Son of Samuel Harding (will 1732)

John Hardin of Chatham County, NC

The discussion of "Some John Hardins in Brunswick and Amelia Counties, Virginia, 1740s," sorting out the Tuckaho Creek Hardins, has been moved to tuckaho.htm. 

John Hardin (1733 to ~1800) In a Nutshell

John Hardin is the probable son of Samuel Hardin of Brunswick County, Virginia (will 1732) and is not one of "my three eldest sons" nor one of "Children [not] of age." I now believe he  was the child being carried in 1732 and was born in 1733 of a young mother, a second wife of Samuel Hardin. Born at that late date, he was too young to father the younger Gabriel. He would have children late, as his brothers did. For him, children appeared around 1760.

In 1761 John Hardin at age 28 left his mother's house on Fountain Creek in Brunswick County, Virginia and moved across the line to Bute County that was formerly eastern Granville County, North Carolina. There he bought land on Billys Creek just off the Tar River, in what may have been the vicinity of the senior Samuel Hardin's land. John Hardin's history before 1761 is unknown by this writer. He did not churn any real estate because of his youth. One of the John Hardins found in counties north of Brunswick was a Tuckaho Hardin.

After farming for a decade John Hardin left Granville County in 1769 and traveled through Orange County. By 1772 he acquired land in southern Chatham County, North Carolina, a few days' wagon ride from his older step-brother Gabriel Hardin who had settled southwest of him him on Deep River in Cumberland (later Moore) County. John lived in Chatham County about twenty years. His mature children began leaving around 1787 for Washington County, Georgia.

Companions of John Hardin:

The first companion, Gabriel, I now believe was a fatherless child of one of the two deceased brothers Thomas and Samuel, Jr.

Gabriel Hardin (b.bef. 1753)

Went to Pendleton District, South Carolina    Left Pendleton for Anson County, NC 

Robert M. Hardin b. 1761, m. Mary Deaton

Speculative, from the 1806 Chatham County will of Hardin neighbor John Deaton. See Deaton Will, belowand land purchase 2 July 1785 on Collins Creek in Orange County where it adjoins Chatham. Because this one did not share the bizarre names of the others who later went to Georgia, I now believe he is not a son of John, and for the same reason, neither is Gabriel. My best guess is they are fatherless nephews who joined their uncle for some benefit. There is no evidence other than proximity that suggests Robert M. Hardin might be a part of the I-M253 family.

Children of John Hardin:

According to researcher George T. Warren II of Madison Georgia: Adam was born 1761 in Virginia. Nicholas he estimates born 1763. Eve, b. 1770, North Carolina (confirmed by 1850 Wilkinson, Georgia, census (Evey Clay).

Nicholas Hardin b. before 1753

His birth before 1753 is calculated from the 1790 census in which NIcholas has one son at home 16 or older.

Nicholas migrated to Washington County, Georgia later than Adam and Eve. He is last recorded in Chatham County on 2 Aug 1791.  He is first seen in Georgia when he registers for the 1805 land lottery.

Adam Hardin (b. 1761 to 1769)

Migrated to Washington County, Georgia.

Eve Hardin (b. bef 1770)

Migrated to Washington County, Georgia. Married David Clay in Warren County, Ga.

Valentine Hardin

This website author was in 2019 handed proof of Valentine Hardin's presence in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1786  as a chain carrier for a survey adjacent to land claimed by Adam Hardin, his brother. Furthermore, researcher Reggie Barton has  traced and sent to me Valentine's history as he moved into other counties of Georgia. See my reference to others' work at my page Washington County, Georgia Hardins.   

Entries for Valentine Hardin in Crumpton's 2-volume set Wilkes County land records:

1. For a warrant dated 7 Dec 1786, Val was listed as a Chain Carrier for a 350 acre plat (#2368).
2. For a warrant dated 4 Dec 1786 for the same landowner for the same 350 acres (#3330D).

In both cases the full name, Valentine Hardin, was written. -Dan Crumpton, “Wilkes County, Georgia, Land Records, Volumes One and Two,” 2014-2015, via my April 2019 corrrespondent  Bill Schulz, elbonian@live.com. To order see CrumptonPlats.com

SUMMARY OF JOHN HARDIN IN BUTE AND GRANVILLE COUNTY

John Harding received from the Granville Proprietary Land Office a North Carolina land grant of 554 acres on 5 December 1761 on the northwest side of Billys Creek in Granville County. On 6 May 1768 he sold to William Winston 455 acres of the "554 acres granted to Hardin 5 Dec 1761," receiving £35. The deed was proven in November 1768. The land was in eastern Granville County in an area later to become Bute County. Today it is Franklin County.

