Mordecai Rice Harding (1795 - 1870)

Born 18 Nov 1795 in Harding, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Susannah (Baker) Harding — married 18 Sep 1817 (to 13 Mar 1851) in Bloominggrove Township, Richland, Ohio, United States

Descendants

Died 15 Mar 1870 at age 74 in North Bloomfield Township, Morrow, Ohio, United States

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Biography

He married in about 1817 as his first wife Susannah Baker Newton (1794 - 1851).^[1] Children (from 1850 census):

Mordecai Harding b abt 1829

Rosalinda Harding b abt 1831

Edward Sturge Harding b abt 1833

Louisa Harding b abt 1835

Mary Harding b abt 1838

(possible) Ellen Harding b abt 1827 (though she could be a widowed daughter-in-law)

He was a fairly early settler of Sandusky township in Richland County, Ohio, settling in Section 36.^[2]

He married as his second wife Martha Reed on 15 Jan 1852 in Richland Co., Ohio.^[3]

Text from a long-ago ancestry.com message board, for Luzerne Co. PA, Ken Thomas:
In 1818 Mordecai packed his belongings on an ox-drawn wagon and set out with his wife on the overland journey of some four hundred miles from Wyoming County to the Harding lands in Blooming Grove, Ohio. He ran a squatter's cabin on a quarter section of land he later bought from the government. Shortly after his arrival, he wandered off a marked trail to explore the wilderness. He became lost in the dense woods. As it grew dark he made out the light of a campfire through the trees and followed its glow until he found himself at the camp of Chief Pipe, on of the rulers of the local Indians. The chief gave him food, a place to sleep, and skins to protect him. At daybreak, the chief escorted him back to the trail. Afterward they remained friends, and chief often visited him in Blooming Grove. Mordecai returned briefly to Pennsylvania, but returned to Blooming Grove with his father and remaining brothers and sisters. (Thanks to his friendship with Chief Pipe, his cabin and lands had been left in tact, while others in the area were burned and destroyed by the Indians.)

Another interesting friendship Mordecai established was with a man who passed through Blooming Grove with his apple seeds and seedlings; this was the man who would be remembered as Johnny Appleseed.

Mordecai remained in Blooming Grove for fifty years as a deacon of the Blooming Grove Church (built by his brother Salmon). (Source: Russell, Francis (1968). The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times. McGraw Hill, New York.)^[4]

Census Records

1820 Census, Sandusky, Richland Co. OH (p. 181): Mordecai Harden family, living near Amos Harden.

1830 Census, Bloomfield, Richland Co. OH (p. 80): Mordecai Harding age 30-39; probable wife age 30-39; 3 boys and 3 girls.

1850 Census, Sandusky, Richland Co. OH (p. 392):
Harding, Mordecai, 56 PA
Susanah, 55 VT
Mordecai, 21 OH
Rosalinda, 19 OH
Edward, 17 OH
Loisa, 15 OH
Mary, 12 OH
Miller, Sarah Ann, 20 OH
Harding, Ellen, 23 OH
Mary, 2 OH

Sources

1. ↑ North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000; Lineage Book : NSDAR : Volume 164 : 1921 (Ancestry.com)
2. ↑ Graham, A. A. (1880) History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the original boundaries) ; its past and present, containing a condensed comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Richland county ... miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of ... the most prominent families, &c., &c. A. A. Graham & Co., Mansfield, Ohio, p. 564 https://archive.org/stream/historyofrichlan00grah#page/n574/mode/1up/search/Mordecai+Harding
3. ↑ Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993; Film Number: 000388736 (Ancestry.com)
4. ↑ Russell, Francis. 1968. The shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in his times. Norwalk, Conn: Easton Press. Library Search

• 1830 US Federal Census; Census Place: Bloomfield, Richland, Ohio; Series: M19; Roll: 139; Page: 80; Family History Library Film: 0337950 (Ancestry.com) NOTE: 1 male under 5; 1 male 5 - 9; 1 male 10 - 14; 1 male 40 - 49; 1 female under 5; 1 female 5 - 9; 1 female 15 - 19; 1 female 30 - 39.

• 1850 US Federal Census; Census Place: Sandusky, Richland, Ohio; Roll: M432_724; Page: 392A; Image: 604 (Ancestry.com)

See Also:

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch, entry for this profile (PID FamilySearch Person: LCQ3-KM1); contributed by various users.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 14 January 2021), memorial page for Rev Mordecai Rice Harding (18 Nov 1795–21 Mar 1870), Find A Grave: Memorial #91904704, citing Blooming Grove Cemetery, Morrow County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by Jeanie Brown (contributor 47731202) .

• Wilber J. Harding, The Hardings in America, (Keystone, Iowa, The Harding Printing Co., 1925) pgs. 143-152.