Herndon Haralson was born in Orange County, North Carolina on October 12, 1757. A deputy clerk of the Caswell County Court, he worked under Colonel Archibald Murphey, who later became his father-in-law. In 1781 he became a captain in the Caswell County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia, and led men in several battles including the Battle of Guilford Court House and Eutaw Springs. He later eventually moved to Tennessee, where he made a sworn affidavit in support of Jane Debow's (his aunt by marriage) widow's pension application. He died in Haywood County, Tennessee on May 27, 1847.