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Robert E. Hardaway, Jr. Collection (MC 256) - Columbus State University

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Archives and Special Collections

Robert E. Hardaway, Jr. Collection (MC 256)

Biographical Note

Robert Archelaus Hardaway was born on February 2, 1829 in Morgan County, Georgia and raised in Alabama. He attended St. Joseph's College in Alabama, and Emory College in Atlanta, Georgia. He was married to Rebecca Elizabeth Hurt (1837-1887). He served with the United States Army in Mexico. After the Mexican-American War, he became an Alabama planter and was the superintendent of the Mobile and Girard Railroad. During the Civil War, he served as a Confederate artillery officer in Virginia. After the war he was the superintendent of the East Alabama & Cincinnati Railroad. He was an engineering professor at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (later Auburn University), 1873-1881, and later at the University of Alabama, 1882-1897. Between his teaching positions, he was an engineer for the Central Railroad in Mexico, 1881- 1882. He died April 27, 1899. Robert Early Hardaway, Sr., the son of Robert A. Hardaway and Rebecca Elizabeth Hurt, was born April 26, 1858 in Columbus, Georgia. He married Mathilda Ustick Dainwood (1868-1935) of Livingston, Alabama on November 27, 1889 and died September 14, 1938 in El Paso, Texas. Benjamin Hurt Hardaway, Sr., the brother of REH, Sr., was the founder of the Hardaway Contracting Company which built roads, dams and bridges across the South and Southeast of the United States. REH had mining and real estate interests in various states.

Robert Early Hardaway, Jr. was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on September 1, 1890. He was originally named Robert Dainwood Hardaway, but his name was changed when he was 6 years old. He married Martha Rebecca McCoy (1890-1966) of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina on February 3, 1920 and died in Columbus, Georgia on January 5, 1992. REH, Jr. assumed control of the Robert E. Hardaway, Sr. family businesses after his father's death, and managed his estate through the 1960s.

William Franklin Loflin, Sr. was born April 30, 1894 in Salisbury, North Carolina and died July 14, 1969 in Columbus, Georgia. He was a teacher for a short time but spent most of his career as a CPA, founding his own accounting firm, William F. Loflin and Co. in Columbus. He was active in Georgia CPA organizations and held state offices in several of these organizations. He married Dolores Watkins Agee (b. August 2, 1895 in Mobile, Alabama) and they had two children. William Franklin Loflin, Jr. was born 20 November, 1919 in Tennessee and died November 4, 2003 in Columbus, Georgia. He worked on and off as an accountant in his father firm, but eventually purchased and worked at a full service gas station. He was active in property investments with his brother, Robert Lawrence Loflin (1920-1984), who worked full time in their father's firm. Robert was married to Rebecca Jane Hardaway Loflin on April 11, 1948. She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on February 25, 1922. Their daughter Elizabeth Loflin was born on June 19, 1949. Her married name is Vech.

Scope and Content

This collection spans a century and a half and four generations of the Hardaway and Loflin families. The ante-bellum period is represented by cotton plantation records and detailed diaries of various Hardaways of eastern Alabama and western Georgia. The Civil War is seen through the battle field diaries of Robert A. Hardaway, and his voluminous autobiographical writings. The post-bellum period is represented by the business, family and academic records of Robert A. Hardaway and his son, Robert Early Hardaway, whose business activities are broadly represented in textual and photographic media. The lives of his son, Robert E. Hardaway and his daughter, Jane Hardaway Loflin, are well documented in the 20th century portion of the papers. Additionally the personal, social and business activities of the latter two are augmented with letters, genealogical materials, photographs, correspondence, scrapbooks and publications from Jane H. Loflin's husband, Robert L. Loflin and his brother, William F. Loflin, Jr., accountants and businessmen in Columbus,Georgia in the mid-twentieth century.

1852-2007 13 boxes (9 l.f.)

Permission to Publish

Permission to publish material from the Robert E. Hardaway, Jr. Collection must be obtained from the Columbus State University Archives. Use of the following credit line for publication or exhibit is required:

Robert E. Hardaway, Jr. Collection, MC 256 Columbus State University Archives Columbus, Georgia

Provenance

This collection was bequeathed to the Columbus State University Archives by Robert E. Hardaway, Jr. the father of Jane Hardaway Loflin, who arranged the transfer of the bulk of the materials in 2008, with additions to the collection in 2009 and 2011.

