Arcelas Harding (1740 - 1829)

Born 31 May 1740 in Eastham, Barnstable, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Mercy (Sears) Harding — married 23 Aug 1769 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 11 Mar 1829 at age 88 in Prospect, Waldo, Maine, United States

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Biography

Arcelas/Archilus Harding was born on 31 May 1740 in Eastham, Barnstable, (then) Province of Massachusetts Bay, the son of John and Elizabeth (Young) Harding.

Arcelas Harding the son of John and Elisabath harding was Born in Eastham May 31 : 1740.^{[1] [2]}

Archilus was named in his father's will, dated 09 Jan, proved 20 March 1761.^[3]

Burial: Harding Family Cemetery, Prospect Ferry, Maine ^[4]

Lieutenant in the Massachusetts Militia in the Revolutionary Ward ^[4]

"Revolutionary War Veteran Archelous Harding had rested in an unmarked grave for nearly two centuries but that all changed Memorial Day weekend May 2003. More than 75 of Harding's 500 known descendants gathered at the Harding Family Cemetery on Bowden Point in Prospect Maine for a gravestone dedication ceremony for the family patriarch.

Archelous Harding was born in Eastham Massachusetts May 31, 1740 and married Mercy Sears on August 23, 1769. Harding served as a Revolutionary War militiaman in Captain Joshua Higgin's 11th Company in the Second Barnstable Regiment.

He was commissioned as a Lieutenant on April 20, 1776 one day after the war's opening battle at Lexington Massachusetts with the "shot heard 'round the world".

For his service to his country Harding was given the choice of $20 or 100 acres on the Penobscot River in what is now Prospect Maine. In 1787 the Harding's packed up their six children - Mercy, Azuba, Archelous, Sears, Samuel and Lucy - and moved north.

Though he moved only once in his lifetime, due to revolution and statehood, Archelous Harding managed to reside in the territory of two nations; Great Britain and the United States; two states Massachusetts and Maine; four counties, Barnstable, York, Hancock and Waldo; and four towns: Eastham, Waldo Patent B, Frankfort and Prospect.

The site where they made their home on Bowden Point remains in the family today. The land contains two houses, the family cemetery and a spring called "Old Archie".

The Harding family learned of the Veterans Tombstone Project that provides a plain marble headstone for every American Veteran. Family history dictated that Archelous and his wife Mercy were buried in unmarked graves in the family cemetery, a beautiful marble headstone was laid marking their final resting place Memorial Day 2003."

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L979-96VK?cc=2061550&wc=Q4DW-7MX%3A353349701%2C353418401%2C353419901 : 20 May 2014), Barnstable > Eastham, Orleans > Births, marriages, deaths 1701-1796 > image 52 of 126; town clerk offices, Massachusetts.
   Eastham & Orleans Births, Marriages & Deaths 1701-1796, p. 85.
2. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCQ8-1LB : accessed 15 January 2016), Arcelas Harding, 31 May 1740; citing , EASTHAM, BARNSTABLE, MASSACHUSETTS, 2:179F961; FHL microfilm 905,406.
3. ↑ Barnstable County Probate Records Barnstable County Probate Records Vol. 12:202.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 29 November 2019), memorial page for Archelous Harding (31 May 1740–11 Mar 1829), Find A Grave: Memorial #45260668, citing Harding Family Cemetery, Prospect Ferry, Waldo County, Maine, USA ; Maintained by Tina (contributor 47213215) .

See also:

• Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Volume Nineteen: Thomas Rogers, Ann T. Reeves, Volume: 19, Alice W.A. Westgate (General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2000) p. 67

• "United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHR8-HGR : accessed 20 May 2022), Archelas Harding, Prospect, Hancock, Maine, United States; citing p. 101, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 7; FHL microfilm 218,677.

Article published Bangor Daily News May 24, 2003: "Family to dedicate tombstone for Revolutionary War ancestor" research courtesy of great great great great great granddaughter Tina Gagnon of New Hampshire.