Daniel Harden
~ by Julia Pearson
The branches of the Harden family tree cast shadows that are wide and long in Brown County— and its roots are just as deep. Patriarch, Weber Clinton Harden, was born in 1897 in the area of the Brown County State Park“ somewhere around Weedpatch Hill.” Family lore is that he was chased by the sharp legs of starvation, and moved to Bartholomew County in 1913 where he worked in Mooney’ s Tannery, which was located in the area of present day Millrace Park. Weber“ Web” Harden, Jr. and his wife, Wilma Jean( known as Jean), raised their own brood in Brown County. Web Harden was a hard working man with a keen, distinctive drive. A high school dropout, he became a registered engineer. He worked on many of the local bridges, including the one in front of the Columbus Hospital, and was instrumental in moving the covered bridge to Millrace Park. He and Jean had five children, who are all part of the Brown County community today: Daniel, was Building Commissioner from 1988 till retiring recently; David, currently the County Surveyor; youngest son,
24 Our Brown County • March / April 2015
photos by Cindy Steele
Doug, works for Nashville architect, Steve Miller; daughter Vicki is a registered nurse; and Debbie lives in Willow Manor. This story is about Web and Jean’ s oldest son, Daniel, known by most as Danny.
Danny Harden was born in neighboring Columbus Hospital. He attended Nashville Elementary School. Just a young child, he worked for his father in the summers as a“ snake beater” for survey crews. His tool was a big machete, making him the“ little boy with a big knife.” In 1971, he graduated from Brown County High School. He learned surveying, construction engineering, and draftsman skills while on the job for his father’ s Associate Engineering, which later became Harden Engineering.
Danny and his wife Vicki, married on May 31, 1975. They have four children: Jason, Kristina, Jeff, and Kelli. All the children graduated from Brown County High School. Today Jason, Kristina, and Jeff have made Brown County their homes. Kelli and her family live nearby in Seymour.
In 1988, Bonnie Robison asked Danny to be Building Commissioner, a position providing direction for the Brown County Planning Commission.“ You gotta be a servant to the people,” explains Danny. He was a mediator between owner and builder, a job he enjoyed immensely. On September 22, 2014, he had open heart surgery, an experience that has made the minutiae of daily life crisper and more appreciated. He retired as Building Commissioner in November of last year. Looking back with satisfaction, Danny said he was involved with the new larger buildings in Nashville, buildings that allow Nashville to retain its uniqueness, including the new Brown County History Center on Gould Street. He is especially happy that his replacement is Lonnie Farlee, a man like himself who“ also has a servant’ s heart.”
Danny can pinpoint the exact time in his life when he felt the“ fire in the belly” sparked by Bluegrass music. In 1949, his mother’ s coalmining father moved up from Whitesburg, Kentucky. When he was twelve years old, Danny and his