Harden.Hardin.Harding Family
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Hardens in history from Ohio
Posted by: Terry Parks paroman@flash.net / 7049 Balcom Avenue / Reseda, California 91335 / (818) 342-1141
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Volume 53 Page 346
In 1860, when the public became exercised over the trial of the Reverend Mr. Jacob S. Harden who was found guilty of poisoning his wife, a phrenologist pointed to the fact of his guilt before the jury brought in its verdict. "His head is broad above the ears," wrote an analyst, and not well expanded in the top. He has an emotional temperament, and an animal nature. We should pronounce it an unfavorable head in a regiment, if we were examining their heads in the dark. He appears to have small Cautiousness, but little Conscientiousness, not much Benevolence, strong animal propensities generally, and very active Approbativeness, not a high order of intellect, and our wonder is why he had a desire to be a preacher, and how he could render himself acceptable to an intelligent public as such.
General Harmar's Expedition. Volume 20 Parges 85 - 87
At this spot the detachment made a short halt, and the commanding officer stationed the companies at points, several rods apart. From here the detachment moved on without receiving orders to make any arrangements for an attack; and when Captain Armstrong informed Colonel Hardin that the fires of the Indians had been discerned, Colonel Hardin believed that the Indians would not fight, and rode in front of the advancing columns, until the detachment was fired on from behind the fires. The militia, with the exception of nine, who remained with the regulars and were killed, immediately gave way, and commenced an irregular retreat, which they continued until they reached the main army. Hardin, who retreated with them, made several unsuccessful efforts to rally them. The small band of regulars obstinately brave, maintained their ground until twenty-two were killed. Captain Armstrong, Ensign Hartshorne and five or six privates escaped from the carnage, eluded the pursuit of the Indians, and arrived at the camp of General Harmar. The number of the Indians engaged on this occasion has been variously estimated. Captain Armstrong placed the number at one hundred, while Colonel Hardin estimated it at one hundred and fifty. They were commanded by the distinguished Miami chief, Mish-e-ken-o-quoh, which signifies, Little Turtle. The ground on which this action took place is about eleven miles from Fort Wayne, near the crossing of Eel River, by the Goshen State road.
On the morning of the 19th the main body of the army under Harmar, having destroyed the Miami village, moved about two miles to the Shawnee village, Chillicothe, which, after being destroyed, was left on the 21st, at ten o'clock, A. M., the army marching about seven miles on the route to Fort Washington and encamped. Here, at the urgent request of Colonel Hardin, General Harmar sent back a detachment of four hundred men. Accordingly, late on the night of the 21st. a corps of three hundred and forty militia and sixty regular troops, under command of Major Wyllys, were detached that they might gain the vicinity of the Miami village before day break, and surprise any Indians who might be found there. The detachment marched in three columns. The regular troops were in the center, at the head of which Captain Joseph Ashton was posted, with Major Wyllys and Colonel Hardin in the front. The militia formed the columns to the right and left. Owing to some delay, occasioned by the halting of the militia, the detachment did not reach the banks of the Maumee till some time after sunrise. The spies then discovered some Indians, and reported to Major Wyllys, who halted the regular troops and moved the militia on some distance in front, where he gave his orders and plan of attack to the several commanding officers of the corps. General Harmar reserved to himself the command of the regular troops. Major Hall, with his battalion was directed to take a circuitous route around the bend of the Maumee River, cross the St. Mary's, and there, in the rear of the Indians, wait till the attack should be brought on by Major McMullen's battalion. Major Fontaine's cavalry, and the regular troops under Major Wyllys, were all ordered to cross the Maumee at and near the common fording place. It was the intention of Hardin and Wyllys to surround the Indians' encampment; but Major Hall, who had gained his position undiscovered, disobeyed his orders, by firing on a single Indian before the commencement of the action. Several small parties of Indians were soon seen flying in different directions, and the militia, under McMullen, and the cavalry, under Fontaine, pursued them in disobedience of orders, and left Major Wyllys unsupported. The consequence was, that the regulars, after crossing the Maumee, were attacked by a superior force of Indians and compelled to retreat with the loss of Major Wyllys and the greater part of their corps. Major Fontaine, at the head of the mounted militia, fell, with a number of his followers in making a charge against a small party of Indians; and on his fall, the remainder of his troops dispersed. While the main body of the Indians, led by Little Turtle, were engaged with the regulars near the bank of the Maumee, some skirmishing took place near the confluence of the rivers St. Marys and