One trick for searching newspapers for information is to look for articles other than birth, wedding, and obituaries. Instead, look for wedding anniversaries and birthdays. The longer an individual lived or was married, the more likely there was to be an article about the event. I have to confess, though, that I found this while searching for William J. Hardy.
This article about my great-grandmother Louise (Davis) Dendy's nephew, William Thomas Hardy, is rich in family detail. On the surface, it does not seem to be about my direct ancestors. However, when the Hardys moved from East Texas to West Texas, my great-great grandparents, Eli Van Buren Davis and Mary LaVaney Yarberry, also made the move. In her old age, my great-great grandmother lived with her daughter, Mary Elizabeth, and son-in-law, William J. Hardy. Thus, William Thomas Hardy's recollections of his childhood are very pertinent.
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| Tulia Herald Tulia, Texas Thurs. 8 Oct 1981 |
William Thomas Hardy Preferred The Outdoors
The father of William Thomas Hardy Sr. wanted him to study to work in a bank, but the young man, who had grown up helping his dad farm and ranch, had other ideas about his future.
“I was too much of an outdoors person for that,” said Hardy, a resident of Scott Apartments since 1969, “I wanted to do something outside. So farming and ranching became his lifetime occupation.
Hardy will be 90 years old Thursday, Oct. 8, and he is still doing a little work in the out-of-doors he always loved. He mows the grass for apartment owner, Faye Scott Cobb, and for his son, William Thomas Hardy Jr. and wife Lou, who are living in the former S.J. Payne residence at 201 N. Floyd St. Hardy also does a few maintenance jobs such as repairing air conditioners.
As Hardy did not want a big celebration on his birthday, his family will be with him Sunday for a quiet get-together and dinner in the home of his son. In addition to Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Hardy Jr., present will be their son and his wife, Bill and Barbara Hardy, and two boys, Heath 8, and Drew, of Fritch. Drew, who will be 6, and his great-grandfather celebrate their birthdays together. Lou Hardy’s mother, Mrs. S.J. Payne, will be a guest.
Also coming will be Hardy’s daughter, Ethel Loraine Weeks, and husband, Alton, of Pasadena, Texas. He has three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, and a step-daughter, Mrs. Joe F. Williamson of Gatesville. Hardy has two sisters, Kate Carson of Tulia, and Dora Hankins of Amarillo, and a brother, Charlie Hardy of Tulia. Three of Hardy’s sisters, Doll Wheeler and Alice Newby, both of Tulia, and Myrtie Bain, are deceased.
Hardy was born Oct. 8, 1891 close to DeKalb in Bowie County, he went to school at Giles which then was between Hedley and Memphis, but no longer exists. After about three years there, Hardy’s dad bought land seven miles northeast of Hedley and Hardy walked a mile to the Nubbin Ridge School. A section of land that his father purchased in the early days for $400 he later sold for $800 and today the waterworks of Memphis, Texas are on this section.
“There was a big stockyard about a mile out of Giles,” remembered Hardy. “My brother, Charlie, and I, when we were just little kids, would walk down there and then ride back on the freight train after it was loaded with cattle.”
Hardy recalled that at one time there were over 10,000 head of cattle on one section of land there. The creek that ran through the area, provided a watering place for the cattle.
“We used to go swimming every day,” Hardy reminisced “and Charlie and I would swim in the big swimming hole. I’ve ridden a horse since I could sit on one.”
Hardy attended Baptist College at Goodnight, Texas two years and while there sang in a quartet with D. M. Wiggins, former president of Texas Tech University, Warren Clement, retired receptionist of Texas Tech, and Lee Thomas. Hardy does not know what became of Thomas. The quartet usually sang religious songs.
“I learned what little music I knew at a singing school one time,” Hardy commented. He sang in a church choir most of his life and also led the choirs in Baptist churches in Wheeler County and Texline after his marriage May 16, 1916 to Minnie Ellen Finsterwald.
“Minnie’s dad gave us a piano when we married,” stated Hardy. “That piano has been everywhere and Lou has it now. Minnie played the piano and on Sundays neighbors would come and have singing.” Hardy used to play the French harp.
Hardy and Minnie lived in Wheeler County until 1929 and then bought a section of land west of Dalhart. They made one crop there in seven years and lost everything, so Hardy went to work in Borger first digging a pipe line and then doing carpenter work. In 1937 they came from Borger to Tulia.
Before the tractor came in use, Hardy could plow 10 acres a day with a team of horses and mules. He remembers the big black duster of the 1930s. When he walked to the barn he could not see the carbide light that shone in front of the house. He had gone to the far pasture to get 25 milk cows for the evening milking when the duster hit. Hardy said it was so dark he got lost until he found the cows’ trail and got on his hands and knees and crawled back to the house.
“The cows found their way home in the dark and beat me to the lot,” Hardy recalled. “There was no wind but dust out of the big dark clouds settled on me. I thought the world had come to an end.”
After Minnie’s death Oct. 26, 1953, Hardy married Jessie Frankie Bone, May 26, 1955. The lived in Waco three years and then in Gatesville until his wife’s death Feb. 18, 1969. Then he moved back to
Tulia. Hardy is a member of the Grace Temple Baptist Church of Waco.
Always a sports lover Hardy played right guard and end on his college football team, center field on the baseball team and center on the basketball team. He now enjoys watching games on television.