Bute County was created from Granville County in 1764. Bute County ceased to exist in 1779 when it was divided into Franklin County (south) and Warren County (north). The county designation "FWV" seen particularly in the compilation "North Carolina Taxpayers" refers to Franklin, Warren, and Vance, the three modern county that would have Bute and eastern Granville records.

Land entry: 1761 Jan 6. 700 acres. Harding, John, Granville Co.  Descriptive reference Billys Creek, John Frohock Plat: 1761 Jan 28, 554 acres. Chain carriers: John Champion, John Harding.

(Secretary of State Records Group, Granville Proprietary Land Office: Land Entries, Warrants, and Plats of Survey.  Summary of record at mars.archives.ncdcr.gov.Mars ID: 12.12.30.47.

Harding, John, Granville Co., Dec 5, 1761 554 acres Location: Northwest side of Billys Creek.Mars ID: 12.13.40.35.

Harding, John, Granville Co., Dec 5 1761 554 acres "On the NW side of Billys Creek Beginning at a Spanish Oak" references D.B. 11, p. 389, file no. 392, MARS ID 12.14.66.389.

1763 Feb 8. (Deed Book F p 93) JOHN HARDIN and wife SARAH to Robert Allen, Jr. for 20 pds., 100 acres in Granville Co. on W side of Billie Creek in Parker's line. Witness: James Sandland, John Champion, Jr
--"Abstracts of the Early Deeds of Granville County, North Carolina 1746-1765," F-93, by Zae Hargett Gwynn. Pub. by Joseph W. Watson, Rocky Mount, NC 1974. This is the 99 acres that reduced John's holding to 455 acres which was sold to William Winston 1768 (directly below)

DB-2, page 128. 6 May 1768. JOHN HARDIN to WILLIAM WINSTON, both of Bute Co. 35 Pds. Va. money for 455 A. in Bute Co. on NWS Bettys Creek, adj. PARKER, McKESCOCK(McKESOCK), CHAVERS, DAVIS & FROHOCK, a grant from THOS. CHILDS, Esq., Agent of EARL GRANVILLE 5 December 1761. Wit: DAVID DAVIS, JONATHAN DAVIS. Proved by JONATHAN DAVIS, Bute November Court 1768, BEN McCULLOCH, C.C.Reg: 30 March 1768, by WILLIAM JOHNSON, P.R. --ABSTRACTS OF BUTE COUNTY, NC DEED BOOK 2 PART 1 OF 3.

The same from Bute County, NC Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1767-1779, Second Tuesday in November 1768: A Deed of Bargain and Sale from John Hardin to William Winston was proved by the Oath of Jonathan Davis a Witness ordered the same be registered. (ancestry.com)

SOURCES: Note: Summaries of land transactions from the North Carolina State Archives are online at Manuscript and Archive Reference System (MARS),  http://mars.archives.ncdcr.gov/

Abstracts of Butte Couty, NC Deed Books are at http://www.ncgenweb.us/ncstate/historical/ Bute/dbook1-5/db2-1.htm, from Original by Mary Hinton Kerr,

The mention of 700 acres was corrected to 554 acres in the survey. It was surveyed 28 Jan 1761 and granted 5 Dec 1761. John and Elizabeth Hardin sold 99 acres of that on 8 Feb 1763 to Robert Allen for £20. They sold the remaining 455 acres 6 May 1768 to William Winston for £35 Virginia money. Another MARS record (12.144.66.436) shows a grant issued Dec 1 1760 to John Harding in Granville County in deed book 11, page 399, "beginning at Youngs corner." It was possibly abortive.  I am only sure of John Hardin owning one tract of 554 acres.

Second Tuesday in November 1768. A deed of bargain and sale from John Hardin to William Winston was proved by the Oath of Jonathan Davis a Witness thereto and ordered the same be register'd.

Bute County, North Carolina Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1767-1779 , Brent Holcome, p.28 (ancestry.com)

Above, the sale from Hardin to Winston was proved in court nearly eight years later. Below, deed extracts are proof that a Hardin, perhaps John, owned property at Eaves Mill in Granville County, NC on 15 Feb 1769. On 14 April 1769 the same Hardin is noted as a former owner of the same property. This is believably the same John and Elizabeth Hardin who went on to occupy a grant in the 1770s in Chatham County, NC. John Hardin is last noted in Bute County on 16 Nov 1769 as a witness in the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Bute County.

DB-2, page 231. 8 November 1768. WILLIAM KIMBROUGH, of Bute Co., to THOMAS PERSON, of Granville Co. 50 Pds. Procl. money for 400 A. in Bute Co. on branches of Lynches & Kings Creeks, land MARK HARDEN bought from ROBERT JONES,JR., adj. line formerly EAVES. Wit: ISAAC ACREE, SAMUEL HUCKABAY. Ack: by WILLIAM KIMBROUGH, Bute May Court 1769, BEN McCULLOCH, C.C. Reg: 18 September 1769, by WILLIAM JOHNSON, P.R.