St. Josephs, between detached parties of Indians and the militia under Hull and McMullen. After the defeat of the regulars, however, the militia retreated on the route to the main army; the Indians having suffered a severe loss did not pursue them. As soon as the news of the defeat of the detachment reached the camp of Hardin, he immediately ordered Major Ray to march with his battalions to the assistance of the retreating parties; but so great was the panic which prevailed among the militia, that only thirty men could be induced to leave the main army. With this small number, Ray met Colonel Hardin, on his retreat. On reaching the encampment, Hardin requested of Harmar that the main army be sent back to the Miami village. This request General Harmar refused, on the ground of lack of forage, and inability to move the baggage. He also claimed that the Indians had received a good scourging, and should they think proper to follow him, he would keep the army in perfect readiness to receive them. The general at this time had lost all confidence in the militia. The bounds of the camp were made less, and at eight o'clock on the morning of the 23rd, the army took up the line of march for Fort Washington, which was reached on the 4th day of November. The army had lost one hundred and eighty-three killed, and thirty-seven wounded. Among the killed were the follow ing officers: Major Wyllys and Lieutenant Ebenezer Farthingham of the regular troops; and Major Fontaine, Captains Thorp, McMurtrey and Scott; Lieutenants Clark and Rogers, and Ensigns Bridges, Sweet, Higgins and Thielkeld of the militia.
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. Volume 20 Page 98
On 31st Septr. the Genl. with the Continental Troops marched from Fort Washington to join Col. Harden who had advanced into the country for the sake of feed for the cattle & to open the Road for the Artillery. On the 3rd. the whole army joined, and was arranged in order of March, Encampment & Battle, these will appear by the orderly Book, with this difference in the Encampment; this space we were to occupy when in order of Battle (which was to be open) was always to be fitted up with our fires, nor was any intervals to be left between Battalion; this was done to prevent in some measure the cattle & horses from getting out of Camp, and the Centinels Ground Camp had orders not to let the cattle or horses pass out after dark; just before which time they were brought within our fires.
Centennial Oration. Volume 9 Page 217
WAR WITH THE INDIANS INEVITABLE.
The declaration of Corn-planter, that the Ohio River should be the boundary, rendered useless any further attempts at pacification by treaty. Indeed, the hostile manner in which they were received, as well as continued depredations, made war inevitable. Colonel Harden and Major Trueman, who were the bearers of a message of this character, were barbarously murdered by the Indians to whom they were sent, while in the other the terms of the Government were decidedly rejected, after negotiations had been protracted until the enemy felt himself better prepared for the conflict which must follow. The correspondence of General Wayne in the conduct of the campaign from the very beginning evinces great strength and soundness of judgment, as well as a knowledge of the people of the frontiers whom he was to defend and of the foes whom he was commissioned to subdue. In September, 1793, the Secretary of War writes to General Wayne: "Every offer has been made to obtain peace by milder terms than the sword; the efforts have failed under circumstances which leave nothing for us to expect but war.
General Harmar's Expedition. Volume 20 page 99
From this place on the morning of the 12th, Col. Hardin was detached with 600 men to endeavor to surprise the Mamie Village, the Army moved at the same time, and altho' it rained the whole day we continued our march with diligence untill late, the horses were ordered to be tied up this night to enable the Army to move early the next day which it did; this diligence of the Army on its march induces me to believe the General was endeavoring to guard against any disaster that might happen to Col. Harden, which I am of opinion would have been in his power, for Col. Harden had not gained more than four miles of the army in the first days march. On the 17th the Army arrived at the Mamie Village, here were evident signs of the enemy having quitted the place in the greatest confusion. Indian dogs & Cows came into our Camp this day which induced us to believe the families were not far off. A party of 300 men with three days' provisions under the command of Col. Trotter was ordered (as I understood) to examine the country round our Camp, but contrary to the Generals orders returned the same evening, this conduct of the Colonel did not meet the Generals approbation, and Col. Hardin anxious for the character of his countrymen wished to have the command of the same detachment for the remaining two days which was given him. This command marched on the morning of the 19th & was the same day shamefully defeated: Col. Hardin told me that the number which attacked him did not exceed 150 and that had his people fought or even made a shew of forming to fight he was certain the Indians would have run; But on the Indians firing (which was at a great distance) the Militia run numbers throwing away their arms, nor could he ever rally them. Major Rhea confirmed the same.
