Dr. Parrott R. Hardee Family  



Information sent by Tina Tarlton Smith tesmith@touchnc.net who is not a descendant but a contributor to the Granville County Genealogical Society

Identification of the people in the family picture.
Seated are Dr. Parrotte R. Hardee and Mrs. Roberta Bacon Hardee, of Stem. Around them are their sons and daughters. Reading from left to right: Dr. Walter P. Hardee of Durham, William E. Hardee of Charlotte, Stanton Hardee of Copperhill, Tenn., Captain David L. Hardee of Winston-Salem, Mrs. Charles Olsen (Lucy Hardee) of Manila, P. I.., Robert M. Hardee of Stonesville, Dr. E. Bacon Hardee of Vero Beach, Fla., and P. B. Hardee of Durham.

MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
State of North Carolina, Granville County, Aug. 8 1887
B. H. Cozart having applied to me for a license for the Marriage of Parrott R. Hardee of Tally Ho T.(stands for Township) age 25 (?) years, color, white, the son of Parrott Hardee and Civil Ann Hardee, the father now deceased, the mother , living, resident of Durham, and Roberta B. Bacon of Chase City, Va, age 20, years, color white, daughter of William A. Bacon and Lucy A. Bacon, the father living , the mother Living, resident of Chase
City, Va.
J. M. House ???, Justice of the Peace, officiated in Granville County on 10 August 1887 in Tally ??? Township.
Wit J. J. Thomas, J; F. Walters

HARDEE FAMILY IN REUNION

The Doctor Parrotte R. Hardee family of Stem, Granville county held a reunion in Durham on December 27, 1936, at the home of Dr. Walter P. Hardee, the eldest son who is an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist of Durham.

This is one of Granville county's oldest surviving families, and their last complete reunion was during the summer of 1919, just before some members of the family sailed for Manila, Philippine Islands. At that time the family numbered 19 and now they number 28.

All members were present and the reunion was complete and proved a most happy occasion. The record of this family is so typical of some of the good families of the Old North State that several of its features are of general interest.

The mother and father celebrate the same birthday, Dr. P. R. Hardee having been born in Johnson county on November 14, 1861, and Mrs. Hardee (nee Roberta Bacon of Mecklenburg county, Va.) was born in Carrol parish, La., on November 14, 1866. They were married in August, 1887, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wiley S. Cozart, later sheriff of Granville county, and will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary next August.

There is much yarn spinning about the man who can rear back and put his thumbs in his vest coat and say "I have seven sons". However, we seldom meet those men, but it is no myth with Dr. and Mrs. Hardee, for they have seven sons, a daughter, six daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, and 12 grandchildren. Of the 12 grandchildren, one was born in British North Borneo, one in England, two in the Philippines, one in Georgia, two in Florida and five are Tar Heels. With the exception of the grandchild who was born in British North Borneo, and passed away in very tender infancy, the line so far is entirely unbroken. The oldest son nearing the fifties, the youngest is just entering the thirties. The oldest grandchild is a student at the North Carolina University for Women at Greensboro, and the youngest is just four months old. The occasion for the reunion was the christening of this infant, Margaret Esten Olsen, who in company with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Olsen will return to Manila, P. I., in February.

When Dr. Hardee was about 12 hears old, he was stricken with infantile paralysis which left him crippled for life in his right leg. Instead of giving up as would have been the case with many less determined people he pushed on, left the farm, and moved to Durham while a boy, attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, Md., and graduated there in the days when medicine was a two year course. He had been engaged in the general practice of medicine for 52 to 53 years and is now a close runner-up for dean of the North Carolina Medical Association. The telephone and telegraph have come into general use during this time, electric light bulbs, electric hearing, freezing and appliances, wireless telegraphy, radios, airplanes and even good road and automobiles have been invented all during the time that this country doctor has ministered to the ailments of mankind. Except for a few months, spent in Durham, and ten years from 1892- 1902 spent at Virgilina, Va., all his practice has been in Granville county.

Yes, this doctor, typical of the type of the "Country Doctor", began his practice in the old horseback days, and filled his own prescriptions from saddle bags. He was one of the first to adopt the cart in the early days of the old two-wheeled road cart. He practiced all the way through the "horse and buggy days" and now pays his call on good roads in a motor car.

As are most country doctors, he has always been a civic leader and has worked actively for all progressive movements in his community, and always a pioneer and exponent in the work of education. He has always been a constant student and when his boys and nephews were going through the medical school they, always came home in the summer vacations to practice with the old doctor and most always believed they were bringing him strange conundrums of new diseases to stump him. Frequently he would listen to a lengthy description of the symptoms and diagosia and early part of the treatments and would say when the younger men were thru: "What next"? After which he almost always told them many phases of the treatment they had failed to take in during their clinical work.

You cannot beat the old country doctor who has always fought nature in the raw and dealt with the bed rocks of human existence. Long before we knew anything about vitamins he was prescribing "pot liquor" for babies.

Many of the boys followed in the footsteps of their father. Two are doctors, two are druggists, and the roll includes an army officer, a ceramic engineer, and a minister as well as the son-in-law who is a prominent merchant of Manila.

Besides Dr. and Mrs. P. R. Hardee, the founders of the family, those present were: Dr. and Mrs. Walter P. Hardee and children, Roberta, Margarite and Person of Durham; Captain and Mrs. David L. Hardee and children, Elizabeth and Mary, now stationed at Winston-Salem; Mr. and Mrs. Parrottee B. Hardee and children, Neil and Carlton of Durham; Mr. and Mrs. Carl E. Olsen and children, Roberta and Margarite of Manila; Dr. and Mrs. E. Bacon Hardee and children, Bacon, Jr., and Wilford of Vero Beach, Fla.; F. Stanton Hardee, Copperhill, Tenn; Rev. Robert M. Hardee of Stoneville, and M. and Mrs. William H Hardee and daughter Charlotte, of Asheville and Charlotte.

OBIT

Tues April 16, 1940

Dr. P. R. Hardee Dies in Durham
Former Stem Physician and Religious and Civic Leader Succumbs at His Home

Dr. Parrott R. Hardee, who practiced medicine at Stem for 40 years died at his home in Durham Sunday where he had lived since his retired three years ago. He was 78 years of age. Death was attributed to a complication of diseases.

The funeral service was conducted at 4 o'clock Monday afternoon at Calvary Methodist church in Durham. Re. D. E. Earnhart, pastor, was in charge of the services, assisted by Dr. Paul N Garber of Duke University. Interment was in Maplewood Cemetery Durham.

Born in Johnson county, Dr. Hardee accompanied his father, the late Parrott R. Hardee, a Confederate veteran to Durham, when a young man. He was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Md., in 1885 and returned to Durham and began practicing his profession in northern Durham county.

He later moved to Virgilina, Va., where he practiced for 10 years, returning to Stem where he remained until his retirement three years ago. A leader in civic and religious affairs, Dr. Hardee was a member of Stem Methodist church for about 40 years and for 20 years was teacher of the men's Bible class. He served as chairman of the Stem School Committee for 15 years and was always an advocate of good roads.

In addition to his wife, Roberta Bacon Hardee, he is survived by seven sons: Dr/ W. P. Hardee and P. B. Hardee, both of Durham, Capt. David L. Hardee of Oak Ridge Military institute, Dr. W. B. Hardee of Vero Beach, Fla., F. S. Hardee of Morganton, Rev. Robert M. Hardee of Greensboro and W. E. Hardee of Raleigh; one daughter, Mrs. Carl E. Olson of Manila, P.I.; one sister, Mrs. John Lassater of Four Oaks; 12 grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

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