DB-2, page 131. 15 February 1769. OSBORN JEFFREYS, Sheriff, to THOMAS BELL, both of Bute Co. 35 Pds. Procl. money, highest bid at sale held i Feb.1765, for 237 A. on Linches Creek & Eaves Mill Creek, a little above the mill, in Granville Co., now Bute Co., adj. THOMAS, PERSON & HARDING, the property of WILLIAM EAVES and sold by Order of Granville Co. Court 17 November 1764, to recover debt owed THOMAS BELL by WILLIAM EAVES, JOHN DEBORD & THOMAS BECKHAM. Execution was taken on the land on l0 December, by PHILIP PRYOR, then acting as Sheriff of Granville Co. Wit: JAMES MILLES, THOMAS PERSON, THOMAS COOK. Ack: by OSBORN JEFFREYS, Sheriff of Bute Co., Bute February Court 1769,BEN McCULLOCH, C.C. Reg: 8 April 1769, by WILLIAM JOHNSON, P.R.

DB-2, page 144. 14 April 1769. THOMAS BELL, of Bute Co., to THOMAS PERSON, of Granville Co. 35 Pds. Procl. money for 237 A. in Bute Co. on SS Eaves Mill Creek, a fork of Lynches Creek, and on Lynches Creek, adj. PERSON & former line of HARDEN. Wit: BEN PERSON, WILLIAM PERSON,JR.Proved by BENJAMIN PERSON at Halifax, 15 April 1769, M. HOWARD, C.J.Reg: ll May 1769, by WILLIAM JOHNSON, P.R. --Abstracts of Bute County, NC Deed Book 2 Part 1 of 3, from original by Mary Hinton Kerr, www.ncgenweb.us/ncstate/historical/Bute/

16 November 1769. John Harding made oath to his acco't of attendance as a Witness for Joseph Edwards at the suit of Benjamin Hardy amounting to £ 1.13.6.

Bute County, North Carolina Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1767-1779, Brent Holcome, p. 65 (ancestry.com)

Bute County existed 1764 to 1779. It was formed from Granville. It was later divided into Warren and Franklin.

Billy's Creek location in Bute County NC (GIF)
Billys Creek enters the Tar River from the south about 4 miles northwest of the present town of Louisburg in Franklin County, NC. Close by, Lynch's Creek flows from the north into Tar River. Contrary to map legend, John Hardin did not move to Pendleton, South Carolina.

Chatham County, a little local color

Visit of Bishop Asbury. July 25, 1780:
"I crossed Rocky River about ten miles from Haw River: It was rocky, sure enough; it is in Chatham County, North Carolina. I can see little but cabins in these parts, built with poles; and such a country as no man ever saw for a carriage. I narrowly escaped being overturned; was much affrighted, but Providence keeps me, and I trust will. I crossed Deep River in a flat boat, and the poor fisherman sinner swore because I had not a silver shilling to give him. I rode to friend Hinton's, borrowed a saddle, and rode near six miles to get three, as we were lost; when we came to a place there were about sixty people. I was at some loss who to preach to, saints or sinners; but found sinners as unfeeling as those who are out of the reach of mercy..."
From "The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury," in three volumes, ed. by Elmer T. Clark, et.al., published jointly by Epworth Press, London and Abingdon Press Nashville, n.d., quoted in "Randolpy County 1779-1979", p26.

Hardins in Chatham County, North Carolina

Chatham County deed source: www.chathamncrod.org/

Chatham County was created in 1771 from Orange County. The southern border of Chatham County did not change from its creation to 1907 when Lee County took land out if its southeast. Therefore references to the southern county line are to a consistent line.

Population figures, which could be low due to lost returns: Census of 1784-1787 for Chatham County
"Amount of the white and Black inhabitants in Chatham County as Returned by the several persons appointed by the Court to receive the same.
   900 white males 21-60 yrs.
1,037 white males under 21 and over 60 yrs.
2,550 white females of every age
  493  Blacks 12-50 yrs of age
  472 Blacks under 12 & above 50
5,452 Total by Compiler
Test: John Ramsey, C.C.  Received 1 August 1787"

John Hardin

1772 - John HARDIN, Cpl. was in Capt. Charles Matthews' Company. The one other Corporal listed in that company was John Chapman.

