The Jacob Harden Murder

NEW JERSEY MIRROR DEC 29 1859
On Tuesday last, the Warren County Courts commenced, and it was expected that the case of Jacob S. Harden, for the murder of his wife, would be the first taken up.
--The trial promises to be long and tedious.--
Over one hundred and twenty-five witnesses have already been subpoenaed, and more will doubtless be summoned before the close of the trial. The prosecution will be conducted by Attorney-General Dayton and Prosecuting Attorney Vleit. Harden will be defended by Ex-Chancellor Williamson, J. G. Shipman and David A. Depue.
In advance of the trial, the Warren Journal gives the following sketch of Mr. Harden and his late wife, which is not only interesting in itself, but essential to a correct understanding of the merits of the issue, about to be determined

Jacob Snover Harden is the son of Mr. John Harden, a respectable and worthy farmer of some means, residing on the Paulin's Kill, near Blairstown in Warren County. At about the age of ten or twelve years, he was attending school in his native village, and about the same time, he made profession of religion, joining the Methodist Episcopal Church. Hannah Louisa Harden, his late wife, was a daughter of Mr. Samuel Dorland, a miller, of modest and unpretending demeanor, who some ten years since, in pursuit of his calling, leased a mill of John I. Blair, of Blairstown, and there made the acquaintance of the Hardens, who were his patrons. Hannah Louisa and her future husband met at the village school. At intervals, subsequently, Jacob assisted his father upon his farm, and in his blacksmith shop; but finally entered the Blairstown Academy. Without, perhaps, imbibing very deeply at the "Pierian Spring," he emerged from its classic shades as a book-pedler(sic.), agent or colporteur. His wanderings brought him to Mt. Lebanon Church, situate upon the top of Schooley's Mountain, three miles from the Mineral Spring. The Church was without a pastor; and Mr. Harden, relinquishing his merchandize(sic.), preached under the Presiding Elder of the district. Henceforth he was, locally, a man of mark. He was fluent and fervent. Socially, he affiliated not with his congregation only, but with families who seldom entered the sanctuary: finally, bringing many such to the mourner's bench and the Church's fold.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dorland, with his family, removed to their present residence, at the foot of Schooley's Mountain, four miles from the Mineral Springs, and three miles from Mount Lebanon. Mr. Harden sought them out and renewed the friendship. With Hannah Louisa, this ripened into an intimacy, which resulted in a verbal engagement of marriage. In several points, this seemed unobjectionable. They were about the same age--nineteen. She was petite, pretty, sociable, and if not learned, at least quite amiable. He, also, was small in stature, agreeable and popular; and his intellectual attainments did not dwarf hers. But Mr. Harden wearied of the flower he had turned aside to pluck. He wished to be free again, and stove hard to break his chain. This, the girl--who having doubtless given her heart, could not take it back again--utterly refused; and to appease,(sic.) her, he gave her a written promise of marriage. Finding all efforts to recede, fruitless, Mr. Harden took her to the parsonage at Washington--and the two were declared to be husband and wife, by Rev. M. Herr. The tie, though supposed to be silken, did not unite hearts, one of which was unwilling. Mr. Harden having conducted her to his father's house, there left her, and returning to his appointments, did not trouble her with visits. Some weeks later, he re-conveyed her to Mr. Dorland's--yet he never frequented the house. Soon after her marriage, she appeared with her father's family, but without her husband, at the Presbyterian Church at Pleasant Grove. Sometimes she would walk to Mount Lebanon, to hear her husband preach and to see him--and wearily she would walk back to her sad home. On one such occasion, Mr. Harden brought in his carriage, to church, and re-conveyed in the same manner, to his boarding-place, Miss E. C. Smith, (now Mrs. Gary) who is sadly compromised by the denouement of this tragedy. As the Spring advanced, the young wife's thoughts were busy about her future housekeeping.
On Tuesday, the 1st of March, a carriage was sent by Mr. Harden to the residence of Mr. Dorland, with the request that Mrs. Harden should come to bear him company at his lodgings, stating that he needed her ministrations by reason of some illness. The fond and confiding wife obeyed the summons, arriving in time for tea. On that very evening, she commenced to vomit; and such illness continued at intervals, during the week, until Saturday, when she appeared well, cheerful and happy. On Sunday, she accompanied her husband to church--three miles--returning to the same place. On Monday, she assisted to wash; and in the evening, made a call or calls in the village of Andersontown, apparently in good health and spirits. Later in the same evening, Mrs. Harden was again taken ill, and during the whole of that night and the day following, until 11 o'clock, P. M., did this hapless young creature continue to suffer, unseen, except by the inmates of the house which sheltered her, and by her God. Then, when death seemed upon her, two lady neighbors were sent for, and also, a physician, but the latter did not arrive.--At 2 o'clock, on the morning of Wednesday, March 8th, in great agony, she died. The news of her death, caused a great excitement in the neighborhood. Persons residing not far from the scene of death, did not know that she had been staying at Andersontown, much less had they heard of her sickness. On Friday, March 10th, the body was committed to the tomb; the Rev. H. W. Hunt conducting the services. Mr. Harden professed to be too weak to follow her remains, or even to quit the room to take leave them. A few hours later, he was in his carriage, on the way to Blairstown; but was brought back. A Justice's Inquest was held, at the instance of Mr. Dorland. After a patient investigation, the jury returned a verdict that the lady's death resulted from poison; and pointed out Mr. Harden as the perpetrator of the murder. Previously to the rendition of the verdict, Harden stated under oath, that at 9 o'clock of the evening before her death, Mrs. Harden having administered to him a terrible oath not to reveal what she should divulge, had confessed to him that she had taken arsenic at three or four different times, commencing on the evening of her arrival at Andersontown. Before the inquest had rendered its decision, Harden fled from the place. With this fact, and his subsequent arrest, in Virginia, the public are pretty familiar. The prisoner has conducted himself, since his arrest, last April, in such manner as to allay, to a great extent, the prejudices which existed against him, in the minds of the public. That he will have a fair and impartial trial, there is not the least doubt.

