The Hardin family was very active in politics in the old Atascocito District (Liberty) from which Hardin County was carved out and in Texas Independence. The five brothers, sons of Swan and Jerusha Hardin, were all born in Franklin County, Georgia, and moved with their parents to Tennessee in 1806, where they became involved in feuding with the politically dominant Porter family. In 1825 I.N. Porter was killed and feeling they'd never get a fair trial, A.B. and Franklin fled to Texas. A jury found the father guilty of accessory to manslaughter and he was branded on the left thumb and jailed three months. Benjamin W. and William escaped, arriving in Trinity in 1827, followed by their parents and young Milton. The father died two years later. In 1828 extradition proceedings were begun but failed because their neighbors refused to cooperate and it was dropped. It's not surprising that the infamous John Wesley Hardin was a member of this family.