Benjamin Hardin (February 29, 1784 – September 24, 1852) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Martin Davis Hardin Martin Davis Hardin (June 26, 1837 – December 12, 1923) was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was appointed a brigadier general on July 6, 1864, to rank from July 2, 1864, the date of U.S. Senate ...

was his cousin.

Biography

Hardin was born at the Georges Creek settlement on the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Westmoreland County is a county in the state of Pennsylvania, United States, in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census the population was 354,663. The county seat is Greensburg and the most populous community is ...

and then moved with his parents to

Washington County, Kentucky Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, its population was 12,027. Its county seat is Springfield. The county is named for George Washington. Washington County was the first county formed i ...

in 1788. He attended the schools of Nelson and Washington Counties, Kentucky before studying

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1806, he commenced practice in Elizabethtown and Bardstown,

Nelson County, Kentucky Nelson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,065. Its county seat is Bardstown. Nelson County comprises the Bardstown, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also include ...

, and then settled in

Bardstown, Kentucky Bardstown is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 13,567 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the list of counties in Kentucky, county seat of Nelson Count ...

in 1808. He owned slaves. Hardin was a member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

in 1810, 1811, 1824, and 1825 and served in the

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout Kentucky, the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky senators. T ...

1828–1832. He was elected as a Republican to the

Fourteenth Congress The 14th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in the Old Brick Capitol in Washingt ...

(March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817) and reelected as a Republican to the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Congresses (March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823). He was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837). After leaving Congress, Hardin served as the

Secretary of State of Kentucky The secretary of state of Kentucky is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is now an elected office, but was an appointed office prior to 1891. The current secretary of state is Republican Michael Adams, who was ...

1844–1847. He served as a member of the Kentucky constitutional convention in 1849.

Death and interment

Hardin died in Bardstown, Kentucky in 1852 and was buried in the family burying ground near

Springfield, Kentucky Springfield is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Washington County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,846 at the 2020 census. History Springfield was established in 1793 and probably named for springs in the area. ...

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardin, Benjamin 1784 births 1852 deaths Politicians from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Hardin family (Kentucky) American people of French descent Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Secretaries of state of Kentucky Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Kentucky state senators Kentucky lawyers Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly