Samuel Hart (1747 – October 3, 1810) was an American merchant and politician. Born in England to Jewish parents, he moved to Philadelphia, and later to Nova Scotia where he ran an import/export business.[1] It is here that he met Joseph "Weasel" Thomas, a highwayman,[2] who at the time was working as a carpenter, mostly producing tables and chairs out of the local Eastern White Pine. He was elected to the 7th General Assembly of Nova Scotia for the years 1793–1799, representing Liverpool Township.[3] When in 1798 Samuel's brother Moses Hart, working as a merchant in London, declared bankruptcy, the import/export business came under threat since Samuel had acted as a guarantor on some of his brother's debt obligations.[1] This financial pressure led Samuel to become a fence, using his export network to move valuables that Weasel had stolen during his robberies.[2]
This partnership was very successful, and by 1801 Samuel was fiscally stable enough that he had paid off all the mortgages on his properties in Nova Scotia.[1]
In 1809 he was declared legally insane and died, chained to the floor in his property, a year later.[1]