Chester Harding (painter)

Harding was born in Conway, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1792. He was the fourth of twelve children born to his mother, Olive () Harding, and his father, Abiel Harding. ==Career==

. In the War of 1812, he marched as a drummer with the militia to the St Lawrence. , 1829. He painted several other portraits at Pittsburgh, and then went to Paris, Kentucky, where he finished 100 portraits in six months at $25 each. He made enough money to take him to the schools at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He then established himself in St. Louis, and eventually went on the road as an itinerant portrait painter. In August 1823, he went to England and set up a studio in London, and spent three years in studying and painting. He met with great success, painting royalty and the nobility, and, despite the lack of an early education and social experience, he became a favorite in all circles. In 1828, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician. He wrote My Egotistography, which was privately printed. Samuel Rogers, Sir Archibald Allison, and the Dukes of Norfolk, Hamilton, and Sussex. Harding is the only known painter who painted Daniel Boone from life. His last work was a portrait of Gen. William T. Sherman. ==Personal life==

On February 14, 1815, Harding was married to Caroline Matilda Woodruff (1795–1845) near Caledonia in Livingston County, New York. Caroline was the daughter of James Woodruff. Together, they were the parents of nine children, including four sons, two each who fought on opposing sides in the Civil War: • Mary Ophelia Harding (1818–1892), who married John Marshall Krum (1810–1888), the 11th Mayor of St. Louis, in 1839. • James Harding (1830–1902), a General in the Missouri State Guard and Major in the Confederate States Army. He married Christina Amelia Cordell (1834–1899) in 1855. His wife died on August 27, 1845, in Springfield, Massachusetts. and is buried in Springfield Cemetery in Springfield. Descendants Through his son Horace, he was the paternal grandfather of William P. G. Harding (1864–1930), the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and Chester Harding (1866–1936), the Governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1917 to 1921 who, late in life, also became a noted portrait painter. ==Portrait gallery==

File:Unfinished portrait of Daniel Boone by Chester Harding 1820.jpg|Daniel Boone (unfinished), 1820. File:Chester Harding - Daniel Boone - NPG.2015.102 - National Portrait Gallery (cropped).jpg|Daniel Boone, 1820. File:Chester Harding - Eben Rollins - 59.959 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg|Eben Rollins, . File:Chester Harding - Daniel Webster - NPG.67.59 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg|Daniel Webster, . File:Loammi Baldwin Jr..jpg|Loammi Baldwin Jr., 1823. File:Chester Harding - Mrs. Edward Hutchinson Robbins (Elizabeth Murray) - 1984.503 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg|Elizabeth Murray Robbins (Mrs. Edward Hutchinson Robbins), 1827 File:Harding Mrs Blake.jpg|Sarah Stanton Blake (Mrs. Joshua Blake), . File:Stephen Van Rensselaer MET ap54.51.jpg|Stephen Van Rensselaer, 1828. File:Charles Carroll of Carrollton E-000918-20111018.jpg|Charles Carroll, . File:Chester Harding - James Monroe - NPG.2005.44 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg|James Monroe, 1829. File:Harrison Gray Otis by Chester Harding, 1833, oil on canvas, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-7700056A 2.jpg|Harrison Gray Otis, 1833. File:Nicholas Brown Jr by Chester Harding 1836.jpg|Nicholas Brown, Jr., 1836. File:Chester Harding - Thurlow Weed - NPG.2005.95 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg|Thurlow Weed, 1843. File:BenjaminPickman ca1843 byChesterHarding MFABoston.jpeg|Benjamin Pickman, . File:George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen by Chester Harding.jpg|George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, 1847. File:Chester Harding - Mrs. Abbott Lawrence (Katherine Bigelow) - 61.240 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg|Katherine Bigelow Lawrence (Mrs. Abbott Lawrence), . File:U. S. Senator James Lanman.jpg|U. S. Senator James Lanman File:Dr. Daniel Drake-Chester Harding-FARL18389.jpg|Dr. Daniel Drake ==See also==