William Thomas and Juda Frances Lee Hardee’s son

Samuel Burel Hardee

Next in the series of William and Juda Hardee’s children is my Great Grandfather Samuel Burel Hardee. He was born Jan. 26, 1860 in Alabama. He was most likely born in Coosa County, Alabama as he was listed as ½ years old in the 1860 census. Sam would have been two years old when his father, William Hardee went away to join the Civil war and five when he returned.

Around 1869 they moved to Van Zandt County, Texas and lived near William Hardee’s widowed mother Tabitha Hardee.

In 1880 Sam would have been 20 years old but I cannot locate him in the census. His widowed father and siblings were now living in Johnson Co., Texas.

When Sam was 26 years old, he married 16-year-old Georgiana Clarissa Ransom on August 22, 1886 in Parker County, Texas. They are listed as S.B Hardee and Miss Clersy Ransom on the marriage record and Mr. S. B. Hardee and Miss G.A.C. Ransom on the marriage certificate. Sam is listed from Johnson Co. and Georgia is listed from Parker County and they married at her home.

Their first child William Russell Hardee was born April 3, 1888 in Wise County, Texas. Followed by Samuel Burel Hardee Jr. on January 22, 1890 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas. Then daughters, Ada Frances Hardee born March 5, 1892 and Ida Lou Hardee born March 30, 1894, both born in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas.

I have a deed dated Nov. 21, 1895 showing “Sam Hardy and wife   Hardy” purchased land “…on the West Fork of the Trinity River about 10 miles S. W. from Decatur being 198 ¾ acres more or less…” for $1,000. They paid $300 cash and then $200 at 8 per cent interest per annum due every 6 months till paid.

On October 19, 1896 they had their fifth child “Buster” Edward Thomas Hardee born in Wise Co., Texas.

Sam purchased 40 more acres on July 25, 1899 for $250 cash in his name only. This time his name is spelled S. B. Hardee.

Another daughter is born August 11, 1899 in Wise Co., Texas, Lillie Vester Hardee and in the 1900 census the family is living in Wise Co., Texas. Sam owns his farm and has a mortgage and is listed as a farmer. He cannot read or write and has been married for 14 years. Wife is listed as Clarissa and has had six children and all six are alive. The children are William, Samuel, Ada, Ida, Edward T. and Lillie V.

My Grandfather, Joseph Abraham Hardee is born January 6, 1902 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas. On November 27, 1903 a deed is recorded showing S. B. Hardee and G.A.C. Hardee wife of S.B. Hardee sold 40 acres for $200 in Wise County, Texas.

Daughter Mary Caroline Hardee is born August 12, 1906 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas, followed by sister Edna Mae Hardee born April 30, 1910 in Wise Co., Texas.

The 1910 census shows the family still living in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas. This census shows Sam can read and write and that he is a farmer working on his own account and rents the farm. He has been married 23 years and his wife listed as Georgia A. has eight children born and living. (At age 40 she is pregnant with her last child, Edna who will be born in less than three weeks.) Also living in the household is 16-year-old daughter Ida Hardee and her 27-year-old husband, John Barber. They have been married one year.

In 1920 the family is listed as living in Rhome, Wise Co., Texas and the household consists of Sam and Georgia A., Joe, Mary, Edna Mae and Sam’s mother in law Marguaretta Ransom. The next family listed is his oldest son William R. Hardee and his wife and four children. This census shows Sam is a laborer on a farm he rents and cannot read and write.

Sam Hardee died June 28, 1929. His obituary was listed in the Decatur News on July 5, 1929 front page:

S.B. Hardee

S.B. Hardee died at his home in Newark, Saturday, June 29, 1929. Funeral services were held in Newark Sunday afternoon at the First Baptist Church with Rev. Brammer officiating. Internment in Dido cemetery. Mr. Hardee was a brother-in-law of John Ransome (sic) of near Decatur.

