Perry J. HARDING

My 3rd Great-Grandmother Ida HARDING had 7 siblings (4 brothers and 3 sisters).  One of her brothers was Perry J. HARDING.  I do not know much about him.  From the book Our Harding Family by Mary E. Baird, it stated that he was born 31 Mar 1857:

The only other mention in the Baird book is:

He is found in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 Federal Censuses:

1860 Federal Census

1870 Federal Census

1880 Federal Census

The only other documents I've been able to find him in are newspaper articles.  These two articles are from November 1879 when Perry was 22 years old (one year before the 1880 Census pictured above).  The articles are from the Wellsboro Agitator.

Mr. Perry Harding, of Covington, went to Buffalo recently to enlist in the regular army.

Mr. Perry Harding, of Covington, who recently went to Buffalo to enlist in the regular army, was not able to pass the physical examination.

I'm not surprised by Perry wanting to join the army as his dad was a Major General in the Pennsylvania Militia.  I am curious as to why he was not able to pass the physical exam.  Was it something simple like poor eyesight or something more serious?  If you look back at the 1880 Census above you can see that Perry's sister Emma was listed as sick with a "spinal affect" but Perry did not have any sickness listed.  He was also not checked off as blind, deaf and dumb, idiotic, insane, maimed, crippled, bedridden or otherwise disabled (not included in the screenshot).

Another question I have is why did he travel all the way to Buffalo to enlist in the army?  As far as I know, all of his family still lived in the Covington area at that time - wasn't there someplace closer to home where he could try to enlist from?


The next record I was able to find on him was when he was 29 years old.  The article states that was was recently adjudged insane:

If he was judged to be insane, would there be court records for that?  Where was the County Poor-house and what was that like?

He fought his way out to escape!!??  It says he went over the hills toward his home.  I wonder if he was still living with his parents at the time.

I also wonder why they were going to take him to Warren Hospital instead of back to the County Poor-house.  Was it because they feared he would try to escape again?


The last document I can find was from the Elmira Daily Gazette on 28 June 1892 when Perry was 35 years old.  It lists him as a patient of Warren Insane Hospital but that he was being either removed to the county house or returned to the 'care of their friends.'

I wonder if he had been a patient in the Warren Insane Hospital since 1886 or was he in and out?  Was he put back in the county house or was he released home?  What exactly was his illness?

Here is a movie on YouTube about the Warren Hospital:

Here is a wiki about the hospital: http://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php?title=Warren_State_Hospital 

This is all I've been able to uncover on him so far.  I do not yet know when or where he passed away or where he is buried.  I didn't find him listed in the Warren Hospital Cemetery which I was glad to for some reason.  I kind of hope that he is buried with his parents and that nobody is aware of it because maybe he doesn't have a headstone.

I am curious to learn more.  Some things I can try:
- Look to see if there are court records from 1886 when he was judged insane
- Look to see if the hospital has archived records
- Contact the cemetery where his parents are buried to see if there are other Hardings buried there that do not have headstones (I should ask about sister Emma too).