X00327 Update

I posted previously about X00327: Joseph Wood Hardy. I have since found an article that talks about the suicide:

It gives a little more information but doesn't give any more information either way.

X00327: Researching Joseph Wood Hardy born about 1878

I was researching Joseph Hardy, son of William Hardy and Sarah Elizabeth Irwin who was born about 1878 in Peel Region, Ontario. Unfortunately I don't have an exact date of birth - the Hardy family didn't seem to be great at officially registering vital events - but I know from the 1881 Census that he was born about 1878 [D01370].

When I was doing research on another son of William Hardy and Sarah Elizabeth Irwin, Irwin Hardy (1869-1947), I found a gravestone for an Erwin Hardy and a Della Haas Hardy in Kent, Portage County, Illinois, USA. In the photos, you can see that there is a third grave marker, one for a "Joseph Wood Hardy 1879-1934)" and is marked as "Brother".

So, it would seem that this is the same Joseph Hardy that I am researching and his year of death is 1934.

One hint on Ancestry was for a death record for a Joseph Hardy who died by suicide in Chicago 24 January 1934:

Of course, Joseph Hardy is not an uncommon name, and the death record doesn't give much to go on to identify him as the correct Joseph Hardy: no parents listed and birth place is no listed as anywhere in Canada. The only realy clue is that the burial place is given as Kent, Portage County, Ohio.

I also have not been able to find a Joseph Hardy with the right age, single, born in Canada and living in Chicago in any of the 1910 to 1930 censuses, so I haven't been able to confirm either way as to whether or not this is the same Joseph Hardy.

So the next steps are to look to see if there is any way to confirm whether or not the Joseph Hardy who died by suicide in Chicago is the same one by checking for Joseph Hardy in:

• Obituaries for 1934
• Newspapers for 1934 chicago
• Census records 1910-1930
• City directories

X00192 Part 2: Sorting out the Lancelot Hardys

I previously mentioned X00192 and the sorting out of multiple Lancelot Hardys.

To add to the confusion, the book Meadowvale: Mills to Millenium by Kathleen A. Hicks has the following passage about Jane Tricker:

“Joseph (b. 1823), operated a shingle factory. He lost his wife, Isabella, and was left with six children, Ella, 1855, Eliza, 1856, Rebecca, 1862, John, 1864, William, 1866, and Henrietta, 1860. In 1875, he married a widow named Jane….”

This would suggest that it was Joseph Wood Hardy who married Jane Tricker, rather than one of the Lancelot Hardys.

There's quite a bit that seems to be off with that above passage. Not only are the number of children and their birth years off, but according to my research, Isabella outlived both Joseph Wood Hardy and Jane Tricker. She was at least alive in 1901 [*].

But also, the marriage registration for Sarah Jane Hardy, lists her parents as Lancelot and Jane Hardy [D00170]. Sarah Jane is buried in the same plot as Jane Tricker in Churchville Cemetery [D02104].

Perhaps the author was mixing up Joseph Wood Hardy with one of the Lancelots, but I think it’s safe to rule out the hypothesis that Joseph Hardy married Jane Tricker.

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Sources:
[*] Year: 1901; Census Place: Toronto (West/Ouest) (City/Cité) Ward/Quartier No 4, Toronto (west/ouest) (city/cité), Ontario; Page: 9; Family No: 91

[D00170] (Meadowvale, Peel, Canada West, Canada), "Marriage Record - Hallam & Hardy"; FHL microfilm 1,030,063. Marriage Registers of Upper Canada / Canada West

[D02104] Churchville Cemetery (Canada, Ontario).