-"Chatham County 1771-1971" Appendix p. 452. (ancestry.com). I estimate John Hardin was 46 years of age.
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1773-1774: John Hardin was granted 400 acres on the "So Wt. of the No.Wt. River on Fall Creek." Date entered 13 Feb 1773; issued 22 July 1774.  Fall  Creek is on the southern border of Chatham County, NC. This could be the land on which he was ordered to pay four-fold tax in May 1784, below.  It is a puzzle that the record was filed with Cumberland County. (Grant no. 451, book 22, Page 405. MARS ID 12.14.51.1367) It could be that John Hardin lived only a few miles south of the grant which would have put him in Cumberland County when he applied for the patent. Or that John Hardin at the time lived with Gabriel Hardin in Cumberland County. Or that he lived a few miles northwest of Gabriel and was the John Hardin identified as the 1774 settler on this map.

Record of above at North Carolina Archives, mars.archives.ncdcr.gov/BasicSearch.aspx
File No. 1368, John Hardin
Years: 1773, 1774
Creator: Office of Secretary of State
Call Number: S.108.653 MARS Id: 12.14.51.1367 (Folder)
Index Terms:
Cape Fear River (N.C.)
Fall Creek
Land Grant Information
Acres: 400 Grant No: 451 Issued: Jul. 22, 1774
Entry No: 731 Entered: Feb. 13, 1773 Book No: 22 Page No: 405
Location: So. Wt. of the No. Wt. River on Fall Creek
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1775, 77, 78:    Chatham Co NC Court Minutes 1774-1779:  A road is ordered laid out "the nearest way from Matthew Drake's store to the county line toward Crosscreek [Fayetteville] to run near JOHN HARDINS."  (Drake's store was on the west bank of the Cape Fear where it split into Deep and Haw Rivers. "Drake" is plotted on the 1800 Price-Struther map.)
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Session of second Monday in May, 1778: p. 137. The Sheriff Summons Jury in the following Caveats: JOHN HARDEN ag't Joseph Allen for 200 acres.
-Laird, Chatham Co. NC Court Minutes 1774-1779, vol 1.

Chatham County North Carolina Deeds 1780-1785, by Marilyn Poe Laird and Vivian Poe Jackson. Poe Publishers:

31 Mar 1780 -a grant to Joseph Allan "joins John Wommack and John Harden" on the south side of Cape Fear River.

Chatham Co. N.C Court Minutes 1781-1785, Laird and Jackson: Session of 9 Feb 1784 and Tuesday 11 May 1784    Pg. 59A - The Tax of four fold on JOHN HARDEN be Remitted and the Collector Receive none from him.

Patents showing when entered and when issued.

Name	County	Entered	Issued	Acres	Location
John Harden	Chatham	1779	1784	150	Lying on the South side of Cape Fear (adjacent Allen and Braswell)
John Harden	Chatham	1780	1784	100	Lying on Fall Creek the South side of Cape Fear River beginning in the County line up the line to said branc

The table comes from www.nclandgrants.com where the patents can be displayed.
1784 1 Nov - John Hardin received two grants from the governor of North Carolina, Alexander Martin; one of 100 acres and one of 150 acres, both located south of the Cape Fear River on Fall Creek and or on the southern Chatham county line. The smaller plot joins Wamuck. The larger plot adjoins Brasswell and Allin.

1786 Nov. 8 - John Hardin sold that 250 acres to Nicholas Hardin (see heading "Nicholas Hardin" below) and stayed in the county.

1790 Tax Lists

1790 tax list for Chatham Dist.: John Hardin 1 poll, 250 acres.
1790 tax list for St. Mary's District of Chatham Dist.: John Hardin 3 polls, 200 acres. (Males 16 and up were counted for tax purposes.)
1790 tax list for St. Mary's District of Chatham District: Nicholas Harden: Poll 1, 300 acres.

Explanation: John Hardin of the 1 poll remained in the county through the census of 1790. That year he lived alone with one slave.He no longer owned 250 acres, but the tax list had not been updated to show that.

John Hardin of the 3 polls did not appear in the Chatham County census of 1790. His records likewise had not been updated by the county. Our subject John Hardin was, in 1778, associated with 200 acres in that county. Perhaps the tax  man wrote the expected  acrage in advance and later went about confirming it.

Nicholas remained, buying and selling land in Chatham and Orange Counties with a woman (his wife or daughter), one son over 16, and one son under 16. The last sale recorded was 20 April 1797. Between that date and 1804 he went to Washington County, Georgia to join his siblings Adam and Eve and to find land there.

Age of Polls: In the laws of North Carolina,1749, Chapter III, an act clarified that those to be taxed were white men 16 years and older, and Negroes or mixed blood, male or female, of age twelve and upwards, and all white persons marrying persons of another race or of mixed blood.
The Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. 23, page 345, at books.google.com, accessed 3 Dec 2017.

1790 Census Chatham County

1790 census North Carolina Chatham County

1st # free white males 16 year upwards and head of families
2nd # free white males under 16 years
3rd # free white females and head of families
4th # all other free persons
5th # slaves

204 Hardin, Nicholas 2,1,1
227 Hardin, John 1,0,0,0,1 (1 slave)

1800 Census Chatham County

			
No Hardin other than Philip Harden who had 7 slaves. I suspect he is unrelated.

