Turning to My Ancestors: Charles Jesse Hardy My Grandfather

Charles Jesse Hardy

By W. Craig Burrell

Key Points

Birth: 8 April 1883

Parents: Charles William Hardy and Marinda Andrus

Spouse: Clarice Melena Harding, Married: 23 October 1907

Mission:

Germany

30 October 1907 – 11 June 1910

Death: 17 January 1956

Charles Jesse Hardy (Charley) was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on 8 April 1883 to Charles William Hardy and Marinda Andrus. He was raised in a relatively large family. He was the only boy. His sisters included Lucy May (1873), Sarah Alice (1876), Marinda Maude (1878), Minnie Viola (1888), Bertha Andrus (1891) and Cynthia (1894). His father had a second wife, Bertha Starley, who provided Charley with a half brother, William Henry (1881).

Growing Up in Salt Lake City

Charles and Marinda raised their family in a little home on 553 East First South in Salt Lake City. To visit the area now, one would think of it as being very urban. However, they were able to keep a cow, chickens and raise a garden on their little lot. Marinda had a license to sell milk to the neighbors.

The girls loved to make candy. They used a lovely old marble topped table to dip their chocolates on. The surface of the table became dull and pitted. Years later after Marinda died the table was given to Charley’s wife Clarice who had it refinished. It now is on display in the home of her grandson Kent Burrell.

William Charles was a civil engineer. He built dams and railroads and served as the Salt Lake County Surveyor for eight years while he raised his family. He was very religious, and the standards of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were adhered in their home.

Charley grew up as an ordinary boy of that time. He liked to play marbles, baseball and other boy games. There were times when he was mischievous and fortunately this mischief did not get out of hand.

When I was only nine years old, my Grandpa Hardy shared an interesting story with me.

“Grandpa Hardy was home alone during part of July because Grandma, Aunt Lizzie and Kaylene went on a trip to California. Grandpa came out and helped my dad who was building a house. Grandpa had worked a lot with concrete while he worked for Salt Lake City, and he taught me how to mix small batches of concrete in a wheel barrow. I learned that it was important not to put too much water into the mix. Grandpa had still not recovered from the stroke he had in early 1951. It had slowed him down both physically and mentally.”

“One day as we worked in the hot, July sun, I asked Grandpa Hardy, “What did you do for fun when you were a boy?”

“We played marbles and baseball and did a lot the things you do now.” He replied.

“Did you ever do anything to get into trouble?” I asked.

“Well, there was an incident involving the trolley. People used to ride the trolley around Salt Lake City just like we ride the bus today. Near my home, the trolley ran down a steep hill on Fourth South. The incline started as the trolley left Thirteenth East and the tracks leveled out west of Ninth East. One day, two of my friends and I were watching the trolley make the stop at the bottom of the hill. My friend thought that it would be fun to put something slippery on the track so it couldn’t stop. We all thought this would be great, and my friends agreed that some of my Mom’s soft homemade soap would do a great job. My wildest friend suggested that we hang a dummy just over the tracks about three quarters of the way down the hill. We thought this would be a great prank.” Grandpa said this with a smile as if he could see it happening in his mind.

“We put this plan into action the next day. During the afternoon, we made a dummy out of some old clothes and a bunch of rags. We stuffed an old shirt and a pair of pants with rags to make the body and limbs. We took a big piece of cloth and wrapped it around a wad of rags to make a head. Everything was tied together to make a human size dummy. I slipped into the pantry and put some soft soap in a bucket. After dark, we took the dummy and the soap over to the tracks. It took quite a while to soap the tracks, and we had to hurry before the next train came. We hung the dummy from one of the support frames that held up the electric wire that the trolley connected to. We had to be careful not to electrocute ourselves. When this was completed, we found a good hiding place where we could watch the action.”