The informant on his death certificate was one of his sons and he listed Sam’s father as J.W. Hardee and his mother as Georgia Ransom. Both are incorrect as Georgia was Sam’s wife and his father was William T. Hardee. His birth date is also listed incorrectly as Jan. 26, 1859, should be 1860. Sam was 69 years old when he died but his age is incorrectly listed as 60. The cause of death only listed that there was “No medical attendant.”

I only know the basics about Samuel Hardee from what I have been able to find in written sources. I really haven't heard any stories about Sam. The stories are what make the person come alive. If anyone know any stories about how life was growing up for Sam or his brothers, I would love to hear them.

Children of Samuel and Georgia Hardee

1. William Russell Hardee born April 3, 1888 in Wise Co., Texas
2. Samuel Burel Hardee Jr. born Jan. 22, 1890 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas
3. Ada Frances Hardee born March 5, 1892 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas
4. Ida Lou Hardee born March 30, 1894 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas
5. Buster Edward Thomas Hardee born Oct. 19, 1896 in Wise Co., Texas
6. Lillie Vester Hardee born Aug. 11, 1899 in Wise Co., Texas
7. Joseph Abraham Hardee born Jan. 6, 1902 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas [My Grandfather]
8. Mary Caroline Hardee born Aug 12, 1906 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas
9. Edna Mae Hardee born April 30, 1910 in Wise Co., Texas

All the children stayed in Texas except the last two daughters, Mary and Edna who moved with their families to California. We are just now connecting again with our California Hardee relatives.

Georgia Anna Clarissa Ransom Hardee My Great Grandmother #6

Georgia Anna Clarissa Ransom Hardee

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Georgia Anna Clarissa Ransom Hardee

Georgia was born January 17, 1870 in Texas to Russell and Margaret Ransom. She had two older half siblings, Henry Alac (Alex) Ransom and Nancy Ellen Ransom and four younger siblings John Abraham, Alfred M., Thomas Warne and Mary Tennesse Ransom.

I first find Georgia  in the 1880 census in Wise County, Texas living with her parents and siblings.

1.) Ransom, Russell, White, Male, age 48, Farmer, born in Mo, Father born in Mo., Mother born in Mo
2.) Ransom, Margaret, White, Female, age 30, wife, born in Miss, Father born in ?S.C., Mother born in Miss
3.) Ransom, Ella, White, Female, age 14, daughter, born in Texas, Father born in Mo., Mother born in Tx. 
4.) Ransom, Gergana C, White, Female, age 10, daughter, born in Texas, Father born in Mo., Mother born in Miss
5.) Ransom, John A, White, Male, age 7, son, born in Texas, Father born in Mo., Mother born in Miss
6.) Ransom, Alfred M, White, Male, age 5, son, born in Texas, Father born in Mo., Mother born in Miss
7.) Ransom, Thomas W, White, Male, age 3, son born in Texas, Father born in Mo., Mother born in Miss
8.) Ransom, Mary T, White, Female, age 1, daughter, born in Texas, Father born in Mo., Mother born in Miss

Since Georgia was born in January of 1870 she should have been listed in the 1870 census since the census date was June 1, 1870. Her parents were listed in the 1870 census in Coryell County Texas and it is dated October 1870. Her  two half siblings are also listed. I don't have any explanation of why Georgia is not listed. 

I next find her listed as Clersy Ransom in her marriage record. She married Samuel Burel Hardee and he is listed in the index as S.B. Harder. They married on August 22, 1886 in Parker County, Texas. He was 26 and she was 16.

Sam and Georgia had eight children and all lived to adulthood. (See Samuel's Bio)

In 1929 Georgia became a widow. I find her in 1930 living with her daughter Edna who is married to Pleze Reynolds in Newark, Wise County, Texas.

Georgia holding my Mother.