Nicholas Hardin b. before 1752

Nicholas was born before 1752. This is derived from the presence of a son in his household 16 or older in the 1790 census.

March 1780
Nicholas Harder was a chain carrier in a Chatham Co survey along the Cumberland county line.

1786 8 Nov - Both of John Hardin's 1784 grants of 100 and of 150 acres on Fall Creek were sold to NICHOLAS HARDIN. The sellers were John Hardin and Sarah Hardin his wife. One of the witnesses was Eve Hardin. The price was £25 for each parcel.

Note that Sarah Hardin was the wife of the John Hardin who bought land on Billy's Creek in Granville County in 1763 -- also the name of the wife of John Hardin of Chatham County.

26 Apr 1787. Orange County. Land transfer from Anderson to Garrison on Story Creek. Witness: Nicholas Harden. (Story Creek in Orange County's northwest flows into the Haw River from the northeast just north of Boyd Creek. He is associated with a John Hardin who bought land and witnessed land sales 1785-1787 in western Orange.

1787 7 Nov; registered Nov 1788. Nicholas Harden sold the 100 acre tract on Fall Creek to Drury Parham for £100. Both seller and buyer lived in  Chatham County.

Oct. 8, 1790. BYRD BRASWELL to WILLIAM PARHAM, for 50 pounds, 100 acres near the Cumberland County line adjacent JOSEPH YARBOROUGH. Witnesses: JOHN WOMMACK and NICHOLAS HARDIN.

1790 US Census, Nicholas Harden 2M 16 and up; 1M under 16; 1F. (written p. 204)

1790 tax list for Chatham Dist.* Nicholas Harden: Poll 1, 300 acres.

1791 2 Aug - Nicholas Harden sold the 150 acre tract on Fall Creek to Richard Stevens for £150. Both seller and buyer lived in  Chatham County.

John Nicholas Harder of Orange County -- Not Related

A rethinking and reorganization of this page in August 2018 is due to my new understanding that most of the Orange County, NC records referred to John Nicholas Harder (1739-1819), whether spelled Harder or Harden, whether called Nicholas or John Nicholas.  A cooperative of people, building a tree on FamilySearch.org, have much of his family information worked out. Our Nicholas Hardin was of southern Chatham County. Of the Orange County land records I'm aware of, only Robert Harden, who on 2 July 1785 bought land on Collins Creek on the Chatham County line, could be of the Chatham County Hardins.

I have disentangled the two Nicholases and moved the Orange County Harder records here.

1777 May he lived in Orange County where he was appointed an Overseer of the Roads.

1779  Hardins in North Carolina Taxpayers 1701-1786 (p. 84 at ancestry.com) : Harden, Nicholas, Orange.

1777 May Court of 4th Tuesday in May: Ordered the following persons be appointed Overseers of the Roads in this County, to-wit: ... NICHOLAS HARDEN from Quaker Creek to Stony Creek. (Orange County N.C. Abstracts of the Minutes of the Inferior Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1777-1788, compiled by Alma Cheek Redden, p. 1)(That road approximates the path of Interstate 40. Almanace, Orange, and Durham correspond to the Orange County of 1777. Quaker Creek is today in Almanace County; Stony Creek is four miles south of Hillsborough.) Nicholas's dwelling place I haven't worked out.

 1787 April. Nicholas Hardin witnessed a land transfer on Stony Creek in Orange County.

1797 Jan. Nicholas Hardin bought 200 acres in Orange County on the north side of the Haw River. The deed was witnessed by James Hardin. He probably resided in Orange, which was his residence in April of that year.

1797 April. Nicholas Hardin of Orange County sold the 200 acres to Joseph Ming of same. James Hardin was a witness.

Orange County Deed Book 5, p. 786, 7 January 1797:

1797 Jan 7. John Haney of Orange to Nicholas Hardin of same, one hundred & eighty spanish milled dollars, 200 acres, on N side of Haw R., bounded on N by Lewis Garner, on E by HHenry McClure, on S by John McCallop, on W by the river [description omitted]  ... exclusive of 19 acres sold Benjamin Shauman on S side & E end of tract, part of a larger tract from North Carolina to William Harper; signed: John Hainey, Elizabeth (+) Hainey; witness: Joseph Ming, Israel Hall, James Harden; proved May Term 1797 by James Harden.

