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Subject: Harding.Aaron.1805.Boyle-Taylor.BIOS


Aaron Harding February 23, 1805 - December 24, 1875 Boyle-Taylor County KyArchives Biography

Author: Genealogy and Biography, Volume V, 3rd edition, 1886, Lincoln Co.

AARON HARDING. The father of Aaron Harding was born in 1756, in the Monongahela country, in Pennsylvania, near the Virginia line; was a soldier in and many year afterward was pensioned as a survivor of the Revolutionary war; was a soldier in some of the Indian wars and was severely wounded in battle. He removed to a farm near Campbellsville, Ky., about 1787, and here Aaron Harding was born February 23, 1805. The latter spent his boyhood on the farm. At the age of eighteen he had a long and extremely painful attack of white swelling, which lasted for years, and lamed him for life. The stern, self-reliant character of the man, is well illustrated by an incident which occurred during this illness. The treatment of his physician consisted of local applications and internal remedies, and did not in his judgment meet the requirements of the case. Having procured a keen penknife, with his own hand he cut his leg to the bone, opened a long wound, and then called the family to his assistance. The treatment was trying and dangerous, but effective, as his convalescence dated from this time. Every interval of freedom from suffering from this disease was improved by earnest study and judicious reading, and he came forth from the sick room, having added greatly to the stock of knowledge he had acquired in the common schools in boyhood. As soon as he could walk on crutches he began teaching school, and at the same time to study law. He afterward completed his studies while residing with his brother-in-law, Mordecai Hardin, of Washington County, Ky., and was licensed in 1833. He immediately began to practice at Greensburg, in his native county, the bar there being celebrated for its able lawyers. He continued to study with the most earnest diligence, acquiring the art of shorthand writing, so that notes of his reading might be copiously and rapidly taken. Almost at once he acquired the reputation of a laborious, painstaking lawyer, thoroughly versed in the principles of the law, and a master of the intricate system of pleadings then in vogue. He was county attorney for Green County, from October, 187, to October, 1839, at once distinguishing himself as an earnest and forcible speaker. He was elected to the Legislature in 1840, after a notable canvass defeating Hon. Wm. T. Willis, who was most justly regarded as one of the most talented and popular men of his day. His career in the Legislature attracted marked attention, and was highly commended by the press and people. He resumed the practice of the law, traveling over a large circuit, uninterruptedly, during a period of twenty years, being employed in most of the important litigation of that section. In the long series of legal battles he built up for himself a reputation as a lawyer that any man might have been proud of. In 1861 he earnestly opposed secession, believing a division of the Union would be destructive to commerce, result in continual complications and mutual hatreds, would compel the maintenance of hostile standing armies, and that bloody and interminable conflicts would result, that the South could not succeed, but that success itself would be disastrous. He urged his people to turn away from extreme counsels on both sides, and while condemning the Southern leaders he most vigorously fought, the extremists of the North, viewing, with bitterness and pain, the unhappy condition of the South in the years succeeding the war. He was elected to Congress in 1861 by a majority votes of 7,875, he received 10,344 votes, and his opponent 2,400. The State was then redistricted, many new counties being exchanged for the old ones in his district, but he was again elected in 1863 by a majority of 7,927, he receiving 10,435 votes, and his opponent 2,508 votes. In 1865 he was again elected by a majority of 5,785 receiving 9,437 votes, and his opponent 8,652 votes. He was a candidate for the United States Senate in 1867, being for a week during the balloting the leading candidate, and lacking but few votes of an election. While in Congress he acted with the Democrats, making an enviable record. He now removed to Danville, and resumed the practice of the law. It was impossible for him to be otherwise than thorough in all he undertook, and the eager interest in his business was, after a few years, too much for his delicate constitution. He was after a few years stricken with paralysis, and after a few years more died in Georgetown, December 24, 1875. He was through life a most earnest and consistent member of the Baptist Church, never failing to let his Christian light shine in every walk in life. He was twice married; first to Margaret Campbell, from whose father Campbellsville received its name. Five children survived them, viz: Mrs. Mcdonald, wife of Rev. Dr. McDonald, of Atlanta, Ga., John Harding, of Henry County, Ky., Mrs  James H. Gentry; Samuel and Robert Harding, of Danville. His second wife, who was Miss Sallie Callendar, also survives him. 



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