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John Smith Hardin

John Smith Hardin was born 20 September 1834 in Monroe County, Kentucky[1]. His father was Madison Harrison Hardin and his mother was Malinda Page. [2]. John Smith Hardin married the 16 year old Eliza Ann Tooley in October 1853 when he was just 19 years old[3]. The following May Eliza gave birth to their first child, a son they named Samuel. Their son died less than 3 months later on 9 August 1854[3]. Their daughter Martha was born the following year. John Smith Hardin worked as a farmer on his own land. The census records indicate he was fairly successful. John and Eliza had the following children:

In 1861, many of the men of the Hardin and Tooley families joined the Union Army as the Civil War began. I could find no evidence that John Smith Hardin joined the army during this conflict. In fact, I could not even find him in the 1860 census. Although John probably did not join the local volunteers, both his brothers did. His brother Lieutenant Joseph Gist Hardin died in 1863 during his service to the Union Army due to unknown disease that affected his liver and kidney [5]. His brother Benjamin Franklin Hardin also served the Union Army in Company K of the 5th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry as a Sergeant. Both brothers received extra pay for bringing their own horses into the war. John Hardin's father in law, William Tooley also joined the Union Army, however, he died of disease in camp in 1861. By 1861 John had 4 young children so it is very possible his duty was to protect his family at home. Both his brothers were unmarried when they joined the war effort. Regardless, the family survived the war and by 1870 the sister of Eliza, Margaret Tooley was living with the family[6]. John and Eliza Hardin both lived to see all 24 of their grandchildren born. John Smith Hardin died at the age of 79 on 30 November 1913. His cause of death on his death record stated "chronic enlargement prostrate gland".


Eliza Ann Tooley Hardin

Eliza Ann Tooley Hardin was born on 17 October 1837 to William Tooley and Elizabeth Moody Tooley in Monroe County, Kentucky[9]. She was the second born of six children. Her father and her younger brother both joined the Union Army in the Civil War. Her father died in camp in 1861 due to an unknown disease. Shortly after the death of her father, her mother died on 27 February 1863. After the death of her husband, Eliza eventually moved in with her daughter Mary Francis (Hardin) Miller and her family. Eliza Ann Tooley died on 30 April 1924 in Tompkinsville, Kentucky at the age of 86. The death record for Eliza states she had "paralysis hemiphegin" but her cause of death was unknown. Paralysis hemiphegin (known today as Hemiparesis) is paralysis of one half of the entire body. The most common causes are stroke, cerebral hemorrhage and diabetic neuropathy.


Photo of John Smith and Eliza (Tooley) Hardin courtesy of Dale Hardin.








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