Note to Researchers

See also:

The Columbus Museum publication for a March, 2007 exhibition, A Life in Letters: Lt. Col. Robert A. Hardaway in the Civil War and the New South (PDF) offers a unique first-hand perspective of the experiences of one of the Chattahoochee Valley's most accomplished military and educational leaders.

Hardaway Family Papers (MC 203)

Columbus Museum Collection (MC 9), Box 5, Folders 4 and 5

Box and Folder List

Series 1: R.A. Hardaway

Box 1 - Account Books / Diaries, 1852-1881

  • Item 1 - Desilver's Pocket Diary and Almanac, kept by George S. Hardaway, Asst. Engineer of the Girard Railway, Alabama. 1852
  • Item 2 - Record and Account Book of the cotton plantation of Robert Stanfield Hardaway in Cusseta,Georgia. 1858-1861
  • Item 3 - Account Book of Robert A. Hardaway. 1859-1861
  • Item 4 - Civil War Field Diary of Robert A. Hardaway. May 4, 1864-May 16, 1864
  • Item 5 -Civil War Field Diary of R.A. Hardaway. May 22, 1864-June 1865
  • Item 6 - Account Book of Robert A. Hardaway of Macon County,Alabama. 1866
  • Item 7 - Account Book of Robert A. Hardaway. 1868-1869
  • Item 8 - Rebecca Hurt Hardaway Diary. 1869-1870
  • Item 9 - Account Book of Robert A. Hardaway, E. A. & C. R. R (East Alabama and Cincinnati Railroad), Opelika, Alabama. 1870
  • Item 10 - Account Book of Robert A. Hardaway of LaFayette, Alabama. 1871
  • Item 11 - Account Book of Robert A. Hardaway of LaFayette, Alabama. 1872
  • Railroad Passes, extended to Robert A. Hardaway as a courtesy in his capacity as Engineer and Superintendent of the E. A. & C. Railroad (East Alabama and Cincinnati Railroad). 1872
  • Item 12 - Account Book of Robert A. Hardaway of Auburn, Alabama. 1873-1877
  • Item 13 - Account Book of Robert A. Hardaway of Auburn, Alabama. 1878-1881

Box 2 - Account Books / Diaries

  • Item 1 - Record, R. A. Hardaway, Lee County, Alabama, 1878. This volume contains the genealogies of the Hardaway, Hurt and other families from the 1660s to 1960. It also includes autobiographical writings of Robert A. Hardaway, covering from before the Civil War to his career as a railroad engineer working in Mexico in the 1880s. There are also notations from other family members of the 19th and 20th centuries. There is a complete transcription of this volume in the Columbus Museum Collection. 1870s-1960s
  • Item 2 - Account Book of Robert A. Hardaway. 1886-1888
  • Item 3 - Business Letters and Business Statements of Robert A. Hardaway. 1888-1889
  • Item 4 - Account book of Robert A. Hardaway, University of Alabama,Tuscaloosa,Alabama. This includes accounts of his trip to Mexico in the 1880s to work on Mexican railroads. 1892

Series 2: R. E. Hardaway, Sr.

Box 1

  • Item 1 - Used Envelopes
  • Item 2 - St. Elmo by Augusta J. Evans, published in Chicago. n.d.
  • Item 3 - Ready Reference Tables by Carl Hering. 1904
  • Item 4 - Album of Photographs and a Description of the Goat Rock Hydro-Electric Development of the Chattahoochee River by the Columbus Power Company. 1910-1912
  • Item 5 - A Dictionary of Select and Popular Quotations . . . , D. E. McDonnel, published in Philadelphia by A. Finley in 1824. Presented to R. A. Hardaway by James B. McGahee on December 1, 1846.
  • Folder 1 - Hardaway Contracting Company—Development of the Ninety-Nine Islands Station of Southern Power Company on Broad River in South Carolina. 1907
  • Folder 2 - Maps by RED, Sr. Water Project - Las Cruces, New Mexico/Deming and El Paso,Texas/Juarez, Mexico. 1920s
  • Folder 3 - City Plan for El Paso,Texas. 1925
  • Folder 4 - Will and Estate Papers of REH. Sr. 1936
  • Folder 5 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Taxes - El Paso, Texas. 1936-1949
  • Folder 6 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Taxes - Deming, NM. 1937-1962
  • Folder 7 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Letters concerning property in Deming, NM. 1951-1962
  • Folder 8 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Oil Drilling Easement -Deming, NM. 1955
  • Folder 9 - Estate of REH, Sr. - 3419 La Luz Street, El Paso,Texas property matters. 1941-1943
  • Folder 10 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Ferris Property in El Paso County,Texas. 1941
  • Folder 11 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Hardaway Subdivision -El Paso,TX
  • Folder 12 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Plats and Patent -Deming, NM. 1931-1950
  • Folder 13 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Letters - E. H. Lang regarding rent, accounts, and other estate matters. 1938-1939
  • Folder 14 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Letters regarding the “Kelly Notes” which were for loans made by the R. E. Hardaway and secured by 97.5 acres in Hudspeth County,Texas. 1938-1940
  • Folder 15 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Summary of Estate Accounts. 1938-1962
  • Folder 16 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Bank Records - Cancelled Checks. 1936-1950
  • Folder 17 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Bank Records - El Paso National Bank. 1938-1956
  • Folder 18 - Estate of REH, Sr. - Letters from Mathilde Hardaway to Robert E. Hardaway, Jr. about both estate business and personal matters. 1939-1954
  • Folder 19 - Letters of REH, SR. 1932-1938

