John Harding---Among the old settlers of Grove Township none are better known than the gentleman whose name heads this article. He came here in 1866, and has since made this place his home.

Mr. Harding was born in Wiltshire, England, December 28, 1820, the son of John and Elizabeth (Heuer) Harding, both natives of England. He was reared on a farm and educated in his native land. The lessons of industry, economy and honesty, which in early life were instilled into him by his parents, have been of great value to him.

In 1852 he married Miss Louisa Trotman, a native of Wiltshire, born in June, 1825, the daughter of Cornelius and Ann (Reeves) Trotman.

In 1866, with his wife and children, Mr. Harding bade farewell to friends and native land and sailed for America to make a home for himself and family. They started from Liverpool and landed at New York City, thence to Chicago by rail. In the latter place he purchased a team and wagon, and in it continued his Western journey to Pottawattamie County, and settled in Grove Township. Here he bought seventy acres of partly improved land. Mr. Harding has prospered since he took up his residence here, and is now the owner of 270 acres of land; 230 acres are in one body, section 32, and forty acres are on section 21, being a mile and three-quarters apart. This land consists of rich prairie soil and good timber land, well watered and well adapted for stock, and is considered one of the best farms in Grove Township. Mr. Harding has a comfortable house, and suitable outbuildings for stock, grain, etc., and is engaged in general farming and stock-raising. He has some of the finest hogs in Pottawattamie County.

Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Harding, viz.: Ellen Lydia Wagner, of Colorado; Elizabeth, wife of John Osler, of Grove Township; Augusta Maud, wife of J. W. Brownell, of Colorado; Finetta Almina, wife of A. A. Sanders, of Missouri; Robert J., who married Addie Magee, and resides in Colorado; Thomas W., at home; Hester Drusillie Maria and Bertha Charlotte were both drowned in England, the former at the age of two years and ten months and the latter at the age of nineteen months; Mary Catherine died at the age of fourteen; and Fanny Sarah Jane died when she was nineteen years old. All their children were born in England except Thomas W., who is a native of this county.

Mr. Harding and his wife were reared in the Church of England. They both united with the Protestant Methodist Church of this place, but Mr. Harding says they were turned out of the church because he was a loyal Democrat; however, they are earnest and consistent Christians. He is a leader in the Democratic party, not only in his township but throughout the eastern part of Pottawattamie County. Colonel Bowman once stated that Pottawattamie County had no more zealous and loyal Democrat than John Harding. For a number of years he has served as a member of the Board of Township Trustees. He has been a delegate to both State and Congressional conventions at Des Moines and Atlantic, and to all the conventions of note on the Bluffs, at times going from his place thirty miles and back in the same day to attend said conventions. He is a man well posted on all general topics, is firm in his convictions of right and wrong, and is honored and esteemed most by those who know him best.