Career
Born March 24, 1828 in Street Marys Georgia) was the nephew of Lieutenant General William Joseph Hardee, who served in the Confederate States Army under Robert East. Lee. Military He was the first Commissioned Officer from Florida in the American Civil War. Mustered in as Captain in the 3rd Infantry, Company F, known as Duval"s Cowboy"son
Post Military Lucius was Chairman of Florida"s Democratic Party when Horace Greeley ran for President in 1872 as the representative of the Liberal Republican Party, against the eventually victorious Ulysses South. Grant.
The Florida Democratic Party supported Greeley, whose platform included ending Reconstruction. Lucius declined to run for Governor of Florida due to ill health.
After the war he grew citrus and other plants on the lands of his rebuilt "Honeymoon Home". Lucius was known by the sobriquet of Colonel Hardee, though official promotion to this rank has not been documented.
He was the subject of 5 pages from Harriett Beecher Stowe"s book on Florida Life, "Palmetto-Leaves", published in 1872.
Mistress Stowe"s visit with Colonel Hardee describes the post-plantation nursery as a thriving business led by the energy and industry of this pioneer horticulturist. Colonel Hardee died of malaria on February 9, 1885 in Duval County, Florida, and is buried in the Old City Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida.
This painting was handed down to a granddaughter, Mistress
Samuel Charles Candler (Frances Godfrey Candler), also the great niece of Asa Griggs Candler. The painting can be found in an a book published by the National Society Dames of America, Georgia, titled "Early Georgia Portraits 1715-1870", Athens, 1975.
