Noah Harding (1826-1915)

HARDING, BURKETT, ANDERSON, CRANDALL, FISK, SHROPSHIRE, SAUNDERS

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 4/28/2024 at 18:42:00

From Story City Herald April 1, 1915 (page 11)

OBITUARY OF NOAH HARDING
(Boone Democrat)

Noah Harding, one of the oldest residents of the city both in age and in number of years that he has lived here, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. D. C. Crandall, 515 Greene street, on Monday morning at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. Up to a short time before his death he was in his usual good health. He worked in the Northwestern shops for years, being retired a few years ago on a pension and up to the time of his death the oldest pensioner of the Northwestern Railway Company. Several years ago he served for a long time as chief of the volunteer fire department and helped the firemen fight many a battle against the flames in the fires that threatened the city in the year gone by.

The deceased was born September 11, 1826, on a farm in Rush county, Indiana, his parents being Jesse and Hannah (Burkett) Harding. His paternal grandfather served seven years under George Washington in the Revolutionary war. When three years of age he removed with his parents to Boone county, Indiana, where he resided until eighteen years when they removed to St. Joseph county in that state. In early life he learned the carpenter trade and in 1853 he came west and settled in Story county, Iowa. There he settled on a 160 acres of land under the homestead laws. This land was located where the town of Story City now stands. He was the second postmaster of Story City and also the first supervisor of Lafayette and Howard townships. During the civil war period he operated a saw mill near Ontario and built many of the buildings in Story City and other surrounding towns. When the Northwestern railroad was being constructed he and his partner Mr. Dye had the contract for building many of the bridges for the company through this section of the state, including the Des Moines river bridge at Moingona.

In February 1873 he was appointed foreman of the Northwestern shops in this city, which position he held twenty-nine years, retiring in February, 1902, on a pension. The remaining years were spent in retirement in the community in which he had witnessed grow from a wilderness to a city of twelve thousand people.

On March 1, 1847, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Anderson, who died in Indiana in 1852. Three children were born to this marriage, Mrs. D. C. Crandall of this city, Robert who died in Texas when a young man, and Ann Eliza who passed away in infancy. In 1853 he was united in marriage the second time to Miss Nancy Anderson, a sister of his first wife. To this union were born four children: Mrs. Edward Fisk of this city, Mrs. Walter Shropshire of Omaha, Daniel who died in Oklahoma some years ago and Mrs. Frank Saunders of Olympia, Washington. His second wife passed away several years ago.

The deceased was a life long democrat and served as postmaster of Story City eight years, being appointed by Pres. Buchanan. In an early day he joined the Odd Fellows. The deceased was a man of kindly disposition, known to nearly all the people of the city and his death at the advanced age of eighty-eight years is widely mourned by a legion of friends and relatives.