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^•^ a
BEN HARDIN
-HIS-
TIMES AND CONTEMPORARIES,
-WITH-
SELECTIONS FROM HIS SPEECHES.
BY
LUCIUS P. LITTLE.
LOUISVILLE.
PRiNtEt) Bv THE Courier-Journal Job Printing Company.
» 1887.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by
LUCIUS P. LITTLE,
Id the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Copy
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
I. Ben Hardin Frontispiece
II. Lost in the Wilderness ^3
III. " Which is the Cheapest Tavern ? " 67
IV. William T. Barry I37
V. "It Won't Hold Another Drap" 15°
VI. Return of the Prince *6i
VII. Autographs of the Bardstown Pleiades I73
VIII. Federal Hill— Residence of John Rowan i77
IX. Wickland— Residence of Charles A. Wickliffe 203
X. Specimen of Mr. Hardin's handwriting 235
XI. Coon Hunting 279
XII. John Rowan 291
XIII. Henry Clay 349
XIV. Ben Hardin's Residence at Bardstown 3^8
XV. John Calhoon 480
XVI. "Yea! yea! Benjamin" 5°^
XVII. John L. Helm 5l8
XVIII. John W. Stevenson 53i
XIX. Ben Hardin's Mill, on Stewart's creek, near Bardstown 5^1
XX. Bardstown in 1887 595
XXI. Boone's Grave 616
CONXENTS.
I. The Origin of the Hardin family in America I-9
11. Birth and Early Life 10-21
III. A Law Student 22-30
IV. Professional Beginnings 31-37
V. Outset in Political Life 38-46
VI. The Kitchen Knife . . . . 47-64
VII. An Old Time Salary Grab '. . . . 65-76
VIII. The Compromise Era 77-88
IX. A Political Calm 89-98
X. Relief and Anti-Relief 99-105
XL Judge Breaking 106-136
XII. A Case Affirmed 137-144
XIII. Jacksonian Lights and Shadows 145-151
XIV. In and Out of the State Senate 152-160
XV. Household Gods 161-167
XVI. The Pioneer Bar 168-171
XVII. The Bardstown Pleiades 172-212
XVIII. King Jackson Subdues his Enemy 213-229
XIX. A Sojourner 230-245
XX. The French Party Defends Itself 246-275
XXI. Mr. Hardin's Humor 276-288
XXII. The Wilkinson Trial ... 289-323
XXIII. Some Celebrated Cases 324-339
XXIV. At the Bar— With Political Interludes 340-35I
XXV. Some Things Mr. Hardin Thought and Said of Others 352-360
XXVI. A Question of Prerogative 361-467
XXVII. The Circuit Bench for a Half Century 468-484
XXVIII. Professional Characteristics 485-498
XXIX. Court-House Reminiscence. . 499-508
XXX. The Cceur de Lion of Reform 509-515
XXXI. The Constitutional Convention of 1849 516-532
XXXII. A Plea for the Clergy 533-539
XXXIII. A Kentucky Master and his Relation to Domestic Slavery .... 540-549
XXXIV. Mr. Hardin's Opinions on Sundry Subjects 550-558
XXXV. Personal Traits 559-571
XXXVI. Some Things Others Thought and Said of Mr. Hardin 572-581
XXXVII. Close of Public Life 582-592
XXXVIII. Mr. Hardin at Home 593-6oo
XXXIX. A Lawyer's Theology 601-605
XL. The End and How it Came 606-613
XLI. Conclusion 614-616
Appendix 617-640
PREFACE
Some readers may inquire why the Ufe of Ben Hardin should be
written. If it be answered, because he was a great man, the ques-
tion will, doubtless, be retorted, how, and in what ? The chapters
that follow must, mainly, answer that question. What men have
accomplished, is ordinarily accepted as a measure of their genius and
power. That success is an evidence of ability is true, but the limita-
tion of a career by casual or trivial causes, by no means proves lack
of merit. Hampdens and Cromwells by scores rest in the obscurity
of country church-yards. If one, in a long career, evinces integrity
in temptation, strength in trial, courage in difficulty and danger, for-
titude in adversity and disaster; and if, to the accomplishment of
every high duty, he brings indomitable will and great talents, such a
one better earns the laurel of the immortals than the graceless advent-
urer who " rides through slaughter to a throne."
