25. William Henry⁶ Harrison (Benjamin⁵, Benjamin⁴, Benjamin³, Benjamin², Benjamin¹) (#72) was born in Berkley, Charles City County, Virginia, United States February 9, 1773.⁽³⁹⁰⁾ William died April 4, 1841 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States, at 68 years of age.⁽³⁹¹⁾

He married Anne Tuthill Symmes in North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, November 22, 1795.⁽³⁹²⁾ (Anne Tuthill Symmes is #73.) Anne was born in Flatbrook, Sussex County, New Jersey, United States July 5, 1775.⁽³⁹³⁾ Anne was the daughter of John Cleve Symmes. Anne died February 25, 1864 in North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, at 88 years of age.⁽³⁹⁴⁾ "WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON was the third son of BENJAMIN, the Signer (of the Declaration of Independence) and three times governor of Virginia, and ELIZABETH BASSETT, having been born in Berkeley on the James River, 9 February 1773. Having been a senior in a medical course, he left school at his father's death, 1791, and was soon appointed ensign in the First Army, with assignment to General Wayne. He showed great valor at Fallen Timbers, was promoted to captaincy, and make commandant at Fort Washington. "Vincennes (Indiana) seems to have become a rendezvous, rather than a point of activity, for foreign agents. The Spaniards wanted to gain a foothold in the fur fields; the British wanted, above all, the government to fail, and were seeking to separate the West by breaking the connection, Kentucky; and the French sought to roil the Kentuckians into a war against Spain that might again ally France and the United States. Into the midst of these antagonist the twenty-two-year-old HARRISON was thrown, with the task of saving the Union by staying the movements of these Americans, and intercepting the shipment of arms. "On 22 November 1795, HARRISON married ANNE SYMMES, the daughter of the wealthy judge, JOHN CLEVE SYMMES of Ohio, and made his home on the Symmes Estate at North Bend. They had ten children. "When Winthrop Sargent was named governor of Mississippi Territory, HARRISON succeeded him as Secretary of the Northwest Territory. In the following year, he was elected its delegate to Congress, and on 13 May 1800 became governor of the new Indiana Territory. He was also the government's Indian agent, and concluded thirteen treaties with the Indians acquiring millions of acres for Congress. After his victory at Tippecanoe, he was soon appointed Commander-in- chief of the Army of the West in the War of 1812. He urged a navy upon the Great Lakes, and the splendid victory of Commodore Perry thereby became a matter of record. Six days later, General HARRISON captured the British forces under General Proctor, and forced hisIndian allies led by Tecumseh, to battle. Tecumseh was killed, and the Indians were routed. HARRISON's victories gave the United States undisputed claims to the lakes, except Ontario. HARRISON was, in turn, congressman, state senator, presidential elector, and U.S. Senator from Ohio; he was U.S. Minister to Columbia, and, having returned in 1830, retired to North Bend. But in 1835, a most bristling, and stupendous celebration for the time, at the old Battleground of Tippecanoe aroused a national popularity that, finally, carried him to the White House. He was the first of four to be elected President of the United States by fewer popular votes than his opponents. He died in office, intestate, thirty-one days after his inauguration, 4 April 1841, and was interred at North Bend, Ohio. "On the day of his arrival in Vincennes, he swore in Chief Justice, William Clark; and Clark, in turn, swore him in office as governor. On the next day, 12 January, he met with the other two judges, and swore them in their offices. Those were the days of strong political feelings, and differences, and to safeguard his own position, he appointed the Secretary of the Territory, John Gibson, Justice of the Peace, Recorder of Knox County, and Judge of the Quarter Sessions, within three days. It was not diplomatic. And on February 3rd, the governor proclaimed the boundaries for Clark County; sold 32 licenses to traders; and purchased the site of his manse. "The first local ferry licenses granted by the authority of the governor of the Northwest Territory were the two granted to Robert Buntin, 23 June 1796, 'for the convenience of Knox County.' It is believed that he may have operated the first ferry here (Vincennes, Indiana) across the Wabash River, and Joshua Harbin, on White River. "The first ferry licenses granted by the authority of the governor of Indiana Territory was in 1801." "It is not known where Governor HARRISON and family lived during the time