Individual Details

John was about 12 years old when his family moved to Georges Creek in the Monongahela region of PA. John met and married Jane Davis in Georges Creek.
In 1774, John was an ensign in Dunmore's Division during the Indian War.
Col John Harden: Lt. in Morgan's Rifles, 12th PA, during the Revolution. In 1779 he resigned from the Army and moved his family to KY in 1786. That same year he served as Quartermaster for the Wabash expedition under George Rogers Clark. In 1789 was commanding officer of the militia of Nelson County. Shot by Indians under a flag of truce on mission sent by Gen. Wilkinson in 1792.

The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. p.272
John Hardin served in Morgan's rifle company at the siege of Boston and the expedition to Canada. At the battle of Saratoga, for valuable service, he received the thanks of Gates. He was massacred in 1792.

At least one publication contains the erroneous statement that Col. John and Capt. William Hardin were brothers; they were instead first cousins. The error is is in Kentucky Place Names by Robert M. Rennick, 1988. Hardin Co KY was formed from part of Nelson Co in 1792 and was named for Col. John Hardin. Hardinsburg which is the county seat of Breckinridge Co KY is believed to be the location of Hardin's Station, where Capt. William Hardin first settled in April of 1780.

According to "History of the Hardin Family" John and his brothers Mark & Martin went from Pennsylvania to the Falls of the Ohio in the winter of 1780-81, exploring for several months. They returned briefly to Pennsylvania. In the Fall of 1782, John returned to KY and organized and led the group to the area of what is now Nelson, Washington, Marion & Taylor Counties, where he personally surveyed and laid out tracts of land for each man who decided to settle there. He returned to PA late in 1782.

Supporting John, Mark & Martin's early trip to Kentucky are a number of land patents issued by Virginia when Kentucky was still a county. Their warrants were all issued in Jefferson County but the locations on today's maps are in Washington Co KY, formed from Nelson Co in 1792, which had been formed from Jefferson Co in 1784.
Warrant #2001 was issued to John Hardin, 14 Feb 1780 and surveyed 14 Jun 1781. It was for 500 acres on Beech Fork and waters of Pleasant Run adj his preemption and southward, Wm. Stewart's Preemption. The patents was issued 1 Jun 1782, Book G, p.42, Kentucky Grants, Book 1, p.55.
Another part of Warrant #2201 was for 1500 acres. It wwas dated the same day but surveyed 12 Jun 1781. It was on the Waters of Pleasant Run & Cartwright's Creek adj his preemption on the north. Patent issued 1 Jun 1782, Book G, p.33, Kentucky Grants, Book 1, p.35.
The Warrant for John's preemption mentioned above was #931, issued 28 Jun 1780 and surveyed 12 Jun 1781, and was for 1000 acres. Located on Pleasant Run, branch of Beech Fork of Salt River, corner Stewart's Preemption. An accompanying note states that "John Harden is entitled to the preemption of one thousand Acres of Land at the State price in the distrct of Kentucky on account of Marking & improving the same in the year 1775 Lying on Pleasant Run a branch of the Beach fork of Salt River about three miles from the Mouth of the said Run to include a Small Dear Lick on a small branch & his improvement. " ;Signed: 19 Apr 1780 by Willm. Fleming, Stephen Trigg & Edmund Lyne" [This places John in the area some five years earlier than any other documentation.]

These three grants totaled 3000 acres. Grants were issued to his brothers Martin & Mark on the same day. Also a grant was issued to his first cousin Benjamin & Benjamin assigned still another grant to his brother Capt William. Benjamin also apparently obtained warrants for his daughters Katey and Lydia. All of them located in Jefferson Co but what is now Washington Co except for the tract assigned to Capt William which was near Hardin's Station. This was a busy day at the land office for the Hardin family.

