STEUBEN REPUBLICAN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1894, page 7, columns 4, 5 GEORGE HARDING, 12 Jul 1812 - 06 Nov 1894 An Old Pioneer and an Autobiographical Sketch In the death of George Harding, who died at Orland, Nov. 6, 1894, Steuben county has lost one of its oldest and most highly respected citizens, and the old settlers of the county one who has from the first taken an active interest in the association, always attending the annual meetings unless prevented by sickness. Following is a portion of an autobiographical sketch written about two years ago: As one of the early pioneers of Steuben county I wish to place on record a few incidents of my early life, more especially of that portion of it connected with the early settlement of the county. I was born July 12, 1812, in Yorkshire, England. My father, William Harding, was born in March 1775, in a small valley called Ladelgill, running up into the mountains in the east riding of Yorkshire. The parish register shows that the Harding family have occupied a farm in that fertile valley for nearly three hundred years. My early years were passed upon the farm with plenty of work and very limited school privileges. By diligent improvement of such opportunities as were within reach I acquired the elements of an English education, which (though not what I might have desired) has been of great assistance in the affairs of life and a continuous source of enjoyment. Becoming satisfied that America afforded better opportunities for a young man than my native country, in the summer of 1832 I left England, in company with my brother-in-law, John Brown, and landed in New York Sept. 7th of the same year. From that city we came up the Hudson river to Albany, then by canal to Buffalo, then by lake to Cleveland, and again by canal to Coshocton, then by team to Gambier, Knox Co., Ohio, the seat of Kenyon college, which was our objective point. On reaching that place I found myself in debt to my brother-in-law ten dollars, which I repaid with my first month's earnings. I continued to work by the day and by the month as chances offered for about two years. Some times wages were very low, but I never stopped on that account, thinking low wages better than none. In 1833 Brown and myself bought 130 aces of timbered land at three dollars per acre. Of this I was to have fifty acres and he eighty. In the fall of 1834 I bought a team of horses and wagon and engaged in teaming, hauling goods and passengers to and from Newark, Zanesville, Columbus, Cleveland, Sandusky, and many other places in Ohio. In the spring of 1835 I sold twenty-five of my fifty acres in Ohio for $100. About the same time I moved a family by the name of Glass to Gilead, Branch county, Mich. From there I went to Lima, Ind., which place I reached on the 20th day of June. That night a frost cut the corn, then nearly a foot high, potatoes, beans and other vegetables to the ground. Most of these things, however, took a new start, grew right along, and resulted in a fair crop. At Lima I found the commissioners and surveyors authorized to lay out the road from Elkhart to Toledo, then and now known as the Vistula road. I accompanied the party as far as Willow Prairie (now Fremont). The evening before reaching that place it began to rain. We peeled elm bark and made a shelter, hobbled our horses and let them go loose. At that time there was not a house east of Vermont Settlement (now Orland) this side of Bean creek, which was fifty-three miles away. From Willow Prairie I retraced my way to Jamestown and determined to locate land there. I went to the land office at Ft. Wayne, and on the 27th day of June, 1885, I entered the east half of the southeast quarter of section 17, township 38 north, range 13 east, being the third tract of land entered in Jamestown township. After this I went to Detroit and teamed it there and in the vicinity for about two years. I worked for some time hauling dirt for a fill in the river where the Michigan Central depot now stands. In the fall of 1835 I went back to Ohio and sold the remaining twenty-five acres of my Ohio land, and in March 1836, entered 157 acres more in Jamestown, it being all in section 17 east of the lake. In the fall of 1837 I rode from Ypsilanti to Detroit in a first-class passenger coach. It was constructed something like the box car of today, with side doors. Wooden benches were placed crosswise of the car so that passengers in two seats sat facing, with partition at the back between these seats and the next pair. The iron was the old strap rail and "snake-heads," as the upturned end of a loosened rail was called were very common. The road and its equipments were very crude, but it was a step in improvement. I