He was born at the Cherokee Agency (present day Charleston, Tennessee) while his father, John Wesley Hardwick, was acting as Assistant Agent to his grandfather, Colonel Hugh L. Montgomery, who served as Indian agent to the Cherokees from 1824 to 1838.

C.L. Hardwick was a Confederate sympathizer during the Civil War.

He was President of the Hardwick Woolen Mill and Hardwick Stove Works in Cleveland, Tennessee.

Goodspeeds History of Bradley Co:



C. L. HARDWICK, superintendent of the Cleveland Woolen Mills, was born February 14, 1827, at the Cherokee Agency, now Charleston, Tenn. He is the eldest son of John and Jane (MONTGOMERY) HARDWICK. Both were natives of Georgia, and were raised and married there; they came to Bradley County in 1826. Thirteen children were born to this union, of whom four sons and four daughters are living. The father was a contractor and builder. The grandfather, MONTGOMERY, was agent for the Cherokee Nation. Our subject received a fair education, and at the age of eighteen, began clerking for his board and clothes. In 1851 he became partner in the firm of TIBBS & HARDWICK. In 1857 he broke up, and began merchandising for himself. In 1862 he purchased a farm, which he worked until 1867; he then returned to Cleveland, and opened a store. In 1880, in partnership with J. H. PARKER, he established the Cleveland Woolen Mills, at an expense of about $75,000. They employed sixty hands, and turned out about 1,500 yards of jeans per day. Our subject also owns a bank in Dalton, Ga., and another in Cedartown, Ga., each run by his sons. He is one of the most able and prosperous business men of this section, and for forty-one years has been closely and successfully associated with the commercial interests of Cleveland. He has donated liberally for the building and perpetuity of the Centenary Female College. He is a Council Mason and stanch Democrat. In 1851 he married Miss Isabell TUCKER, of Bradley County. Twelve children were born to them, of whom seven sons and three daughters are living. Our subject and wife are active and esteemed members of the Methodist Church South.