52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 17-Working for a Living.
Prompt: Our ancestors’ occupations can give real insight into their lives. This week, choose an ancestor and focus on how he or she made their livelihood. What did you discover about that person’s life?
My mother’s paternal line, the Hardings, are somewhat unique in my tree. Most of my ancestors came to this country to farm or to work as miners. When my great great-grandfather emigrated from England with his family, he did buy a farm and have livestock in Kansas. As far as I can ascertain, however, none of his children carried on that tradition.
Walter Joseph Harding (1876-1946) was the first of seven children born to Walter Henry Harding (1849-1933) and Mary Ann Harvey Harding (1849-1940), my great great-grandparents. All of the children were born in England.
On August 11, 1909, Walter married Lida Castor (1876-1912) in Junction City. Kansas. She died shortly after the birth of their fourth child. In 1913, he married Mae Rebecca Perry (1879-1974). She was a widow who had one child from her previous marriage.
Walter obviously had many of his own children’s mouths to feed, but he spent many years working in the food service industry, eventually feeding thousands of people several times a day!
As a teenager, Walter worked at a number of restaurants.
In 1895, Walter became an assistant to the cook at a local hotel.
Five years later, Walter and Lida were married at the Bartell.
In 1901, Walter left Junction City for Enid, Oklahoma, to take a position as a cook in a hotel there.
In 1910, Walter bought a local meat market in Junction City and, shortly thereafter, sold it back to the original seller.
Walter began working in the mess hall at Kansas State Agricultural College (referred to as “the Manhattan college” in the last clipping below) sometime in the 1920s. The school is now known as Kansas State University. It appears that he received a promotion in 1922.
Historic photos from Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Special Collections, Kansas State University
As far as I know, Walter was self-taught. While it’s pure conjecture, I imagine that he was a very self-motivated, high achiever. He was, after all, the first born child. I’m guessing, because of the increasing responsibility of his jobs, that he was not one to shy away from challenges.
He was dealt a blow by the death of his first wife at the age of thirty-five, leaving him a widower with four children, the youngest of which was not yet two years old. But he remarried and his four children grew up to be successful adults.
He must have possessed or acquired managerial skills, having to organize the large numbers of people who worked for him. I doubt he would have continued to be responsible for the numerous special dinners mentioned above had he not been able to provide hot meals to large groups of people smoothly and with finesse.
It sounds like he was a fascinating individual. I would love to have been able to meet him. But, who knows? Perhaps I’ll stumble upon one of his recipe books some day.
