Josiah Hardy (1750 - 1786)

Born 1750 in Norfolk, Virginia

Husband of Rebecca (Hamilton) Hardy — married 2 May 1778 in Chatham, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 15 Dec 1786 at about age 36 in Great Permit Hollow, Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Nick Dann [send private message]

Biography

Josiah was born in 1750. He passed away in 1786.^[1]

From A Record of One Hundred Years of the Hardy Family:

Came from the State of Virginia in 1776 with Nathaniel Hamilton, and married, June 11, 1778, Rebecca Hamilton, his daughter. Their children were:

Mehitable. Born July 21, 1780. Married, October 30, 1803, to Barnabus Wing, of Brewster. Died May 8, 1850; 69 years, 10 1-2 months.

Isaac, 1st. Born August 14, 1782. Married Betsy Eldredge, May 10, 1804. Died July 24, 1846; 64 years, 11 months.

Josiah. Born July 15, 1784. Married, 1806, to Rebecca Clark, daughter of Thos. Clark.

Betsey. Born May 15, 1786. Married, 1810, to Warren Hamilton. Died.

Josiah Hardy, 1st, with Solomon Godfrey, Paul Harding, and Joshua Harding, a boy, left Chatham December 15, 1786, with a fair wind and good weather, for Boston. The whole party were found April 10, 1878, in Great permit Hollow, Trura, all frozen. Rebecca, his wife, died January, 1795.

From Hardy and Hardie, Part and Present, Josiah Hardy Family of Virginia and Massachusetts; Pgs. 321 - 322:

1. Josiah Hardy 1, born about 175o, probably in Virginia; died 15 Dec. 1786 (shipwreck); married, 11 June 1778, Rebecca Hamilton, daughter of Nathaniel Hamilton. She died January, 1795.

Josiah Hardy was the ancestor of the New England branch of the Hardy line.He came from Norfolk, Virginia, and is connected with a large family of southern Hardys. There is, no doubt, some relationship between this family and the John Hardy Family of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, although the connection has not yet been discovered. †

Josiah Hardy was a sea captain. In 1776, it is said, he and his fiancée were shipwrecked near Norfolk. The same year, in company with Nathaniel Hamilton and family, he sailed from the South for Massachusetts. He made his home at Chatham, which at the time could hardly have been more than a fishing hamlet.

An old record tells the tragic story of his death as follows: "Josiah Hardy, with Solomon Godfrey, Paul Harding and Joshua Harding, a boy, left Chatham Dec 15, 1876, with a fair wind and good weather, for Boston. The whole party were found 10 April 1787 in Great Permit Hollow,Truro, all frozen."

Although the mother also died at an early age and the children became orphans, it is a remarkable fact that from this family have come some of the most representative men of New England and some of the nation, as will be seen later in this chapter.

Children, all born at Chatham, Mass.:

2 i. Mehitable 2, b. 21 July 1780; d. 8 May 1850; m. 30 Oct. 1803, Barnabas Wing of Brewster, Mass. Child:

Josiah, b. 15 Aug. 1804; drowned in Boston Harbpr, 8 May 1823.

3 * ii. Isaac 2, b. 14 Aug. 1782; d. 24 July 1846; m. 10 May 1804, Betsy Eldredge.

4 * iii. Josiah 2, b. 15 July 1784; d. 20 Aug. 1863; m. 1806, Rebecca Clarke.

5 iv. Betsey 2, b. May 1786; d. _____; m. 1810, Warren Hamilton. Their children:

Warren, b. 1812; m. 1st, Mary Doane; m. 2nd, Mary Mousman.

Rebecca, b. 1815.

Mehitable, b. 1817; m. John Rogers.

Betsey, b. 1819; m. Edward Jenkins.

Amanda, b. 1821; m. Benjamin Kindrick.

Lucinda, b. 1823.

† See "John Hardy Family of Isle of Wight County, Virginia."

Sources

• A Record of One Hundred Years of the Hardy Family, by Joseph Hardy II, Chatham, Mass., 1877.^[2]
• Hardy and Hardie, Part and Present. Authors and Compilers: H. Claude Hardy, B.A, M.A., Ph.D., White Plains, New York, and Rev. Edwin Noah Hardy, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Greenwich, Connecticut; 1935. Josiah is Record #1, Pgs. 321, 322.^[3]
• Descendants of Josiah Hardy, by Whitney Durand, privately published, 2011. Josiah Hardy is Record #1, Generation 1, Pg. 9.^[4]

See also:

• Chatham’s Ruth Harding and The Shipwreck of 1786

Footnotes

1. ↑ Information from Beardsley family researcher Nick Dann, 17 Mar 2021.
2. ↑ A Record of One Hundred Years of the Hardy Family
3. ↑ Hardy and Hardie, Part and Present
4. ↑ Descendants of Josiah Hardy