Re: Family of Oliver Norvell Hardy of Laurel and Hardy
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In reply to:
Family of Oliver Norvell Hardy of Laurel and Hardy
John Norvell 2/01/02
There are many Hardys in my wife's family.I have her Hardy tree back to Jerimiah M. Hardy, born 1855. I have a photograph of all 11 of his family in 1897 with thier ages and names.Oral history has it that these Hardys are related to the movie star Oliver Hardy.The exact connection has not been established.My wife's Hardys are mostly from Blythe, Georgia with some being born in Harlem, Georgia where Oliver Hardy lived. As I am sure you are aware, the movie star's birth name was Norvell Hardy.Norvell was the surname of his mother.He took the name "Oliver" after his father died in 1892.He lovingly called his mother "Emily".Blythe and Harlem, Georgia are small towns about 20 miles apart just outside of Augusta, Georgia. There are many Hardys buried in cemeteries in Blythe. Harlem is becomming known as "The birthplace of Oliver Hardy" and is building a Oliver Hardy Museum which should open this spring.I was there in December,2002 and took some photos of the burial plot and headstones of Oliver Hardy b. Dec. 6, 1841, d. Nov. 22, 1892 and his wife, Cornelia E., wife of Oliver Hardy born,
January 18, 1846, d.May 18, 1888.This stone had been broken in half and had been repaired re-connecting the weathered top half with the protected bottom half.The two pieces seams were well matched.Obviously, the plot had been cleaned up and restored to good condition.I also visited the town library to see if they had any more information about The Hardy Family.I was told that the Hardy Museum had taken all of the local records and had them at the museum site but it was not open and no information was available at that time.I would like to hear from that group to see if we have information that would be mutually beneficial. I would be happy to send you email photos of the Cemetery Plot and Oliver Hardy and Cornelia E. Hardy markers if you would like.If the response is great, then I will post them on a web site for viewing.Any information that you can add regarding the Oliver Hardy Family would be appreciated.
Lewis [email protected]