George Dencil Hardman I
Ancestors and Descendants
by
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Foreword In the summer of 1994 my friends, Ellen and Denny Stilwell whetted my appetite to fulfill a dream of my father’s George D. Hardman I to trace our family lineage. They shared with me a volume of the Hacker’s Creek Journal, which had our Hardman ancestors beginning with Nicholas Hardman of Inglehiem-am-Rhine, Germany. And thus my work began. As my research continued, I found that our heritage must include our paternal mother’s, Bessie Maude Lowther, and maternal mother’s, Hazel Bowyer Hardman, lineage. Our ancestors and descendants included Stouts, Grimes, Bowyers, McWhorters, Lowthers, Hardmans and many are we. I have included the family members of all of these families with a birth date if it was available. This is my contribution to others who are taking on the task of finding their ancestors and descendants. As the research moved along, many interesting facts about our family was discovered. Many of our ancestors were pioneers in the religious, settlement, politics, and military ventures of the United States of America. I have included those in the early sections of the book and have shared the continuation by their descendants of them. This effort has given me an opportunity to reacquaint myself with many of the living descendants for which I am grateful. Without their contributions this work would not have been as complete as it is. I am also grateful to those "cousins" I met on the internet whose research was shared with me and filled many voids in the family ancestry. As you read this work you will find all of their names in the endnotes and throughout it. And so we begin, first with our maternal ancestors, Stout, Grimes and Bowyer and then our paternal ancestors, McWhorter, Lowther and Hardman. These lines are brought together with the marriage of George D. Hardman I and Hazel Bowyer on December 23, 1928.
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About the Book
This book is a fulfilled dream of my father’s, George Dencil Hardman I. He had done some research but never finished it. Col. William Lowther, Henry McWhorter and Caleb Stout, our ancestral grandfathers, all fought in the Revolutionary War. Peterman Hardman was from the State of Hesse in Germany and may have been a Hessian soldier, since he received a land grant from Lord Fairfax. Our ancestors played an important role in the settling of the Hacker’s Creek area, (Lewis County), Braxton, Gilmer, Ritchie and Wood County. Our ancestors fought for freedom from the human oppression of slavery in two ways. Some joined the Confederate army and others in the area of the Church. They tried to make a difference in the lives and living of others. Our ancestors suffered much but persevered in their confrontations with the Indians. One ancestor lived in the teepee of Chief Tecumseh; another chose to parley with them and bought their land in New York; they did not just take it. Our ancestors contributed to the political process and law enforcement in their day. They served as justice of the peace, sheriff and in the Virginia State Assembly.
About the Author
She was born in the homestead of her grandparents, John and Bessie Hardman on Fall Run, her first beginning. Late in life she had her second beginning while living there. She followed in the footsteps of John G. Hardman and said yes to her call to preach at the church built by her great grandfathers on Fall Run. She was the youngest daughter of George and Hazel Hardman. She received a bachelor’s degree from Alderson-Broaddus College, a Master of Arts from the College of Graduates Studies and a Master of Divinity from United Theological College. She has continued the progeny of our ancestors with four children, seven grandchildren, one great grandchild and one on the way.