NameRebbeca M. BEALL
Birthca 1807, Georgia
DeathSep 1860, Oktibbeha Co., MS
Spouses
Birth22 Mar 1807, Duplin Co., NC
Death13 Jul 1871, Clay Co., MS
BurialHardy Cemetery, Siloam, Clay Co., MS
FatherC. Sutton HARDY (ca1772-1853)
MotherMartha TAYLOR (ca1782-1856)
Marriageca 1859, Oktibbeha Co., MS
Notes for Rebbeca M. BEALL
Refer to detailed notes on Joshua T. Hardy for details. Rebecca is listed in the 1860 Mortality Schedule for Oktibbeha Co., MS. This schedule indicates she was born in Georgia and died in September 1860 in Oktibbeha Co. of cancer at age 53.
Notes for Joshua Taylor (Spouse 1)
Joshua Taylor Hardy

A Brief Biography by Greg W. Lasley

At least one other account22records him as Joshua Henry Hardy, but I believe this to be in error. He is listed as Joshua T. Hardy in an extant newspaper account (his daughter Martha Ann’s obit), all census records, numerous court records in Oktibbeha Co. (present day Clay Co.), MS and even on a poem he personally wrote to his mother in 1827 when he was 19 years old. His gravestone in Siloam, Clay Co., MS also reads J. T. Hardy. I have found no original reference where he is listed as Joshua “Henry” Hardy. Some accounts indicate he had four wives22, Anna, Hannah, Rebecca and Mary Taylor. I can confirm only three; Anna, Rebecca and Hannah. See further information below. The only Mary Taylor I can account for is the wife of his Uncle John Hardy, so I am not sure where that information comes from. Still, there is a Mary T. Hardy buried in the small J. T. Hardy cemetery near Siloam, Clay County, MS. There is a B&W photo from ca 1960 showing a part of J.T. Hardy’s headstone immediately next to Mary T. Hardy’s headstone, but a personal visit to the cemetery in 2002 showed this is not the original location of Joshua’s stone. See below for more details. Mary T. Hardy died in October, 1857 which would seem to further indicate she was not a wife of Joshua, since Joshua’s first wife Anna died only two months earlier in August 1857. Mary T. Hardy may be Joshua’s sister Mary who may have never married. See <http://www.greglasley.net/jthardycem.html> for more information about this cemetery and the persons buried there.

Joshua T. Hardy’s birth is not listed in many of the early documents that include some of his father Sutton’s other children, such as the Robert Hardy family bible, but the earliest entry in the bible is dated 1820 which is after Joshua T. was born. The bible may not have been obtained until ca 1820 which may explain the reason Joshua’s birth was not recorded. Other early NC documents were dated after Joshua T. Hardy may have already left home (since he was Sutton’s oldest child), so his non-inclusion in these may not be meaningful. Joshua’s middle name of Taylor is certainly suggestive that his mother was Martha Taylor, wife of Sutton. Also, J. T. Hardy’s death is recorded in the family bible as 1 Aug 1871 which is two weeks after the date that has been recorded in our family history and on his gravestone, but certainly this must be the correct person as no other member of the extended Hardy family had the initials J.T. except a niece named Jennett T. Hardy, and she did not die until many years later. Also, Joshua's last born son was named Lemuel Sutton Hardy which is certainly again suggestive of his lineage. Our family oral history passed down by William Hardy and Sallie Ila Hardy gave Sutton as Joshua’s father. I believe Joshua Taylor Hardy is indeed Sutton’s son, but I’m still seeking more hard evidence.

Joshua T. Hardy came to what is now Clay Co., MS ca 1836 or 1837

Joshua is listed (as is Sutton Hardy, his father) on page 117 of the 1840 census in Oktibbeha Co. (now Clay Co.), MS. By 1850 Sutton had moved to nearby Chickasaw Co., while Joshua remained in Oktibbeha Co.

1850 Oktibbeha Co., MS census no. 614 367/367
Hardee [Hardy], Joshua T. 43 NC farmer $1800 estate
Hardy, Anny 33 NC
Hardy, Robert 15 NC farmer
Hardy, Ann 13 NC
Hardy, Unity 11 MS
Hardy, Mary 9 MS
Hardy, Jane 8 MS
Hardy, John 6 MS
Hardy, Susan 4 MS
Hardy, William 2 MS

1860 Oktibbeha Co., MS census, page 59 453/385
Hardy, Joshua T. 53 M farming 10600/24100 born NC
Hardy, Robert 25 M farm laborer “
Hardy, John 16 M born MS
Hardy, Susan 14 F “
Hardy, William 12 M “
Hardy, Sarah 9 F “

1870 Oktibbeha Co., MS census, page 343
Hardy, Joshua 65 M Farmer born NC
Hardy, Hannah 59 F born Mass
Hardy, Susie E. 24 F born MS
Hardy, William 20 M Farmer “
Ball, Nancy J 28 F keeping house “
Ball, John W 3 M “

The below is from “History of Clay County, Mississippi” published in 1988 by the Curtis Media Corporation. The article on Joshua T. Hardy was written by Jack Elliott, Jr., my cousin, and 3G grandson of Joshua T. Hardy.

