slaves, eventually owning 57 human beings. I doubt the plantation felt like "Paradise" to his 57 slaves.
During the Second Seminole War, he served as a major in the local militia, and in 1839 was elected to the Florida Territorial Senate. Although a slave owner himself, he vocally supported the Union and opposed secession, consequently becoming one of the founders of the Florida Whig Party.
By the time Isaiah died in 1861, he was was one of the richest men in Florida. He owned extensive real estate in north Florida, and had substantial stockholdings in the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad, the Jacksonville Natural Gas Company, the Bank of St. Johns County, and a steamship line, as well as owning numerous slaves.
Isaiah Hart is remembered as the founder of Jacksonville, Florida, but it should also be remembered that he also owned slaves on a plantation and killed indigenous Americans during the Seminole Wars.
Isaiah's son, Ossian B. Hart, was active in the Republican Party (back when the Republicans were the progressive party of Lincoln), and became the tenth governor of Florida in 1873.
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