Laban Newton Harding was born around 1844 in Indiana to Samuel and Jane Harding. His father was a farmer who owned $15,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Wayne, Indiana, and by 1860, he was working as a farm laborer.
He enlisted in the Union army on May 2, 1864, and he mustered in as a private in Company A of the 132nd Indiana Infantry on May 18. The regiment spent the next few months guarding railroads in Stevenson, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee. He mustered out on August 1, 1864, when his term of enlistment expired.
After leaving the army, he attended college in Indianapolis, Indiana. He eventually moved to Kansas City, Kansas, and he married Mary Emma Zane around 1891. Their son Kenneth was born around 1896. He applied for a federal pension in March 1892 and eventually received one. He worked as a police officer in Kansas City, and he died there of “stomach trouble” in February 1905.