Hardenbrook Monograph - Finished!

The Hardenbrook monograph begins by setting the stage: 

"The legend says that when done resting the Great Spirit raised himself up with one hand; the indents he left in the land filled with water and became known as the Finger Lakes.  Literalists may have a problem with this as there are actually six major lakes — Skaneateles, Owasco, Cayuga, Seneca, Keuka and Canandaigua, and four smaller ones — Honeoye, Canadice, Hemlock and Conesus. So, it may be that when the Great Spirit raised himself, he actually used both hands leaving ten imprints in the fertile lands of Upstate New York.  Or, one may be more inclined to believe that the slim finger shaped lakes were made by receding glacial movement eons ago. Whatever you believe about the origin of the Finger Lakes, one fact remains: the lakes and the land between are breathtakingly beautiful.

And it is to this area between Cayuga and Seneca lakes that Jorgs (George) Hardenbrook and his wife, Ann Kline, settled, first in Covert around 1820, and then near Lodi by 1830."[1]

Table of Contents

The monograph answered the question about what happened to this branch of the family. 

“Two Deaths in Ovid Family

Father and Daughter Called to Great Beyond

Friends Pay Tribute”

This headline in the January 1904 Geneva Daily Times captures the tragedy that befell the Washington Hardenbrook family, though it actually lost three family members within a month’s time. Within a couple of weeks their son Lynn was killed while working for the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

There is much more to be done; much more information to be learned about the Hardenbrooks. It is my hope that this volume will catch the attention of Hardenbrook descendants or researchers and it will start a conversation. Consequently I am excited to share this work.

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[1] 1820 U.S. Census, Seneca County, NY, Population Schedule, Covert, P. 300, George Hardenbrook, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.Ancestry.com) ; accessed 8 Feb 2012, NARA Roll: M33_75; Image 62.