Series 3: Robert Early Hardaway, Jr.

Box 1

  • Item 1 - Baseball booklets. 1975-1982
  • Item 2 - Box of calling cards. n.d.
  • Item 3 - Hardaway World: A Publication of the Hardaway Company. 1980-1995
  • Folder 1 - Letters - Between REH, Jr. and his uncle, B. H. Hardaway regarding funding for REH, Jr.'s college education. 1917
  • Folder 2 - Letter to his mother regarding family affairs and the sale of land in Iola (not further identified). August 3, 1930
  • Folder 3 - Letters - between REH, Jr. and the North Carolina State Highway Commission regarding a car wreck involving his wife and a NC Highway Department work detail. 1925
  • Folder 4 - Hardaway Contracting Co. - Album of Photographs and Description of Locks and Dam No. 17, Black Warrior River, Alabama. 1915
  • Folder 5 - Hardaway Contraction Co. - Photographs—Swifts Island Ferry Bridge—Pee Dee,North Carolina. 1929-1937
  • Folder 6 - Hardaway Contracting Co.- Business Correspondence. 1922-1941
  • Folder 7 - Hardaway Contracting Co.- Income Statement. 1942
  • Folder 8 - Hardaway Contracting Co. -Sunshine Skyway Bridge-Tampa, Florida- Newspaper Articles. 1991
  • Folder 9 - Automobiles (Company and Personal). 1924-1951
  • Folder 10 - Banking - Citizens and Southern National Bank, Atlanta, Georgia. 1940-1942
  • Folder 11 - Banking - Checkbook Stubs. 1939-1950
  • Folder 12 - Banking - American Trust Company - Charlotte, North Carolina. 1923-1957
  • Folder 13 - Banking - Mutual Building and Loan Association -Charlotte, North Carolina. 1924-1941
  • Folder 14 - Banking - The First Bank of Marianna -Marianna,Florida. 1937
  • Folder 15 - Stocks/War Bonds. 1922-1958
  • Folder 16 - Insurance -Aetna. 1925-1941
  • Folder 17 - Insurance - Columbus Interstate Insurance Agency. 1938
  • Folder 18 - Insurance - Life. 1936-1941
  • Folder 19 - Real Estate -North Carolina. 1921-1939
  • Folder 20 -Lake Summit House, Tuxedo, North Carolina- Invoices/Building Information. 1957
  • Folder 21 - Real Estate - Rental and repairs of1223 Owsley Avenue, Columbus, Georgia. 1940-1941
  • Folder 22 - Taxes - Alabama. 1939
  • Folder 23 - Taxes - Marianna,Florida. 1940
  • Folder 24 - Property Taxes - Charlotte,Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 1927-1943
  • Folder 25 - Post Cards - El Paso,Texas
  • Folder 26 - Government Documents - Printed Booklets
  • Folder 27 - Travel Booklets - Southeast US
  • Folder 28 - Miscellaneous - Cards, Letters, Programs. 1920s-1950s
  • Folder 29 - Miscellaneous - Newspaper Clippings. 1923-2005
  • Folder 30 - Furniture Storage Agreements. 1937-1938
  • Folder 31 - Letters - Phi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, 1925-1957
  • Folder 32 - State Highway Maps and a few World Maps

Series 4 - William Loflin, Sr.

