Margaret Sleeth Hardman

From "The History of Greene County" (Ohio)by R.S. Dills and published in 1881:

"Peter Hardman met and married Margaret in Harrison County, Virginia. According to this publication, her history, prior to meeting Peter was brutal: " a scene of horror and bloodshed, only paralleled by those of the Minnesota massacre of 1862 and 1863, was enacted. As related by them in after years, it was briefly as follows: She was eleven years old, and was at the house of a married sister on Hacker's Creek, near Clarksburg, Virginia, when a company of marauding Indians passed through the country and murdered the entire family, tomahawking and scalping every one of them. Margaret tried to conceal herself behind a door, while the work of death was going on, but she was soon discovered, and one of the savages gave her a blow on the side of the head, which felled her to the floor as if dead. They then proceeded to take the scalps from the heads of the entire family. They dragged little Margaret by the hair--a distance of some five hundred yards, severed her scalp and threw her over a fence, and left her to welter in her blood; but looking back and thinking that possibly life was not extinct, one of them returned and stabbed her with his knife. The point, however, struck a rib, and it would seem that only by the direct intervention of fate was her life spared, and she the progenitor of a large family.

She was left weak from the loss of blood, and was not able for some time to change her position, but finally was so far restored, as to be able to crawl in to the thick branches of a fallen tree, where she remained through the following night, in fear of the return of the dreaded enemy, after which she managed to get back to the scene of horror, at the now desolate house of her sister, where she was found and cared for.

She grew to womanhood, and as we have said, was married to Peter Hardman sometime in 1798, and came to this state (Ohio) in 1808, and died July 20, 1815, in her thirty-ninth year. The remote cause of her death was the blow from the Indian tomahawk. She, however, bore her husband eleven children, all of whom survive her."

Children of Peter and Margaret (Hacker) Hardman were: 1. Catherine, b. 16 Sept 1798 in Harrison Co., VA 2. Sarah, twin to Catherine 3. John, b. 20 Jan 1800 in Harrison Co., VA 4. Henry I., b. 10 Mar 1801 in Harrison Co., VA 5. Jonathan, b. 25 Jan 1803 in Harrison Co., VA 6. Jacob W., b. 29 Apr 1804 in Harrison Co., VA 7. Elizabeth, b. 14 March 1806 in VA 8. Eliza, b. 1808; m. Mr. Maxon 9. Margaret, b. 10 Nov 1810 in Greene C0., OH 10. Nelson, b. 3 Jan 1813 in Greene Co., OH 11. William R., b. Greene Co., OH, date unknown

Family links:

Parents:

 John Turner Hacker (1743 - 1824)

 Margaret Sleeth Hacker (1747 - 1832)

Spouse:

 Peter Hardman (1776 - 1859)

Children:

 Catherine Hardman Richards (1798 - 1869)*

 Henry Hardman (1801 - 1879)*

 Margaret Hardman Edge (1810 - 1847)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Mitman Cemetery Fairborn Greene County Ohio, USA Plot: N/A

"Peter Hardman met and married Margaret in Harrison County, Virginia. According to this publication, her history, prior to meeting Peter was brutal: " a scene of horror and bloodshed, only paralleled by those of the Minnesota massacre of 1862 and 1863, was enacted. As related by them in after years, it was briefly as follows: She was eleven years old, and was at the house of a married sister on Hacker's Creek, near Clarksburg, Virginia, when a company of marauding Indians passed through the country and murdered the entire family, tomahawking and scalping every one of them. Margaret tried to conceal herself behind a door, while the work of death was going on, but she was soon discovered, and one of the savages gave her a blow on the side of the head, which felled her to the floor as if dead. They then proceeded to take the scalps from the heads of the entire family. They dragged little Margaret by the hair--a distance of some five hundred yards, severed her scalp and threw her over a fence, and left her to welter in her blood; but looking back and thinking that possibly life was not extinct, one of them returned and stabbed her with his knife. The point, however, struck a rib, and it would seem that only by the direct intervention of fate was her life spared, and she the progenitor of a large family.

She was left weak from the loss of blood, and was not able for some time to change her position, but finally was so far restored, as to be able to crawl in to the thick branches of a fallen tree, where she remained through the following night, in fear of the return of the dreaded enemy, after which she managed to get back to the scene of horror, at the now desolate house of her sister, where she was found and cared for.

She grew to womanhood, and as we have said, was married to Peter Hardman sometime in 1798, and came to this state (Ohio) in 1808, and died July 20, 1815, in her thirty-ninth year. The remote cause of her death was the blow from the Indian tomahawk. She, however, bore her husband eleven children, all of whom survive her."

Children of Peter and Margaret (Hacker) Hardman were: 1. Catherine, b. 16 Sept 1798 in Harrison Co., VA 2. Sarah, twin to Catherine 3. John, b. 20 Jan 1800 in Harrison Co., VA 4. Henry I., b. 10 Mar 1801 in Harrison Co., VA 5. Jonathan, b. 25 Jan 1803 in Harrison Co., VA 6. Jacob W., b. 29 Apr 1804 in Harrison Co., VA 7. Elizabeth, b. 14 March 1806 in VA 8. Eliza, b. 1808; m. Mr. Maxon 9. Margaret, b. 10 Nov 1810 in Greene C0., OH 10. Nelson, b. 3 Jan 1813 in Greene Co., OH 11. William R., b. Greene Co., OH, date unknown