Author: John Agner
Hezekiah was born in Talbolt County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland on September 2, 1765. He was a 3rd generation colonist, the grand son of Francis Hardesty who was born in Yorkshire, England and immigrated to Maryland in 1700/1702.

In May 1778 at the age of 14, while living on the North Fork of Ten Mile Creek in Washington County, Pennsylvania, Hezekiah enlisted with the Pennsylvania troops as a substitute for a John Hardesty (whose relationship is not listed on his pension application but could have been his brother). He had a total of six periods of service from 1778 ending in June 1782 after participating in, and surviving, the Battle of Crawford's Defeat. See Note 1.

Hezekiah lived on Ten Mile Creek for about two years after the close of the Revolution returning to Maryland long enough to marry Sarah (Sally) Griffin.

In 1793 a number of Washington County neighbors chartered a keelboat to float down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh. This party included Hezekiah & Sally Hardesty and their 6 year old daughter Sarah as well as another ancestor, John Mills and his 10 year old son John. John and Sarah married in 1805 and died within days of each other in 1873. The Hardesty and Mills families were among Cincinnati’s first settlers. See Notes 2 & 3.

Hezekiah received his $32 Revolutionary War pension starting in 1833. He moved several times living with various children until his death at 81 in Wabash County, Illinois in 1846. He is buried near Allendale, Illinois. The DAR dedicated his tombstone in 1922.

Note 1:
The Battle of Crawford's Defeat, also known as the Sandusky expedition and the Crawford expedition, was a campaign led by Colonel William Crawford, the goal of
which was to destroy enemy American Indian towns along the Sandusky River in the Ohio Country, with the hope of ending Indian attacks on American settlers.
Crawford led about 500 volunteer militiamen, mostly from Pennsylvania, deep into Indian territory, intenting to surprise the Indians. The Indians and their British allies from Detroit had learned of the expedition, however, and ambushed the militiamen. After a day of indecisive fighting, the militiamen found themselves surrounded and attempted to retreat. The retreat turned into a rout. While most of the militiamen managed to find their way back to Pennsylvania, about 70 were killed. Indian and British losses were minimal.
During the retreat, Crawford and an unknown number of his men were captured. The Indians executed many of these captives in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre that occurred earlier in the year, in which about

100 Christian Indian civilians, mostly women and children, were murdered by Pennsylvanian militiamen. Crawford's execution was particularly brutal. He was tortured for at least two hours before being burned at the stake.

Note 2.
An interesting experience of this trip down the Ohio River in the keel boat occurred the second day out. When floating about the center of the river, a white man was seen running down to the water’s edge wildly imploring the boat and crew to come to his rescue. He
55said the Indians were in close pursuit. Fortunately the people had been warned to look out for this man as a number of others who had been induced to come to his aid had been slaughtered and their boats burned. Instead of complying with the urgent request, every one on the boat was ordered to lie down on the deck so that the gunwales might protect them from the rifle fire of the
Indians. The boat and all aboard safely passed.

Note 3.
Our daughter Nancy married a man named Mike with roots in Ohio including American Indian. How ironic it would be if Nancy’s and Mike’s son would have ancestors both sides of the above incident.

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