Thomas Hardimon Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1218, 1221 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				THOMAS HARDIMON. 

	Thomas Hardimon, filling the office of city commissioner, is one 
who regards a public office as a public trust and it is characteristic 
of him that no trust reposed in him is ever betrayed in the slightest 
degree. He performs his duties promptly, capably and conscientiously 
and in all is actuated by a public-spirited desire that Sioux Falls 
shall have a clean and progressive government and one that shall 
constitute the foundation for her later growth and development. In 
business circles too Mr. Hardimon is well known, having for a number of 
years been a grading contractor. He was born in Negaunee, Michigan, 
December 2, 1857, and is a son of Patrick and Ellen (Lynch) Hardimon, 
both of whom were natives of Ireland. They were married in Pittsfield, 
Massachusetts. The father, who was born in the year 1818, came to 
America at the age of twenty-six years and his death occurred in Fond 
du Lac county, Wisconsin, in 1888, following a long residence in the 
middle west. The mother survived until 1895 and also passed away in 
Fond du Lac county. They had a family of five sons and four daughters, 
but three of the sons are now deceased. 

	In the acquirement of his education Thomas Hardimon attended the 
schools of Collinsville and Greenwood. Michigan, pursuing his studies 
to the age of seventeen years, after which he worked on a farm in Fond 
du Lac county, Wisconsin, to which place his parents removed in 1865. 
His attention was devoted to general agricultural pursuits there until 
1876, when he went to upper Michigan and was employed in the lumber 
woods until 1879. In the spring of the latter year he arrived in Sioux 
Falls, to which city his brother, F. C. Hardimon, had come in 1878, 
here opening a quarry. Thomas Hardimon became interested in the 
business but retained his connection therewith for only a year. He 
afterward spent two years as a watchman in the Queen Bee flour mill and 
for the last fifteen years has been a grading contractor. He also spent 
three years as foreman of stone and bridge work for the Great Northern, 
Rock Island and Illinois Central Railroad companies. Important 
contracts were awarded him for grading and the promptness and dispatch 
with which he met his business obligations constituted factors in his 
growing success. He has progressed beyond mediocrity in business 
affairs and has won substantial success as the reward of' his 
intelligently directed efforts. 

	On the 6th of October, 1886, in Minnehaha county, South Dakota, 
Mr. Hardimon was united in marriage to Miss Minnie M. Jones and they 
have one son, Thomas Hardimon, born June 17, 1897. The family attended 
the Catholic church. Mr. Hardimon gives his political allegiance to the 
republican party and in 1912 was elected to the office of city 
commissioner, in which position he is now serving with credit to 
himself and satisfaction to his constituents. He is one of the pioneers 
of Sioux Falls, having witnessed its growth since it was a tiny village 
upon the western prairies. He has lived to see remarkable changes and 
has ever borne his part in the work of development.