Martin D. Hardin (21 June 1780 – 8 October 1823) was a US Senator from Kentucky from 13 November 1816 to 4 March 1817, succeeding William T. Barry and preceding John J. Crittenden. He was a Democratic-Republican.
Biography[]
Martin D. Hardin was born along the Monongahela River in western Pennsylvania, and he adopted "D." as his middle initial to distinguish himself from his grandfather. The family moved to Kentucky in April 1786, settling in Springfield. Hardin was admitted to the bar in 1801, and he served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1805 to 1806, in 1812, and from 1818 to 1820. He later moved to Frankfort, and Governor Isaac Shelby appointed him Secretary of State in 1812; he also served in that position from 1813 to 1816. Following the expiration of his second term, he was appointed to finish William T. Barry's US Senate term, serving until March 1817. He died in 1823, and his son John J. Hardin would later enter politics.