Discussion of the Family Books
The following will hopefully explain to you the differences and the similarities in the four books printed by Dr. Harding which we plan to reprint if we have a minimum of 50 orders. They pertain to the children of Dwight and Phebe Holbrook Harding. They are: (1) Dwight Harding Family Book, (2) John Jacob Zundel Family Book, (3) Amos Warner Family Book, and (4) Abraham Harding Family Book.
The Amos Warner Family Book was published in 1972. It is almost word for word an exact copy of the text in the Dwight Harding Family Book. The
descendancy chapter has a few names added to it, that are omitted in the Dwight Harding Book. There are five pictures in the Amos Warner Family Book not found in the Dwight Harding Family Book. Four of these five pictures are in the Abraham Harding Family Book.
The Abraham Harding Family Book adds very little to the Warner Family history other than the above 4 pictures. The written text frequently refers the reader to a certain page in the Dwight Harding Family Book or the Amos Warner Family Book. The Amos Warner Family Book has five pages of research notes and references concerning the Warner family that are not found in either of the Harding Family Books. (Should we include these five pages in the Updated
Descendancy Book?) There is almost nothing in the Amos Warner Family Book about the Phebe Harding (Warner) family. That information is only in the Dwight and/or Abraham Harding Family Books.
The John Jacob Zundel Family Book contains much information not found in either of the Harding Family Books. It is information about the Zundel family. Specifically about the siblings, parents, and ancestors of both Matilda and Isaac E.D. Zundel. It contains many pictures, research notes, etc. not available in either Harding book. It contains minimal information about the Harding Family and virtually nothing about the parents and ancestors of Charles and Elizabeth Harding, the spouses of Matilda and Isaac E.D. Zundel. It was printed as a complement to the Harding Family Books.
Now for the difference between the two Harding Family Books (that is much more difficult to explain). The
Dwight Harding Family Book was printed in 1968 (and I believe was expected to be the only Harding Family Book printed by Dr. Glen Harding.) However, as he did more research on the family, he discovered several things he had printed in the book were based on falsified records and substandard previously printed research. I believe he wanted to correct these errors and set the record straight. For this reason he printed a second Harding Family Book in 1979 and titled it the
Abraham Harding Family Book. Abraham was the great-great-great grandfather of Dwight Harding. He was our first Harding ancestor known to have been born on American soil. So the two books are about the
same family. The Abraham Harding Family Book corrects the erroneous information in the Dwight Harding Family Book and includes research he completed after the printing of the Dwight Harding Family Book.
As to the information on the individual children of Dwight and Phebe Holbrook Harding. He did NOT make any major changes in what was printed previously. Much of the information is exactly the same. Some is left out of the second book and he frequently refers the reader to a certain page in one of his previously printed books. Some new information and pictures have been added in the second book on every family.
However, because the direct family line of Dr. Harding was Charles and Matilda, it is most complete in the first (Dwight) Harding Book. Some has been added to the second (Abraham) Harding Book, including many pictures.
There is very little in the Dwight Harding Family Book about Alma and Margaret Jones Harding and almost nothing about their
descendancy (less than 1 page). This is in the Abraham Harding Family Book. However, the pictures in each book are different and the stories are not word for word the same. Coming from the family of Alma and Margaret, I want both the Dwight and Abraham Harding Family Books in order to have a “complete” history of my family. If I could only afford one or the other, I would choose the Abraham Harding Family Book – but it is a hard, hard choice.
Each of the other families is the same way. Each of you would have to look at both books and decide which would be best for YOUR family. I would recommend at least one copy of each book be available to you. In other words, perhaps you would buy one of them and your sister/brother the other, or vice versa. Neither book is complete by itself.
I hope this helps you in making a decision about which book(s) you want to buy. But remember, no matter what you decide, I need the updated
descendancy material as soon as possible.