II.

Early Life

Harding was the first child of George and Phoebe Dickerson Harding. He was born on November 2, 1865, on a farm near Corsica (now Blooming Grove), Ohio. When he was seven, the family moved to nearby Caledonia where the boy went to school and played in the village band. A band member later recalled that Harding was “a jolly, good fellow, full of fun, loyal to his friends.” In 1879, Harding entered Ohio Central College. He spent his vacations and spare hours working on the family farm and in the local sawmill, and he also worked briefly on the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad.

The family moved to Marion, Ohio, in 1882. In Marion, Harding studied law, sold insurance, and taught school, but he didn't like any of these occupations. Finally, because he had managed his college newspaper and had done some work at the Caledonia Argus, Harding took a job as a printer, pressman, and reporter at the Marion Democratic Mirror.

Harding liked his work but was irritated by the political views of the Democratic Mirror. In 1884 he and a friend bought an unsuccessful four-page newspaper, the Marion Star, and as the town grew, the newspaper prospered. Harding soon bought out his partner. In 1891, when he was 26 years old, Harding married a wealthy widow, Mrs. Florence Kling De Wolfe, and with her help the weekly Star became an influential daily newspaper.