Orange County Deed Book 5 P. 789, 20 April 1797:

1797 Apr 20. Orange County Deed Book 5 P. 789, 20 April 1797, Nicholass Hardin of Orange to Joseph Ming of same, two hundred & fifty silver dollars, 200 acres, on N side of Haw R., bounded on N by Lewis Garner, on E by Henry McClure, on S by John McCallop, on W by river [description omitted] ... exclusive of 19 acres John Hainey sold Benjamin Shainman on S side and E end of tract, part of a larger tract from North Carolina to William Harper; signed Nicholass Hardin, Mary (C) Hardin; witness: John Moody, James Hardin; proved May Term 1797 by James Harden.

James Harder was likely a son of Nicholas. Mary, his wife.

MORE ORANGE COUNTY HARDIN LAND TRANSACTIONS          
               

BOOK.PAGE	ENTERED	ISSUED	WHO	WHERE	ACRES
Deed Bk 2.361 Pat.Bk 42.41		13 Mar 1780	Nicholas Harder	Orange, Haw R & Stoney Cr	400
2.437		15 Dec 1784	John Nicholas Harden	Orange, n. side Haw R.	(witness)
#27	2 July 1785		Robert Harden	Orange, Collins Cr. on Chatham Co line	33 or 50
117.261	15 Jun 1801	6 Dec 1803	Jacob Harden	Orange, Haw River	200

The information for the table came from original handwritten records searchable at www.nclandgrants.com and from a book of Orange County transcriptions (source not noted).

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NICHOLAS HARDIN was made a road overseer in 1777. Here is the law showing duties, which involved measuring distances and erecting mile posts, skills that fit within his surveying interest.

Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1764.

Chapter III.
An Act to impower the Inferior Courts of the several Counties in this Province to order the laying out of Public Roads, and establish and settle Ferries; and to appoint where Bridges shall be built, for the Use and Ease of the Inhabitants of this Province; and to clear navigable Rivers and Creeks.

III. And be it further Enacted, That all Roads hereafter to be laid out shall be laid out by a Jury of Twelve Men...

IX. And be it further Enacted, That the Inferior Court of the said Counties shall annually appoint Overseers of the Highways or Roads, who are by this Act obliged to summon all Male Taxables, from the Age of Sixteen to Sixty (except such Persons as are or shall be exempted from Public Services by the Assembly) within their District, to meet at such Places and Times as to them shall seem Convenient, for the Repairing or making such Roads as shall be necessary; and except such as are or have been heretofore by Law excused from appearing at Musters; and such as tend Three Slaves, or other Three sufficient Hands, to work on the Public Roads...

XVI. And be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That all overseers of Roads shall cause to be set up, at the parting of all Roads within their several Districts, a Post or Posts, with Arms pointing the Way of each and every Road, with Directions to the most Public Places to which they lead with the Number of Miles from that Place...

XVII. And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the several Overseers of the Roads, within Nine Months next after the passing of this Act, shall cause the Public Roads within their Districts respectively to be exactly Measured, where the same has not already been done; and shall at the End of each Mile, mark, in a Legible and durable Manner, the Number of such Miles, beginning, continueing, and making the Numbers in such Manner and Form, as the Inferior Courts of the Counties shall severally and respectively direct; and every Overseer shall keep up and repair such Marks and Numbers within his District...

from Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1764
February 03, 1764 - March 10, 1764
Volume 23, Pages 596-631
http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.php/document/csr23-0044

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Nicholas Hardin of Chatham County Time Line

Here is a time line for Nicholas Hardin with Orange County Nicholas Harder references removed. 

1780 March He was a chain carrier on a survey on the Chatham/Cumberland county line. His residence is not clear.

1786 Nov. John and Sarah Hardin's two grants on Fall Creek in Chatham County were sold to Nicholas Hardin with Eve Hardin being a witness. His residence is not clear.

1787 November.  Nicholas resided in Chatham County where he sold a 100 acre tract on Fall Creek to Drury Parham, who also lived in Chatham County.

1790 Appears in the Chatham County census.

1790 tax list for Chatham District. Nicholas Harden, 1 poll, 300 acres.

1790 Oct. Witnessed a land sale in Chatham near the Cumberland County line. He lived in Chatham.

1791 Aug. Sold 150 acres on Fall Creek in Chatham County where he lived.

1804. Nicholas Hardin appears in Wasington County, Georgia in the 1804 land lottery and died there before April 13, 1814.

In 1814 Elizabeth Hardin, likely his wife, applied to be his administrator.

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Georgia Journal 1814 April 13
Washington Co.
ELIZABETH HARDIN and William Smith has appiled for letters of admr'
on the estate of NICHOLAS HARDIN...signed John Irwin..Clerk..
source: Georgia Journal, 1808-1818, Transcribed by Joyce McMurray. Accessed 26 Mar 2014 at http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/topic/news/journal1808pg2.htm

In the September 1806 will of John Deaton, who also lived on the southern Chagham County border, he bequeathed a horse, a saddle, and a bridle to his grandson JOHN HARDIN "to be paid him...when he arrives at the age of twenty one or at any time when [my sons] shall think it convenient." Reasoning the location of the land: The will mentions neighbor Edward Beeson who sold adjoining land to James Deaton's son John . That deed shows the land to be on the county border, which would possibly be near the Hardins. The clear implication is that John Deaton's daughter married a Hardin. The index of wills, presumably added to as the wills were received, includes a second name in the devisee column: Robert Hardin. The name is not in the Deaton will itself.

