Colonel DeHart's Ancestry Connected to 1775 Continental Congress

 Judge DeHart’s Connection to the Daughters of the American Revolution

By Diana Vice

It seems that whenever I engage in historical research of a Tippecanoe County, Indiana, subject there is a connection to the General de Lafayette Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, which is why I frequently declare that, “All roads lead to the DAR.” Such is the case for Judge Colonel Richard Patten DeHart. In 1905, the Lafayette Sunday Times reported that the Oliver Ellsworth Chapter and the General de Lafayette Chapter of the DAR held their annual outing at DeHart’s Lookout Lodge in West Lafayette.

“The event was held in commemoration of Flag Day,” the article stated. “The trip was made in a special car and about twenty-five of the Daughters attended. A basket lunch was served on the lawn in front of the cottage, and the husbands of the members were invited to partake. It was a most enjoyable affair and will be repeated each year by the D.A.R. chapters who are indebted to Colonel DeHart for his generous hospitality.”

Early Photo from the General de Lafayette DAR Archives

DeHart was especially proud of his impressive family history, which includes a descendancy from John DeHart (1728-1795), a member of the Continental Congress of 1775. This ancestor was also a lawyer and was one of the signers of the New Jersey Articles of Association in 1774. That year he was elected to the First Continental Congress. He was also elected Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court in 1776 and was Mayor of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, from 1789 until his death in 1795.

A May 12, 1906, news article from the Journal and Courier wrote about Judge DeHart’s reaction to receiving a photograph of the DeHart mansion from Elizabeth New Jersey.

“Col. R. P. DeHart, judge of the Tippecanoe County Circuit Court, received a present today that he treasures more than he would a suddenly acquired fortune. It is a large handsome photograph of the old DeHart mansion at Elizabeth, New Jersey, around which the Revolution raged. It was built by ancestors of Judge DeHart, and during the revolution, Jacob DeHart, his grandfather lived in the house. Less than a block away, Rev. Caldwell, a Presbyterian minister, was killed by the English soldiers. The mansion is built of stone and stands as erect and substantial as it did the day it was built. The lock on the front door weighs nine pounds and the stone walls still shows the defacement wrought by bullets. After the death of Jacob DeHart, Gideon DeHart, the judge’s father lived in the house.” Note: Dr. Gideon DeHart moved to Lafayette, Indiana, where he took a prominent and active part in political affairs. He was an “uncompromising foe to slavery, and one of the little band of abolitionists who earnestly battled against the aggressions of the ‘peculiar institution.’” (Pictured Right: Rev. James Caldwell)

Col. DeHart’s Death & Career (Lafayette Weekly Courier) – Fri., June 14, 1918

Richard Patten DeHart was born near Mason in Warren County, Ohio, on January 1, 1832. He was the son of Gideon and Malinda Patten DeHart, the latter of Cincinnati and the former of Elizabethtown, N.J.  He came to Indiana in 1855 and commenced teaching in Cass and Carroll Counties to raise means to enable him to prosecute his studies preparatory to the study of law, which profession he had chosen. After one year of untiring labor in teaching, he began his professional reading in the office of Hon. H. P. Biddle, of Logansport, Ind. At the close of two years, he commenced practice. In 1858 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Indiana, which position he filled until 1860, when he resigned his office and was nominated and elected to the state senate, representing the counties of Cass, Howard, and Pulaski. He served during the session of 1860-’61, after which he returned to Logansport, his place of residence. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union Army as a private soldier but was commissioned as adjutant of the regiment on September 18, 1861. He served in that position with his regiment in Kentucky and on the Mississippi, going through the Battles of New Madrid, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow and Memphis until October 18, 1862, when he was promoted and commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Ninety-ninth Indiana, in which capacity he served faithfully through Vicksburg and Jackson campaigns until September 1863, when he was detailed by order of the war department on recruiting service in Indiana. He spent the winter in recruiting work and on March 1, 1864, was commissioned to colonel of the 128^th Indiana Infantry, which he took to the front under General Hovey in the Atlanta campaign. (Pictured: General Alvin P. Hovey)

DeHart Was Seriously Wounded In Battle of Lost Mountain

His regiment distinguished itself at Resaca and other points in the movement upon Atlanta. Shortly after this, he was seriously wounded in the Battle of Lost Mountain, and after a journey of two weeks on a flat car, he reached Cincinnati. From there, he was brought to Lafayette, arriving on June 17, 1864, and was carried on a stretcher to the residence of his father-in-law, Col. R. C. Gregory. (Note: Former Indiana Supreme Court Justice) He finally recovered and not being able to resume active field duty, he was detailed on the commission to try the “Indiana Conspirators,” and at the conclusion of the trial he was mustered out of the service on April 28, 1865, with the commission of Brevet Brigadier General. Later he was congratulated for his bravery by General Alvin P. Hovey of Indiana, in the latter’s report to the war department made on June 9, 1864. After leaving the service, General DeHart commenced the practice of law in Lafayette, where he has lived continuously since 1865. He was reputed the foremost criminal lawyer in Indiana. At one time he resided on the West Side, but after donating much of his land to the state as an inducement for the establishing of the State Soldiers’ Home here and selling the land known as Tecumseh’s Trail to the Lafayette Street Car Co., he moved to this city. He was offered a commission as colonel in the Spanish-American War, but he refused to accept. The commission was taken by Governor Winfield Durbin. Gen. DeHart was elected to serve out the term of Judge W. C. L. Taylor, which he did and was then elected to the office of the circuit judge for two consecutive terms, thereby serving continuously for fourteen years. During his years on the bench Judge DeHart had never had a decision reversed by a higher court.

Knew U. S. Presidents

Judge DeHart was personally acquainted with Presidents Lincoln and Grant and was asked by President Roosevelt to accompany him and conduct his campaign throughout the middle west during his first tour. Under the administration of President Grant, he was appointed consul to San Diego, Cuba, which he refused. In 1896 he was offered the consul to France with headquarters in Calais. Judge DeHart was a member of the Loyal Legion of the United States Grand Army of the Republic, Knights of Pythias, Red Men and a member of the Constatine Chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity, which was established during the Civil War. Besides his widow there are four children who survive: Horace P. DeHart, of Washington, D.C.; Mrs. Jessie F. Cheek of Cameguay, Cuba; Mrs. C. A. Kurz, Jr., of Dayton, Ohio, and H. T. DeHart of this city. He also leaves four sisters and two brothers.

(This is Part 2 of 3 in the DeHart Series.) Check out Part One at this link: How a Local Civil War Hero Preserved the Tecumseh's Trail History