his home was being constructed. But there are certain indications that he lived in the house near the southwest corner of First and Broadway streets (in Vincennes, Indiana), which (Francis) Vigo later lost to his creditors in Detroit." "Shortly after his arrival, Governor HARRISON purchased forty-nine acres, being bounded by the river and old Elm Road, and from Hart to Locust streets, and planned to build on it in the following spring, 1802. But Vigo did not have a clear title to this land, and it was not cleared until the middle of 1802. On 10 February 1801, Father Rivet wrote that the governor offered to take him to his home in Ohio for a recreational trip, and to bring him back with him and his family. Since there was no house available for the governor's residence, Mr. Vigo, having built a house on the river bank, near First and Broadway streets, and thinking it elaborate enough for the governor, offered him the use of it. It seems probable that the governor made use of it. Vigo lost his property, and Mr. William Burch is said to have purchased the house, moved the part containing the exquisite flooring to his home sight on Fourth and Buntin streets, where it burned out. He used to say it was the governor's office. "The governor moved into his mansion in 1804. He seems to have had a zest for grouse, a game bird that ranked between the quail and pheasant in size and taste, and he called his place Grouseland. It is well preserved today by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. "Grouseland, or the Harrison Manse, may be called an interpretation of Georgian architecture. He. undoubtedly, incorporated his own ideas, and the west curved wall, or wide bay, in the Council Chamber, or Governor's Office, is of particular interest. Today it contains some of its original furniture, and some of the personal possessions of Francis Vigo, as well as a few oil portraits of local residents of the period. "The age of the building, and the early deaths of many of the Harrison family occupants, have made it susceptible to many tales and minute interpretations, but, quite generally, the trained guides will indicate fancies from fact. "Governor HARRISON sold the old Jean B. d'Armour Donation Lot of 400 acres, which he owned, on 8 September 1804; to Samuel Thompson for $1,200.00. Mr. Thompson did burn the bricks for Grouseland, and the farm may have been given in settlement for the accounts, but the farm's present texture of soil dos not show it to have been good brick material." "Governor HARRISON proclaimed the Indiana Territory had 5,000, or more, males, and had thereby reached the second stage of its development; an election of legislators was mandatory. The election occurred (on 9 July 1805)." "On 20 September (1805), an Indian treaty at Grouseland obtained Indian land in the southeastern part of Indiana, whereas another treat there, 30 December, gave the balance of the counties of Crawford, Edwards, and all of Jasper, Effingham, Clay, Richland, and Wayne counties in Illinois to the United States. "And, of course, what was most pertinent to the development of the country,was the first of the above treaties, making three in all at Grouseland, on 21 August. At this treaty with Delaware, Miami, Pottawatomy, Eel River, and Ouias tribes, the United States got land that gave a free roadway to Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as to Louisville, both going by way of French Lick on the Buffalo Trail. "Also in 1805, the Reverend Thomas Clelland visited Grouseland. Mrs. HARRISON claimed membership in the Presbyterian church, and it was a great pleasure for her to invite her friends and fellow citizens to Grouseland, where a minister of her church would preach in the council chamber. The Harrison family claimed the Episcopal church." "Soon after Governor HARRISON arrived here he was concerned about the education of his children, as were Judges Clark and VanderBurgh, and John Rice Jones. These men established a small school, that they afterwards called Jefferson Academy, the intent of which was to make an entry for federal assistance for general education in the territory. They knew that Ohio had gotten a land grant for that purpose. It was nearly five years later, 10 October 1806, that the Congress granted some 23,000 acres in Gibson County to what was 'to be called and known by the name, or style, of Vincennes University.'" "A smart, typical specimen of fine Indian manhood was Tecumseh, who with his brother, a self-styled prophet, had set up an Indian agency at 'The Prophet's Town,' at the mouth of the Tippecanoe River, above Lafayette, for reclaiming the land for the Indians. "The Prophet had called on the governor a few times, but in August 