Gen William “Indian Bill” Hardin
Birth 1747
Augusta County, Virginia, USA
Death 22 Oct 1821 (aged 73–74)
Hardinsburg, Breckinridge County, Kentucky, USA
Burial
William Hardin Pioneer Cemetery
Hardinsburg, Breckinridge County, Kentucky, USA
Founder of the county seat, Hardinsburg, Breckenridge Co., KY.
William "Indian Bill" was many things: Revolutionary War Veteran, Pioneer, noted Indian fighter and founder of Hardinsburg, KY. According to his military records, he stood 6'4" and weighed 240 pounds.
He was the son of Major John Hardin,(born about 1710 in Northumberland County Virginia and died Oct 13, 1789 in Nelson Co. KY) & Catherine Marr (born in Virginia in 1711 died 1780-Augusta District, Virginia).
William's great-grandparents were Martin Hardwyn & Madeleine du Sauchoy of France, coming to America after the massacre of St. Bartholomew and forced to flee France because of their Huguenot beliefs. Their son Mark, William's grandfather, was baptized on March 26, 1681 in Staten Island, New York. Mark married Mary Hogue before March 1755 in Fauquier County, Virginia. Maj. John Hardin was their son.
William married his first cousin-Winifred "Winnie" Holtzclaw about 1773, VA. (Born in 1752, Prince William Co., VA; died1801-08 in Breckinridge Co., KY. She was the daughter of Johann Heinrich "Henry" Holtzclaw & Anne "Nancy" Hardin).
William and Winny Hardin raised a niece & nephew along with their own children:
1. Amelia Hardin (She married Horatio Merry)
2. Jehu Hardin (He never married)
3. John E. Hardin
4. Winnie (Winny) Ann Hardin, born about 1775 (She married William Comstock)
5. Elijah Hardin (Died in 1805, having been shot by Mr. Friend McMahon at Houston Springs, Hardin Co., KY.)
6. Henry Hardin, born Jun 8, 1778 in Hardinsburg. (He married the widow, Mrs. Rachel Biddle Walker. My 5th great-grandparents)
7. Melinda Ann Hardin, born Feb. 2, 1780 (She married William H. Crawford)
8. William Hardin, Jr., born 1781 (He married his cousin Cassandra Hardin)
9. Mary Celia Hardin, born 1794 (She married William Davison)
Niece & Nephew, (strong possibility these are the children of William's brother Jesse Hardin):
Mary "Polly" Hardin (She married Benjamin Huff)
Daniel Hardin (He married Alice Jolly)
William's second wife was Susanna McGee and they were married July 10, 1808, Breckenridge Co., KY. Two daughters were born of this marriage: Hannah Ann & Lucinda Hardin. (Susanna remarried after the death of William, to a Robert Armstrong)
DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) Lineage paper # 109172, lists William as a private in Capt John Anderson's Company, 5th VA Regt. (Also see: DAR Lineage #119506 & 123802.) William served as a private in the 3rd VA Regt of foot, 1778. He served in KY as well as IL.
William Hardin received 400 acres as assignee of Benjamin Hardin, Warrant# 2586 - Feb 14, 1780, and the tract was surveyed Jun 8, 1784. According to the description, the land was on Hardin's Creek, a branch of the Ohio including Hardin's Settlement, also known as Hardin's Station, crossing the creek above the Station. (Granted Jun 21, 1786.) This area would become Hardinsburg.
From the Kentucky Historical Marker Database, marker #134, on US 60 in Hardinsburg reads: "Founder of Hardinsburg. Virginia Revolutionary soldier, third continental line. Built Hardin's Fort here in 1780"
Much was written about William Hardin and his ancestry in a book by Dr. B.C. Holtzclaw titled "Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714-1750".
An article by Henry C. Jolly in the "Breckenridge Democrat", dated April 25, 1902, relates the story of how William, along with his companions, survived an Indian attack in August of 1779.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22653489/william-hardin