For a considerable period not far from the year 1820, there were
four contemporaries from four different American States, whose names
were household words throughout the western country. Between them
were wide dissimilarities, and yet there were striking points of like-
ness between the characters of all. They were strangely alike and
unlike. Almost everything that was odd, grotesque, humorous,
witty, or sarcastic in the current thought of their day was attributed
to one or other of these four. Their real or supposed utterances
were everywhere accepted as the mintage of genius. To their slight-
est deliverances an admiring and partial public gave attentive ear.
Between the backwoods Crockett, of Tennessee, and the polished
Randolph, of Virginia, was a long step, but somewhere in the inter-
val stood the exuberant Corwin, of Ohio, and the homely-witted
(vii^
•jj BEN HAKDIN
Hardin, of Kentucky. These four in their respective States were the
exponents of certain phases of thought and sentiment, represented by
no others. To define exactly what these ideas were would, indeed,
be difficult. They were not only all ultra in their republicanism, but
they were the antipodes of all that was pharisaical, hypocritical, or
pretentious in politics or morals. While anything but partisan lead-
ers, they had easy and constant access to the popular heart. Wrong-
headed they might be, but their sincerity no one ever doubted. To
this sincerity, a close sympathy with the interests and feelings of the
great mass of the people, and an uncalculating devotion to whatever
they believed to be right, supplemented by unusual talents, may be
attributed the renown enjoyed by these men. Crockett was rude and
uncouth, but honest and heroic. To the homely sense of the back-
woodsman, he joined a spirit as brave and chivalrous as any that fol-
lowed the banner of the Black Prince against the Infidel. Randolph
was a political Ishmaelitc. Erratic in everything save his principles,
he defied all opposition and scorned all difficulty. With all his
impracticability, he was the High Priest of constitutional liberty, sac-
rificing on its altar private interest and popular favor. Corwin was a
genial man, overflowing in his sympathies — loving and beloved by
the people among whom he dwelt. His wit and humor flowed in a
perennial stream. Like the sun, it illuminated the National Capitol
when statesmen were his auditors, and shone not less brightly for the
inmates of the humble cabins of the Buckeye State. Crockett, Ran-
dolph, and Corwin have all found biographers. In these pages a like
service is attempted for Mr. Hardin, under the belief that his name
should be written high in the catalogue of notable Americans.
Various persons, at different times, have entertained the purpose
of writing Mr. Hardin's life. Among others, the late Colonel Albert
Cj. Hodges, long and favorably known in the State as editor of the
Frankfort Covwwmvcaltli, made a collection of materials for a memoir,
in which he had the aid of Mr. Hardin, but, unfortunately for the
cause of literature, he postponed his work until overtaken by death.
His coliection has been lost — a loss that has not been and can not be
supplied.' Occasional writers have found in Mr. Hardin's life a rich
PREFACE. JX
field of reminiscence which has not been exhausted b)- frequent
gleanings, yet all attempts at a formal biography have, thus far,
proved abortive. On the Christmas eve of 1884, as the author sat
alone by a bright and cheerful coal-fire, in the small town where
his youth had been spent, reflection was busy with the "sad vicissi-
tude of things." Among other matters, it was recalled how many
men of genius, talent, and virtue had risen, flourished, and passed
away in Kentucky leaving no adequate monument or record to per-
petuate their memory. Orators, statesmen, and heroes, not second
to any that have adorned any age or country, with names worthy the
brightest pages of history, were being forgotten in the State that held
their dust. Somewhat illogically, a resentful feeling arose against
Boston, for no better reason than because that city was continually
calling the muster-roll of its great and worthy children in the hearing
of the world. Why should these New Englanders, it was solilo"^
quized, be thus perpetuated, while the memory of Kentucky's great
sons hastens to that hopeless oblivion submerging the mound-builders?
The sober second thought, however, acquitted the city of poets and
philosophers, for. indeed, it was no more than faithful to its own ofl"-
spring— the highest of maternal virtues. Moreover, it would be
ungrateful not to acknowledge the debt which ail Americans owe to
that great fountain of American thought. What earthly reason,
indeed, had Kentuckians for complaint ? True they were not ready-
writers, nor adept in the arts of literature, but still they could, at
least, take mallet and chisel in hand, like "Old Mortality," and
freshen and carve again the fading names on tottering and moss-
covered grave-stones.