1810 Tecumseh arrived for a conference. The governor offered his enclosed garden on the river bank as a place for the council with Tecumseh and his seventy warriors, but the Indian preferred the native setting, the walnut grove towards the village. "The council lasted three days." "At this point he had challenged the government, and HARRISON felt obliged to answer, or, at least, explain matters. He explained the nature of the treaties, and the bill of sale. The governor defended the terms of the treaties as being legitimate, fair, and uniform. It was at this point that Tecumseh cried out: 'He lies.' Joseph Barron, the ablest of interpreters, endeavored to have Tecumseh qualify the statement. The chief refused, but the warriors understood him, and moved in to support Tecumseh, and there was a moment of intense expectation. HARRISON's guards, made up of the army, and armed citizens, came to attention, but the governor bade them be at rest, and terminated the council. "Now on the next morning, it appears, through the persuading of Barron, that Tecumseh presented and apology to the governor, and asked for another day's council. Both were granted by the governor. On this fourth day, to justify his insulting remark to HARRISON, Tecumseh said that a white Indian agent up north, and a local land speculator, had declared the treaties to be fraudulent. The governor then explained that the treaties were the dealings between a red chief and a white chief, and what wasgood enough for one ought to be good enough for the other, but, nevertheless, he would refer the entire matter to the Big Chief in Washington. Tecumseh was not placated, and the council ended. The next day, Tecumseh and his warriors returned north. "Now, some of the Old French handed down their views on the council, and contended that Tecumseh's shouting that the governor 'lied' was no more than the Indian's crude way of denying that the treaties were just for the Indians, that it was a matter for each side to judge. Nevertheless, the close friends agreed with HARRISON that the 'cold' war might become a 'hot' one." "In September the governor made the treaty with Delaware, Pottawatomy, Miami, and Eel River Indians." "In June 1811, the government sent a boat laden with annuity salt for the Delaware and Pottawatomy Indians up north, which stopped to make some good will gifts to The Prophet." "Tecumseh was encouraged by this gift, and thought that the federal government was weakening in its hold on Indian lands. He came down to see the governor in July, and told him that more and more Indians were bent on reclaiming their lands. He left Vincennes, and went down the river. This council scene aroused the citizens to send resolutions to Washington calling for the subduing of Tecumseh and The Prophet." "When HARRISON saw that Tecumseh went to the south, he decided to ask the War Department for soldiers. It was possible that Tecumseh could stir up many tribes throughout the south against the whites, or, at least, the number or warriors at Prophet's Town could get beyond an easy handling. He though that The Prophet should be shown, by the presence of many men in arms, that the United States intended to keep the lands that were believed to have been purchased legally from the Indian chiefs, and that, it the numbers were not convincing, he would accept their challenge to do battle. The War Department accepted his proposal, but urged a victory without war. "The governor authorized a call for civilian volunteers, and left Vincennes at the head of just over 900 men in arms. About 250 were U.S. Regulars, 60 from Old Kentucky, and the balance were from Indiana Territory. These left from here and from Fort Knox II on 26 September 1811. "There is but little reason to doubt that they took the old Ouiatanon Trail, which was on the second plane in the Wabash River valley, just west of the Donation Lands as marked on the Government Survey of 1804. The day's average march was about ten miles. The first night's camp is not placed in any diary. Tradition places it at 'the Harrison Rock and springs' southwest of present Busseron; another places it up Maria Creek at the Apraw Trail. The other camps were on the Gill-Shakertown crossing at Busseron Creek, the Big Springs neat Merom Bluffs, a place whose name I cannot recall, then at, or near, Vigo in present Vigo County, finally camping at an old Indian battleground site just above Terre Haute, where the army arrived on 2 October. It is remembered that the trail was not wide, nor was it direct." "The army arrived within view of Prophet's Town on 6 November. "The Indians were expecting him, and sent a peace delegation asking for a council on the morrow. Squaws and children