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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Clark County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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James Hardin. The entire life of this gentleman has been unmarked by any unusual occurrence, for he has always applied himself to the occupation of farming, and is now prepared to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He was born in Hempstead County, Ark., in 1830, and is a son of Abraham K. and Elizabeth (Wilson) Hardin, who were born in Hardin County, Tenn., and Cape Girardeau County, Mo., respectively. They removed with their parents to Hempstead County, Ark., where they were afterward married. In 1828 and in 1830 they came to Clark County, where they passed the rest of their lives with the exception of a few years spent in Pike County. The former died on the 11th of September, 1844, and his wife on the 4th of June, 1862. The paternal grandfather, Joseph Hardin, was born in Virginia, from which State he moved to Tennessee, and prior to 1824 he settled in Hempstead County, Ark., and still later in Clark County, where he died in 1850, at the age of eighty-seven. He filled the position of Representative in the State Legislature of Arkansas, being sent from Clark County. The great-grandfather, who also bore the name of Joseph, was a Virginian by birth and removed from his native soil to what is now Hardin County, Tenn., the county being named for him, and here he in all probability died. The maternal grand father, Hon. John Wilson, first saw the light of day in the " Old Dominion," and during the early history of the State was taken by his parents to Kentucky, but when a young man he went to Mis ouri, and was married in Cape Girardeau County, to Miss Sallie Bird, moving some time after to the Red River country, in Arkansas, and making his home in different counties. He represented Hempstead, Clark and Pike Counties in the Legislature, and while a candidate from Clark County he was made speaker of the House. He was a man of broad views, great ability and noble character, and his death, which occurred at the advanced age of seventy-seven years, was deeply lamented, not only by his immediate and sorrowing family but by all who knew him. James Hardin, the immediate subject of this biography, was the second of eleven children, eight sons and three daughters, and spent his early life on a farm in the wilds of Arkansas, receiving very little schooling. In the month of July, 1861, he joined Company B, Twelfth Arkansas Infantry, of which he was soon after made lieutenant, and was in the battles of Island No. 10, New Madrid, Corinth, and was with Bragg on his raid into Kentucky. Later he was in the battle of Port Hudson, but was captured there and taken to New Orleans, thence to Governor's Island, N. Y., and from there to Johnson's Island, Ohio, where he remained until the 30th of March, 1865. He was then conveyed to Baltimore, thence to Point Lookout, and from there to Fort Delaware, at which place he was held until June 13, 1865. He was married, in 1866, to Lizzie, daughter of James and Jane Moore, her birth having occurred in Monroe County, Tenn., and to them a family of five children have been born, three of whom are now living: James M., George and Augustus. Mr. Hardin has a fertile farm of 280 acres, on which he has resided for about sixteen years, and 80 acres are under cultivation. Mr. Hardin is a Democrat, his first presidential vote being cast for Pierce, in 1852, and since that year he has been a member of the A. F. & A. M., Robert Morris Lodge No. 106, of Okolona, and in this lodge he has been senior and junior warden. His wife is a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church and he belongs to the Christian Church. He belongs to one of the oldest and best known families of the county, and has spent nearly all his life here and has every interest of the county at heart. Mrs. Hardin's parents were born, reared and married in South Carolina, afterward moved to Alabama, thence to Tennessee, both dying in Hamilton County, the father having been a tanner and farmer by occupation.

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This family biography is one of 99 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Clark County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Clark County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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