As a sequel to this cogitation, the author, feeling his humble share of
responsibility in the matter, resolved to essay something for the rescue
and preservation of the memory of his dead countrymen. So it came
that a subject was selected, and a circular letter devised and sent, with
some misgivings, to many persons requesting information and material
for this work, in which its principal subject was thus referred to : "I
have selected Mr. Hardin, of all that galaxy of great men among
whom he flourished, not because he was necessarily greatest, but
BEN HARDIN.
X
rather because his genius, more than that of any other, was indige-
nous to his a-e and its surroundings. He was the product of his time,
imbued uith its spirit, and m sympathy with its thought and senti-
ment. His career was a long and successful one. At its outset he
became famous. Until the end-at the bar, on the 'stump,' in
State and national councils-he extended, widened, and strengthened
his early prestige. Always a mighty, intellectual force, he had the
good fortune to impress himself and his characteristics on his day and
generation as few have done.
To this appeal a generous response was made— so generous as
greatly to encourage the author in the prosecution of his announced
purpose. Nothing, it may be observed, has been discovered render-
ing it necessary to qualify this early, brief, and hasty estimate, but, on
the other hand, everything learned of Mr. Hardin has tended to illus-
trate and confirm it.
How far the query of the reader first supposed may have been
answered by what has just been said or by the contents of this vol-
ume will not be surmised, whatever hopes may be indulged. Not a
lilde of American biography has been ancillary to political purposes,
in which all the shaded lines of character have been studiously penciled
out, and thereby a .sort of moral emasculation effected. Such litera-
ture is objectionable, in that it makes its subjects monotonously great
and gifted.
The present work will prove a marked contrast in this respect.
The purpose has not been to write the life of a saint, or an impossible
or improbable ideal, but rather faithfully to depict the manhood and
ch.iracter of one, who, with a full average of human infirmities, pos-
sessed great talents, which he faithfully devoted to his State and gen-
eration. To do this adequatelx', a sketch of his contemporaries and
the events in which he and they bore part, was deemed necessary.
To Mr. Hardin has been assigned the principal place in this portrayal,
yet the noted men with whom he came in contact have had such
brief justice done them as the exigency of the narrative would allow.
In justification of this plan it must be remembered that many of
the events and personages alluded to are not familiar to the general
PREFACE. >^1
reader, and are not discussed elsewhere, or if at all but briefly, and
in books not usually accessible. So digressions and details became
necessary, which would not have been the case if Kentucky, and the
South and West, had had more of a literature of their own.
No effort will here be made to avoid or placate criticism. The
work is imperfect, and no one can realize it more keenly and regret-
fully than its author. Perhaps, one so little equipped for the task ;
one whom the commoner but tyrannical cares of life left such brief
intervals for its performance, should not have undertaken it. Con-
fessing all, however, it is only claimed that, with such opportunity,
material, and talent as he possessed, he has labored earnestly and
faithfully to add to the store of knowledge something that will please,
instruct, inspire, and elevate.
The author makes his grateful acknowledgements for kindnesses from
many friends in the preparation of this work. While the anticipation
is pleasant that these may, to some extent, find realized whatever
expectation may have been indulged, there were others whom he
hoped to please, who, during its progress, have been summoned to
their final account, and this reflection restrains and tempers the satis-
faction he would otherwise experience at the end of his task.
L. P. L.
OwENsr.OKO, Ky., May, 1887.
I
BEN HARDIN
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF THE HARDIN FAMILY IN AMERICA.
THERE are several families in America bearing the name of Har-
din without a common origin. Some trace their source to Great
Britain, others to the continent of Europe, while others stop on the
hither shore of the Atlantic. That family to which Ben Hardin
belonged claims a Huguenot descent. This claim lies somewhat in
tradition, but is so well authenticated as to amount to historical truth.
