Evening times-Republican., 1920-11-03

Dickerson and Charity
The Dickersons were OF :
mouth county. New jersey. !..y,
which found its way thru ponnsyl-
vania to Ohio. The father of Isaac,
Thomas Dickerson, was a Methodist
minister. whose record in that church
is as "a shining light" during tho
early days OF Methodism in Ohio.
The senator's grandmother Char
ity Van Kirk, was the daughter Of
William Van Kirk, who, with six
brothers, fought in the patriotic
army Of the Revolution. The Van
Kirk family, indeed, like the Dicker-
son, Harding, Crawford and other
allied families, rendered valuable SER
vices to the country during the Co
lonial and Revolutionary periods.
Under Washington's Banner.
Senator Harding's sister. Miss Abb
gall Harding OF Marion, O., has been
for several years an active and val
ued member Of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, and 1t is only
just that these facts should be known
that the American people may realize
that the republican candidate for
president Is a lineaI descendant in
every respect Of American patriots
who stood for the principles of
American liberty and fought under
the banner Of Washington for the
establishment OF American indepen-
dence.
The presidents OF the United States
have been men of notable ancestry,
but no man in the White House has
had more distinguished line Of
forebears. with finer record Of SER
vice, citizenship and patriotism than
Warren G. Harding. In the republi-
can candidate for president are min
gled the strains of the Puritan of
New England and the Cavalier of
Virginia. In his veins flows the blood
Of English, German. Welsh. Scotch
Irish and Dutch. And this blood has
been spent on battlefields where the
stake was justice and independence.
His ancestors died In the battles
fought by pioneers against the Brit
ish and their Indian allies, and the
records Of the Revolutionary War
bear the names of many of his pro-
genitors on both paternal and ma
ternal sides.
The philology Of the name Harding
is interesting, and it Is typical of the
men and women who bear II. Har-
ding means bold. courageous. daring
and stout hearted" The history of
the Hardings (who came to America
from England In 1929 is one Of dar-
ing and courage. 1t is the story OF
the pioneers who travelled In small
bands, rifle and axe in hand, their
slender outfits on pack horses, pene-
trating the trackless wilderness to
win homes for themselves and their
progeny. They came by this indom-
liable spirit rightly, for their ances-
tors were pioneers In other lands.
1t was about 1850 that Welsh blood
was mingled with the Harding
strain. 1t is in the last four gener-
ations covering a period of over 200
years. that the records-complete in
every detail-show his ancestry to
be OF pure Anglo Saxon, German,
Scotch-Irish and Dutch blood. His
maternal grandmother, Charity Van
Kirk, was Of Dutch birth. Her Amer
ican ancestor, Jan Jansen Van de
Kirk, came from Holland in the year
1868. These Van Kinks offered their
lives in the Revolutionary War, seven
sons of Josiah Van Kirk, grandfath-
err of Charity Van Kirk dncluding
her father, William Van Kirko, fight
ing to throw off the yoke Of Great
Britain. They believed that rebel
lion to tyrants is obedience to God"