Hardy Penny

Hardy Penny was born February 11,1813 in North Carolina. It is presently believed that his parents were Isaac Penny and Elizabeth Duskin and that he was born in Wake or Johnston County.

Hardy moved to Henry Co, Georgia where on December 8, 1831, he married Harriet Hood. The 1840 census of Henry Co lists the household of Hardy Penny as having 2 boys and 1 girl under the age of five, 1 boy between five and ten, with Harriet being between 30 and 40. Harriet apparently died shortly after the census was taken, for on November 26, 1840, Hardy married his second wife, Nancy Caldwell who was only 21 at the time of the census.

On December 4, 1851, Hardy purchased 300 acres south of present-day Red Hill in Cass County, Texas from Mary Sutherland. In January of 1854, Hardy sold the Sutherland property to James Sarrett and later that year, purchased 500 acres in the George W Lakey survey. In June of 1855, Hardy sold 200 acres off the south end to his brothers-inlaw, Thomas J, Wiley T, and David M Caldwell.

On the remaining 300 acres Hardy spent his years farming the land and raising his family in the wooded hills of east Texas. At the outbreak of the War Between the States, Hardy saw three of his sons march off to war never to return. Hardy Penny passed away on December 20, 1865 at the age of 52.

Nancy survived him by almost 30 years, raising their younger children on the farm during the tough years of Reconstruction. She spent her remaining years in the homes of her daughters, first with Mary and later with Fannie. Nancy died on June 2, 1894 and was laid to rest beside her husband at the Floyd Hill Baptist Church cemetery in rural Cass County.

The children of Hardy Penny and Harriet Hood children were: 1. James Perrian Penny Sr. was born circa 1834 in Henry Co, Georgia and died in Cass County during October of 1885. He is buried at Mill Creek Cemetery. On July 23, 1854, he married Lavicy Cook. They had four children before her death in the late 1860’s: William Warren, Nancy Ann, John Marion, and James Perrian Penny Jr.

Perrian married Amanda Wright circa 1867-68. They had six children: Lula, Alice, Ida, Emma, Robert Perry, and Hattie Penny.

2. Rufus H Penny was born circa 1835-36 in Henry Co, Georgia. He served in the 3rd Regiment of the Texas Calvary under the command of Col. H. B. Mabry during the Civil War. This unit which was also known as the South Kansas Texas Regiment of Mounted Volunteers and was the first group of soldiers from Cass Co. Rufus H Penny died at Lauderdale Springs, Mississippi on August 13, 1863.

3. Elizabeth Penny was born May 24, 1837 in Henry Co, Georgia and died in Cass Co. on October 23, 1897. She is buried at Floyd Hill Cemetery. She married Louis P Sheffield in Cass Co, Texas on September 12, 1855. They had eight children: Mary M, Hardy W, Ruffus P, James M, Nora, Dora Elnora, William Henry, and Eugenia Sheffield. 4. J. T. Penny was born about 1839 in Henry Co, Georgia. Muster rolls of Company I, 3rd Texas Calvary show that J. T. Penny enlisted with his brother, Rufus. Additional records state that Private J. T. Penny died of fever on July 17, 1862 at Canton, Mississippi.

The children of Hardy Penny and Nancy Caldwell were: 1. W. S. Penny was born about 1842 in Henry Co, Georgia. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, W. S. did not enlist along with his brothers, Rufus and J.T. in the summer of 1861. In the fall, he traveled to Camp Crump in Marion County. He might well have made the trip with a number of young men from his neighborhood, among them John M Fletcher, as several joined up on the same day. On November 4, 1861, W. S. enlisted in what eventually became Company K of the 32nd Regiment of Texas Calvary. The muster roll ending August 31,1862 shows W. S. Penny simply as having died.

2. Mary Anna Rebecca Penny was born May 21,1844 in Henry Co, Georgia and died January 27,1881 in Cass Co, Texas. She is buried at Floyd Hill Cemetery. MAR Penny married James Samuel Fletcher on April 4, 1869 in Cass Co. They had five daughters: Francis Eugenia, Emma Lelah, Maggie, Minnie Mary, and Annie R. Fletcher.

3. David A Penny was born circa 1847 in Henry Co, Georgia. Little is known about him except for what is found in Cass Co deed records. In a deed of January 7, 1881 which divided Hardy Penny’s estate, David A Penny, and his wife (name unknown) are listed as being deceased and without children. 4. John Warren Penny was born February 25, 1850 in Henry Co, Georgia and died on September 9, 1931 in Cass Co. He is buried at Floyd Hill. He married Margarette Luella Swinford on November 28, 1877 in Cass Co. Maggie bore him seven children: Lena Belle, William Cornelius, Quilla, Annie F, Emma L, Archie C, and John Aubry Penny.

After Maggie’s death, he married Lillie Leola Smith, widow of James Hampton, in Cass Co. on December 24, 1891. They had two children before her death: Lillie Florence and James Sloan Penny.

John subsequently married Willie Ida Bond on August 24, 1899 in Cass Co. They had five children: Clyde C, Claude D, Rufus Vistor, Virgil M, and Prudie May.

5. Greene B Penny was born July 11, 1851 in Henry Co, Georgia and died in Cass Co. on August 16, 1878. He is buried at Floyd Hill Cemetery. He married Paralee Harty on October 2, 1873. They had two children: Ida and William Greene Penny.

6. Francis Mintory Penny was born December 8,1853 in Cass Co, Texas and died on December 5,1931 in Concho Co, Texas. She is buried at the Millersview Cemetery in Concho Co. She married Thomas Jefferson Fletcher on August 29, 1872 at the Nancy Penny homeplace in Cass Co. They had five children: Rhobirda, Parks Lee, John Morgan, Thomas Sloan, and Richard Looney Fletcher.

– Contributed by Beatrice Castor Harper and Samuel R. Penny