Multnomah-Clackamas County OR Archives Biographies.....Harding, Lloyd Ordway ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com January 25, 2007, 12:25 am Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company LLOYD ORDWAY HARDING, who fought for his country in the World war, is the proprietor of a store which is the oldest conducted without change of name in Oregon City. He is one of its loyal sons and worthily represents a highly respected pioneer family of this locality. The father, George A. Harding, was born August 13, 1843, in Sydney, Australia, his parents being James and Penelope (Bridges) Harding, natives respectively of Bristol and Norfolk, England. James Harding died in 1855, and his widow was left with several small children to care for. She decided to come to America, as she had relatives in California, and secured passage for herself and children on a sailing vessel bound for San Francisco. During the three months’ ocean voyage she became acquainted with Charles E. Murray and during a severe storm their ship was held at Tahiti, the largest of the Society islands, where they were married. Mr. Murray was a painter and followed his trade for a time in San Francisco. In search of better opportunities for earning a livelihood, he migrated to Oregon and after reaching Portland came to Oregon City, where he soon obtained work at his trade. George A. Harding continued his studies in Oregon City, his first instructor being Professor N. W. Randell, and later he was taught by W. F. Mulkey and Rev. George H. Atkinson. After school hours and on Saturdays Mr. Harding assisted his step-father and soon mastered the painter’s trade. While in Australia he had been employed for two years in a drug store and much preferred that work. On November 24, 1864, when a young man of twenty-one, he enlisted in the First Oregon Infantry and was assigned to duty with Company E, of which his brother Henry was also a member. They were stationed in succession at Vancouver, Walla Walla and Colville, Washington. George A. Harding was honorably discharged November 23, 1864, his term of service having covered three hundred and sixty-four days. Immediately following the Civil war there was considerable activity in boat building at Oregon City and he painted many ships. Later he obtained employment in a drug store owned by Doctor Steele and in 1874 embarked in the same line of business in partnership with J. P. Ward. Soon afterward they acquired the business of Bell & Parker and in 1878 Mr. Ward sold his interest to Mr. Harding, who afterward became the proprietor of the pharmacy formerly operated by the Williamson Company. In years of continuous activity he was Oregon City’s oldest druggist, and his trade constantly increased. His reliability and honesty were well known and his early customers always remained patrons of his establishment. Animated by the spirit of progress, he sought other outlets for his energies and became one of the founders of the Bank of Oregon City, part owner of the business of the Willamette Transfer & Locks Company, and a director of the Willamette Falls Electric Light Company. At the time of the formation of the Willamette Valley Southern Railroad Company he was elected vice president and filled the office until his death on September 23, 1926. His wife, Margaret Jane (Barlow) Harding, was born June 10, 1853, in Canby, Oregon. She was a daughter of John Lawson Barlow, whose father, Samuel K. Barlow, was a native of Kentucky and learned the tailor’s trade. In the early ‘30s he cultivated a farm near Chicago and started for Oregon in the spring of 1845. As he did not want to come down the Columbia from The Dalles on a raft, he decided to try to cross the Cascades with his wagons. His eldest son, William Barlow, and William Rector went ahead and selected the route, while Samuel K. Barlow, with the assistance of other pioneers, cut the trees and made the road, thus blazing the Barlow trail and preparing the way for the onward march of civilization. They reached Oregon City on Christmas eve, and Samuel K. Barlow bought a hotel on the bank of the Willamette near the ferry landing and the present approach of the bridge. His son, John L. Barlow, worked in the hotel and afterward took up a donation claim two miles west of Canby, becoming the owner of a square mile of land. For about ten years he operated the ranch and later engaged in merchandising in Oregon City. A brother, William, filed on a donation claim where the town of Barlow is now located. John L. Barlow married Mary Elizabeth Miller and they became the parents of six children. Mrs. Harding’s mother was born March 8, 1834, in Maryland and was the eldest of the six children of Samuel K. and Mary (Hart) Miller, natives respectively of Indiana and Maryland. Mr. Miller worked as a millwright in Indiana and in 1849 started for the west but owning to illness stopped at St. Joseph, Missouri, which he left in the spring of 1850. The family traveled with a train of twenty-five wagons and were five months in completing the trip. The journey proved a tedious one to Mary Elizabeth Miller and her friend, Lizzie Dickinson, who used to walk ahead of the train in order to avoid the dust, and one day an Indian attempted to catch them with his lariat but was frightened away