“We didn’t have to wait long before we saw the trolley speed down the hill. When the driver saw the dummy he hit the brakes. The trolley sped on as the wheels slipped on the soapy tracks. The dummy flew into the air as the trolley hit it. The driver was able to get his vehicle stopped about fifty feet past the stop at the bottom of the hill. He set the brake and rushed out to assess the damage. Some of the passengers followed him.”

“They couldn’t find the person that was hit by the trolley. All they found was old clothes and rags. When they looked up, they saw a rope hanging from the support frame, and they guessed they were the victims of a cruel prank. The good driver stood quietly while he gained control of his emotions. He took a deep breath, turned and walked back to his driver’s seat. He had a schedule to keep, and he could not be delayed by a prank.”

“What did you do, Grandpa? Did you run? Did you have a good laugh?” I asked.

“We couldn’t laugh when we saw the effect our prank had on the driver and passengers. To tell the truth, we were scared. We were frozen in place with fear until about ten minutes after the trolley continued its journey. When we were able to move, we quietly walked home in the shadows and went to bed. The next day, a lot of people were talking about the great trolley prank. We were too scared to brag that we pulled it off.”

Charley was educated in the public schools in Salt Lake City and attended LDS College. Some of his courses applied to engineering and surveying. He did not complete a degree. In the summer time he would often work with his father in Southern Utah where they were building a railroad. From the time he was thirteen years old he was able to find a summer job or a part time job to help out with finances. For a while he worked as a mechanic at the city car barns. They were located where Trolley Square is today.

Financial Struggles, a Mission Call and a Wedding

The Charles W. Hardy family prospered financially for many years, however, some time after 1902 they had a real set back. Charles W. lost some money he had invested. The family struggled financially for several years. Marinda and the children had to work to keep the family afloat. This interfered with college plans for some of the children.

Charley became acquainted with Clarice Harding a couple of years before he left on his mission. On 19 September 1907 he received a mission call under the hand of President Joseph F. Smith. He was to leave from Salt Lake City on 30 October 1907 to serve in the Switzerland and Germany mission.

Charley’s family was not in a strong financial situation. Clarice was living in Salt Lake and had a good job in a millinery shop at the time. His bishop suggested that he should marry Clarice before he left so she could help pay for his mission. Charles and Clarice were married on 23 October 1907. They received their endowments and were sealed together for time and eternity in the Salt Lake Temple.

It is hard for me to imagine their emotions as Charley boarded the train and left for Germany. I have a letter that Charley wrote to Clarice on 12 Aug 1908 from Kiel, Germany. I will share part of it with you.

“My Dear Wife:

Love, your dear and most welcome letter reached me this morning, and O’ how good it made me feel. It is the first one I have had for over two weeks, and I was half worried to death wondering if you were sick in bed or that I had said something that had made you feel angry. O’ how good this one looks to me. You should ought to have seen me when I got it. If you have ever seen anyone tickled; why it was me. Love, I am still in this little place and by appearances, I will stay here for a month to six weeks more. Anyway I am going to baptize a man this week or next. So, that looks good to me here. This is the first baptism that has taken place in this place for over two years. It looks good to have the opportunity to do this being so long between times….”

Return from

Germany

Charley spent over two and a half years in Germany. As his mission was drawing to a close, Clarice accompanied by her sister Elizabeth went to Germany to meet Charles and travel home with him. They left Salt Lake City on 15 April 1910 and traveled with a group of missionaries traveling to Europe. On 4 May 1910 Charley met them in Hanover.

Before they traveled back to the states, Charley wanted Clarice to meet some of the saints that were so dear to him. They traveled to Berlin, Hanover, Dresden, Zurich, Paris and London on the way home. They sailed from Liverpool 25 June 1910.

They were traveling with a group of missionaries. The missionaries lodged in one cabin and Clarice and Elizabeth were in a separate cabin. It was not exactly “The Love Boat.” On the night of 30 June 1910 at 11:30 pm while traveling through heavy fog an oil tanker hit their ocean liner. It made a huge hole in the side of the ship.

