John C. Hardman, proprietor of the City Pharmacy of Riverside, which is the pioneer drug store in the city, was first established in 1876 by James H. Roe. Mr. Hardman purchased the business in January, 1886, and immediately increased the stock and enlarged his business until the City Pharmacy ranks as the leading establishment of its character in the city. In addition to a complete and varied stock of drugs and medicines, he is a large dealer in toilet articles, perfumery, fancy goods, wallpaper, paints, oils, etc. He is a skillful druggist and chemist, with years of experience, and employs none but able assistants; consequently his store has a reputation for accuracy and dispatch in the preparation of prescriptions that is unexcelled. Mr. Hardman is a gentleman of genial and courteous manners, and is favored with a large patronage, which he justly merits.
The subject of this sketch dates his birth in Coshocton County, Ohio, in 1852; eight years later his parents moved to Vermillion County, Illinois, where he was reared and given the advantages of a good schooling. At the age of twenty years he commenced life in his profession as a clerk in a drug store in Fairmont. The next year he went to Robinson, Crawford County, and entered the employ of A. R. Short & Co., the leading drug store of the county. His abilities and sound business principles were appreciated and the establishment was placed under his charge. He continued in that employ until 1878, and then went to Texas and located in Navarro County, where he engaged in the drug business until 1885. In December of that year he came to Riverside, and the next month established himself in his present business. Mr. Hardman has gained a large circle of friends and stands high in the business and social circles of Riverside. He is a member of the Methodist Church and is also a member of the Sunnyside Lodge, No. 112, Knights of Pythias.
In Texas, in 1887, he married Miss Ardilla O. Vance, daughter of John T. Vance, of Paris, Illinois. Mr. Hardman’s father, Samuel Hardman, was a native of Ohio and a descendant of one of the oldest families in the State.