I have not been able to find Georgia in the 1940 census, but in 1943 I find her listed as Georgia A. Hardee, widow, in the Fort Worth City Directory living with her son and daughter-in-law Joseph and Dessie Hardee. (My Grandparents.) Also living in this same house in 1943 is her daughter-in-law Dessie's Father John Galttana, also a widow.

John and Georgia Galttana 1943

 On February 15, 1944 Georgia married John Galttana in Tarrant County, Texas. Five days later John Galttana died February 20, 1944. His death certificate states he died from an intestinal obstruction. My Uncle J says he remembered that he died choking on a prune.

 Georgia spent time living with some of her children. When she lived with Joe and Dessie, my Mother remembered that she was always in bed. She would hand crank her bed up or down for her "Granma." My Aunt remembers coming home from school and going to her room to listen to radio shows with her. My Aunt described her as having long gray hair and that she was only about 5'2". (Maybe that's where I get my height. :)

Georgia died December 8, 1956 in Fort Worth at home. She was 86 years old and her death certificate lists her cause of death as Septicemia due to Extensive Bed Sores due to Immobilization from Osteo Arthritis.

Two obituaries are listed below:
Ft. Worth Star Telegram, sometime after Dec 8, 1956

Mrs. Georgia Galttana
Mrs. Georgia Galttana, 86, of Rt. 9, Fort Worth, died early Sunday at her residence after a nine year illness.
She had lived in Tarrant County about 25 years and was a Baptist.
Survivors include two sons, Samuel Hardee of Greenwood and Joseph A Hardee of Fort Worth; five daughters, Mrs. Ida Heathcock of Fort Worth, Mrs. Ada Bally of Matador, Mrs. Lilly Briggs of Dallas, Mrs. Mary Knorff of San Francisco and Mrs. Edna Reynolds of Kalamazoo, Mich., one sister, Mrs. Mary Hendricks of Odessa, and a brother, John Ranson of Decatur.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in Gause-Ware Memorial Chapel with burial in Dido Cemetery.

Ft. Worth Star Telegram, sometime after Dec. 8, 1956. On same page as above obituary, two columns over.

Galttana, Mrs. Georgia, Rt. 9, Box 114, Ft. Worth passed away 12 midnight Saturday at her residence. Survivors: two sons, Samuel Hardee, Greenwood, Texas, and Joseph A Hardee Fort Worth; five daughters, Mrs. Ida Heathcock, Fort Worth, Mrs. Ada Bally, Matador, Texas, Mrs. Lilly Briggs, Dallas, Mrs. Mary Knorff, San Francisco, California, Mrs. Edna Reynolds of Kalamazoo, Michigan, one sister, Mrs. Mary Hendricks, Odessa, Texas a brother, John Ranson of Decatur Texas. Services 3pm Monday, Gause-Ware Memorial Chapel, Pallbearers, Jimmy Hardee, Bruce Hardee, Clyde Hardee, Glenn Hardee, Johnnie Hardee, Merle Hyatt, Internment, Dido Cemetery, Arrangements Gause-Ware. Two parking areas.

When I first started researching Georgia I could not locate any death record for her. It wasn't until one of my Aunts mentioned that she had married John Galttana that I was able to find her death certificate and obituaries because they were listed under the name of Georgia Galttana.

I find Georgia's name listed many different ways in different sources. So, I am not really sure of the correct way to record her name.

In the1880 census she is listed as Gergana C. Ransom.
In the 1886 marriage index she is listed as Clersy Ransom.
In the original marriage certificate she is listed as Miss. G.A.C. Ransom.
In the 1900 census she is listed as Clarissa Hardee.
In the 1910 census she is listed as Georgia A. Hardee.
In the 1920 census she is listed as Georgia A. Hardee.
In the 1930 census she is listed as Georgiana Hardie.
In the 1943 Fort Worth City Directory she is listed as Georgia A. Hardee
In the 1944 marriage certificate she is listed as Mrs. G.A.C. Hardee.
In the 1945 Fort Worth City Directory she is listed as Anna C. Galttana.
In her 1956 death certificate she is listed a Georgie Annie Galtana.
Her tombstone is inscribed as Georgia Anna Hardee.
I tend to think her name was Georgia Anna Clarissa Ransom/Hardee/Galttana. Especially, because her two marriage certificates show the initials G. A. C.
I wonder if through the years if she used different names. When I asked my aunts and uncles they just remember her as "Granma."

