Francis Brett (Hart) Harte (1836 - 1902)

Born 25 Aug 1836 in Albany, Albany, New York, United States

Ancestors

Died 5 May 1902 at age 65 in Camberley, England, UK

Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1836[1] – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern U.S. to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but his Gold Rush tales have been most often reprinted, adapted, and admired.

Biography

Frank (Hart) Harte is Notable.

Francis Brett Harte, named after his great-grandfather, Francis Brett, was born at Albany in the State of New York, on August twenty-fifth, 1836. By his relatives and early friends he was called Frank; but soon after beginning his career as an author in San Francisco, he signed his name as “Brett,” then as “Bret,” and finally as “Bret Harte.” “Bret Harte,” therefore, is in some degree a nom de guerre, and it was commonly supposed at first, both in the Eastern States and in England, to be wholly such. When he was young, his father, Henry, changed the spelling of the family name from Hart to Harte. Henry's father was Bernard Hart, an Orthodox Jewish immigrant who flourished as a merchant, becoming one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange.[3]

Although, by the time Bret left California, his oval face bore small-pox scars and his abundant dark hair was already streaked with gray, he was a handsome, distinguished-looking man, who carried his slight, upright figure with a quiet elegance. His was a low, rich, well-modulated voice. His handwriting was small, firm and graceful.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bret_Harte
• http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34940/34940-h/34940-h.htm
• https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/bret-harte-7066.
• https://www.geni.com/people/Bret-Harte/6000000029423004929
• https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/bret-harte