Minerva Martindale (abt. 1792 - abt. 1814)

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Biography

The story told in The Hardings in America ^[1] is a chilling one. A few years after her 1811 marriage to William Tripp Harding, Minerva set off from their home on horseback with a bundle of wool to take to a carding mill a few miles distant. The road ran through woods and over a mountain known to be infested with wild animals and at times Indians were seen there. She was never seen nor heard of again, though some torn fragments of her clothing were found in the woods.

Research Notes

No other evidence of this Minerva has been found but it is curious that he married Minerva Pattengell much later in his life. Could names have become confused in the telling of this story?

Sources

1. ↑ Wilber J. Harding( 1925) The Hardings in America, Keystone, Iowa, The Harding Printing Co., pp. 133-134.