Horace Harding was born at Boston, Mass., on May 27th, 1828. He graduated from Harvard University in July, 1848, and began the practice of his chosen profession.
His first work was an elaborate survey of Springfield Cemetery, after completing which he joined a party of engineers under Captain John Childe, of Springfield, and went South to take part in the surveys for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in Alabama and Mississippi.
He remained with this company until 1854, and then became Chief Engineer of the Indianapolis and Toledo Railroad, in Ohio.
He returned to the engineer corps of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in 1856, and in the following year went to Missouri, where he combined the real estate business with professional work. He returned to Alabama in 1858, and joined the engineer corps of the North-East and South-West Alabama Railroad.
Mr. Harding married, on May 31st, 1859, Miss Eliza P. Gould, daughter of William P. Gould, a prominent planter of Hill of Howth, Boligee, Greene County,
Ala.
He remained with the North-East and South-West Alabama Railroad until it suspended work, in the latter part of 1860, when he went to Mobile and built one or more street railroads in that city.
On the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Harding enlisted in the 20th Alabama Regiment. In April, 1862, he was detailed by the Confederate Government a Superintendent of Road Repairs on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. He remained in that capacity until 1871, and became General Superintendent of the Alabama and Chattanooga (now A. G. S.) Railroad in 1872.
In June, 1874, Mr. Harding entered the Government service as United States Assistant Engineer on the Improvement of the Warrior River, Ala., and remained in charge of this important work for twenty-two years, until May, 1896, when he resigned his position and retired from active life, thus closing a long and busy professional career, about which the least that can be said is "well done, thou good and faithful servant."
During the last years of his engineering work he designed and built in the Warrior River, at Tuscaloosa, Ala., at a cost of over half a million dollars, three handsome masonry locks and dams, which will stand as an enduring monument to his professional ability.
He spent the closing year of his life in Birmingham, Ala. And died of typhoid fever after a short illness, while on a visit to relatives in Grand Rapids, Mich.
He leaves two distinguished sons- William P. G. Harding and Captain Chester Harding, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.
Mr. Harding was a son of Chester Harding, a noted artist of Boston, who painted many famous portraits both here and abroad during the first half of this century.
Mr. Harding was a man of rare qualities of mind and heart, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. An able engineer, a talented inventor, a versatile writer; upright, generous and gentle to a fault.
He lived and died without a selfish thought, and
with a charity as broad as the Universe. Were there more like him the world would be better off.
Mr. Harding was elected a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, November 2, 1892.
His first work was an elaborate survey of Springfield Cemetery, after completing which he joined a party of engineers under Captain John Childe, of Springfield, and went South to take part in the surveys for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in Alabama and Mississippi.
He remained with this company until 1854, and then became Chief Engineer of the Indianapolis and Toledo Railroad, in Ohio.
He returned to the engineer corps of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in 1856, and in the following year went to Missouri, where he combined the real estate business with professional work. He returned to Alabama in 1858, and joined the engineer corps of the North-East and South-West Alabama Railroad.
Mr. Harding married, on May 31st, 1859, Miss Eliza P. Gould, daughter of William P. Gould, a prominent planter of Hill of Howth, Boligee, Greene County,
Ala.
He remained with the North-East and South-West Alabama Railroad until it suspended work, in the latter part of 1860, when he went to Mobile and built one or more street railroads in that city.
On the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Harding enlisted in the 20th Alabama Regiment. In April, 1862, he was detailed by the Confederate Government a Superintendent of Road Repairs on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. He remained in that capacity until 1871, and became General Superintendent of the Alabama and Chattanooga (now A. G. S.) Railroad in 1872.
In June, 1874, Mr. Harding entered the Government service as United States Assistant Engineer on the Improvement of the Warrior River, Ala., and remained in charge of this important work for twenty-two years, until May, 1896, when he resigned his position and retired from active life, thus closing a long and busy professional career, about which the least that can be said is "well done, thou good and faithful servant."
During the last years of his engineering work he designed and built in the Warrior River, at Tuscaloosa, Ala., at a cost of over half a million dollars, three handsome masonry locks and dams, which will stand as an enduring monument to his professional ability.
He spent the closing year of his life in Birmingham, Ala. And died of typhoid fever after a short illness, while on a visit to relatives in Grand Rapids, Mich.
He leaves two distinguished sons- William P. G. Harding and Captain Chester Harding, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.
Mr. Harding was a son of Chester Harding, a noted artist of Boston, who painted many famous portraits both here and abroad during the first half of this century.
Mr. Harding was a man of rare qualities of mind and heart, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. An able engineer, a talented inventor, a versatile writer; upright, generous and gentle to a fault.
He lived and died without a selfish thought, and
with a charity as broad as the Universe. Were there more like him the world would be better off.
Mr. Harding was elected a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, November 2, 1892.
