Editing Hardin County, Tennessee (section)

===The Hardin Expedition===
Two parties of settlers (totaling 26) struck out from [[Knoxville, Tennessee]] in late spring of 1816 bound for the general area which would eventually become [[Savannah, Tennessee]]. The first party, traveling by boat, came by way of the [[Tennessee River]], landing in May at "the easteward curve of the Tennessee"{{sic}}<ref name = "Brazelton1">{{cite book | last = Brazelton | first = B.G. | title = A History of Hardin County, Tennessee | isbn = 978-1-4374-5605-9 | orig-year = 1885; Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, Nashville, TN | year=2008 | publisher=Kissinger}}</ref> at [[Cerro Gordo, Tennessee|Cerro Gordo]].

The second, and larger, party had traversed overland and encountered several delays. Upon the arrival of the second group, the parties finally rejoined at Johnson Creek, near present day Savannah.<ref group=Notes>Three early surveys were made of vast tracts of land lying on the east bank of the Tennessee River, in and near the present site of Savannah, in what is now Hardin County. One of these was in behalf of Colonel Joseph Hardin (Sr) for 3,000 acres</ref><ref name = "Land Warrants">{{cite book | last = North Carolina State | title = Land Warrants of North Carolina State, North Carolina Grants and North Carolina Military Grants, 1788-1903 | date = April 5, 1784}}; no. 317-  {{convert|400|acre|km2}} ("withdrawn"), 318-  {{convert|600|acre|km2}}, 445- {{convert|800|acre|km2}}, 670- {{convert|1000|acre|km2}}, 924- {{convert|200|acre|km2}}, 1619- {{convert|3000|acre|km2}}, 2118- {{convert|1000|acre|km2}}, 2119- {{convert|1000|acre|km2}} and 2129- {{convert|500|acre|km2}}</ref> It was now July, and the pioneers set about the laying down of the first permanent settlement by non-[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] in the area.<ref name="TenEn">{{cite web | title = The Tennessee on-line encyclopedia | url = http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=H017 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20070610103649/http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=H017 | url-status = dead | archive-date = June 10, 2007 | access-date = April 30, 2011 }}</ref>

This second party was led by Joseph Hardin, Jr., son of Col. Joseph Hardin who had, before his death, accumulated several [[land grant]]s to the area as rewards for his Revolutionary War service. Joseph, Jr. was accompanied on the trip by his brother, James Hardin. James was the founder of what would become the first [[county seat]], [[Hardinville, Tennessee|Hardinville]].<ref name = "TennGen" /> The settlement was created in 1817 on nearby Hardin’s Creek —on the site of what was later renamed [[Hardinville, Tennessee|Old Town, Tennessee]].<ref name ="TenEn" /> Both men executed land grants in the area.<ref name = "Land Warrants2">{{cite book | last = North Carolina State | title = Land Warrants of North Carolina State, North Carolina Grants and North Carolina Military Grants, 1788-1903 | date =  May 10, 1784}}; entry No. 2128; {{convert|1000|acre|km2}}</ref>  They had fought alongside their father in the war and had been likewise rewarded with their own land patents, as well as inheriting some of their father's unclaimed grants.<ref name = "Land Warrants" /><ref name ="Goodspeed">{{cite book | last = Goodspeed | title = History of Tennessee: From the Earliest Time to the Present; Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Henderson, Chester, McNairy, Decatur, and Hardin Counties. | url = https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good_1 | publisher = Goodspeed Publishing Company; Nashville, TN | year = 1886 | isbn = 978-0-89308-098-3}} pp. 829-841</ref>

Other settlers in the expedition continued further downriver, establishing another community at [[Saltillo, Tennessee|Saltillo]], in 1817.