Page 474: Joshua T. Hardy married Anna (born Aug. 10, 1816 in North Carolina) on July 11, 1833, prior to moving to what is now Clay County. Their children included: (1) Robert, March 26, 1835-April 7, 1894; (2) Patsy Ann, April 8, 1837-November 20, 1858; (3) Unity Elizabeth, June 25, 1838-Jan. 12, 1859, married William F. Ball; (4) Mary Newborn. Oct. 27, 1840-August 26, 1857 (or 1859); (5) Nancy Jane, November 11, 1842-August 28, 1884; (6) John, May 1844-October 18, 1864; (7) Susan Elizabeth, August 11, 1846-? (married Joseph T. Doughty? on November 24, 1870; (8) William, February 9, 1848-1918; (9) Sarah Edith, August 11, 1850-? (married S. A. Westbrook? on December 20, 1867 and later married a Reverand Corbin); (10) Charles Henry, October 17, 1854-October 8, 1855; (11) Lemuel Sutton, January 26, 1857-August 18, 1857. Joshua’s wife Anna died on August 19, 1857, one day after the death of the infant Lemuel. The two are buried in the same grave in the Hardy Cemetery that is located about a mile north of Siloam, probably near Joshua’s house site. By 1870 Joshua had apparently re-married, this time to a “Hannah” who was born ca 1811 in Massachusetts. When Joshua died in 1871, he was buried in the Hardy Cemetery.

See:
http://www.greglasley.net/jthardycem.html
for more information on the Hardy Cemetery. In short, there is a b&w photo taken in 1960 showing Joshua’s headstone touching Mary T. Hardy’s headstone. In the photo the two headstones are touching one another, a very unusual position since normally headstones are several feet apart. Perhaps this was the origin of the idea that Mart T. Hardy was a wife of Joshua. Jack Elliott and I made a personal visit to the cemetery on 17 September 2002. The cemetery is very overgrown with brush and weeds and somewhat difficult to find, but after cutting down some brush we were able to make drawings of the position of all the markers as well as take photos of all markers still readable. The website above will have this updated information, but the most interesting discovery was that Joshua T. Hardy’s headstone was next to his wife Anna’s headstone where we thought it should be. More interesting was that we located foot stones for Mary T. Hardy, Joshua Hardy, Anna Hardy, Mary M. Hardy, and Charles H. Hardy. The footstone for Joshua was next to the footstone for Anna where logic would indicate it would be, and not near Mary T. Hardy. Mary T. Hardy's grave is actually in a different row from the others. Located in one line side by side are the graves of Joshua, then Anna (who is buried with their son Lemuel), then their children Charles H., Mary M., and Martha Ann. See more information on the website. I do not believe Mary T. Hardy born in 1804 is a wife of Joshua, but rather is probably his sister or another relative.

Time line for Joshua T. Hardy

22 Mar 1807; born, Duplin Co., NC

11 Jul 1833; married Anna Hardy (his first cousin) in North Carolina

ca 1836 or 1837; came to Oktibbeha Co., MS (present day Clay Co)

1840; listed on federal census in Oktibbeha Co., MS on same page (117) right under his father, Sutton. We think Joshua was living on land owned by Sutton in section 13, township 17 since Sutton bought this land in 1836 and Joshua is shown in a nearby household on the census. His family shows one male between 5 and 10 years of age, one male between 30 and 40, two females under 5 and one female between 20 and 30.

1850; listed on federal census in Oktibbeha Co., MS with wife Anna and eight children

25 Mar 1852; purchased half a section of land from the New York & Mississippi Land Company, Oktibbeha Co. Deed Book #2 p. 340. The area where the land was located was sometimes claimed by Chickasaw Co. and sometimes by Oktibbeha Co. All this area is now Clay County.

1855-1860; these were very difficult years for Joshua since 5 of his children, two wives, Anna and Rebecca, and Mary T. Hardy (sister or some other relative?) all died during this time; all but Rebecca are known to be buried in the J. T. Hardy cemetery.

3 Mar 1859; Joshua T. Hardy and Rebecca M. Beall file a marriage contract in the Oktibbeha Co. courthouse, deed book 13 p. 267. This contract seems very unusual for that day and age as it appears to be a pre-nuptial agreement. Both parties agree to hold their own separate properties as such and to exercise their own wills over said properties. There is no marriage license itself (none exist for those dates), but it is clear from this and a later court record that Joshua and Rebecca did marry.

4 May 1859; Joshua T. Hardy, William Sloan, and Elijah Smith enter into a contract with William F. Ball (son-in-law of JTH) to buy two Negro slaves. Oktibbeha Co., MS Deed book 13 page 371.

1860; Joshua T. Hardy is on the 1860 Oktibbeha Co., MS census with 5 of his children, but no wife. Had Rebecca died at the time of the census? Rebecca M. Hardy is listed on the 1860 Mortality Schedule for Oktibbeha Co., MS. She died in September 1860 at age 53 of cancer.

1860 – 1865; Joshua’s wife Rebecca M. (Beall) Hardy died and he married Hannah Jordan (unknown what her maiden name was, but she had been married to Matthew Jordan of Oktibbeha Co., MS. She appears on the 1850 census as 39 years of age with Matthew Jordan.

6 Sep 1865; Joshua T. Hardy and his wife Hannah sell a parcel of land from that purchased in 1852, above. Oktibbeha Co. Deed Book 15, p. 189.

9 Jan 1867; Joshua T. Hardy, executor of the estate of Rebecca M. Hardy, sold a parcel of land from section 26 that had been owned by Rebecca prior to her death. Clay Co. MS Deed Book C, pp 259-260. This is the woman Joshua married ca 1859.

1870; Joshua is listed on the 1870 Oktibbeha Co. census with wife Hannah and children Susan and William as well as Nancy J. (Hardy) Ball and her 3 year old son John.

1871; Joshua died on 19 Jul 1871 (gravestone inscription) or 1 Aug 1871 (Robert Hardy bible record).
Last Modified 12 Feb 2003Created 21 Dec 2011 using Reunion for Macintosh