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.

Hardy Wedding Announcement

I found this wedding announcement between a William Hardy and Bella McNaughton appeared in the Streetsville Review on January 14, 1898. The name William Hardy does appear quite a bit in my family, but upon further investigation I found that this William Hardy is not connected to my branch.

X00346 Potential Irwin Sisters

As best as I can tell, William Hardy had three wives. The first two were named Jane, who lived from about 1832 to 1865 and Sarah Elizabeth who lived from about 1843 to 1880. He married his third wife, Eveline Baker, much later on.

Both Jane and Sarah Elizabeth are buried in the same location in Churchville Cemetery in the same plot:

The interesting thing is that from the records that I've found, they both share the same last name - Jane Irwin and Sarah Elizabeth Irwin. So, the question is, are the two of them sisters? It could be plausible that William Hardy married Jane's sister after she died. Plus, one of William and Sarah Elizabeth's children is named Irwin. But on the other hand, they are eleven years apart in age. As well, some records suggest that Jane was born in Upper Canada, while Sarah Elizabeth was born in Ireland.

So, the next steps are to go back and review the records and review what I know about the two of them and see if I can confirm their last names. Then look to see what information I can find about the surname Irwin in the Churchville area.

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

Ruling out possible marriage record for William Hardy

I came across the following indexed record [D03486] for a marriage between a William Hardie and a Janet Burns in 1845:



At first it seemed like it could be a match for William Hardy's first marriage to a woman named Jane. I have, however, decided to rule it out for the following reasons:

• The location of York Mills is not exactly where I would have expected the marriage to be. The family seems to have settled around Peel Region, although they moved around a bit in the first few years, so York Mills is not outside the realm of possibility.
• The spelling of the last name as "Hardie" rather than "Hardy" is off, although I have seen it spelled that way before.
• The last name of the bride of "Burns" is not what I would have expected. Other records point to a maiden name of "Irwin".
• The biggest issue seems to be the timing of the marriage. The marriage date given is 1845. Most records seem to point towards a birth year of 1830 for William Hardy and 1832 for Jane. This would put them at 15 and 13 years of age at the time of the marriage. Their first child (as far as I have been able to tell) was born around 1856, so most likely their marriage would have been closer to 1855.

All in all it seems to be too far off from the known data to be a match. But the timing of the marriage seems to make this very unlikely to be the same couple. So, I'm ruling this document out.

X00080 Solved!

Question: Multiple William Hardys in Peel in the 1871 Census. Which one is the correct one?

Details/Background:
The 1871 Census of Ontario has two listings for a William Hardy born about 1830 in Peel Region. One in Meadowvale [D01576] and one in Streetsville [D03311]. The question is which one is the one that is the son of Lancelot Hardy?



Analysis:
The William Hardy of Meadowvale [D01576] appears to be the correct one for a number of reasons:

• The other Hardy family members also settled around Meadowvale
• The names and ages of the other family members seems to coincide with the family in other censuses.
• William Hardy’s profession is listed as a blacksmith, which coincides with other census results as well as the profession listed in the marriage record between him and Aveline Burns [D00733].

Sources:

D00733 - Ontario Archives of Ontario, Ontario, Canada Marriages, MS932; Reel: 96: 615, 4, Hardy-Burns; digital images, Ancestry.ca, "Ontario, Canada Marriages".

D01576 – 1871 Census of Canada, Ontario, District 39, Sub-district 03, Toronto Township, p. 22, Dwelling 81, Family 86; RG 31.

D03311 - 1871 Census of Canada, Ontario, District 39, Sub-district b, Streetsville, p. 22, Dwelling 66, Family 68; RG 31.