were seen in the town, and all indications were that no battle was contemplated. The offer was accepted but the governor had his own thoughts. He had learned that the Indians were want to attack just at the break of day. "He ordered camp set on the site chosen by his aide, Marston G. Clark. It was on a height on the banks of the Burnett Creek, surrounded by lowlands. In Indian country there was no safe place for a camp. The men were ordered to sleep on their arms; camp fires were lit; it began to rain. "The governor had also learned from General Wayne that a commander should never be caught sleeping in Indian country. He may, or may not, have slept, but it is recorded that he was pulling on his boots at 4 a.m., at which moment, surprising to all, a few shots were heard, then the fiendish yells of the savages blasted the night's air. His soldiers were aroused to action, camp fires were snuffed, and the battle was in pitch darkness. Led by Chiefs Winamac, Stone Eater, and White Loon, the Indians made fierce attacks. HARRISON was in the midst of his men directing, closing the lines, and placing units in a more effective defense. Colonel Abraham Owen was shot dead at the side of HARRISON." "It was a short, but deadly, battle. 62 Americans died, and 126 were wounded, many of whom died later on, enroute to, or at Vincennes. The Indian losses were counted at half that number. "After the battle, the governor thought Indian reinforcements might yet come for a counter-attack. He ordered his men to bury the dead, nurse the wounded, and fortify the camp for another night out. But none was allowed to sleep. "The next day, the men entered the town. All the Indians were gone, and so were HARRISON's beeves. Horse flesh was on the daily menu until the army reached Fort Harrison." "On the 18th, HARRISON arrived at Old Bosseron in Sullivan County (where most of the remaining troops were discharged.)" "There was a furor in Vincennes. (Many) were indignant over the loss of so many prominent men at Tippecanoe and the ineffectiveness of the battle, and felt that HARRISON should have spent more time to drill and train the volunteer units. Regardless of the local controversy, HARRISON's militiamen from all over stood by him, and it was their help that, later on, gave him the highest rank men can bestow on a fellowman, the President of the United States. "On 24 September 1812, Governor HARRISON was appointed Commander-in-chief with the title of General, in the Northwest Army of the United States. He resigned as governor, and took to the field; he never resided in Vincennes after that." "It was the first governor, now a Congressman from Ohio, WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, who introduced the resolution in Congress that admitted Indiana as the 19th State in the Union as of December 11, 1816." "In 1835, Colonel Johnson was bent on becoming President. At Indianapolis there was to be an anniversary celebration of the Battle of the Thames, and he was to be the hero. Someone on the committee thought that the presence of General HARRISON at this celebration might enhance the greatness of their hero-candidate. The invitation was sent. But the General felt that he had to tell the truth of matters. Johnson had done nothing on the battlefield except to carry out the general's orders, and the victory belonged to none but the American army. The good old boys who had fought so bravely for our country under HARRISON at Tippecanoe and on the Thames were now recognized by all the people. There was an almost fanatical regard for them, and they recognized that any of their greatness came from their brilliant general. Why should he not be the next President? "Martin VanBuren defeated HARRISON that year, but the old general came back at the next convention and carried away the nomination that place him in the White House as the ninth President of the greatest nation in the world. "But the President was too old, and too happy. The President's Ball continued on and on till the break of day. He would not leave those happy folks; it laid him low. It was a cold, wet night, and pneumonia took him from the land of the living in one short month after him inauguration." (From "Old Vincennes" by Joseph Henry Vanderburgh Somes) "From early manhood, HARRISON had been an officeholder of an office seeker. Son of BENJAMIN HARRISON (a signer of the Declaration of Independence), educated at Hampden Sydney College in Virginia, WILLIAM HENRY had cast in his lot with the West. He had been secretary of the Northwest Territory, a Representative and Senator to the Congress of the United States, and minister to Columbia. Still more to the point of popular politics, he had defeated Indians at the