next went to Adrian and worked on the railroad from that place to Toledo until it was completed. After the road was in operation, the train reached Adrian one night with the engine so badly crippled that it could not make the return trip. The next morning I was hired to haul the coach and passengers to Toledo with my team. I made the trip successfully and to the satisfaction of all concerned, coming very close to the schedule time. Such was railroading fifty-five years ago. From this time on I followed teaming on the roads, carrying merchandise, passengers and families all over Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana, as far as South Bend, Michigan City, Logansport and west of the Tippecanoe river. In 1838 I hauled goods from Michigan City to Lima, Ind., for Samuel P. Williams, one of the first merchants in that town, and who still resides there. In 1840 I made Chicago headquarters, carrying passengers and merchandise to Freeport, Rock Island, Galena and to a place thirty miles northwest of the last named city, called Snake Hollow. In July I returned to Adrian and teamed about there until winter. In November, 1840, I was married to Diana Mostimon (should be Mortimer), of Lenawee county, Mich., formerly of Cape Cod, Mass. In the spring of 1841, I built a house on my Jamestown land and settled down to farming. My wife died January 13, 1842, leaving a babe, William, three months old. In July 1842, I was married to Sophronia Wing, of Branch county, Mich. March 21, 1845, my son George W. was born. I continued on the farm for just 30 years always working hard and with varying success, but on the whole steadily gaining. I endeavored to improve on the methods of my neighbors and generally succeeded in raising better than average crops and better than average stock. I brought the first thoroughbred short horn cattle to Steuben county, making a trip to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, for one lot, and paying fancy pries for them there. Continuing to add to my land as I could accumulate means to pay for the same, I found myself in 1871 the owner of about 500 acres. In April of that year I rented my farm to my two sons and moved to Orland, where I had brought a house and four acres and here I have resided ever since. My second wife died in October, 1877, in her 74th year. I was married a third time in June, 1878, to Emeline A. Mallory, of Jamestown, formerly of Vermont, and we are living happily together in 1894. I have been an eye witness to the growth of Steuben county at every stage of its development. I have seen it when a wilderness; the abode of the red man and abounding with wild animals. I have seen the cabin of the pioneer supplanted by the comfortable farm house, and the wilderness converted by the hand of industry into fertile farms with fine buildings and thriving towns. I have seen the early settlers grow old and die until I feel almost alone amid the new generation of men. It is my wish that my descendants shall meet at the old farm in Jamestown, June 27, 1935, to celebrate the centennial of the entry of said land at the Ft. Wayne land office, June 27, 1835. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: George Harding, 12 Jul 1812 - 06 Nov 1894, married 1st, Diana (Mortimer) Harding, died 13 Jan 1842 in her 25th year. Their son, William Mortimer Harding, 1841 - 1918, married Mary Jane (Andrews) Harding, 1844 - 1901. George married 2nd, on 15 Jul 1842, Sophronia (Wing) Harding, 12 Jul 1804 - 15 Oct 1877. Their son, George Wallace Harding, 1844 - 1923, married Florence Elida (Flint) Harding, 1849 - 1918, daughter of Amos and Lucy Flint. George married 3rd, on 13 Jun 1878, Emeline (Mallory) Harding, 12 Jan 1833 - 13 Jan 1915, daughter of David and Cynthia (Collins) Mallory. "History of Steuben County, IN - 1885, page 523: "William Simmons was the first person interred in the Jamestown Cemetery. He was buried on the 15th of January, 1841. In the afternoon of the same day, Diana Harding, wife of George Harding, was buried. Mrs. Charlotte Richfield attended the funeral of Mrs. Harding, was taken sick the next day, and after an illness of about ten days crossed the dark river. She was buried on the 28th. No more graves dotted the cemetery until the following year, when John Howe was called to "that bourne whence no traveler returns." His funeral took place Jan. 3, 1842. "Cemeteries of Steuben County, Indiana, 1990" by Audree Siebel Lewis, Vol. 1, pages 827, 828, 829. On page 827, Audree states: Underneath Emeline's inscription on the large monument is this information: "This cemetery (JAMESTOWN) was purchased and platted by George Harding and Elias Mallory in 1881." Submitted by: Mona Hilden-Beckwith e-mail: hilbeck123@att.net