Horace Harding was born at Boston, Mass., on May 27th, 1828. He graduated from Harvard University in July, 1848, and began the practice of his chosen profession.
His first work was an elaborate survey of Springfield Cemetery, after completing which he joined a party of engineers under Captain John Childe, of Springfield, and went South to take part in the surveys for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in Alabama and Mississippi.
He remained with this company until 1854, and then became Chief Engineer of the Indianapolis and Toledo Railroad, in Ohio.
He returned to the engineer corps of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in 1856, and in the following year went to Missouri, where he combined the real estate business with professional work. He returned to Alabama in 1858, and joined the engineer corps of the North-East and South-West Alabama Railroad.
Mr. Harding married, on May 31st, 1859, Miss Eliza P. Gould, daughter of William P. Gould, a prominent planter of Hill of Howth, Boligee, Greene County,
Ala.
He remained with the North-East and South-West Alabama Railroad until it suspended work, in the latter part of 1860, when he went to Mobile and built one or more street railroads in that city.
On the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Harding enlisted in the 20th Alabama Regiment. In April, 1862, he was detailed by the Confederate Government a Superintendent of Road Repairs on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. He remained in that capacity until 1871, and became General Superintendent of the Alabama and Chattanooga (now A. G. S.) Railroad in 1872.
In June, 1874, Mr. Harding entered the Government service as United States Assistant Engineer on the Improvement of the Warrior River, Ala., and remained in charge of this important work for twenty-two years, until May, 1896, when he resigned his position and retired from active life, thus closing a long and busy professional career, about which the least that can be said is "well done, thou good and faithful servant."
During the last years of his engineering work he designed and built in the Warrior River, at Tuscaloosa, Ala., at a cost of over half a million dollars, three handsome masonry locks and dams, which will stand as an enduring monument to his professional ability.
He spent the closing year of his life in Birmingham, Ala. And died of typhoid fever after a short illness, while on a visit to relatives in Grand Rapids, Mich.
He leaves two distinguished sons- William P. G. Harding and Captain Chester Harding, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.
Mr. Harding was a son of Chester Harding, a noted artist of Boston, who painted many famous portraits both here and abroad during the first half of this century.
Mr. Harding was a man of rare qualities of mind and heart, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. An able engineer, a talented inventor, a versatile writer; upright, generous and gentle to a fault.
He lived and died without a selfish thought, and
with a charity as broad as the Universe. Were there more like him the world would be better off.
Mr. Harding was elected a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, November 2, 1892.
His first work was an elaborate survey of Springfield Cemetery, after completing which he joined a party of engineers under Captain John Childe, of Springfield, and went South to take part in the surveys for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in Alabama and Mississippi.
He remained with this company until 1854, and then became Chief Engineer of the Indianapolis and Toledo Railroad, in Ohio.
He returned to the engineer corps of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in 1856, and in the following year went to Missouri, where he combined the real estate business with professional work. He returned to Alabama in 1858, and joined the engineer corps of the North-East and South-West Alabama Railroad.
Mr. Harding married, on May 31st, 1859, Miss Eliza P. Gould, daughter of William P. Gould, a prominent planter of Hill of Howth, Boligee, Greene County,
Ala.
He remained with the North-East and South-West Alabama Railroad until it suspended work, in the latter part of 1860, when he went to Mobile and built one or more street railroads in that city.
On the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Harding enlisted in the 20th Alabama Regiment. In April, 1862, he was detailed by the Confederate Government a Superintendent of Road Repairs on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. He remained in that capacity until 1871, and became General Superintendent of the Alabama and Chattanooga (now A. G. S.) Railroad in 1872.
In June, 1874, Mr. Harding entered the Government service as United States Assistant Engineer on the Improvement of the Warrior River, Ala., and remained in charge of this important work for twenty-two years, until May, 1896, when he resigned his position and retired from active life, thus closing a long and busy professional career, about which the least that can be said is "well done, thou good and faithful servant."
During the last years of his engineering work he designed and built in the Warrior River, at Tuscaloosa, Ala., at a cost of over half a million dollars, three handsome masonry locks and dams, which will stand as an enduring monument to his professional ability.
He spent the closing year of his life in Birmingham, Ala. And died of typhoid fever after a short illness, while on a visit to relatives in Grand Rapids, Mich.
He leaves two distinguished sons- William P. G. Harding and Captain Chester Harding, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.
Mr. Harding was a son of Chester Harding, a noted artist of Boston, who painted many famous portraits both here and abroad during the first half of this century.
Mr. Harding was a man of rare qualities of mind and heart, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. An able engineer, a talented inventor, a versatile writer; upright, generous and gentle to a fault.
He lived and died without a selfish thought, and
with a charity as broad as the Universe. Were there more like him the world would be better off.
Mr. Harding was elected a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, November 2, 1892.
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