battle of Tippecanoe and had commanded American troops in the War of 1812. In the evening of life he resided in a comfortable house in Ohio--a house with a log wing. "Here was the man for the Whig directors--a military hero and a log cabin farmer, whose ideas on political issues were nebulous. The only problem, as the former head of the defunct United States Bank, Nicholas Biddle, put it, was to keep HARRISON from saying or writing anything on the issues of the day. In a whirlwind campaign, based on the appeal of log cabins, hard cider, coon-skins, and military glory, the Whigs outwitted Van Buren and put HARRISON into the White House. But alas for designs, HARRISON survived the ordeal for only one month, and dying, left his high office to John Tyler, the Vice President, on April 4, 1841. (From "Mr. President: The Presidents In American History) Harrison, William Henry (1773-1841), ninth president of the United States (1841). His claim to fame rests not on his administration—for he died of pneumonia one month after his inauguration—but on the strange campaign by which in 1840 he attained the high office. A minor military hero, he rode to glory by saying nothing (General Mum, his critics called him),while his party, the Whigs, capitalized on a propaganda blunder by their Democratic opponents to proclaim Harrison a simple man used to living in a log cabin. Harrison was born on February 9, 1773, to one of the wealthiest, most prestigious, and most influential families in Virginia, on a great plantation in Berkeley County. From the early 17th century on, the Harrisons had accumulated vast landholdings, occupied the highest political and judicial positions, and intermarried with the leading families of Virginia. William Henry's youthful military career and his appointment, when he was not yet 30 years old, to the prominent post of governor of Indiana Territory were due more to the influence of his father, Benjamin Harrison, who had been governor of Virginia, than to any military or administrative talent that he himself had demonstrated. Military Hero Harrison had a modest career that was lighted up on two occasions by significant military successes. After devoting his tenure as territorial governor to negotiating the western Native American tribes out of millions of acres, he commanded a force of militia and regulars that put down a Shawnee uprising at Tippecanoe, Indiana, in 1811. Although Harrison's own policies as governor had helped provoke the rebellion, his victory won him a reputation that helped vault him to the presidency a generation later. In the year following the outbreak of the War of 1812, Harrison won another important battle, fought near the Thames River in the province of Ontario, Canada, that ensured continued American control of the western territory. Although Harrison's career was moderately successful—he was several times elected to the Ohio Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives—his life at this time was beset by financial difficulties. For a short period in 1828 he served as minister to Colombia, but President John Quincy Adams, who appointed him to the diplomatic post because of his connections, had low regard for Harrison's ability, and this poor opinion was shared by political figures in Washington, D.C. The nation, however, remembered his military exploits, and in the mid-1830s and again in 1840 Whig party managers decided to exploit them. As one of a number of Whig candidates in 1836, Harrison was an also-ran. In 1840, however, benefiting from the artful campaign tactics of his party, Harrison succeeded. The 1840 Campaign Seeking victory at almost any price, the Whig party in 1840 passed over Henry Clay, its true leader, choosing the aging general instead. To appeal to the South, they chose a states' rights southern Democrat, John Tyler, as his running mate. Convinced that they could win by blaming the severe economic depression on the policies of President Martin Van Buren, they also derided “Van” for his alleged aristocratic manners, commanded Harrison to be silent on the issues, refused to present a party platform, and waged a rousing campaign, using the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” Taking advantage of a sneering Democratic reference to Harrison as a man content to sit in his log cabin sipping hard cider, the Whigs' propaganda transformed the Virginia aristocrat into a poor farmer. Seldom has demogoguery paid off so well. Perhaps Harrison's most significant act in his abbreviated term—he died on April 4, 1841—was his appointment of Daniel Webster as secretary of state. Contributed by: Edward Pessen "Harrison, William Henry" Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.