In 1706 it was estimated that by the persecutions of the Huguenots
France had lost more than a million of her most active, enterprising,
and industrious inhabitants. Deplorable as these persecutions were
to their hapless victims, they proved the source of unmixed blessing
to the new world. Hither the fugitives came by colonies, by com-
panies, and one by one. The exchange of the comforts and luxuries
of France for the privations and sufferings of the wilderness of America
was a sore ordeal. Referring to their earlier experiences, it has been
said that "the melancholy outline of Huguenot progress in the new
world exhibits features of trial, strength, and suffering which render
their career equally unique in both countries ; a dark and bloody his-
tory, involving details of strife, of enterprise and sorrow, which denied
them the securities of home in the parent land, and even the most
miserable refuge from persecution in the wilderness of a savage
empire."* The story of the Floridian Huguenots especially is one
of the most pathetic in the early annals of America.
The time of their coming and the point of debarkation had much
to do with the happiness and destiny of these emigrants. It has been
said of a colony which settled at Mannakin, on the upper James river,
in 1699, that it " infused a stream of pure and rich blood into Virginia
society." f Transplanted in the new world, the French fugitives
became a vigorous, virtuous, and prosperous stock, from which some of
the brightest names that adorn its his.tory proudly trace their lineage.
'■'Lilly and Totem, by W. Gilmore Sims, page — . fCooke's Virginia, page 309.
HEX HARDIN.
After the massacre of St. l^artholemew-though how near that
event traditions differ-three brothers, of the name of Hardin, fled
from their native France. They first went to England, where their
stay was short, thence emigrating to Canada. The considerable
French population of the latter, no doubt, attracted them. The rigors
of a climate to which they were unaccustomed, however, soon drove
them southward. Two settled in Virginia, the third in South Caro-
lina. Subsequent trace of the latter is wholly lost. One of those
remaining in Virginia some time afterward fell a victim of the savage
Indians. "^ There is no means of fi.xing the time of these various events
with certainty.
The survivor of the brothers in Virginia bore the Christian name of
Martin. Of his career and death no record is known. In her child-
hood, Sarah Hardin, mother of Benjamin, knew him as a very old
man, with a dark countenance and French dialect. Either he or a
son of his of the same Christian name married a Miss Waters. Miss
Waters was of English descent, and of her mother an interesting inci-
dent is related by her descendants : In the early colonial days it was
usual for emigrants, who had not the means to pay their passage from
Europe to America, to be carried by vessels and hired out, or, as it
was usually termed, "sold " by the ship-master for a certain period,
thus to pay their passage money. There lived a gentleman some dis-
tance from the nearest port where such help could be found, who had
a large family. His wife, though an energetic woman, told him there
was more work than she could do, and that he must go down to the
port and buy a woman to help in household labor. Accordingly, he
set forth on his journey, and, on his arrival at his destination, went
among the passengers to be hired or sold, with a view to selection.
His attention was attracted by a little girl, who sat alone and seemed
without companions. He spoke to her and found her an interesting
child of perhaps twelve years of age. He inquired who she was, and
how she came to be there. She replied that she was an orphan ; that
arrangements had been made for her to emigrate with parties who, at
the last moment, had failed to come, and that she had been persuaded
by others to come anyway. She had not fully comprehended matters,
and only realized her forlorn condition at the end of the voyage.
Her generous hearted listener was so touched by her simple story
that he paid her passage and took her home with him. When the
good housewife saw what he had done, she at first repudiated the trans-
action altogether. She had told him, she said, to get a woman to do the
THE LITTLE ENGLISH EMIGRANT. 3
work, and instead he had brought her a child to raise. He might find
another home, she said, for her, as soon as he could. She did not
even inquire the name of the unwelcome newcomer. Before other
quarters had been found for the little girl, her inhospitable hostess
started on a visit from home for a few days. As was her custom she
gave each of her children their task during her absence. When she
had assigned to each sewing or knitting or whatever it was, the little
stranger said, "What must I do? " "You do ! " said she, abruptly,
"what can you do? " The little girl meekly replied : "I can knit a
little." The lady softened down so far as to say, '^ Well, here is a
stocking just put on the needles ; you knit at that, and maybe some
day you will have a pair of stockings." She left home and in a few
days returned. Her children were called on to show their work.
This done (she had heard the children calling the little girl " Rosa ")
she told Rosa, rather coldly, to bring her knitting and show what she
had been doing. The child brought a pair of stockings nicely shaped
and finished, which had been washed and put away in good order.
