My Genealogy Hound

Bigger J. Hardin was born on his present farm July 27, 1838, the son of Thomas A. and Nancy E. (Head) Hardin, natives of Washington County, Ky., where they were reared and married. The father came to this county in 1835, entered 160 acres of our subject’s present land, and his family followed the next year. He was a successful deer hunter, and died in 1844, leaving a wife and six children. Our subject, the only son, was reared on the farm, the only support of his mother from the age of fourteen until her death in August, 1873. Her children were Elizabeth, the wife of R. W. Bayne, of California; Jane, the present wife of J. Raster; Harriett, the wife of Levi Auker, of Sacramento, Cal.; Josephine, deceased wife of the late J. Naylor, of Illinois; Ann R., the wife of A. J. Stout, and our subject. Before his marriage the latter spent the years 1865-66 prospecting in the Northwest as far as the British possessions. November 1, 1870, he married Mary A., the daughter of John White; their children are James H., Lutie B., Mollie W., Nellie J. and Ann E. Our subject is an active Democrat, while his father was an old line Whig, and a magistrate. Our subject has been secretary of the school board for fifteen years, and overseer of roads for five years. He and his wife are prominent members of the Christian Church, of which he has been a deacon since the establishment of his congregation at Buena Vista. He is a Master Mason. He owns 244 acres, forty of which is rich bottom land, on which is one of the best residences in the county. He is a director and stockholder in the Bank of Lewis County. He has an itemized merchant’s account, belonging to his father, dated June 20, 1837, and including some items of interest.