Edward Lee Hart was born in Chatham County, North Carolina, on a December 9, 1868. Hart was a longtime business owner and civic leader in North Wilkesboro (Wilkes County), where he served as a town and school commissioner, as chief of police (1900 & 1915-1917), and as mayor (elected 1917). He died at his home in North Wilkesboro on July 13, 1931.