Roger Harding (singer)

Roger Harding (1858 – August 29, 1901) was an American singer, composer and music publisher active in the United States from 1890 to 1901. Biography Harding was born in Kentucky in 1858 to Roger Elias Harding, Sr. and Virginia Ford Harding. Per census records, the family moved to Saint Louis by 1870. In the mid-1880s, Harding married Charlotte Oakley. The Hardings had two children, Ethel and Roger, who were both born in New York City. In June 1890, Harding performed in the musical play Billie Taylor in New York City as part of the Ideal Opera Company. In March 1893, he played Nixey Weld in A Night at the Circus at the Harrigan’s Park Theatre in New York. Also in 1893 he joined the minstrel company of Sam Devere, author of “The Whistling Coon” made famous by George W. Johnson. In 1897, Harding began manufacturing phonograph records at 18 E. 22nd St., New York, and late in the year sold the operation to the Excelsior Phonograph Company (later Excelsior and Musical Phonograph Company). Harding continued managing recording for the Excelsior company until August of the following year, when he was replaced in that role by fellow recording artist William F. Hooley. He began recording arou