Abner Clark HARDING, Congress, IL (1807-1874)

HARDING, Abner Clark, a Representative from Illinois; born in East Hampton, Middlesex County, Conn., February 10, 1807; attended Hamilton Academy, Clinton, N.Y.; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Oneida County, N.Y., about 1827; moved to Monmouth, Warren County, Ill., in 1838 and continued the practice of law; member of the State constitutional convention in 1848; member of the State house of representatives 1848-1850; during the Civil War enlisted as a private in the Union Army in the Eighty-third Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, later was commissioned colonel, and in 1863 was promoted to brigadier general; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses (March 4, 1865-March 3, 1869); chairman, Committee on the Militia (Thirty-ninth Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1868; engaged in banking and railroad building; died in Monmouth, Ill., July 19, 1874; interment in Monmouth Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present