Alexandria Gazette, dated 27 oct 1785, carried the following notice:
The subscriber gives notice, that he will locate Lands on the northwest side of the Ohio River, where the Virginia military claims are to be laid, for on-third of the lands, to be divided according to its quality, and will be at the expence of the chain carries and markers. He will also attend to the suveying and seeing the said lands clear of disputes. Any person that inclines to employ him may lodge their warrants with Col. Anderson, with a line directed to me or whosoever superintends that business. If their warrants have not been entered with Col. Anderson, and he not convenient, may direct them to the subscriber living in Washington Co, Pennsylvania, to the care of Mr. Donaldson in Winchester.
He flatters himself, that from his extensive knowledge of the western country and his attention to the business, it will be in his power to execute every gentleman's business much to their advantage and satisfactions.
October 10, 1785 JOHN HARDIN

John brought his own family out to Kentucky about 1786, settling in what is now Washington County.
Kentucky warrant assigned from John Hardin to John Floyd on 8 July 1788 for 200 acres. Witnessed by Henry Floyd. Further details are missing but it is likely part of one the earlier warrants issued to John. Contains his signature.

Will dated 22 Jul 1788, proved 4 Apr 1793, Washington Co KY WB A, p.4.. Wife Jane. Sons, Martin, Mark & Davis.;Dau: Sarah & Mary. Executors were his wife and brothers, Mark & Martin. Wit: Samuel Robertson, John Hardin, Mary Robertson.

A court case in 1801, which continued to 1807, named the following heirs: Sarah the wife of the Rev. Barnabas McHenry, Mark, Martin D., and Davis Hardin; Jane the wife of Christopher Irvin [the widow], Polly & Rosanna Hardin. Rosanna had not been born when the will was written.

Dau Mary "Polly" married Andrew Barnett and left no children. Another researcher has that Mary was married to Wallace Estill.

From Serial Set 808 H.rp.120
H.R. Bill #783. Case of Heirs of Col. John Hardin
23 Feb 1855
Private Relief Action; House Committee on Military Affairs:
Mr. Faulkner made the report. Described was the military history of Col John Hardin. He first served as an ensign in a militia company in 1774 of Gov. Dunmore of Virginia against the Indians. He was afterwards in the company of Capt. Zack Morgan; during an engagement with the Indians he was wounded in the groin by a ball which was never extracted. He joined the regular army as a 2nd lieutenant attached to Morgan's rifle corps; resigned as a 1st lieutenant in 1779. He went to Kentucky, 1780, located land but returned to his old home and moved his family to Kentucky in 1786. He was afterwards quartermaster in the Wabash expedition under Gen. Clark. In 1789 depredations committed by the Indians induced him to cross the Ohio with a strong band of militia and defeat a band of Shawnee Indians. He was in every Indian expedition formed after his arrival in Kentucky, except that of Gen. St. Clair, from which he was prevented joining on account of having accidentally wounded himself. In 1792, the hostile Indians northwest of the Ohio became trouble and commited so many outrages that the government attempted to make peace with them. Col. John Hardin was selected by Gen. Wilkinson then the commander at Ft. Washington. He was shot to death in this attempt. His heirs were before Congress, claiming the sum of $200 per annum, from the date of his death in 1792, to that of his widow in 1829. Gen. Wilkinson made of promise to Col. John Hardin which Hardin alluded to in a letter to his wife that said "should I fall a sacrifice in this important attempt, the General has promised me to be your steady friend, and that your yearly supply from government shall not be less than two hundred dollars during your natural life". The original letter was exhibted by Hon. Richard H. Stanton, of KY.
The letter had not been known to his children until the last 12 years. On the 27 Feb 1793, an act of Congress did approve giving his widow and orphan children $450 per annum for seven years. Again in 1800, Congress passed a law giving to each of his sons and daughters the sum of $100 per annum until they reach the age of 21. The last payment was made on 23 Mar 1812, at which time the widow & children had received $5,520.94. The sum of $200 from the date of his death to the end of the widow's life was have been $7,400. The government has never fully cancelled the obligation clearly due to them. The committee support a bill giving the heirs the difference.

