HARDY, WILL – Friends of Geer Cemetery

1880–1 October 1923

Last updated: 12 Oct 2022

You can find the Hardy surname everywhere in Eastern North Carolina at the turn of the twentieth century, among whites and African Americans alike. In Pitt County, where Will Hardy was born, the 1860 Slave Schedule shows eight slaveholders named Hardy, holding a total of 103 slaves.¹ Nearby Bertie County, in a listing of its largest slaveholders, has three named Hardy, accounting for over 150 enslaved people.²

To give you an idea of how common the name is in the region, the 1916–1917 Greenville City Directory lists seven African Americans named Hardy or Hardee.³ The equivalent Durham directory, for a city four times the size of Greenville, shows none.⁴

Even given that background, it’s remarkable that we found two different Will Hardys born in Eastern North Carolina in the 1880s, both with fathers named Will Hardy, both with wives named Dora. The Will Hardy Jr. that’s buried in Geer Cemetery (Will 1) was born in 1880, was married to the former Dora Dupree (and eventually to two others), and his mother’s name was Henretta [sic].⁵ Will 2 was born in 1886, was married to the former Dora Mitchell, and his mother’s name was Caroline. Will 2 had at least two children, Herman (b. 1908) and Francis (a.k.a. Fannie, b. 1910).⁶ As far as we can tell, Will 1 had no children.

We know almost nothing about Will 1’s parents or early life. His parents were most likely enslaved. His mother’s maiden name was Dawson.⁷ We don’t know if he had any siblings. He spent nearly all of his life in Pitt County, whose county seat is Greenville, where he worked as a farmer. We know even less about his first wife, but a 1916 death certificate for Dora Hardy of Belhaven NC (50 miles east of Greenville) is quite possibly that of Dora Dupree Hardy. Their ages match, and we know that the other Dora, Dora Mitchell Hardy, lived on until 1966.⁸ The circumstances of Dora of Belhaven are somewhat mysterious. Her death was due to accidental drowning, while working as a chambermaid at a hotel in Belhaven. No information was given on the certificate for her address, date of birth, or parents.⁹

In any case, Will 1 and Dora had already separated by 29 December 1909, when Will married Claudia Carmon, age 19, in the Winterville Township of Pitt County.¹⁰ We can’t find any record of Will and Claudia as a couple after that—by 1920 Will was living alone on a farm in Winterville.¹¹ Claudia eventually married Aaron Fleming and died in Winterville in 1957.¹²

In 1921, Will married for a third time. His wife was Rosa Lee Thompson, also of Winterville, age 26.¹³ Sometime after the wedding, the couple moved to Durham. Will was working in a factory there when he died of pneumonia on 1 October 1923, at age 43.¹⁴ Rosa was the informant on his death certificate, where she listed their address as 117 Willard Street, Durham. Oddly, there is no mention of either of them in the Durham city directories between 1920 and 1922. The only occupant listed at 117 Willard Street in 1923 is a tobacco worker named Melvin Bryant.¹⁵ There is a William Hardy, also a tobacco worker, listed for 1923 with the address of 807 Colfax, and a Willie Hardy, factory hand, at 317 1/2 Dowd in 1924. We have no compelling reason to believe that either man is Will 1.¹⁶

As for Rosa Lee, she seems to disappear after Will’s death into the throng of North Carolina Hardys.

BORN: 1880.¹⁸

DIED: 1 October 1923.¹⁹

BIRTH PLACE: Pitt County NC.²⁰

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.²¹

SPOUSE: Dora Dupree, Claudia Carmon, Rosa Lee Thompson.²²

PARENTS: Will Hardy Sr. and Henretta Dawson.²³

CHILDREN: None.

OTHER FAMILY: N/A

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: N/A

OCCUPATION: Farmer, laborer.²⁴

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 117 Willard Street, Durham, NC.²⁵

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A

Notes

1
“United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WK55-3ZZM : 16 October 2019), John Hardy, 1860.
2
“Bertie County, North Carolina: Largest Slaveholders from 1860 Slave Census Schedules,” rootsweb (https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~ajac/genealogy/ncbertie.htm : accessed 9 Oct 2022).
3
The Greenville NC City Directory 1916–1917 (Greenville, NC: The Commercial Service Company, 1916–1917); digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25613 : accessed 7 Oct 2022).
4
Durham, NC Directory 1915-1916 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1915-1916) p. 211, Hardy surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25122 : accessed 7 Oct 2022).
5
Birthdate and mother’s name: Will Hardy death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2271914:1121 : accessed 19 Sep 2022. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Will and Dora marriage license: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2878064:60548 : accessed 5 Oct 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.
6
Birthdate and children: Year: 1910; Census Place: Speights Bridge, Greene, North Carolina; Roll: T624_1107; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0038; FHL microfilm: 1375120. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/156037550:7884 : accessed 4 Oct 2022. Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: https://www.archives.gov/research/census.

Wife’s maiden name: Fannie Mae Hardy Ward (Will 2’s daughter) death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/750328285:1121 : accessed 6 Oct 2022. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Mother’s name: Caroline Hardy death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/451650040:1121 : accessed 4 Oct 2022. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.
7
Will and Claudia marriage license: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/11652054:60548 : accessed 10 Oct 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.
8
Dora Mitchell Hardy death certificate.
9
North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina; North Carolina Death Certificates. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/374448:1121 : accessed 4 Oct 2022. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.
10
Will and Claudia marriage license.
11
Year: 1920; Census Place: Winterville, Pitt, North Carolina; Roll: T625_1315; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 59. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/32904331:6061 : accessed 4 Oct 2022. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).
12
Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1121/images/S123_440-1896 : accessed 10 Oct 2022. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.
13
Will and Rosa marriage license: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/5640163:60548 : accessed 10 Oct 2022. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. Note that Will’s surname is misspelled as “Horder.”
14
Will Hardy death certificate.
15
Hill Directory Co.’s (Incorporated) Durham, NC City Directory 1923 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1923) p. 163; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25146 : accessed 9 Oct 2022).
16
Various Durham city directories, 1920–1924.
17
Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), photographed by Friends of Geer Cemetery, 9 Mar 2021. Used by permission.
18
Will Hardy death certificate.
19
Will Hardy death certificate.
20
Will Hardy death certificate.
21
Will Hardy death certificate.
22
Dora: Will and Dora marriage license; Claudia: Will and Claudia marriage license; Rosa: Will and Rosa marriage license.
23
Will Hardy death certificate.
24
Farmer: 1920 US Census Winterville. Laborer: Will Hardy death certificate.
25
Will Hardy death certificate.