On July 19, 1860 the New Jersey Mirror reprinted an item from the Sussex register that tells us uf Mr. Harden's fate:
After the execution of this wayward young man, at Belvidere, on the 6th inst.(July, 1860), his remains were conveyed to the home of his parents, about four miles west of Blairstown, arriving there at 6 o'clock, P. M. They were enclosed in a neat coffin, with a plate on which the name only of the deceased was engraved. It was a sad spectacle for the very worthy family to behold; but many long and weary months of affliction, had prepared them for the final shock, and they bore it with Christian meekness and resignation. On Saturday afternoon, the body was deposited in its last resting place, on the farm of Mr. Harden. The general esteem which the Harden family have long and deservedly enjoyed in the neighborhood, and the deep sympathy felt for them in their affliction, called out an unusually large attendance of acquaintances and friends, and a deep solemnity pervaded the entire multitude. The opening prayer was offered by the Rev. I. N. Vansant, of Hope: an appropriate hymn was sung; when an impressive discourse, founded on Hosea vi. 4, was delivered by the Rev. J. B. Mathis, of Stillwater. The solemn services were closed, by the Benediction, pronounced by the Rev. Mr. Reilly, of Blairstown. The trunk belonging to the deceased, which contained his papers and other personal effects, was removed by his brother from the jail at Belvidere, on the day preceding his execution. Among his posthumous remains, is a carefully written little work, which, in the guise of an admonitory legacy to the young, contains a revelation of the guilty career of the writer, and may technically and properly be termed the Dying Confession of Jacob S. Harden. The prompt publication of this work, is widely demanded by the public curiosity; but the aged parents of the unfortunate author, being indisposed to prolong the painful notoriety which attaches to his name, have not encouraged the enterprise, and hence it stands deferred. The probability, however, is, that, after judicious revision, it will be printed, and, while no essential fact will be suppressed, it will appear in a shape calculated to satisfy the rational curiosity of all, and at the same time be instrumental in turning many from the paths which lead to destruction.



Jacob S. Harden appears on the 1860 Census in Oxford Twp, Warren co., age 23. He was a Methodist Clergyman at that time. It's not clear from the census where he lived--he appears to be in a residence along with several other unrelated people, with the sheriff William Sweeney(sp?) as the head of household.