Читать книгу History of Fresno County, Vol. 3 - Paul E. Vandor - Страница 40

Mr. Hardwicke is of English descent, having been born in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, on August 26, 1869. He spent his youth in his native country, attending the Tonbridge and Oundle High Schools. His parents are Eugene and Martha (Saunders) Hardwicke, and to them were born five children, of whom four are living.

In 1886, at the age of seventeen years, C. S. Hardwicke came to Fresno County, stopping at the Washington Colony. He was a young man of means; yet he was ready to do his bit and went right to work the day after arriving, and that spirit has stayed with him ever since and is one of the telling characteristics in his make-up today. In 1891, five years after his arrival in Fresno County, he bought his first piece of land. Misfortune lurked just around the corner for him, and in the early nineties, like so many others, the panic struck him and he lost his place with all the improvements he had worked so hard to make. The place he lost would now easily bring $12,000, and he lost it on a debt of $700. Discouraged somewhat, but not vanquished, Mr. Hardwicke went to Orosi, in Tulare County, where he developed another vineyard. Here he was married to Miss Margaret Forseman, a member of a pioneer family at Wildflower. They had two children, Constance and Kenneth. Mrs. Hardwicke died in 1913.

In 1906 Mr. Hardwicke sold out in Tulare County and, returning to Fresno County, bought the place he now owns. He has forty acres two miles south of Fresno on Jensen Avenue, just off of Elm. There are ten acres in bearing Emperors and eight acres of young Emperors, four acres of Cornichons, seven acres of Sultanas, five acres of Thompson seedless, five acres of Muscats, and one acre of naval oranges. He has experimented with all the grapes and is satisfied in his own mind that the emperors are the most profitable. He has remodeled his home and built barns and other needed buildings, and was one of the first in this section to put in the now justly celebrated "Kewanee" Water System. His native energy, directed by intelligence, has enabled him to possess one of the most productive vineyards in Fresno County. As has been seen, he specializes in table grapes.

Mr. Hardwicke is a good friend to education and progress, and for many years has served as trustee of the Fresno Colony school district, which maintains one of the best schools in the country districts in Fresno County, and much of the credit for the excellence of the school is due to him. He is a stockholder in the Raisin Association, is progressive and wide-awake, and may be counted upon to lend a hand when any forward movement looking to the advancement of Fresno County is begun.