Harding was born on May 5, 1864 to Horace Harding and Eliza Proctor Gould Harding in Boligee, Alabama. He received his early education in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and before entering the University of Alabama he received his preparatory support from many established and respected educators such as Dr. Warfield C. Richardson and Prof. Joseph M. Dill. He entered the University of Alabama in 1878 and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1880 and continued his studies for an extra year to obtain a Master of Arts at the time becoming the youngest student to acquire his degree. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1881 and further continued his studies again in business college at Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1916 the University of Alabama distinguished Harding with a degree of Legum Doctor. He returned to Tuscaloosa and began working at J. H. Fitts and Company for three years as a bookkeeper and clerk. He then moved to Birmingham, Alabama to work again as a bookkeeper for Berney National Bank where he was promoted to cashier three years later. In 1896 he was elected as vice-president of the First National Bank of Birmingham and then elected president on June 28, 1902. Under his administration he was recognized as the most notable banker in the south and was recognized nationally. In 1913 he was elected as president of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. Harding relinquished his title when asked by President Woodrow Wilson to become a member of the Federal Reserve Board on August 10, 1914 before the onset of World War I. On August 10, 1916 he was appointed by Woodrow to become Governor of the Federal Reserve Board and was appointed director of the War Finance Corporation until 1922. In 1922 he was requested by the President of CubaAlfredo Zayas y Alfonso to reorganize the country's financial and accounting systems. He returned to America in 1923 and was appointed as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston where he served until his death on April 7, 1930 from heart failure after a long illness at his home in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Freemasonryfraternal organization and an Episcopalian.