' ' Who did this ? " said the astonished woman. " I did, " replied Rosa.
"Who taught you how to knit?" "My mother." "Your mother ! "
said the mistress, seemingly surprised that Rosa ever had such a rela-
tion. "Yes, ma'am," replied the little girl. "Where did she live ? "
Rosa described her English home. Rather quickly she was asked :
"What was your mother's name?" She answered. Strange and
admirable providence ! That child's mother had been the kind bene-
factor who had taken that woman, when homeless and friendless, and
raised her as her own child. The forlorn little Rosa had suddenly
found a home. She became a member of the family, and in the end
was portioned with the other children. She grew to womanhood and
married a man named Waters. A daughter of this marriage was
named "Rosa," and she it was who became the wife of Ben Hardin's
ancestor.-'' Captain Philemon Waters, an early settler in Washington
county, was a grandson of the little English emigrant.
The name of Hardin does not suggest a Gallic origin. Through
what changes its orthography has passed since the Huguenot brothers
fled from France is, to some extent, a matter of speculation. As
found in public records of a century ago, " e " is substituted for " i "
in the second syllable. Such seems to have been, at least, not an
unusual mode of spelling at that time. In England, the name
spelled this way is frequently met, and has been traced to Hareden
or Hare-den as its root Harding or Hardynge is a common English
*Letter of Hon. Martin D, McHenry.
. BEN HARDIN.
4
form but the Hu-uenot refugees brought with their French blood a
French name. It has been supposed, by some, to have been origi-
nally " H'Arding." It can be said, in favor of this supposition, that
it at least, harnTonizes the theory of French descent. How easily
H'Arding could change to Harding, and the latter to Hardin or Har-
den is manifest. The theory that the name has passed through a
transition state receives corroboration from the fact that the various
branches of the family claiming a common origin differ in the orthog-
raphy of their patronymic. Harding is a common form. Mr. Har-
din, however, told General William Preston (on what data is not
known) that, anciently, the name was " Hardouin." Persons bear-
ing that name have long been distinguished in the annals of France.
Martin Hardin, of Fauquier county. Va., was either a son or
grandson of the Huguenot Martin, perhaps the former. He had a
brother residing awhile in Virginia, who, it seems probable, emi-
grated thence to Pennsylvania. That this brother's name was Benja-
min has been suggested, but it is here only put down tentatively.
Benjamin (if such was his name) was the paternal grandfather of Ben
Hardin.
About 1765, several of Martin Hardin's children, with their fam-
ilies, removed from Fauquier county to George's Creek settlement.
on the Monongahela river, in Westmoreland county. Pa. They
had not intended to go, nor did they suppose they had gone, beyond
the bounds of the Old Dominion. It was afterward discovered, how-
ever, that their new home was in Pennsylvania. That this circum-
stance caused the subsequent emigration to the West lias been
suggested, and seems probable.
Of Martin Hardin's subsequent life no facts have been discovered,
save that he made his will, in 1779. and died in Fauquier county,
Va.. the year following, leaving considerable estate.* He had several
children — three sons. John. Martin, and Mark, and four daughters,
Sarah. Lydia, Mary, and Rosannah. The following is a literal trans-
cript of the family record, brought by Colonel John Hardin to Ken-
tucky in 1786:
" Mary Hardin, daughter of Martin and Lydia, his wife, was born Octo-
ber ye 4, 1 741.
"Sarah Hardin, was born March ye 10, 1743.
*' Lydia Hardin, was born .^pril ye 10, 1748.
" Mark Hardin, was born December ye i, 1750.
"John Hardin, was born October ye i, 1753.
•See Appendix, N. t- A
COLONEL JOHN HARDIN S CAREER. 5
"Martin Hardin, was born February ye i, 1757.
" Rosannah Hardin, was born March ye 9, 1760."
All of these children with their families, between 1785 and 1790,
removed to Kentucky, and all but Rcsannah settled in the same
neighborhood, near what is now the town of Springfield. Mary, the
eldest, married Robert Wickliffe, and on his death she married William
Robinson. She lived to an advanced age, and was the only one that
died childless. Sarah was the mother of Mr. Hardin, and of her men-
tion is reserved for the next chapter. Lydia married Charles Wick-
liffe, and bore four sons and five daughters. Of the former, the most