JOHN HARDIN

'John Hardin' (1753-1792) was a Continental Army officer in the American Revolutionary War and a Kentucky militia commander in the Northwest Indian War. He was killed while serving as an emissary in the latter war.
Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, he was a noted marksman and hunter. In 1774, he was made an ensign in the militia and was wounded in a skirmish with the Indians. In the Revolution, he was a lieutenant under General Daniel Morgan. After the war, he settled in Washington County, Kentucky in 1786. He subsequently was promoted to colonel and engaged Indians north of the Ohio River. In 1792, George Washington sent him to negotiate a peace with the Shawnee Indians. In what is now Shelby County, Ohio he met with some of the Shawnee, who offered to escort him to their village; but that night they killed him. Also killed was a servant of Hardin's named Freeman. A guide named John Flinn-who had lived among the Indians after being captuered while a boy-survived and later settled in Miami County, Ohio.
The town of Hardin, Shelby County, Ohio; Hardin County, Ohio;Hardin County, Kentucky and Hardin County, Illinois are named for him. In 2001 Hardin County, Kentucky's school district opened John Hardin High School in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, also named after him.
It is alleged that the site of the town of Hardin (Shelby County, Ohio) stands on the very section where Colonel Hardin was killed.

★ Father of Congressman Martin D. Hardin [1];

★ Grandfather of Congressman/Colonel John J. Hardin [2]-killed at Battle of Buena Vista, Mexico.

★ Uncle of Congressman Benjamin Hardin [3].

★ His 1st Cousin 3 times removed was the wife of Kentucky Governor John Helm-parents of CS General Benjamin Hardin Helm and a brother-in-law of KY Congressman/US General John Blair Smith Todd. C.S. General Helm was married to a half-sister of President Abraham Lincoln's wife Mary Todd; U.S. General Todd was a cousin of Mary Todd.

★ His 1st cousin 4 times removed was Texas killer John Wesley Hardin