Joseph Hardin
was born in 1734 in North Carolina. He was the father of seven sons and one
daughter. He participated in the American Revolutionary War and was given the rank
of Colonel for his service and was awarded a land grant. Col Joseph Hardin came from
Roane County, North Carolina to Tennessee with a land warrant to survey 2000 acres.
After the acreage was located, he cut his name on a birch tree that stood near the mouth
of Swift Creek and returned to his home in Roane County.
In 1816, a company of four families, including two of Col. Hardin's sons, numbering 26 in all, returned to the area and settled on the land that Col. Hardin surveyed. The following year four more of Col. Hardin's sons settled in the area.
On
September 13, 1819, by an act of the Tennessee Legislature, Hardin County, was established
and it was named for Colonel Joseph Hardin. The following is a list of Col. Hardin's
accomplishments:
Veteran of the American Revolutionary War
Major 2nd N.C. Minute Men, Salisbury District 1775
Captain Tyron Co. Light Horse, Cherokee Exp. 1776
Colonel of Western Counties (Tennessee) 1788
Lost three sons in Tennessee Indian Wars
Member of Committee of Safety, Tyron Co., NC 1775
Member of Provincial Congress at Hillsborough 1775
Member of Provincial Congress at Halifax 1776
Member of the General Assembly of North Carolina 1778-1779
Member of the General Assembly of Tennessee 1782-1788
Organizer State of Franklin, Jonesboro 1784-1785
Member of the General Assembly, Territory South of Ohio, Knoxville 1794
Col. Joseph Hardin died 4 July 1801 in Hardin's Valley, Tennessee, and is buried there. His son, Col. James Hardin, lived in Hardin County, and he organized a County Quarterly Court in 1820.
Just as the Revolutionary War gave birth to a new nation in America, Col. Hardin gave birth to a new settlement known as Hardin County.