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. Volume 7 Page 82 -83
"On Harmar's approach he found the smoking ruins of a burned and abandoned village; not an Indian to be seen. They had sacrificed their 'Moscow' and retired ten miles in the direction of the confluence of the Mad River and the Great Miami; took up an advantageous position and awaited Harmar's movements, who played into their hands by sending a small detachment under Gen. Hardin of but two hundred and ten men to attack them. This little detachment they cut to pieces. Harmar then sent his forces to the Scioto who destroyed without resistance their towns and their crops on the borders of that stream; when, as he alleged, having lost several of his horses, he abandoned the idea of joining the Kentucky forces on the Wabash and broke up camp in order to return to Fort Washington; but as he had not at this time become possessed of his brilliant ideas in regard to 'victories', 'he felt desirious', as he said, 'of wiping off in another action the disgrace which his arms had sustained.' He halted about eight miles from his camp (the ruins of Chillicothe) late at night, and again detached Gen. Hardin with but 360 men to find the enemy and bring him to action. Early the next morning that intrepid and brave officer reached the confluence of Mad river and the Great Miami, where he found the Indians in great force; who with skillful maneuvres brought him within their lines, when his little detachment was, as in the case of the first, overwhelmed and nearly all destroyed. The skeleton of Hardin's little force regained headquarters."
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications Volume 23 Pages 116 - 118
The first army in this Indian war organized by the general government was placed under command of General Josiah Harmar. His arrangements being completed, he left Fort Washington September 30th, 1790, with 320 regulars and 1,133 militiaand drafted men, making in all 1,453 men. General Harmar arrived at the Miami villages October 17th, and found them all deserted. He proceeded immediately to burn them and destroyed 20,000 bushels of corn. The 18th was spent in a fruitless attempt to locate the Indians. On the 19th Colonel Hardin led a detachment of three hundred men including a small number of regulars. They followed along an Indian trail to the northwest for about fifteen miles, or to within one mile of the present village of Cherubusco, and to within five miles of Little Turtle's famous village. Through the neglect of Colonel Hardin to give the command to move forward Falknor's company was left in the rear, possibly a mile or more. The absence of Falknor at the time became apparent. Major Fontaine, with a portion of the cavalry, was at once sent in pursuit of him with the supposition that he was lost. At this time the report of a gun in front of the detachment fell upon the attentive ear of Captain Armstrong in command of the regulars. When Armstrong informed Colonel Hardin that the fires of the Indians had been discerned the latter believed that the Indians would not fight and rode in front of the advancing columns. The detachment was soon fired on from an ambuscade both skilfully designed and vigorously executed by the skill and genius of the commanding Miami chief, Little Turtle, at the head of not more than one hundred and fifty warriors. The Indians on this occasion gained a complete victory, having killed nearly 100 men. The rout of Colonel Hardin and Captain Armstrong continued until they arrived that evening at the camp of General Harmar. Little Turtle still recruited his Indian army and slowly followed the trail to near Harmar's encampment, which was still located at the old Miami village site, at the head of the Maumee. On the evening of the twenty-first of October at 10 o'clock General Harmar left camp and started on his return to Fort Washington. Little Turtle, who was immediately apprised of this fact, was in possession of the old Miami village early on the morning of the 22nd. Colonel Hardin, surmising that the Indians had returned to the burned village, solicited General Harmar to let him return and inflict a more severe chastisement upon them. The request was granted and Colonel Hardin with Major Wyllys was sent back with a detachment of 400 men.