Box 1

  • Folder 1 - Writings of William Loflin, Sr. 1954-1957
    • Speeches and essays of Loflin, mostly relating to travel experiences or CPA-related matters. The speeches were mostly given to the Lions Club, professional organizations, or Sunday school classes.
  • Folder 2 - Letters - Gov. Eugene Talmadge (1942), Sen. Dick Russell (1961) and Sen. Herman Talmadge (1960).
  • Folder 3 - Trinity Triangle -Trinity School-Columbus, Georgia. 1962
  • Folder 4 - Church Bulletins - St. Luke's Methodist Church. 1959-2009
  • Folder 5 - Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants. 1947-1962
  • Folder 6 - Atomic Energy/Oakridge - Printed materials. 1951
  • Folder 7 - DAR - Application of Mrs. William Loflin. 1940-1943
  • Folder 8 - Application of Robert Loflin and other materials relating to the Sons of the Confederacy. 1977-1978
  • Folder 9 - Huguenot Society. 1974-1977
  • Folder 10 - Loflin/Agee Genealogy. 1917-19707
  • Folder 11 - Membership materials of Robert Loflin in the Sons of the American Revolution. 1976-1977.
  • Folder 12 - Miscellaneous - Blank Forms, Clippings, etc.
  • Folder 13 - Photographs - Family, Accounting, Columbus. 1950s
  • Folder 14 - Letters - Accounting, Retirement, Miscellaneous. 1968
  • Folder 15 - Accounting Articles. 1950s
  • Folder 16 - Family - Letters, Clippings and Card. 1959
  • Folder 17 - Travel of Beth Loflin. 1957
  • Folder 18 - Lions Club. 1953-1978
  • Folder 19 - Industrial Index (with extensive articles about Columbus State College's new building and new hydroelectric facilities on the Chattahoochee- April 22, 1959

Box 2 - Accounting Scrapbooks. 1940-1955

  1. 1940-1944
  2. 1945-1949
  3. 1949-1952
  4. 1952-1954
  5. 1954-1955

Box 3 - Accounting Scrapbooks. 1955-1968

  1. 1955-1956
  2. 1956
  3. 1956-1960
  4. 1957
  5. 1956-1957
  6. 1959-1961
  7. 1961-1964
  8. 1964-1968

Series 5 - Jane Hardaway Loflin

Box 1 - Daughters of the American Revolution - Oglethorpe Chapter, Personal Papers

Year Books of the Oglethorpe Chapter. 1947-1984, 1992-2007 (54 vols.)

Programs for the Georgia State Conference. 1972-2007 (36 vols.)

National Bylaws. 1963, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1984

Membership Roll and Register of Ancestors. 1956, 1976, 1986, 1996

Bible - Inscribed to Alice Carre. 1895

  • Folder 1 - DAR Oglethorpe Chapter - Photographs, Applications and Forms. 1974-1994
  • Folder 2 - DAR Oglethorpe Chapter - Membership, Ritual, Programs. 1983-1992
  • Folder 3 - Speech on the Founding of DAR written by Sally Sue Crawford, DAR Speakers Staff. 1988
  • Folder 4 - DAR Florida/North Carolina. 1978-1983
  • Folder 5 - Sons of the American Revolution -Coweta Falls Chapter. 1973-1983
  • Folder 6 - Children of the American Revolution. 1978-1983
  • Folder 7 - Colonial History -Georgia, Lineage of George Walton. 1988
  • Folder 8 - Confederate Memorial Day Program. 1984
  • Folder 9 - R. A. Hardaway Genealogy. Photocopies of original documents of various dates.
  • Folder 10 - Inventory of Estates of William and Mary Hurt. Photocopies of estate-related material from 1813
  • Folder 11 - “Are You Tired”. n.d.
  • Folder 12 - Columbus, Georgia - CSC Program and History of the town. 1970s
  • Folder 13 - Christmas Hymns for use of a church choir, probably St. Paul's Methodist Church in Columbus, Georgia. n.d.
  • Folder 14 - Diary - Trip to Virginia and Washington, D.C. July 1947
  • Folder 15 - Declaration of Independence/Constitution
  • Folder 16 - Robert Loflin Certificates

Oversize

  1. Western Military institute Diploma - G. S. Hardaway
  2. Georgia Military Academy Diploma - Robert Loflin
  3. Photograph - 5th CO. E. O. T. C. Camp A.A. Humphreys, VA.—Capt. Robert E. Hardaway, Sr. 1918

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