{{short description|American businessman (1805–1867)}}{{Infobox person | name = Noble Hardee | image = The Noble Hardee Mansion, 1860-1869.jpg | alt = | caption = The Noble Hardee Mansion, 2013 | other_names = | birth_name = | birth_date = September 24, 1805 | birth_place = [[Rural Felicity Plantation]], [[Camden County, Georgia]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1867|9|10|1805|9|24}} | death_place = [[Richfield Springs, New York]], U.S. | resting_place = [[Bonaventure Cemetery]], [[Savannah, Georgia]], U.S. | occupation = Merchant | spouse = Anne Margaret Lewis (1835–1867; his death) | known_for = }}
'''Noble Andrew Hardee''' (September 24, 1805 – September 10, 1867) was an American businessman based in [[Savannah, Georgia]], where he was a [[cotton factor]] and owner of N. A. Hardee Company. In 1860 he had constructed today's [[Noble Hardee Mansion]] in the southwestern corner of Savannah's [[Monterey Square]].
Hardee served in the [[Georgia House of Representatives]].
== Life and career == Hardee was born on September 24, 1805, on the [[Rural Felicity Plantation]] in [[Camden County, Georgia]], to John Hais Hardee Jr. and Sarah Ellis. He was their fourth child and third son.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Parker |first=James |date=1975-07-30 |title=The Life of Noble Andrew Hardee |url=https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sav-bios-lane/229 |journal=Savannah Biographies}}</ref> His brother was lieutenant general [[William J. Hardee]],<ref name=p18>''Charles Seton Henry Hardee's Recollections of old Savannah'', Martha Gallaudet Waring, ''The Georgia Historical Quarterly'', [[JSTOR]] (1929), p. 18</ref> former [[commandant]] at [[West Point]].<ref name=":0">[https://www.sar.org/ ''Sons of American Revolution''], SAR 46364</ref>
In the 1820s, he served in the Georgia House of Representatives.<ref name=":1" />
Around 1825, he married Martha Threewitts Williams, of [[Milledgeville, Georgia]]. They had two children: Ann Eliza (born 1826) and John (1830), both of whom died in childhood.<ref name=":1" /> Martha died of [[puerperal fever]] in 1833.<ref name=":1" />
The 27-year-old widower remained out of the public eye for just over a year. In December 1834, he became a member of the planning committee for the Bill of Rights Ball, which was held in [[St. Marys, Georgia]].<ref name=":1" />
On December 3, 1835, he married Anne Margaret Lewis, daughter of John Lewis and Susan Adams.<ref>{{Cite book |title=American Ancestry: Embracing lineages from the whole of the United States, 1888-1898 |publisher=J. Munsell's Sons |year=1890 |pages=128}}</ref> They had three children who lived to become adults: John Lewis, Susan Ann and Mary Elizabeth.<ref name=":0" />
After moving to Savannah, in 1836 he established N. A. Hardee Company,<ref>''Southern Cultivator'', Volume 27, Issues 3–12 (1869)</ref> a cotton factor business at number 6 [[Upper Stoddard Range]] on [[River Street (Savannah, Georgia)|River Street]].<ref name=":0" /> He hired his eighteen-year-old nephew [[Charles Seton Henry Hardee]], who also tutored Noble's two oldest children.<ref name=":1" /> Noble's daughter, Susan Ann, married [[Confederate States Army]] brigadier general [[William Whedbee Kirkland|William W. Kirkland]], who was a partner in the company.<ref name=":1" /> He also possessed interests in railroads, real estate, banking and insurance.<ref name=":1" />
The 1840 census showed nine people living at the Noble household: himself, his wife, three children and four servants.<ref name=":1" /> The family spent summers at the Hardee plantation near [[Sandersville, Georgia|Sandersville]] in [[Washington County, Georgia]].<ref name=":1" />
He served as a member of the Grand Jury in 1859, under Judges Fleming and John M. Millen Jr.<ref name=":1" />
== Death == Hardee died on September 10, 1867, aged 61, while in [[Richfield Springs, New York]]. His daughter accompanied his body on the voyage home, aboard the SS ''San Salvador''.<ref name=":0" /> His funeral took place in November at Savannah's [[Independent Presbyterian Church (Savannah, Georgia)|Independent Presbyterian Church]].<ref name=":0" /> He was interred in Savannah's historic [[Bonaventure Cemetery]]. His wife survived him by four years, and was buried beside him upon her death aged 55.
The N. A. Hardee Company was dissolved upon his death. It was re-established by Noble's son John Lewis and William W. Kirkland was N. A. Hardee's Son and Company.<ref name=":1" />
He was described in 1890 as being "a man of strong characteristics and eminent for his virtues and high character ... holding many positions of trust and honor at the time of his death."<ref>{{Cite book |title=American Ancestry: Embracing lineages from the whole of the United States, 1888-1898 |publisher=J. Munsell's Sons |year=1890 |pages=128}}</ref> == References == {{Reflist|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardee, Noble}} [[Category:1805 births]] [[Category:1867 deaths]] [[Category:American businesspeople]] [[Category:Slave owners from Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Savannah, Georgia]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly]]