1919 – 2017
A member of the Huntsmen’s Room of the Museum of Hounds & Hunting North America in 2009, Benjamin H. Hardaway passed away on October 19, less than a month after celebrating his 98th birthday.
Hardaway served as living proof the hunting gene exists in human DNA. He certainly possessed drive, and no doubt many enthusiasts remember his cry when Midland hounds were all on and singing their distinctive July hound-inspired chorus. His name is recognizable throughout the hunting world and his legacy will live on with cry, drive, and biddability in the Hardaway Crossbred Foxhound.
A passion for foxhounds and ars venatica made him a man with an enthusiastic mission, which led to him founding the Midland Fox Hounds in 1950 with territory around the home base in Columbus, Georgia, with additional country in Alabama. The advent of deer in his hunting country in 1966 prompted him to develop the Hardaway Crossbred. “It was a necessity—do something or quit hunting,” recalled Mr. Hardaway.
“July hounds gave me the greatest thrill and my goal was to keep that cry and that nose, but cross him out so he would be biddable enough to break off deer,” said Mr. Hardaway.
“That’s what I spent the rest of my life doing. I’m proud of what I’ve done. We’ve sent our Crossbreds to England, Ireland, Australia—all over.”