Several unsourced Ancestry.com trees claims Mary Murry Deaton was the daughter of John Deaton; that she was born 1761 in Rowan County and died 1808. In 1780 she married Robert M. Hardin b. 1761. They had a son John Hardin who was not 21 in 1806, so was born after 1785. From Rohleder-McKenzie Family Tree and Thomas Family Tree -- neither with any documentation at all. Obviously confirmation is needed. A John Hardin, age over 16, lived alone in Chatham County in the 1790 census. It appears that John is too old to be the son of Mary Deaton Hardin. It is unknown by me which family the alleged Robert Hardin is from. The circumstances suggest he is a son of John Hardin b. abt. 1725. The failure of Deaton to mention Robert or Mary Hardin I have no explanation.  in the will suggests they both may have left the area for a long time or may have died.

Other Hardins in Chatham County

GILBERT HARDING. Land grant of 150 acres on the North side of Deep river in Chatham County "at the mouth of Aaron Creek." Entered May 5, 1779, issued Oct 23, 1782.Book No. 48, page 33. He was adjacent to Benjamin Temple who was a private in the Chatham Militia. SOURCES: Summaries of land transactions from the North Carolina State Archives.are online at Manuscript and Archive Reference System (MARS),  http://mars.archives.ncdcr.gov/

From a closer reading of Patent Book 48 p. 33, viewable at nclandgrants.com
Number 644. Know ye that we have granted unto Gilbert Harding 150 acres of land in Chatham County on the north side of Deep River beginning at a hickory at the mouth of Aaron Creek and running said Creek the various courses ... between said Harding and Benjamin Temple then ... to a pole on the Deep River then down the various courses of the same to the first station ... dated 23 day of October 1782.

A newspaper clipping from The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, North Carolina), 28 Mar 1907, p. 5 for a land sale puts Aaron Creek in Oakland Township. See below township map.  Gilbert Harding was about 7 1/2 miles west of John Hardin on  Fall Creek. No proof, but Gilbert may be a son of John Hardin. John Hardin's Fall Creek land entry year was 1779, the same as Gilbert's, and was granted 1784. Gilbert may be a brother or a grown son of John Hardin. I venture a guess it was the latter.

ROBERT HARDIN. 1787 June 13, bought 60 acres from Phillemon Lacy on Collins Creek for 5 pounds specia. The location is in far northern Chatham County on the east side of the Haw River. Witnesses: Richard Cate, Joseph Montray. Proved Novem'r. Term 1787.Test. John Ramsey, C.C.

1787 Nov 10, Robert Hardin sold the 60 acres to Benjamin Lacy of Orange County for £60. No witnesses. Registered November term 1787. Test: John Ramsey, C.C.

  Robert Hardin Plat on Collins Creek on Chatham County line, survey and description dated 2 July 1785. From original handwritten records searchable at www.nclandgrants.com.

1794, August Term, Chatham County Court of Pleas and Quarter Session Minutes:
Ordered that Martin Fismire be continued overseer of the road the ensuing year leading from Bear Creek to the county line and that the following hands work under him to wit, Ambrose Smith, Isaac Smith, Evan Hughes, John Fismire, Balaam Fismire, Bunyan Johnson, Richard Wilkerson, James Powers, Robert Wilson, David Powers, Gilliam Powers and Robert Harden.
p.74.  Transcribed by  Sue Ashby. source: http://www.ncgenweb.us/chatham/1794ctmn.html

JAMES HARDING. Joined Chatham County Regiment in 1781, a private under Capt. Charles Gholson, [probably Goldston] was engaged at Bear Creek. Source: J. D. Lewis, The American Revolution in North Carolina, http://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/nc_patriot_military_privates_h.html This is James Hardin, son of Gabrel Harding whose story is told at gabriel-moore/gabriel-moore.htm .

