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John Hardin was born in Pike County, Ark., in 1836, to Abraham K. and
Elizabeth (Wilson) Hardin, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter
born in Missouri. They were brought to Arkansas by their parents in an
early day, and spent the remainder of their lives in the southwestern
portion of the State. When the subject of this sketch was a small boy, they
removed from Pike to Clark County, and here the father was called from life
in 1844, his wife dying in 1863, both being members of the Presbyterian
Church at the time of their death. Mr. Hardin was a successful farmer, and
was a son of Hon. Joseph Hardin, one of the early settlers of Southwestern
Arkansas, and for some years a member of the Arkansas Legislature from
Clark county, where he died prior to the (Civil) war, aged about
eighty-eight. The maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch was
Hon. John Wilson, who came from the State of Missouri thither at a very
early day. He was a man of considerable prominence, and for a number of
years was a member of the Legislative Assembly from Pike County. It was he
who killed Mr. Anthony on the Legislative floor, an act he always afterward
deplored, although it was done in self-defense, as the latter had
threatened his life. At that time Mr. Wilson was Speaker of the House. He
made a trip to California, after which he removed to Texas, where he died
in 1864, having lived a long life of usefulness. John Hardin, whose name
heads this sketch, was the sixth of eight sons and (four) daughters, and
after spending his youthful days on a pioneer farm and in attending the
common schools, he started out for himself. He served for about two years
in a cavalry company of Arkansas State Troops during the Civil War, after
which his company was disbanded at Washington, Ark., and he returned to his
farm. Miss Etta, a daughter of F.C. Moore, became his wife in 1870, and
they now have a family of five sons and five daughters. Since the month of
March, Mr. Hardin has lived on his present farm of 400 acres, which is
situated about two miles southwest of Okolona. Two hundred acres are under
cultivation, and in addition to tilling this land, he is quite extensively
engaged in stock-raising, and is one of the leading agriculturists of his
section. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and he is a
Democrat politically, and socially is a member of the A.F. & A.M., Robert
Morris Lodge No. 106, of Okolona. Mrs. Hardin's father removed from
Tennessee to this State, and is now living in Faulkner County, a farmer and
merchant by occupation. He at one time served as clerk of the county. His
wife died in Tennessee when Mrs. Hardin was born.
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Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas, The Goodspeed
Publishing Company: Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis, 1890, Clark County,
page 141-142, edited.
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Update 03.20.01 David Kelley 1997 BIO-0017.HTM