William Harrison Hardy

 

Birth Date: April 15, 1823

Birth Place: Watertown, New York

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Death Date: June 1906

Death Place: Whittier, California

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Key Facts:  The now historical town of Hardyville, on the Colorado river, was named after William Hardy.  William Hardy purchased the Colorado River Ferry and built a store, hotel, saloon, and warehouse along the river establishing the town of Hardyville.  Hardy was also noted for the invention of riveted mail sacks.

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History:  William Hardy traveled to California with a wagon train in 1849 where he was elected as the captain of the company and was known as Captain Hardy.  Captain Hardy had accumulated a fortune through mercantile pursuits and purchased the Colorado Ferry once he arrived out west.  Captain Hardy founded the town of Hardyville on the Colorado river which has since been overtaken by Bullhead City.  With his acquisition he invested in building a store, hotel, saloon, warehouse and some adobe shanties on the Arizona side of the river.  This became known as Hardyville and provided many services at a prime crossing location along the Colorado river.

 

Captain Hardy was a well-educated, popular, and respected by those who knew him.  He was known to be generous and would provide free ferry rides to those down on their luck.  He also operated a toll rode between Hardyville and Prescott and he would maintain by keeping the passage clear of obstacles that may accumulate on the road.

 

Captain Hardy took an active role in territory politics with Hardyville serving as the Mohave county seat from 1867 to 1873.  He established the post office in Hardyville and is noted for inventing the riveted mail sack.  The mail sacks would arrive at Hardyville by horseback ripped open due to the thread of the mail sack fraying.  Hardy would have the mail sacks repaired by his harness shop by installing rivets in them to replace the threads ultimately improving the strength of the sacks.

 

Captain Hardy was a member of the first board of prison commissioners during the later part of his life.  The board of prison commissions supervised the construction of the Arizona Territorial Prison in Yuma, Arizona.  He died at his sister’s house in Whittier, California a man of modest means in June of 1906.

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Associated Town Link: Hardyville

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Acknowledgement:  Genealogy Trails, Wikipedia, APCRP, Arizona Pioneers Historical Society