Georgia on left standing next to her son Joseph Hardee and Dessie and 9 of their kids.

Samuel Burel Hardee My Great Grandfather #5

Samuel Burel Hardee

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Samuel was born January 26, 1860 in Alabama to William Thomas Hardee and Juda Frances Lee Hardee.

Sam had 15 siblings. Mary Elizabeth, Sarah Jane, Zibe Brooks, Lucinda "Cindy", William, Sabitha Ann, Malinda "Lynn" Caroline, Pinkney Edward, Robert Lee, Ida, John Perry, Arbilla, and his half siblings Emma, Bryant and  Earl.

I believe the family moved from Coosa County, Alabama to Van Zandt County, Texas in early 1870. Sam would have been around 9 years old. Today I20 runs from Coosa County to Van Zandt County and it is about 600 miles. This may have been the path they took through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. They would have had to cross the Mississippi  River and I would guess they crossed by ferry in Vicksburg. If they traveled by covered wagon it could have taken them up to 75 days to travel or longer. In 1870 they were a family of 11. The children were between the ages of 15 and one year old. I can't even imagine the hardship they went through traveling with young children, through unfamiliar territory to a new destination. But, they made it to the new land and in 1870 the family is listed as living in Van Zandt County, Texas.

In 1880 Sam's family is living in Johnson County, Texas but I have been unable to locate Sam in any 1880 census.

In 1886 he married Georgia Anna Clarissa Ransom on August 22 in Parker County, Texas. Sam was 26 and Georgia was 16.

I don't know where they lived after their marriage but I find a S. B. Hardee in the 1888 Tax rolls in Ellis County, Texas. In April of 1888 their first child William Russell Hardee is born in Wise Co., Texas.

In 1895 Sam and Georgia have four children and purchase land in Wise County, Texas for $1,000. It was 198 3/4 acres and was on the West Fork Trinity River 10 miles SW from Decatur. Looking at a map today, my guess would be it was between Paradise and Boyd.

In July of 1899 Sam Hardee sold 40 acres of land for $150. In September of 1899 Sam purchased unknown acreage for $250. Georgia is not listed on either of these.

In the 1900 census the family of eight is listed as living in Wise County, Texas. Sam cannot read or write and owns a farm with a mortgage. His occupation is a farmer.

In November 1903 Sam and Georgia sold 40 acres of land located about five miles South West from Decatur on Big Sandy Creek.

In 1910 Sam and Georgia are living in Decatur, Wise County, Texas. Sam is listed as 50 years old and married for 23 years. He is a farmer working on his own account and in this census it says he can read and write. It also says he rents his dwelling.
Seven of their eight children are living with them. One daughter married at 15 and was living with her husband and another daughter was also married but living with them with her new husband.

In 1920 Sam and Georgia are living in Rhome Town, Wise County, Texas. Sam is listed as 63 years old (he was 60) and a laborer on a farm that he rented. He again is listed as not being able to read or write. Being a farmer, education was not a top priority and I would lean more toward Sam not being able to read or write. Three of their children are still living with them and Sam's widowed Mother-in-law, Marguaretta Ransom is living with them also.

These are the only two photos I have of Samuel Burel Hardee. Both photos show Sam and his brothers taken on the same day. One with hats and one without. Don't know who the boy is in the back left. If anyone has other photos of Samuel I would love to see them. Date unknown. Courtesy of my cousin Shirley and Mike Hardee.

