"It is not possible for one to teach others who cannot teach his own family." Confucius

From the materials my mother has sent me, it appears that the first Hardens to come to Lexington were Nathan and Emeretta, in October 1884. Nathan and his son Charles E. Harden, 21, both filed claims, under the Homestead Act, I assume, which according to Wikipedia gave a title to 160 acres of land (the Indians were not using it, apparently) if the claimant was at least 21 years of age, had built on the section, farmed it for five years, and had built a house on it that was at least 12 x 14 feet. The gov't wanted to make sure you didn't just put up an outhouse on the land and call it a homestead, I guess.