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Robert B. Hargadine Submitted by Samuel E. Hargadine, first cousin four
times removed of Robert Hargadine Columbia, Missouri
samuel_hargadine@hotmail.com 4/28/2000 Born January 31, 1829 in Delaware, Robert B. Hargadine settled a donation land claim in early 1852 on which part of the present city of Ashland, Oregon is located. At the age of four years his father died, leaving his mother in somewhat straightened circumstances. She subsequently married and he lived with her until he was ten years of age: at this time he was compelled to leave home on account of ill treatment from his step father, and went to the home of an uncle, where he lived until he was seventeen years old. He then lived with another uncle, (believed to be William A. Hargadine; actually a first cousin) who was engaged in mercantile pursuits, and remained until he was of age, where he gained that business education and tact which made him so successful in later years. He had during his minority but little opportunity for schooling, but by his perserverance he succeeded in obtaining an ordinary education. In 1850 he immigrated to California, by the Isthmus Route. He remained eighteen months in the mines, and being unsuccessful he determined to immigrate to Oregon. Accordingly in January 1852, he arrived at Ashland, and took the donation claim now owned by and on which Hon. Lindsey Applegate resides. He was Ashland's first merchant, helped to establish the Ashland Woolen Mills and was active in school and town political affairs. After selling his land claim to Lindsay Applegate in 1862, Hargadine further expanded his mercantile business. Following his death in January 1877, his widow, Martha Washington Kilgore Hargadine continued the family business and was active in preserving Hargadine Cemetery. Hargadine Cemetery: On December 8, 1867, Robert and Martha Hargadine buried their one-year-old daughter, Katie, on a sloping hill north of Ashland. Two weeks later, on December 21, 1867, Allen F. and Sarah Farnham interred their young son, Cuyler, in a grave nearby. These are the first two recorded burials in Hargadine Cemetery. The Hargadine Pioneer Cemetery is listed in the National Register of Historical Places (#98000627). Robert and Martha Hargadine are buried in the cemetery that they helped found. The children of Robert B. and Martha Hargadine were John Franklin, Charles Henry, Marietta, Elizabeth, George Robert, Katie, Martha and Frederick. |