Robert Harding (188)

Robert Harding (6 October 1701–1 September 1772) was a Catholic rector and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1768. Born in Nottingham, England, he embarked on a Jesuit education in Belgium. Believing Maryland sorely needed priests, the Catholic Church then sent him to St. Mary’s county in 1732. He served as a missionary there and in Prince George’s County for seventeen years before his appointment to St. Joseph’s Church in Philadelphia in 1749. In 1759 Harding was appointed head of the Jesuits in Pennsylvania, a position that included oversight of the missions in Conewago, Lancaster, and Goshenhoppen. Catholics were treated with hostility in the English colonies at this time because they were perpetually suspected of secretly aiding and abetting foreign countries by virtue of their shared faith. Harding worked diligently to assuage such fears and to prove his political loyalty. By the end of his life, he had garnered the respect of prominent Protestants like APS members Provost William Smith and Jacob Duché, Jr. Harding achieved this success, in part, because he proved his commitment to the city of Philadelphia and its institutions. In 1754 he was an early contributor to Pennsylvania Hospital; in 1755 he led relief efforts to feed and house Acadian refugees; and in 1772 he was a founding member of the Society of the Sons of St. George. (PI)