Joshua Hastings was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 14, 1734. A Quaker, he relocated to Wayne County, North Carolina in 1779. The following year he signed a 1780 petition from the Wayne County Quakers to the North Carolina General Assembly, requesting reconsideration of taxes levied on the Quakers. Following the American Revolution, Hastings moved to Randolph County, North Carolina and later Indiana, likely to avoid the harsh laws North Carolina had placed on the Quakers. He died in Wayne County, Indiana on June 21, 1816.