Memoir (written 1917-1918, 1938) of William Frederick Harding, Superior Court Judge for the Fourteenth Judicial District of North Carolina. Judge Harding's memoir covers his lifetime from his birth in 1867 at Aurora, Beaufort County, N.C., through 1918 including his childhood spent in Aurora, Stonewall in Craven County, Greene County and Greenville, N.C., his college years at UNC-Chapel Hill (1890-1894), his years as a practicing lawyer in Greenville and Charlotte, N.C., and the early years of his judgeship. A brief paragraph written in 1938 indicates his pending retirement as a Superior Court judge.
William Frederick Harding (b. Nov. 26, 1867), a son of Henry and Susan Elizabeth (Sugg) Harding, was a native of Aurora, N.C. Following his graduation from the University of North Carolina in 1894, Harding taught school and studied the law. He practiced the law in Greenville and Charlotte from 1896 until 1913, when he was appointed a judge of the North Carolina Superior Court for the Fourteenth Judicial District.
Written during 1917 and 1918 with an addendum in 1938, the memoir describes the activities of Harding and members of his immediate family. Notable topics include businesses, residents, schools, a Methodist revival, and other aspects of life in Aurora; members of the Harding and Sugg families; businesses, and lawyers in Greenville; course work, the chapel, student activities, and hazing at the University of North Carolina; the beneficence of Thomas Jordan Jarvis; and Harding's work on The American and English Encyclopedia of Law for Edward Thompson Company of Northport, N.Y.
The last page of the memoir was added by Janet Harding in 1976 when she transcribed Judge Harding's handwritten recollections. Mrs. Harding's husband was the grandson of Judge Harding.
Gift of Mrs. Mae J. Gates
Processed by M. York, April 1981 Revised by M. Elmore, November 2013
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.