General Harmar's Expedition. Volume 20 Pages 106 - 105
14th October. Colonel Hardin was detached with 600 light troops to push for the Miami Village. I believe that this detachment was sent forward in consequence of the intelligence gained of the Shawanao prisoner, which was, that the Indians were clearing out as fast as possible, and that if we did not make more haste, the towns would be evacuated before our arrival. As it was impossible for the main body with all their train to hasten their march much, the General thought proper to send on Colonel Hardin in hopes of taking a few before they would all get off. This night the Horses were all ordered to be tie up that the army might start by day light on purpose to keep as near Colonel Hardin as possible,-the distance to the Indian towns when the detachment marched ahead was about 35 miles. 15th. Every exertion was used to get forward the main body--this day we found that the advanced party had gained but very few miles. 16th. In the evening, met an express from Col. Hardin, who had got into the village, informing the General that the enemy had abandoned every place. 17th. About noon, the army arrived at the Omee Towns. 18th. Col. Trotter was ordered out with 300 men Militia & regulars, to reconnoitre the country & to endeavor to make some discoveries of the enemy; he marched but a few miles when his advanced horsemen came upon 2 Indians & killed them. The Colonel was contented with this victory & returned to camp. Colonel Hardin was displeased, because Col. Trotter did not execute his orders - requested the General to give him the Command of the party, it was granted, & accordingly Hardin marched next morning, but I believe that he had not two thirds of his number when two miles from camp, for to my certain knowledge many of the Militia left him on the march & returned to their companies. Whether he knew it or not, I can't tell, but proceeded on with a determination to trace some fresh signs of the enemy. I believe the plan was merely to gain some knowledge of the savages. He at length came upon a party not exceeding one hundred, but was worsted, owing entirely as I am informed, to the scandilous behaviour of the Militia, many of whom never fired a shot but ran off at the first noise of the Indians & left the few regulars to be sacrificed - some of them never halted until they crossed the Ohio. The Army in the main time was employed burning & destroying the houses & corn, shifting their position from one town to another.
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. Volume 8 Page 146
Had the surveyed township been complete it would have extended east of Warrenton six miles, or to the Pennsylvania line. tention was paid to the surveyed township lines, Smithfield, Wayne, Cross Creek and Salem, being the only civil townships identical with the surveyed, and consequently several of the civil townships embrace fractional parts of several surveyed townships, making it quite difficult to ascertain the territory embraced in the original townships, out of which the townships, as now constructed, were made; but with the assistance of George P. Harden, the County Auditor (1898), the compiler has been enabled to give the lines accurately, together with the names of theoriginal townships out of which the new divisions have been made from time to time.
Addenda to the
Pathfinders of Jefferson County. Volume 6 Page 391
Lieut. Anderson's company:
Killed: Samuel Evans, Sergt. Zeanz Harden, Matthew Lamb, John Milegan, John Corn.
Prisoners: Norman McLeod, Sergt. James McFerson, William Marshall, Denis McCarty, Peter Conely, John Ferrel.
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Volume 68 Page 262
There were in Macochee, however, not enough Democrats to disturb very seriously the political peace, for their paucity enabled them only (so the Republicans contended) to enter weak protest votes against the principles of sound government. Joshua Hardin, honest Macochee carriage maker, exemplifies, on the other hand, the type of moral warfare political vendettas engendered within the ranks of the GOP itself. Hardin "had poured the holy enthusiasm of his youth into the formation of the Republican Party; to him it was sacrosanct; he could not desert it."15 With the advent of growing agitation in the area for prohibition, this man of acute moral sensibility found himself obsessed by split loyalties and went about frantically seeking means whereby he could support the cause of prohibition "without compromising his stand as a Republican."16 Hardin at length found his emotional panacea in the Anti-Saloon League, where he could reform society on grounds other than political. The Honorable Clyde Sturrock, however, Macochee's proud representative in congress, remained leader of the local organization and vulgar proponent of the "wet" faction. Sturrock made few amicable overtures to Hardin and the small group of intra-party dissenters, for the shrewd congressman knew that despite Hardin's professed integrity he could never bring himself to bolt the party of his youth, but would release his aggressions on "Cleveland and his fool administration"17 whose tenure in office meant nothing but "hard times of course." The political machinery in Brand Whitlock's Macochee, Ohio, then, ran with efficient smoothness since so few wheels needed to be manipulated. Battle lines denoting good and evil were clearly marked by party label, and the political structure categorized with accuracy the attitudes and opinions of the respectable majority--an exalted group of quality and worth whose major prerequisite for membership was enrollment in the Republican party. Along with this fervid political spirit in the town went an accompanying muscular theological system patterned after the Calvinist blueprint that has come to epitomize orthodoxy in the Massachusetts Bay Colony of the seventeenth century. Young Paul Hardin, through whose perceptive insights Whitlock studies most cogently the spiritual temperament of Macochee, listened one evening to the semi-weekly "summons of evangelism":