REBECCA HARDIN married James Irvin in 1795. He was b. March 1765 in Chatham County, NC. He died 16 May 1845 in NC. He enlisted while residing in Ninety Six District during May 1781 under Capt. Jesse Johnson and Col. Samuel Hammond. I do not know where the bride lived or where the marriage was. This item may be misplaced. "Roster of S.C. Patriots in the American Revolution," ancestry.com

1890 U.S. Census: Phillips Hardin, household of 8 with 7 slaves. Not our Hardins.

TABITHA HARDIN married David Williams. (3) David Williams, son of (2); (b. Frederick Co., Md., Jan. 24, 1742; d. Friendsville, Term., about 1812) m. Deborah, daughter of Azariah and Mary Horser, (b. April 19, 1750, Cumberland Co., N. C.) in Cumberland Co., 1770.
(3-a)    David Williams, same as (3); m. Tabitha Hardin in Chatham Co., N. C.
Original data: Williams, Carl,. Sidelights on Williams family history. Fort Pierce, Fla.: unknown, 1940 (p.9)(Ancestry.com)
David Williams was an 1801 administrator of the estate of Gabriel Hardin in Randolph County.

William Hardin in Chatham County

23 Oct. 1782. State of North Carolina to Spencer Stewart - 50 sh. for every 100 a. - 640 a. on Little Brush Creek - joins WILLIAM HARDEN and Graves line.
Alex Martin.   J. Glasgow Sec.
-Chatham County North Carolina Deeds 1780-1785, Laird and Jackson, Poe Publishers, p. 52. I can't say which William Harden this is -- whether the brother of John (ours), the son of George (will administered 1768-71) of Halifax Co Va., or another. Little Brush Creek is just inside the west county line. John Hardin lived in the southeast of the county.

William Hardin in Orange County 1775 (not related)

Within seven years of the settlement of his father George Harding's will, William Hardin was living in Orange County, NC when he sold a 383-acre tract on Holt's Creek in Halifax County, Virginia, where his father's home was. Not related. See  william-hardin-laurens.htm on this site and "Hardins Not Related" on the index page.

Nonrelated Hardins in Orange County

John Hardin, esq.-- Married, In Orange County, on Thursday the 15th inst. Mr. William Whiteside, to Miss Jane Harden, daughter of John Harden, Esq. all of the same county. Weekly Raleigh Register, Mon. Sep. 2, 1805 (www.newspapers.com, retrived Nov 22, 2017.)

Nicholas Hardin was a road supervisor in western Orange County and remained there, as shown by deeds and road records, after the departure of Nicholas Hardin of Chatham County, son of John Hardin, to Washington County, Georgia. Probably not related.

Chatham County Wild Geese

1792 Aug: Deed from Jonathan Davis to Archeleas Durham, proved by oath of Edmon Hardin.
Chatham County, North Carolina, Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions Minutes, Aug. 1792, page 205, transcribed by Sue Ashby source: http://www.ncgenweb.us/chatham/chatct92.htm

David Hardin and Benjamin Hardin were listed as in the Chatham County Militia 1772, Capt. Isaiah Hogan's Company. Listed just above Philemon Lacy. -"Chatham County 1771-1971" Appendix p. 448. (ancestry.com)
David and Benjamin may comprise an unrelated family.

Some 1790 census results come from The State Recods of North Carolina, Vol XXVI, Census 1790, page 89 et seq.; 1790 Tax Lists for Chatham Dist. p. 1294, Tax records substitutes p. 1261 for Granville 1788 and Orange 1790.

North Carolina Census Districts in the First Census of the United States -- a helpful clarification

In 1909 the US government published "Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in 1790." The North Carolina section of the first census tells us the state was divided into five large districts. For example, Hillsboro District contained six counties: Caswell, Chatham, Granville, Orange, Randolph, and Wake. This is confusing to many people, as the district in later censuses usually describes a division of a county. In 1790 a district described a division of the state.

In this listing of the 1790 Chatham County census, courtesy of genealogytrails.com/ncar/chatham/ and transcriber Mamre Wilson, the column begins "Hillsboro District." The census of the entire county follows. HIllsboro District is the state division. There are no township divisions in the census.

  The county of Chatham was laid out into eight districts by the Chatham County court, session of August 12, 1777, soon after the county was formed. However, those were administrative districts, not census districts.

To the point:
Hardens in the 1790 Chatham County census:

Nicholas Harden 2, 1, 1.

John Harndon 1, 2, 4, __, 5

Philliph Harden, 3, 2, 3, __, 7

John Harden, 1 male alone with 1 slave.

Key to 1790
Column 1: White males 16 and over;
column 2: White males under 16.
Column 3: Females.
Column 4: All other persons.
Column 5: Slaves

Phillip Hardin with 7 slaves and John Harndon (perhaps meant to be Herndon) with 5 slaves are quite likely from prosperous families. Our own Nicholas Hardin was enumerated with a son 16 or over, a son under 16, and one female, likely his wife. John Harden was enumerated alone with one slave in 1790. Likely he was John, the father of Nicholas whose wife had passed away.

In Orange County in 1790 the county was enumerated by districts, strangely enough.

contact: Travis Hardin, ke3y at comcast dot net