Hord Hardin is connected with one of the strongest financial concerns of the middle west, being the vice president of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company. Mere success has never throughout the history of the world, save in a few rare instances, been the cause of any individual being remembered by his fellows and never has the mere accumulation of wealth gained any man honor. The methods employed in the attainment of wealth, however, may awaken approval and admiration, for the world pays its tribute to him who through enterprise, unrelaxing effort and clear-sighted judgment makes advancement in the business world without infringing on the rights of others. Such has been the record of Hord Hardin, who has wisely used the opportunities that have been presented, who has thoroughly acquainted himself with the tasks in hand and with modern business methods and has displayed marked adaptability in using his powers and his opportunities for the upbuilding of the business. In order to further equip himself for the demands of present-day business conditions he attended night school. His more advanced education was acquired in St. Louis, while his early studies were pursued in the public schools of Frankfort, Kentucky, in which city he was born April 10, 1888. His father, David C. Hardin, was also a native of that state and was a lawyer by profession, practicing for many years in Bardstown, save for the period of his service with the Confederate forces in the Civil war. He married Hannah Hord, a representative of an old American family connected with Virginia and Kentucky. They became the parents of two sons and three daughters: Bessie, the wife of Bernard G. Graham, now living at Frankfort, Kentucky; Hannah, the wife of Oliver W. Long, also of Frankfort; Flora, the wife of Gardner L. Van Trump, a resident of Wilmington, Delaware; William O., who married Aline Crow; and Hord of this review, who is the youngest.
The last named acquired a grammar school education in his native city and continued his studies in St. Louis, where for three years he was a student in the St. Louis University, attending the School of Commerce and Finance, from which he was graduated in June, 1917. He pursued this course at night, while in the daytime he was employed by the Mississippi Valley Trust Company. He became identified with the corporation at the age of fifteen years in the humble position of office boy but gradually fitted himself by experience and study for the position of stenographer and was afterward promoted to the position of secretary to the president of the bank. He worked into the position of assistant executive officer when on the 19th of February, 1919, he was elected vice president of the corporation and is now filling that office. His duties cover general banking and he is now contributing in substantial measure not only to the growth of the business but to the development of the city, for every successful business enterprise constitutes a force in municipal progress. Mr. Hardin is also a director of the San Antonio Water Supply Company, having filled the position from 1914 to the present time. During the war period he gave considerable time to the advancement of the Liberty loan and was a generous contributor to all the various war activities.
Mr. Hardin was married in St. Louis, June 18, 1910, to Miss Edith Wilson, daughter of Ernest Wilson, who was born in London, England, and is now a resident of St. Louis, where he is engaged in the plumbing contracting business. To Mr. and Mrs. Hardin have been born two sons, Hord Wilson and William Graham, aged respectively eight and six years and both now pupils in the Clark school.
Politically Mr. Hardin is a democrat, stalwart in support of the party principles. In religious faith he is a Presbyterian, belonging to the Westminster church of St. Louis. He is a member of the Racquet Club, the Missouri Athletic Association, the Triple A Tennis Club and the Sunset Hill Country Club, and that his interests and activities extend to those things which feature in the city’s progress and development is manifest in his connection with the Chamber of Commerce. His cooperation can at all times be counted upon to further measures and plans for the general good and he stands as a most public-spirited citizen as well as one of the leading financiers of St. Louis.