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Volume 68 Page 266
The frontier brand of revivalism and religious enthusiasm prevalent in Macochee's theological system, furthermore, bears strong analogy with the well-known "thorny points" of Bay Colony Calvinism. The various steps toward communion are chronicled thus by Whitlock: "lost," "saved," "come to Jesus" or "stand up for Jesus," "conviction," and "experience."25 This process of achieving oneness with the Deity evinces a strikingly similar pattern to the Puritan progression toward salvation: Original Sin (lost), Election (saved), Regeneration (come to Jesus; spiritual re-birth through personal experience), Justification (conviction; forgiveness achieved through the grace of Christ), and Sanctification (experience; evidence of a moral life through deed and action). Indeed, both the New England Calvinist and the midwest neo-Puritan deeply believed that ultimate judgment for the "sheep" rather than the "goats" could be realized through the assiduous discharge of secular duties--this despite the omnipresent incubus of predestination. Without such hope, the ordeal of life would be unbearable. Each person, then, had to be punctual in his performance of the day-to-day tasks comprising the responsibilities of existence as "ethical" duties long after they had ceased to be material necessities. Through the colorless yet laborioustedium of everyday routine one isolates himself from, and insulates himself against, the frivolousness of life and the temptations of Satan, who is forever nearby contending with the Almighty for the possession of individual souls. Paul Hardin's father, a blacksmith by trade, reveals this economic aspect of Puritanism in a significant dialogue with his curious son:
"Blacksmithing's hard work," Paul observed. "Life's hard work," said J. Hardin. . . ."Yes," observed Paul, after a time, "it must have been a hard life. You hadn't many pleasures." "We hadn't time for them," said J. Hardin; "we were a God-fearing family." "Then you were spared temptations," Paul ventured. J. Hardin reared up. . . . "I spent many a day pounding them out on my anvil!" he declared.27
In 1667 the Rev. Jonathan Mitchell, a Bay Colony divine, in preaching his election sermon, "Nehemiah on the Wall," set down the resounding dicta that Joshua Hardin, in an awkward, non-esoteric manner, was presenting with simple power to his son more than two centuries later:
27 J. Hardin & Son, 326-327
A Brand from the Critic's Fire Volume 60 Page 151
It did indeed. And Whitlock's general observation here brings an amen when one recollects the wooden generals and statesmen who stand stiff and lifeless in so many historical novels. In his biographical introduction to Whitlock's Letters, Nevins chooses two volumes as having "qualities of permanence"--the biography of Lafayette, referred to briefly above, and the novel J. Hardin & Son. One is glad to accept the historian's word as to the former, and to accept the major part of his single paragraph of comment on the latter. But to one whose primary interest is in fiction this novel deserves more detailed comment than Nevins chooses to give, as I am certain he would agree. The fact is that despite its solid qualities and what now seems its sure and quiet depiction of the quality and tone of life in a small Ohio town, J. Hardin & Son made no great stir on publication and failed to achieve any substantial recognition. The book was only briefly reviewed, and in general the critics seem to have succeeded in damning it with faint praise, whether this was the intention or not. Apparently the sales were as disappointing as the reviews and Whitlock was so discouraged that he wrote to a friend in May 1924:
"I have been for weeks and months so depressed and disheartened by the failure of J. Hardin & Son to make any impression, or to receive any recognition, that I have seriously asked myself if there were really any use in going on at all." A little glance at the publication dates of some famous American novels of the time helps us understand that the coolness towards J. Hardin was rooted at least partly in the fact that it was difficult to hear its quiet note when so many literary firecrackers were going off. Main Street was the smash hit of 1920, and Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, Sherwood Anderson's Poor White, and Zona Gale's Miss Lulu Bett appeared in this year also. Babbitt had come in 1922. In 1923, in addition to Whitlock's volume, Willa Cather's A Lost Lady, and Zona Gale's Faint Perfume also saw the light of day. Howells was dead and then in the process of being forgotten, Dreiser was in the long silence between The Genius (1915) and An American Tragedy (1925), Ellen Glasgow had still to attain the success which came with Barren Ground (1925). Dos Passos, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hemingway, and Elizabeth M. Roberts were still to be heard from. In December 1923, the time of publication of J. Hardin, the bestsellers among American fiction are listed by the Bookman as Gertrude Atherton's Black Oxen, Zona Gale's Faint Perfume, Harold Bell Wright's The Mine with the Iron Door, James Oliver Curwood's The Alaskan, Emerson Hough's The Covered Wagon, and Willa Cather's One of Ours.