Taylor County, West Virginia Biography: George D. HARDIN ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , April 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 134-135 GEORGE D. HARDIN. Still active in his work as a farmer and stockman at Flemington in Booth Creek District of Taylor County, George D. Hardin spent the greater part of his career in Barbour County, where he was born and where the Hardins have been people of usefulness and in- fluence for several generations. Both his father and grandfather were named Nestor Hardin. Nestor Hardin, Sr., was a native of Pennsylvania, and came from Fayette County, that state, to Barbour County, West Virginia. He was a farmer and for some years worked his plantation with slaves. In 1913, when he was well advanced in years, he took his darkies to Penn- sylvania and liberated them. He was never affiliated with any church. His death occurred at the age of eighty-one. and he was buried in the Martin graveyard in Cove District of Barbour County. He married Katie Hardin, a sister of the noted Ben Hardin of Kentucky. She was buried at the side of her husband. Of their children Absolom was a farmer in Barbour County, where many of his descendants remained; Hannah married Lunford Jones and lived in Taylor County; Isabel was the wife of Jacob Coffman, and both are buried at the old Fairview Church in Barbour County; Ailcy married a brother of Jacob Coffman, moved to Ohio and died in Noble County of that state; Lydia became the wife of George Hardin; and they lived out their lives in Pennsylvania; the youngest child was Nestor, Jr. Nestor Hardin, Jr., was born in Barbour County, Feb- ruary 22, 1806. His education was limited, but sufficient for the transaction of business affairs as a farmer, and on the old homestead he continued stockraising and grain-grow- ing until advanced years overtook him. While not a sol- dier, he was a Union man to the core, and was a spectator in the Wheeling convention which decided the attitude of the western counties of Virginia toward secession. During a portion of the war he was a wagon boss for the Govern- ment. His adherence to the Union was unalloyed. When some Confederate troops passed through his home town and asked as to his allegiance, he replied: "I am a Union man, soul, body and breeches," a sentiment which even the rebels admired and they assured him that his property would remain untouched. Nestor Hardin, Jr., who died October 12, 1886, married Margaret Stonaker, who survived him until October 6, 1911. She was a daughter of Andrew and Rachel (Holsberry) Stonaker, her father a native of old Virginia and for many years a farmer in Glade District of Barbour County, where bo died. The children of Nestor Hardin, Jr., were: Katie, who married Thomas B. Mason, of Preston County; Rachel D., who married George W. Deahl, removed to Childress County, Texas, but returned to West Virginia before her death; Andrew S., a farmer of Cove District of Barbour County; George D.; and Pollie, who died at the age of seven years. George Dow Hardin was born in Barbour County, March 8, 1854, and lived through boyhood and manhood in Cove District of that county, getting his education in the com- mon schools. After his marriage he went to a home of his own, but later succeeded to the old homestead, and was a successful stockgrower there until he was sixty-six years of age, when he sold out and moved to his present home in Taylor County. In addition to farming he bought some extensive coal lands, but sold them before developing the resources. He has also been a stockholder and director in the First National Bank of Grafton. While in Barbour County he was president of the Board of Education in Cove District. He is a member of Mystic Lodge No. 15 of the Masonic Order at Grafton and while not a church mem- ber he feels an obligation to support such institutions just as he pays taxes to the Government. He is a republican, like his father. In Preston County, January 19, 1888, Mr. Hardin mar- ried Miss Clara Bush. She was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1867, but was reared and educated in Preston County, West Virginia. Her father, Evans Rush, a native of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, served two enlist- ments a total of almost five years, in the Union Army (during the Civil war, was a merchant in Pennsylvania, and on moving to Evansville, West Virginia, operated a woolen mill, but finally returned to Pennsylvania, and died there January 24, 1919, and is buried at the Jersey Church in Somerset County. Mrs. Hardin's mother bore the maiden name of Martha Bowman, and she now makes her home with the Hardins. Her sister Catherine died as Mrs. John Hamilton at Evansville, West Virginia; and her brother, John Bowman, died at Morgantown. Martha Bowman was a daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Knight) Bowman. Her father a native of Maryland, devoted his active life to the woolen-mill industry, and died at Evansville at the age of seventy-three. Mrs. Hardin has two brothers: Elmer, of Winchester, Virginia, and John, of Tarnon Springs, Florida, and another brother, George Bush, died unmarried at Evansville. Mr. and Mrs. Hardin have a family of three daughters and one son, and some half dozen grandchildren. Nora, the oldest child, is the wife of W. C. Shroyer, who operates the old Hardin farm in Barbour County. Their children are Gail, Hester and Robert. Miss Kate C., who finished her education in Broaddus College at Philippi, is at home with her parents. Hazel R., the youngest daughter, married George Campbell, a farmer in Cove District of Barbour County, and their three children are George Robert, Fred Hardin and Harold Kenneth. William Edmund Hardin, the only son, had a fighting record as a soldier of the Great war. He was born at the Hardin homestead in Barbour County, August 18, 1893. He completed his junior year in the State Normal at Shepherds- town, and assisted his father on the farm until America joined in the war. He was called to the colors in 1917, joining Company F of the Three Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery in the Eightieth Division known as the Blue Ridge Division. He was trained at Camp Lee, went over- seas from Newport News on the U. S. S. Siboney to Brest, had further training at Vanes, and went into action on the Meuse-Argonne front. The regiment began its fighting at Dead Man's Hill and then followed a period of fifty-one days of practically continuous and strenuous service until the signing of the armistice. He was sergeant of his com- pany, his squad comprising sixteen men, all of whom went through the ordeal without loss, but all the fourteen horses comprising the original outfit were killed. W. E. Hardin was on the banks of the River Meuse the day of the armis- tice, remained at that point ten days longer, was then ordered back to Ance la Franc, where for four months his command was kept in training, and was then ordered to Brest and came home on the Zeppelin, landing at Nor- folk and sent to Camp Lee for demobilization. He was dis- charged June 6, 1919. During the following year and a half his efforts as a civilian were given to the farm, and he then engaged in business at Grafton, where he conducts the Hardin Garage. William E. Hardin married Juanita Shingleton, and they have a son, Edmund Barton.