[In the second photo I think my Great Grandfather Samuel resembles Sam Elliot.]

On June 29, 1929 Samuel Hardee died at his home. His obituary is listed in the Decatur News.

 S.B. Hardee died at his home in Newark, Saturday, June 29, 1929. Funeral services were held  in Newark Sunday afternoon at the First Baptist Church with Rev. Brammer officiating. Internment in Dido cemetery. Mr. Hardee was a brother-in-law of John Ransome (sic) of near Decatur.

The information on Sam's death certificate was provided by an unnamed Hardee son. Much of the information is wrong. It lists him as 60 years old, he was 69. It lists his father as J.W. Hardee which is incorrect as his father was William T. Hardee. It lists his mother as Georgia Ransom which was actually his wife. I would say the son got confused when answering the questions. No cause of death is provided and just says "No Medical Attendant."

Headstone at Dido Cemetery

I only know the basics about Samuel Hardee from what I have been able to find in written sources. I really haven't heard any stories about Sam. The stories are what make the person come alive. If anyone know any stories about how life was growing up for Sam or his brothers I would love to hear them.


Children of Samuel and Georgia Hardee

1. William Russell Hardee born April 3, 1888 in Wise Co., Texas
2. Samuel Burel Hardee Jr. born Jan. 22, 1890 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas
3. Ada Frances Hardee born March 5, 1892 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas
4. Ida Lou Hardee born March 30, 1894 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas
5. Buster Edward Thomas Hardee born Oct. 19, 1896 in Wise Co., Texas
6. Lillie Vester Hardee born Aug. 11, 1899 in Wise Co., Texas
7. Joseph Abraham Hardee born Jan. 6, 1902 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas [My Grandfather]
8. Mary Caroline Hardee born Aug 12, 1906 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas
9. Edna Mae Hardee born April 30, 1910 in Wise Co., Texas

All the children stayed in Texas except the last two daughters, Mary and Edna who moved with their families to California. We are just now connecting again with our California Hardee relatives.

Surname Saturday - Hardee

John Ziba Hardee is my earliest known Hardee. I have found Ziba in the 1830 Census in Monroe County, Alabama; in the 1840 census in Jordan, Coosa County, Alabama; and the 1850 Census in Hatchet Creek District, Coosa County, Alabama. I have searched the 1860 census and did not find Ziba or his family. I searched page by page of the Van Zandt County Census and no Hardee's were found. I searched most of the Coosa Co., Alabama Census and did not find Ziba Hardee.

Ziba's Timeline

From what I have read but not found sources for is that John Ziba Hardee was born in North Carolina and moved to Georgia with his father who may have been John Hardee. Here Ziba met and married his first wife Peggy Mitchel in 1813. Around 1821 they moved to Monroe Co., Alabama. Sometime between 1823-1825 Peggy died and Ziba married Tabitha Brooks about 1825 in Alabama. About 1837 they moved to Coosa Co., Alabama. Sometime after 1850 they moved to Van Zandt County, Texas where Ziba died in 1862 and is buried. Some of Ziba's sons served in the Civil War in Texas units and some served in Alabama units.

My Hardee Line 
Ziba Hardee born 1782 or 1794 in North Carolina
Tabitha Brooks born about 1810 in Baldwin Co.,GeorgiaMarried about 1825 in Alabama (Ziba's second marriage)

Willliam Thomas Hardee born 10 March 1836 in Hatchet Creek, Coosa Co., Alabama
Juda Frances Lee born about 1838 in Alabama
Married 19 November 1854 in Alabama

Samuel Burel Hardee born 26 January 1860 in Alabama
Georgianna Clarissa Ransom born 17 January 1870 in Texas
Married about 1887


Joseph Abraham Hardee born 6 January 1902 in Decatur, Wise Co., Texas
Dessie Pearl Galttana born 31 July 1902 in Chickasha, Grady Co., Oklahoma
Married 17 December 1923 in Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas