The Harding Family

The patriarch of the Buxton Harding family, Robert, was born between 1833-1841, to Maria and Major Harden. Born a slave on a plantation in Virginia when Robert was older, he and his family discarded the chains that bound them to the land and found refuge in the free Canada West (Ontario), settling in the Queen’s Bush area of Wellington County.

In 1860, Robert married Elizabeth Travis. Elizabeth was the daughter of Nancy Christina Boomer, a Pennsylvanian Deutsch and John Travis, a free black. Robert and Elizabeth had seven children together.

In 1866, the Robert Harding family arrived in the Buxton Settlement and settled on the seventh concession. Descendents of the Harding family still reside in Buxton today.