Margaret Koelle

b. 10 July 1882, d. 25 July 1950
  • Margaret Koelle was born on 10 July 1882 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York.
  • She was baptized/christened on 1 October 1882 at Zion Lutheran Church in Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York, sponsored by George Seitz and Margaretha Fink.
  • Cäcelie Walter appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1900 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York, at 1415 Whirlpool Street. Other members of the household included Margaret Koelle, George Koelle, John Koelle, Christian Koelle, Marie Koelle and Wilhelmina C. Koelle.
  • She was a servant, according to the 1900 census.
  • She married Dempster Hardy, son of Robert Hardy and Emma Bryant, on 8 June 1904 in Niagara Falls, New York, at Zion Lutheran Church The marriage was witnessed by Christian Koelle and Marie Koelle.
  • The following appeared on 2 July 1942 in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal: Mrs. Van Brookins and Mrs. Herman Smith, Newfane, and Mrs. Richard Bewley, Lockport, all members of the Order of Eastern Star, attended the funeral Tuesday of Mrs. Cecelia Koelle, 92, Whirlpool Avenue, Niagara Falls.
         Mrs. Koelle was the mother of Mrs. Demster Hardy, Niagara Falls, past district deputy of the Eastern Star, who is well known in Lockport and Niagara County. Mrs. Koelle died Sunday at her home.
  • The following appeared on 1 April 1950 in the Niagara Falls Gazette: Fifty years ago in a small community known as Clarksville, a young man walked briskly along Ashland avenue into Main street, opened for the first time the doors to a modest butcher shop, tied an apron about his waist and prepared to greet his first customers.
         The little community, shortly thereafter, became one of Niagara Falls' middle-class neighbornoods. The shop, at 929 Main street, added a grocery department and the proprietor, Dempster Hardy, began acquiring that community status and business reputation enjoyed by the small but successful American business man.
         Today, as he has on every business day in the last 50 years, Mr. Hardy again took the short walk from his Ashland avenue home to the store but today differed from most in that it was an occasion for many reflections and many memories.
         What had happened, he wondered, to the old bell whose friendly tingle summoned the grocer from the back room to serve a customer? Where was the charcoal rack, the cracker barrel and the pot-bellied stove? What happened to the patent medicine advertisements, the high, crowded shelves of canned goods and the continual aroma of spices and seasonings?
         Certainly, he reflected, the position and the environment of the American independent grocer have undergone drastic changes since the turn of the century but, considering the stability and the permanent niche of the grocer on the American scene the grocery business has retained the high regard tendered it by the community.
         That stability is reflected, he decided, with just pride, in his own establishment which has functioned on the same site for a half-century and which, rather than having been moved from one to another neighborhood, has been instrumental in the growth of an integral part of an entire community.
         The reflections and the happy memories which began when Mr. Hardy opened the store today continued throughout the day as old friends, many of them patrons of long standing, visited the familiar scene to extend in friendly handshakes across the counter their congratulations and best wishes.
         Among visitors were the children and grandchildren of some of the store's earliest customers and appearing at frequent intervals were neighborhood children to whom Mr. Hardy affectionately is known as "Uncle Demp."
         Mr. Hardy, son of the late Robert Hardy and Emma Bryant Hardy was born at St. Catharines, Ont., October 11, 1883. The first phase of his education was received in that city and the second at Niagara Falls after the Hardy family moved here in 1893.
         During school vaction periods he worked as a water boy for 50 cents a day on the construction of the gorge road and after leaving school, he worked for $3 a week at a variety of jobs in a local tea store.
         With an uncle, Dempster Bryant, he established the butcher business on the site of the present store in 1900. The early years in the business convinced him that he had made a proper choice and when, in 1910, the partnership was dissolved and he acquired full ownership of the firm, he put into operation methods designed to root the venture into the young community.
         Mrs. Hardy, the former Margaret Koelle, this city, whom Mr. Hardy married in 1904, has been a faithful helpmate, a companion and a source of encouragement at all stages and still is his most valued assistant in the store.
         Mr. Hardy has rented the store, during all the 50 years, from Mrs. Etta Brown Dudley.
         A daughter, Dr. Marjory K. Hardy, is an instructor in dermatology in Philadelphia and conducts a private practice for the treatmenht of skin diseases.
         Dr. Hardy was one of the long line of children bearing the Hardy name at Ashland avenue school every year, with the exception of one, since that institution was built.
         A brother, Robert G. Hardy, and a sister, Carrie Hardy McCracken, both live in this city.
         Mr. Hardy is a past master of Niagara River Lodge 785 and a member of other Masonic.
  • Margaret Koelle died on 25 July 1950 at age 68 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • The following appeared on 25 July 1950 in the Niagara Falls Gazette: Mrs. Margaret Koelle Hardy, 634 Ashland avenue, died this morning in Philadelphia, Pa.
         Born in Niagara Falls, she was a lifelong resident here. She was a past matron of Flagler Chapter 355, Order of Eastern Star, and a past district grand matron of the Niagara-Orleans district chapter, OES, State of New York.
         Surviving Mrs. Hardy are her husband, Dempster Hardy; a daughter, Dr. Marjory K. Hardy, Philadelphia. Also two brothers, John and Chris Koelle and two sisters, Mrs. William Zinter and Mrs. Bert McConnell, all of this city.
         Funeral services will be held at the Gridley Funeral home, at a time and date to be announced later.
  • Dempster Hardy became a widower at her death.
  • She was interred at Oakwood Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York.
  • Last Edited: 19 Oct 2013

Family: Dempster Hardy b. 11 October 1883, d. 5 February 1967