The passengers were prepared to abandon ship and board the life boats that were being lowered into the water. After assessing the damage the captain sent them all back to their cabins. Clarice and her sister were separated from the missionaries, and there was no communication with them.

The boat was anchored and all passengers remained in their cabins while the crew worked. All of the cargo was moved to the side of the ship opposite to where the damage was done. The hole was covered with some black canvas material. After this they limped toward New York Harbor. Passengers were allowed to leave their cabins and Clarice and Elizabeth were able to communicate with Charley and the other missionaries. This relieved a lot of anxiety.

As Charley disembarked the ship at New York harbor he observed the hole in the side of the ship. He commented later that it was big enough to place his whole house on Eighth East into it.

When they returned to Utah, Charley found it difficult to find work. He commented that it was the first time in his life that he was not able to find a job. Finally he was able to get some mechanic work.

Eventually they were able to settle into a small apartment and Charley was hired in 1913 by Salt Lake City to work in the Engineering Department as a Level Man. He remained in that position for 38 years.

He worked on many construction projects while he worked for Salt Lake City. Sometimes as he drove around the city with family, he would point out a project he had worked on. He helped with the construction of the dam for Mountain Dell reservoir up Parleys Canyon. He loved to take his kids and grandkids over to walk across the dam.

Raising a Family

Their first daughter, Josephine Marinda, was born on 22 February 1911. On 12 March 1913, their second daughter, Clarice Ruth was born. They moved into a home of their own in 1914. It was located on the corner of Eighth East and Yale Avenue. Kathryn the third daughter was born on 20 November 1919. A tragedy affected the family on 12 Mar 1921; Clarice Ruth died. She had a bad heart murmur and had been ill for months. This was a hard blow to the family.

Charley’s family lived in the Thirty First Ward for the most of his life. Among other callings he was the in the Sunday School Superintendency for ten years and served as one of the Seven Presidents of Seventies in the stake for seven years.

Charles worked in the outdoors all of his life. He didn’t have a desk job. A man that worked with him for years told me once what a pleasant man he was to work with. He said it could be a cold and rainy or freezing with a biting wind and Charlie would show up on the job with a big smile. “Isn’t it a fine morning?” He would say. His hands were always weathered and cracked. Grandma made homemade hand lotion using glycerin and rose water for him to use on his hands. It didn’t make his hands as smooth as silk, but he admitted that they smelled nice.

They loved to take the family on vacations. Charley loved to drive his own car. It was much better than traveling in public transportation. Charley and Clarice took several trips with their children and grandchildren. They traveled with their daughter Kathryn’s family to Bryce, Zions, and Grand Canyons; Yellowstone and Moon Lake in the High Uintahs.

Charley liked to hunt and fish as a young man; however, when he grew older being in the outdoors was not a big attraction to him. He did fish a little with his son-in-law, Wilfred.

Called on another Mission

When Charles Jesse was 68 years old he had a stroke. Clarice wrote. “Early in the morning of 22 February 1951 Charley got up as usual, never being one to stay in bed past six o’clock. After he had been up a short time, I heard a terrible crash and called to him, and he answered that he was alright. In about five minutes I heard another terrible crash, and he had crawled in the front room and knocked over the floor lamp. He said he was alright. I called the neighbor who came right over and helped him in bed. He had taken a light stroke, but in a few days could hold a glass to drink. He was down for weeks and never did go back to work. He was up and around, but would forget so easily. He longed to go back to work but couldn’t.”

Charley never was the same. He wanted to get out his 1937 Plymouth and go for a drive, which would have been disastrous. Nevertheless, he was determined to do it. Finally, Clarice sold the car. It broke his heart. Life was no longer a joy to him.

On 17 January 1956, Charley woke up with a pain in his bowels, and Clarice called the doctor. The doctor put him in bed. His breathing was short, and he was uncomfortable. He passed away very quietly about 5:10 pm. Kathryn and Clarice were with him when he died.

His funeral was held in the Thirty First Ward Chapel on 21 January 1956, and he was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.