by the men in the party. While crossing the plains Mr. Miller exhausted his supply of sugar and obtained some from another emigrant, paying a dollar a pound. However, he had plenty of flour, which he afterward exchanged for sugar. The Millers shared their provisions with a family of nine persons, whose wagon had overturned while they were crossing the South Platte, and by the time they had crossed the Blue mountains the flour bin was nearly empty and the last side of bacon was gone. Fortunately Jefferson and James Miller, nephews of Samuel K. Miller, knew that the family was approaching Oregon and met them at Umatilla with two pack horses loaded with bacon and flour. The emigrants came to Oregon City by the Barlow route, and when he reached the Willamette Valley Mr. Miller had less than fifty cents with which to provide for his family. His brother had journeyed to Oregon in 1847 and the son, James Miller, was one of the early steamboat captains on the Willamette River. Samuel K. Miller located on the Moore donation land claim at Linn City, just across the river from Oregon City, and there the family spent the winter of 1850. Mr. Miller worked for four months in a grist mill at Dayton and received ten dollars per day. Many of the men from that part of the state had gone to the California mines. The men in the Golden state made big wages and when they came home spent their earnings so freely that money, or rather gold dust, was plentiful. Soon after the family removed to Clackamas County the mint at Oregon City began to coin five and ten dollar gold pieces, which were called “beaver pieces” because they were stamped on one side with the image of that animal. The eight-sided fifty-dollar gold slugs, coined at the San Francisco mint, were also in circulation in Oregon at that time. Later they called in these beaver coins and fifty-dollar gold slugs and melted them up. In the spring of 1851 Mr. Miller took up a claim and as the years passed he transformed the wild land into one of the productive ranches of Clackamas County. To George A. and Margaret Jane (Barlow) Harding were born six children. Imogene married E. E. Brodie, of Oregon City, formerly United States minister to Siam and now owner of the Weekly Enterprise and the Oregon City Enterprise Daily. George Lee, the second in order of birth, is superintendent for the Hauser Construction Company and lives near Marshfield, Oregon. Carleton Barlow is an engineer in the employ of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad Company and makes his home in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Nieta Natalie is the wife of Henry McKinney, of Baker, Oregon, sheriff of Baker County and a member of the board of regents of the University of Oregon. The younger children are Lloyd Ordway, and Evelyn, who is the wife of L. L. Laxton, a prominent contractor of Oregon City. Mr. Harding took a keen interest in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was state commander about 1908, and his wife was state president of the Woman’s Relief Corps at the same time. Along fraternal lines he was connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic order. An ardent advocate of the cause of education, he was a valued member of the Oregon City school board for many years and was one of the organizers of the Willamette Valley Chautauqua Association. He filled an important place in the life of his community and enjoyed to the fullest extent the respect and confidence of his fellowmen. In the public schools of Oregon City, Lloyd O. Harding obtained his early instruction and next attended the old Portland Academy. He was graduated from the University of Oregon in 1912 and afterward became a teacher at Oregon City, devoting his leisure hours to the study of law. He was thus engaged until 1917, when he entered the service of his country, and on Christmas day of that year was sent overseas with the motor transport corps. For twenty-two months he remained abroad, spending most of the time in France, and he was also stationed in England and Germany. He rose to the rank of first lieutenant and returned to the United States in August, 1919. Since that time he has been connected with the drug trade and now owns and operates the Harding drug store located at No. 511 Main street. He closely adheres to the high standard of service maintained by his father, and under his capable management the business is steadily expanding. Mr. Harding acts as chairman of the forum of the Chamber of Commerce and does all in his power to exploit the resources and advantages of his city. He is commander of the local post of the American Legion and also a member of the Oregon City Golf Club, and Beta Theta Pi, a Greek letter society, which he joined while a student at the University of Oregon. His fraternal affiliations are with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Royal Arcanum and the Masonic order. A young man of strong character and winning personality, Mr. Harding enjoys the esteem of many friends, and his record is a credit to the family. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley from The Dalles to the Sea, Pages 195-197 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/multnomah/bios/harding298gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 11.0 Kb