Brown County IN Archives Biographies.....Harden, John W. 1862 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 24, 2007, 1:04 am Author: B. F. Bowen (1904) JOHN W. HARDEN. John W. Harden, recorder-elect of Brown county and one of the best known and most enterprising and highly esteemed men of this part of the state, is the son of John and Rhoda (Whetzel) Harden, both parents natives of Ohio. John Harden disposed of his interests in his native state about the year 1860 and moved his family to Washington township, Brown county, Indiana, where he purchased a farm and devoted his attention to the pursuit of agriculture until his death in 1885. He was twice married and reared a family of six children, the subject of this review being a child of the second wife. She, too, had been married previous to her union with Mr. Harden, and was the mother of three offspring by her first husband. John W. Harden was born in Brown in county September 9, 1862, and was quite young when his father died, the death of his mother following three years later. Being thus deprived of parental care, he was taken by a neighbor by the name of Leander Smith, in whose home he lived until about fifteen years old, when he decided to rely upon his own resources for a livelihood and a start in the world. Meantime of winter seasons he attended the district schools and obtained a fair education, and after leaving the home of his benefactor he found employment with J. A. McGregor, a stave contractor, being made foreman of the stave mill one year after engaging with the same. Mr. Harden continued in the capacity of foreman for about seven years, during which time he became familiar with every detail of the business and rendered his employer valuable service, having always made his interests his own, thus winning the respect and confidence, as well as the esteem, of their patrons. By reason of a distressing accident caused by the bursting of a cast iron pulley, a fragment of which struck his leg, breaking the bone in several places, Mr. Harden, at the age of twenty-two, was obliged to resign his position and during the following three years suffered much from his injury, the painful nature of which kept him confined to his room the greater part of that time. When sufficiently recovered he accepted a clerkship in T. D. Colvin's store at Nashville, and remained with that gentleman during the ensuing five years, the meanwhile acquainting himself with the mercantile business in its every phase, thus broadening his mind preparatory to engaging in some kind of undertaking upon his own responsibility. Severing his connection with Mr. Colvin at the expiration of the time referred to, he purchased a stock of drugs in Nashville and during the nine years following devoted his attention very closely to that line of trade, building up a large and lucrative business patronage and the meanwhile earning the reputation not only of a careful and methodical business man, but also of a skillful and trustworthy pharmacist. Mr. Harden terminated his business cares in 1900 by disposing of his drug store, the returns having proven most satisfactory. In addition to a comfortable residence and other property in Nashville, he owns a good farm near the town, besides various other interests, from all of which he derives a fairly liberal income. A Democrat in all the term implies, and for years an active political worker and aggressive campaigner, Mr. Harden has never been an office seeker, notwithstanding which his friends, who have long appreciated his valuable services to the party, nominated him at the November primary, 1903, for the office of county recorder, the election to take place at the general election in November, 1904. His relations with the public during a long and successful business career were always of a pleasant and agreeable nature, and possessing the faculty of winning friends and binding them to him as with bands of steel, his popularity with all classes and conditions of his fellow citizens is as great perhaps as that of any man in the county of Brown. Mr. Harden has been twice married, the first time on the 4th day of October, 1891, to Miss Emma Browning. She departed this life November 20, 1895, after a brief but exceedingly happy wedded experience of a little over four years' duration. Mrs. Harden was the daughter of W. W. Browning, formerly of Lawrence county, this state, later a resident of Brown county, and for a number of years a prominent and successful attorney and public spirited citizen. He was also a politician of considerable note and at one time represented the counties of Brown and Monroe in the general assembly, where he made an honorable record as an able and discreet legislator. He achieved an eminently creditable and useful career and died on March 22, 1885. Mr. Harden's second marriage was solemnized on the 27th of July, 1898, with Miss Josephine Clark, daughter of Abraham T. and Jane Clark, of Lawrence county, Ohio, the parents moving to Brown county in the year 1858. Mrs. Harden's father was born in Pennsylvania, but in an early day went to Ohio, settling in Lawrence county, of which he was a pioneer. On coming to Brown county he purchased land, but did not move to it, locating in Nashville, where for many years .he ran a blacksmith and wagon shop, his establishment being the oldest of its kind in the town. During his earlier years he was a skillful mechanic and took great pride in his workmanship, the wagons and other vehicles made in his shop being noted far and wide for their strength, durability and other points of excellence. He selected the timber with much care, did all the iron and wood work with his own hands, and such was his reputation as a workman that there was always a greater demand for the products of his shop than he could possibly supply. Mr. Clark is still living at the ripe old age of eighty-five and spending the evening of his life in quiet and honorable retirement. For one of his years he is quite active, retaining to a remarkable degree the possession of his physical and mental powers and moving about with almost the vigor and elasticity of his prime. As already stated, Mr. Harden owns one of the pleasant and attractive homes of Nashville, the hospitality of which has become almost proverbial, his door being ever open in welcome to the guest or to the stranger seeking entertainment within. It is well known to the best social circles of the town and a favorite rendezvous for those who make for good cheer and believe in getting out of life all the happiness and content which it contains. Mr. Harden is a member of the Pythian fraternity, and with his wife belongs to the Christian church, in Nashville, both being zealous workers in the congregation and enterprising in promoting its various lines of religious and benevolent effort. Additional Comments: Extracted from BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY INDIANA INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA ILLUSTRATED 1904 B. F. Bowen PUBLISHER File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/brown/bios/harden843gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 7.5 Kb