Arthur Robert Harding
Arthur Robert Harding (July 1871 – 1930), better known as A. R. Harding was an American outdoorsman and the founder of Hunter-Trader-Trapper and Fur-Fish-Game Magazine, and publisher, editor, and author of many popular outdoor how-to books of the e
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Arthur Robert Harding (July 1871 – 1930), better known as A. R. Harding was an American outdoorsman and the founder of Hunter-Trader-Trapper and Fur-Fish-Game Magazine, and publisher, editor, and author of many popular outdoor how-to books of the early 1900s. His company was known as the A. R. Harding Publishing Company of Columbus, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri. A. R. Harding, the son of Alvin Bartlett Harding (1835–1908) and Mary "Mollie" Thompson Harding (1844–1910) was born July 1871 in Gallia County, Ohio. The family lived in Cheshire Township, Gallia County, Ohio near Kyger, along the Ohio River. Arthur's only sibling was a brother, Howard M. Harding, who became a produce dealer in Gallipolis, Ohio.
Arthur married Marilla Vincent on October 29, 1902, in Gallipolis. They had two children, Louise Harding and Arthur V. Harding, and made their home in Columbus, Ohio. A. R. Harding died in 1930.
Harding began hunting and trapping at the age of nine. At age 14, he was buying pelts from boys in his neighborhood, and reselling them at a profit. Making his rounds on horseback, he carried most of the pelts in a sack but tied the fox skins to the saddle to show that his business was doing well. By the age of 20, Harding was employed by L. Frank & Sons, Ohio's Reliable Fur, and Hide Dealers, of Zanesville, Ohio, as a fur buyer.
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