Obituaries: Earnest Jacob Hardtner, 1930, Winn Parish, LA
Submitter: Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
Source: Winnfield News-American
Date: October 31, 1920
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E. J. Hardtner Dies At Alexandria Home Saturday, Oct. 25

Born In Germany In 1844. Came To America In 1866. Became Prominent

Earmest Jacobs Hardtner, age 86, one of Alexandria's oldest and most highly
respected citizens died at his home in that city Saturday, October 25. Mr.
Hardtner had been a prominent figure in the affairs of Rapides Parish for
three quarters of a century, and his passing will come as a great shock, not
only to his family, but to a large circle of friends. He had been engaged in
the mercantile business and in the lumber industry for a long period of years,
but retired from active business life a number of years ago.

Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon at four o'clock, the procession
going from the family home to St. James Episcopal Church where the services
were conducted by the Rev. W. S. Slack, rector, after which interment was made
in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Pineville. Members of the Solomon Lodge, Masons,
of Pineville, and members of Trinity Commandery, Alexandria, held service at
the cemetery.

Mr. Hardtner was born at Lauffen, on the Neckar, Wurttenburg, Germany, June 7,
1844. The Hardtners were followers of Martin Luther and went through the
trying years of the reformation and thirty years of religious wars when the
population of Germany was reduced from thirty million to less than five
million. A. J. Hardtner, in 1868, landed in New York. The Hardtners who had
preceded him to America, some as early as 1730, saw service in the War of the
Revolution, and the war between the states, those living in the North, in the
Union army, and those living in the South, joining the Confederate army.

In 1869, Mr. Hardtner married in Pineville, Miss Emma Schrader, a native of
Pineville, who died in 1909. The six children were: Henry E. Hardtner and
Quinton Hardtner, of Urania; Lula, wife of Dr. J. A. White; Alice, wife of C.
F. Crockett; Yetta, wife of E. K. James, all of Alexandria, and Mrs. Katie
Keene, of Miami, Florida, now deceased.

He leaves thirteen grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Since his retirement from business and during the latter years of his life, he
had resided with his daughter, Mrs. Crockett. Although his health had been
declining for several months, it was not generally known that his condition
was serious.

Ernest Jacob Hardtner served his community and his State in some official
capacity continuously from 1876, as school director, member of the school
board, police juror, mayor and councilman of Pineville, member of the
Democratic executive committee, and member of the board of administrators of
the Central Louisiana Hospital for Insane, Pineville, for many years.
Commencing in 1869 he was a merchant in Pineville for many years and was
identified as a stockholder and contributor with every enterprise in the early
history of modern Alexandria. He is a member of Solomon Lodge No. 221, Free
and Accepted Masons, being a past master; Keystone Chapter Royal Arch Masons;
Summit Council and Trinity Commandery, Knights Templar, of Alexandria.

He was a vestryman in St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Pineville, now Mt. Olivet
Chapel, and St. James Episcopal Church, Alexandria, and was always consistent
in his duties as a churchman. He was batized and confirmed in the Evangelical
Lutheran Church before coming to America, and was ever faithful to the
glorious duties of that church.

As a man, a Mason, a churchman, he has walked uprightly and always has been
found on the side of right and justice, the moral side. His charities and
contributions to worthy objects have been many. His home life was ideal and to
his children, he has been kind, indulgent, and generous.