Jacob Hardman – Horses and Homesteads

JacobHardmanFamilyPortraitDon’t ever tell Jacob Hardman that he couldn’t ride a horse. He was once bet $25.00 that he couldn’t ride a tortured big black mean one, but he did. He bred and broke horses, ran cattle, herded sheep, and hauled granite to the Salt Lake Temple. When he learned of free land and homesteads up in Canada, he transported family and belongings, and settled on 300 acres of hay and 80 acres of grain, raised potatoes, pigs and chickens, hunted goose and dear, and caught fish by drilling holes in the ice. While in Canada, gas lamps and coal stoves were replaced with natural gas. In the winter, they rode sleds, skated and danced. One Sunday father and son went to see if the grain was ready to cut. It was, so they pulled the binders out at one o’clock but at three-thirty, the hailstorm hit. It took all but about ¾ of an acre, so bare there wasn’t any straw left. After 3 years of hail, people begging them to stay, offering deals, but he hauled his family back to Utah for a job promised by his uncle, a contract with the Salt Works. On the way, Jacob and Charlotte in the Model T, the boys driving the teams, a train came through the tunnel, no whistle, shooting right between the two teams. The little black team which son Leonard was driving swung a bit and just sat there and held. The Lord was watching out for this family. On arrival in Utah, Jacob’s uncle died so the contract at the Salt Works fell through; no work. Jacob didn’t have much, but he had his family, his horses and his equipment, and took work hauling the gravel and cement for the Magna to Garfield road and worked ten acres of hay. Eleven months after their return, while making a hayrack, Jacob broke his ulcer. After an operation, gangrene set in. As the family rushed to the hospital to bit him farewell, the Model T frosted up Sid swung the car around and the family just missed a streetcar. Jacob’s last words to Charlotte, Sid, Ethel, Marie and Leonard were, “Take care of your mother and the kids.” (Ref. “Jacob and Charlotte Hannah Dearden Hardman by Sidney Lehi Hardman) https://familysearch.org/photos/documents/3489120 #AncestorClips

About Kenneth Richard Hardman

AncestorClips are very short stories about very real people. Each clip nurtures awareness of a time, a place, and the character of a man or woman who cultivated a path for our life. The reader feels the good, the obstacles, the happiness, the sadness, and the overcoming. They cheer us, make us resilient when challenged, give us purpose, and connect us to our multi-generational family. Each story is followed by reflections from the author and readers sharing how the story strengthened or inspired them. Ken Hardman is a son, a brother, a grandson, a great-grandson… He is also a husband, father and grand-father. Ken is a professional engineer, engineering mentor, technical writer, and associate technical fellow at a major aerospace company. He is a writer of engineering and family history stories. Please join Ken in reading, reflecting upon, or writing #AncestorClips
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1 Response to Jacob Hardman – Horses and Homesteads

  1. Pingback: 2016 – 10 Most Read AncestorClips | #AncestorClips

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