Early Life
She was born Florence Kling, the daughter of Amos Kling, a prominent Marion, Ohio banker, and Louisa Bouton Kling.
Pregnant at age 19, Florence eloped with Henry "Pete" Athenton DeWolfe, her childhood friend and neighbor, in 1880. To date, scholastic researchers have been unable to locate official documentation or a legal marriage license for the couple, leading to the belief that DeWolfe and Harding were never civilly married, but instead declared common law marriage as allowed at the time in Ohio. DeWolfe proved a spendthrift and a heavy drinker. Shortly after the birth of their son Marshall Eugene DeWolfe (also known as Marshall Eugene Kling) in 1880, Florence left her husband and returned to Marion. She divorced DeWolfe in 1886 and resumed her maiden name; he died in 1894 at age 35.
She refused financial help from her wealthy father and supported herself and her son by giving piano lessons; she had studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before her marriage. Eventually, she let her parents raise the boy. Marshall eventually succombed to the effects of alcoholism and tuberculosis, and died in 1915 at the age of 34.
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