Stephen Harding Jr (abt. 1654 - 1680)

Born about 1654 in Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Mercy (Winsor) Harding — married 28 Jan 1679 in Providence, Rhode Island

Died 31 May 1680 at about age 26 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island

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Biography

Occupation: blacksmith

Stephen passed away May 31, 1680 in Providence.^[1]

Stephen Harding, who died May 31 1680, was apparently the first man in Providence to own a razor and shave his beard. Until the early 1700's, men always wore a beard.

Will and Estate

Will was proved 25 Jun 1680. The executor was brother Abraham Harding, overseers Alexander Balcom and Jonathan Sprague. Stephen left all his household goods to his father except "so much as shall satisfy my sisters for their tending of me. To borther Abraham my house, orchard, lands and meadow, ¶c., as expressed in a deed of gift from father. To brother-in-law Samuel Winsor my wife's best suit of apparel."

The inventory is recorded as worth £68 13s. and included dwelling house and 12 acres, 2 cows, 2 yearlings, 2 calves, 6 swine, 2 spinning wheels, &c.

The town records declare that he and his wife "both departed this life in the year 1680."^[2]

That his will made no mention of children suggests that he had none, or none survived him. Austin (1887) says "no issue". The death date in that source says 19 Apr. 1680.

Sources

1. ↑ "Rhode Island Deaths and Burials, 1802-1950," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8FF-13V : 6 December 2014), Stephen Harding Jr., 31 May 1680; citing Providence, Rhode Island, reference p538; FHL microfilm 915,075.
2. ↑ Austin, John Osborne (1887) The genealogical dictionary of Rhode Island : comprising three generations of settlers who came before 1690 : with many families carried to thefourth generation, J. Munsells Sons, Albany, p. 92 Hardings in Rhode Island

• Beards: The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations by Bicknell, Thomas Williams, 1834-1925 as found at [1], page 179.