The Hargadines of Maryland and Delaware
Trace the powerful story of the Hargadines from their beginnings to their lasting legacy.
The Hargadines Family History
My interest in family genealogy started in the very early days of the internet. Websites like Ancestry.com and Findagrave.com were in their infancy and not all that good. Prior to these sites becoming what they are today, researchers used Family Group Sheets that were xeroxed over and over, so the quality of the print was faint, and you were lucky if you received one that was typed. My original mentors were family members that researched our history decades before I got interested in it, and they called people on the phone and wrote to people the old-fashioned way (called snail mail now)*. This was before cell phones were even thought of, and long distance was relatively expensive.
My Research
Research in Phases
While my research spans a couple of decades, this was not continuous, non-stop work. It's a hobby that lends itself to winter when you're stuck inside, and then there was family and career. As I type this, I'm semi-retired, the family is grown and gone, and I've picked up where I left off. The quantity of information on the internet is much better and easier to find. It still requires due diligence because there are hundreds of people with the same name.
Early Days
In the early days I had research partners. Two of the best researchers I know are Norma Pugmire and Tim Chambers. The three of us were in separate parts of the U.S. and connected via the internet, emailing dozens of times a day with whatever tidbit we'd discovered on our own. We were machines, and I remember often sending something late at night when everyone should be in bed only to get a response back because they were up doing the same thing. Norma's maiden name was Clifton, and our common ancestors were Joseph Henry Clifton (b. 1834) and Sarah A. Hargadine (b. 1842). Tim Chambers' common ancestors are when William Henry Chambers (b. 1849) married Mary Ann Hargadine (b. 1850) in 1870. Both Norma and Tim are first-class genealogists and were much better than I at logging their sources, which leaves a trail that typically was necessary to determine how a conclusion was made.
A Story That Continues to Evolve
The Hargadine ancestry line survived primarily because of the size of the families. There were several with ten or more children. Not all, but many had large families, sometimes with multiple spouses if their partner died at a young age, which was not rare.
One interesting note regarding the Hargadine women that married is that there are at least 20 families where Hargadine was listed as a middle name, which was a custom in the 1800s and 1900s. Examples are Samuel Hargadine Snow (b. 1868) and Robert Hargadine Hurd (b. 1910). I’ve had phone calls from individuals whose middle name was Hargadine, and they didn’t know why. Luckily, I was able to go back a few generations for them and find the two ancestors that married.
The Hargadine tale starts in Delaware and Maryland just prior to the Revolutionary War. The most likely heritage prior to arriving in America is either England or Ireland. My thinking had always leaned towards Ireland; however, a recent DNA test came back as descending from England.
It’s been said that genealogy work is never done; as you’re reading this, there is no doubt that there are recent discoveries, and you may even have facts that I’m not aware of. I certainly hope so.