William Henry Harrison and Anne Tuthill Symmes had the following children:

26 i. Elizabeth Bassett⁷ Harrison (#1120) was born in Fort Washington, Ohio, United States September 29, 1796.⁽³⁹⁵⁾ Elizabeth died September 27, 1846 at 49 years of age.⁽³⁹⁶⁾ She married John Cleves Short June 29, 1814.⁽³⁹⁷⁾ (John Cleves Short is #1240.) John was born 1792.⁽³⁹⁸⁾ John was the son of Peyton Short. John died 1864 at 72 years of age.⁽³⁹⁹⁾

27 ii. John Cleve Symmes Harrison (#888) was born in Fort Washington, Ohio, United States October 28, 1798.⁽⁴⁰⁰⁾ John died October 30, 1830 at 32 years of age.⁽⁴⁰¹⁾ He married Clarissa Pike September 29, 1819.⁽⁴⁰²⁾ (Clarissa Pike is #890.) Clarissa was born February 24, 1803.⁽⁴⁰³⁾ Clarissa was the daughter of Zebulon Pike. Clarissa died February 1, 1837 at 33 years of age.⁽⁴⁰⁴⁾

28 iii. Lucy Singleton Harrison (#1121) was born in Richmond, Virginia September 5, 1800.⁽⁴⁰⁵⁾ Lucy died April 7, 1826 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, at 25 years of age.⁽⁴⁰⁶⁾ She married David K. Estes September 30, 1819.⁽⁴⁰⁷⁾ (David K. Estes is #1241.) David was born in Morristown, New Jersey 1786.⁽⁴⁰⁸⁾ David died April 1, 1876 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, at 89 years of age.⁽⁴⁰⁹⁾

29 iv. William Henry Harrison, Jr. (#1122) was born in Vincennes, Gibson County, Indiana, United States September 3, 1802.⁽⁴¹⁰⁾ William died February 6, 1838 in North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, at 35 years of age.⁽⁴¹¹⁾ He married Jane Findlay Irwin February 18, 1824.⁽⁴¹²⁾ (Jane Findlay Irwin is #1242.) Jane was born 1804.⁽⁴¹³⁾ Jane died 1846 at 42 years of age.⁽⁴¹⁴⁾

+ 30 v. John Scott Harrison was born October 4, 1804.

31 vi. Benjamin Harrison (#1248) was born in Vincennes, Gibson County, Indiana, United States May 5, 1806.⁽⁴¹⁵⁾ Benjamin died June 9, 1840 at 34 years of age.⁽⁴¹⁶⁾ He married twice. He married Mary Raney. (Mary Raney is #1249.) He married Louisa Smith Bonner. (Louisa Smith Bonner is #1250.)

32 vii. Mary Symmes Harrison (#1124) was born in Vincennes, Gibson County, Indiana, United States January 28, 1809.⁽⁴¹⁷⁾ Mary died November 16, 1842 at 33 years of age.⁽⁴¹⁸⁾ She married John Henry Fitzhugh Thornton March 5, 1829.⁽⁴¹⁹⁾ (John Henry Fitzhugh Thornton is #1123.) John was born June 8, 1798.⁽⁴²⁰⁾ John died December 6, 1871 at 73 years of age.⁽⁴²¹⁾

33 viii. Carter Bassett Harrison (#1243) was born in Vincennes, Gibson County, Indiana, United States October 26, 1811.⁽⁴²²⁾ Carter died August 12, 1839 at 27 years of age.⁽⁴²³⁾ He married Mary Anne Sutherland June 16, 1836.⁽⁴²⁴⁾ (Mary Anne Sutherland is #1244.) Mary was born 1814.⁽⁴²⁵⁾ Mary died 1893 at 79 years of age.⁽⁴²⁶⁾

34 ix. Anna Tuthill Harrison (#1245) was born in North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States October 28, 1813.⁽⁴²⁷⁾ Anna died July 5, 1865 at 51 years of age.⁽⁴²⁸⁾ She married William Henry Harrison Taylor June 16, 1836.⁽⁴²⁹⁾ (William Henry Harrison Taylor is #1246.) William was born 1813.⁽⁴³⁰⁾ William died 1894 at 81 years of age.⁽⁴³¹⁾

35 x. James Findlay Harrison (#1247) was born in North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States May 15, 1814.⁽⁴³²⁾ James died April 6, 1819 at 4 years of age.⁽⁴³³⁾

+ 36 xi. Joseph H. Harrison was born 1817.

Send email to preparer: chaney.genes@galaxycorp.com

Return to Table of Contents or Index

Go to Next Page

Go to Previous Page