Introduction
Chester Harding (December 31, 1866 – November 11, 1936) was Governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1917 to 1921.
Biography
He was born on December 31, 1866 in Enterprise, Mississippi.
He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1884 with a Bachelors in Engineering and later graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1889. He was commissioned in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He was appointed Division Engineer of Gatun Locks Division in 1907, and as the Panama Canal maintenance engineer in 1915. He served as governor of Panama Canal Zone from January 1917 to 1921.
Harding also served a term from 1913-1914 as one of the commissioners in charge of the District of Columbia.
He died on November 11, 1936 in Whitinsville, Massachusetts.