Richard James Hart-World War I Veteran

I was researching Richard Harte, the last family member to run the Ames Shovel Company, when I ran across Richard Hart, a World War I veteran from New York. Wait til you hear, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story.

Richard James Hart was born in Brooklyn in 1892. He left home for Nebraska in 1908 with the idea of joining a circus. A strong, muscular kid he traveled all over the mid-west with the circus working hard to lose his Brooklyn accent, learning to use a gun, and meeting Indians with whom he became fascinated. When the United States entered World War I, he quickly enlisted. His marksmanship and the discipline learned from the circus attracted attention and he was made a first lieutenant. His tour of duty was uneventful, but he could be proud that he was the only member of his family to serve his country.

After the war he returned to Nebraska and took up residence in Homer where in 1919 he rescued a young woman named Kathleen Winch and her family from a flash flood. He soon ended up marrying the girl and settled down in Homer. But "How Ya Going To Keep'em Down on the Farm after They've Seen Paree?" The veteran wanted more excitement in life and when Prohibition came into effect in 1920 he became a Prohibition enforcement agent. He soon got a reputation for aggressively smashing illegal stills in Nebraska where he also helped to keep the peace arresting horse thieves and other criminals. He got the nickname Two-Gun Hart for the pearl handled pistols he wore. In 1926 in addition to his work in Prohibition enforcement, he took a job with the U.S. Indian Service moving his wife and four sons to a series of reservations. During this time he is credited with bringing 20 killers to justice. Headlines across the Midwest built the legend of Two-Gun Hart and he even served as a bodyguard for President Coolidge when he visited the Black Hills.

Two years before Prohibition ended, Hart returned to Homer where he served for many years as town marshal and taught his sons and grandchildren a lot about hunting and the outdoor life. .

For many years Hart had no contact with his family, many of whom had moved from New York to Chicago. In the early 1940's he visited his brother's Ralph and John in Sioux City, Iowa. He then went on to Chicago to visit his elderly mother Theresa. It was only after that visit that he told his wife and children that his brother was another man who had skill leading men with guns-Alphonse Capone. In the early '20s Italian immigrants were subject to a lot of prejudice in farm country so James Vincenzo Capone became Richard Hart. Al's reign of terror had ended long before Richard's visit to Chicago. In fact, Al had been paroled in 1939 to live out his life with incurable syphilis. Richard and his son Harry finally met Al in Brookfield, Wisconsin in 1946. Al had only a few months to live and his disease had by then left him with the intellect of a 12 year old. Richard Hart died in 1952 from a heart attack. His eldest son, Richard, Jr. had been killed in action in World War II. Richard Hart-an American life that needs a movie!