Joseph Harding (abt. 1600 - abt. 1630)

Born about 1600 in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England

Ancestors

Died about 1630 at about age 30 in New England

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Joseph Harding is currently protected by the Puritan Great Migration Project for reasons described in the narrative. Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: PGM

Due to disputed claims that he a) migrated during the PGM era and b) was the spouse of a known PGM immigrant, this profile is being tracked and co-managed by Wikitree's Puritan Great Migration project.

Biography

This is the profile for the Joseph Harding whom Wilbur J. Harding claimed in his 1925 Hardings in America was the son of a John Harding who died in Northampton, England in 1637 and emigrated to New England in 1623. As discussed in Hardings in America Debunked, many of the claims made by Wilbur J. Harding in the book regarding early Harding immigrants have proven to have been fabrications. The claims with respect to this profile's Joseph Harding are discussed below.

Disputed Claims

According to Wilbur Harding's claims: (1) Joseph Harding was one of three brothers who immigrated with Robert Gorges in 1623. (2) Joseph Harding was on the list of passengers who accompanied Robert Gorges. (3) Joseph's name appears in the records as "Joseph Harding of Braintree." (4) After Robert Gorges returned to England, Joseph moved to Plymouth. (5) Joseph married Martha Doane in Plymouth in 1624. (6) After his marriage, he removed to Cape Cod. (7) Joseph had a son named John, born about 1625, who in turn was the father of a daughter named Sarah who married John Tower and a son who was John Harding of Braintree and Bridgewater. (8) Joseph also had a son named Joseph, born in 1629, who was Joseph Harding of Eastham. (9) Joseph died in 1630.^[1]

Problems with Disputed Claims

The problems with these claims are:

• No evidence has been found of any Hardings being part of Robert Gorges' party. No evidence has been found that identifies more than a handful of the men in his party, none of whom were called Harding.^[2][3]
• No passenger list has been found for the ship on which Robert Gorges' party sailed.^[2][3]
• No evidence has been found of any Hardings in New England prior to 1639 other than Robert Harding of Boston (1630), his sister Elizabeth Harding of Boston (1635) and Martha (Doane) Harding and Phoebe Harding of Plymouth (both 1632).^[4]
• No records have been found of a Joseph Harding in New England prior to the records for Joseph Harding of Eastham. (There are some records, however, relating to Joseph Hardy of Salem that spell his name Harding.)
• Since the town of Braintree was not called such until 1640 and was instead called Mount Wollaston,^[5] it is implausible that any records for this profile's hypothetical Joseph Harding or anyone else before 1640 would have referred to them as "of Braintree."
• While Martha (Doane) Harding who died in Plymouth in 1638 obviously was married to a man named Harding, no evidence has been found that establishes his name or otherwise identifies him. In the profile for Martha (Doane) Harding of Plymouth in Robert Charles Anderson's 1995 Volume II of Great Migration Begins, (1) the first name of Martha's husband was left blank, indicating that Anderson and his team found no reliable evidence as to what his name was, and (2) Anderson stated that Martha's husband probably died before Martha sailed for New England.^[6]
• Since the earliest settlement on Cape Cod was established in 1637,^[7] seven years after Joseph Harding's supposed death, it is implausible that Joseph and Martha would have removed to Cape Cod prior to his death in 1630. (It appears likely that Wilbur Harding included the "removal to Cape Cod" claim in order to explain why "son" Joseph Harding of Eastham was in Eastham.)

The immigrant Joseph Harding described by Wilbur Harding thus appears to be a complete fabrication.

^{[7] [5] [6] [3] [2] [4] [1]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Harding, Wilbur J. The Hardings in America. The Harding Printing Co., 1925. pp 17-22. Link to pages at hathitrust.org.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Adams, Charles Francis. Three Episodes of Massachusetts History: The Settlement of Boston Bay, The Antinomian Controversy, A Study of Church and Town Government. Volume I. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1892. fn. 2 pp. 143-144. Link to pages at archive.org.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} "Gorges Servants," The Wessagusett Plantation, plymoutharch.tripod.com. Accessed on December 14, 2019.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Directory. Immigrants to New England, 1620-1640. A Concise Compendium. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Adams, Charles Francis. History of Braintree, Massachusetts, the North Precinct of Braintree and the Town of Quincy. 1891. pp. 6-7.Link to pages at archive.org.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins. Immigrants to New England 1620-1633. Volume II G-O. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995. pp. 384-385. Link to page at ancestry.com.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} "Cape Cod," wikipedia.com.