Benjamin Franklin Harding (January 4, 1823June 16, 1899) was an American attorney and politician born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He held political offices in the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. O ...

and later served as a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

Early life

He was born near

Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania Tunkhannock is a borough in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Wilkes-Barre. In the past, lumbering was carried on extensively. Today, many residents are employed by the Procter & Gamble plant in nearby Washington To ...

on January 4, 1823.United States Congress Bioguide: Benjamin Harding
/ref> Harding was educated in the public schools before he studying law. He passed the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1847, and then set up practice in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city was the third-largest in Illinois, with a population of 150,362. Hist ...

in 1849. In 1850, he moved first to California, and then to the Oregon Territory.

Oregon politics

Harding was elected to the

Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon's Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory. The upper chamber Council and lower chamber House of Representati ...

in 1850 to represent Marion County.Oregon Legislative Assembly (2nd Territorial) 1850 Regular Session
/ref> Two years later he returned to that body and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives.Oregon Legislative Assembly (4th Territorial) 1852 Regular Session
/ref> Harding was then selected as

United States district attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

in 1853. From 1854 to 1859 he served as the Secretary of the Oregon Territory, predecessor to the office of Oregon Secretary of State. In 1858 Harding was elected to the

Oregon State Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the H ...

, but as Oregon had not yet been admitted to the Union, the assembly only met briefly before disbanding until 1859, when a special session was held and Harding served at the session.Oregon Legislative Assembly 1859 Special Session
/ref> In 1860, he was elected again as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

representing Marion County. At the next session of the legislature Harding was elected as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, and this would be his final session in the state legislature.Oregon Legislative Assembly (1st) 1860 Regular Session
/ref> Harding was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

to fill

Edward D. Baker Edward Dickinson Baker (February 24, 1811October 21, 1861) was an American politician, lawyer, and US army officer. In his political career, Baker served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois and later as a U.S. Senator from Orego ...

's seat after the latter had died. He served from September 12, 1862, to March 3, 1865.

Later life and family

Harding was married twice, first in 1851 to Elizabeth Cox, with whom he had several children. After she died in 1868, he married F.W. Bush, a relative of

Asahel Bush Asahel Bush (June 4, 1824 – December 23, 1913) was an American newspaper publisher and businessman in Salem, Oregon. As publisher of the ''Oregon Statesman'' newspaper, he moved the paper to Salem when the territorial capital moved to that city. ...

.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. After serving in the Senate, Harding retired to his farm near Salem. A few years later he moved to Cottage Grove, Oregon where he died on June 16, 1899 and was buried at Cottage Grove Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Benjamin F. 1823 births 1899 deaths Speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Union (American Civil War) political leaders Members of the Oregon Territorial Legislature 19th-century American politicians People from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania People from Cottage Grove, Oregon United States Attorneys for the District of Oregon Democratic Party United States senators from Oregon Secretaries of State of Oregon