From Wikipedia:
Colonel John Hardin (October 1, 1753 – circa May 1792) was a soldier, farmer, rancher, noted marksman and hunter. He was wounded fighting in Lord Dunmore's War; served as a Continental Army officer in the American Revolutionary War and as a Kentucky Co., Virginia militia commander in the Northwest Indian War. He was a member of the Methodist church and one of the first judges in the original Washington County, Virginia (later to become Washington County, KY). Colonel Hardin was killed in an ambush while acting as a peace emissary (under the direction of the President, George Washington) to the Shawnee Indian people.
Born in Prince William County, Virginia (in an area that is now Fauquier County), John Hardin was the first son and fifth child of Martin Hardin (1716–1778), an owner of an "ordinary" (or roadhouse/bar) who was a member of the Virginia militia, and Lydia [nee Waters] Hardin (1721–1800). John Hardin married Jane Daviess, and together they had seven children, with future Kentucky senator, Martin D. Hardin, their youngest.
Due to his reputation as a marksman, Hardin was asked in 1774 to join Capt. Zack Moran's company, mustering in as an ensign to fight hostile Indians in Lord Dunmore's War. Hardin's exploits led to him become known on the frontier as "The Indian Killer". In a battle with the Indians, Hardin was wounded in the groin by a musket ball. The musket ball remained in him for the rest of his life.
In the War of Independence, John Hardin was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment, better known as "The Provisional Rifle Corps" (or Morgan's Rifles), and fought at Saratoga, while serving directly under Colonel Daniel Morgan.
In 1786, the Hardin family settled on a large parcel of land in Washington County, Virginia (now Washington County, Kentucky), where they farmed and raised stock. They also joined the Methodist church in that area. Hardin had some success as a rancher, continually adding acreage to his original tract.
As a militia captain in 1786, John Hardin led a successful attack on a Piankeshaw village near present-day Vincennes, Indiana which, unfortunately, belonged to a friendly tribe that had been colonial American allies.[1]

In August 1789, he led another militia expedition to the Terre Haute, Indiana area where he attacked a Shawnee party of 22 men, women, and children.[2]. Three women, one child, and an infant were killed in the attack.[2] Hardin paraded through Vincennes, where Major Jean François Hamtramck lamented that the uneasy peace he had brokered with the Wabash nations would soon end due to the "provocation" of "this Kentucky affair."[2] Hardin returned to Kentucky with twelve scalps.[3]

Hardin was promoted to colonel and repeatedly engaged Indians during the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio Territory. In 1790, he led a detachment of the Kentucky County, Virginia militia on the disastrous Battle of Heller's Corner (also known as 'Hardin's Defeat'). Their rout began a long succession of American losses to Miami chief, Little Turtle. In 1791, Hardin led a force of 60 Kentucky mounted militia in the destruction of a large Kickapoo village near the mouth of the Big Pine Creek, as part of General Charles Scott's campaign to destroy Ouiatenon.[4]
In April 1792, President George Washington sent word to Hardin asking him to negotiate a peace with the Shawnee. Soon thereafter, in the area that is now Shelby County, Ohio, John Hardin met with a party of the Shawnee, who offered to escort him to their village. Instead, they attacked him and murdered him as he slept. Also killed was a servant of Hardin's, identified simply by his last name, Freeman. Another of the party, a guide named John Flinn - who had lived among the Indians after being captured by them as a boy - survived, later settling in Miami County, Ohio.

The Book Daniel Boone and the Hunters of Kentucky, by W. H. Bogart, 1st published 1854, has a rather fanciful chapter regarding Col. John, p.426-433. Digitized on Hathi Trust.

Birth	1 Oct 1753	Prince William County, Virginia
Marriage	Abt 1773	Georges Creek, Pennsylvania - Jane Davis
Military	1774	Dunmore's War
Military	1776 - 1782	Morgan's Rifles, 12th PA; George Rogers Clark, Revolutionary War
Death	May 1792	Ohio

Spouse	Jane Davis ( - 1829)
Child	Sarah Hardin (1774 - 1833)
Child	Martin Davis Hardin (1780 - 1823)
Child	Mark Hardin (1782 - 1875)
Child	Davis Hardin (1784 - )
Child	Mary "Polly" Hardin (1786 - )
Child	Lydia Ann Hardin (1788 - 1790)
Child	Rosannah Hardin (1791 - 1863)

Father	Martin "Ruffled Shirt" Hardin (1716 - 1779)
Mother	Lydia Waters (1720 - 1760)
Sibling	Mary Hardin (1741 - )
Sibling	Sarah Ellen Hardin (1743 - 1826)
Sibling	Hannah Hardin (1745 - 1784)
Sibling	Lydia Hardin (1748 - )
Sibling	Mark "Horse Racer" Hardin (1750 - 1835)
Sibling	Catherine Hardin (1755 - )
Sibling	Martin Hardin (1757 - 1848)
Sibling	Rosanna Hardin (1760 - 1789)