Benjamin Harrison

Notable people · President · Military

Benjamin Harrison

Twenty-third president, grandson of William Henry Harrison, born at North Bend and educated at Miami University before making his career in Indiana.

Born August 20, 1833, North Bend
Died March 13, 1901, Indianapolis, IN

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: August 20, 1833, North Bend (Hamilton County) source
Died: March 13, 1901, Indianapolis, IN source
Buried: Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis source
Education: Farmer's College, near Cincinnati, OH, 1847-1849
: Miami University, Oxford, OH, 1850-1852, BA
Known as: President, Military
Organizations: Miami University

Life story

Benjamin Harrison was born in 1833 at North Bend, Ohio, the grandson of William Henry Harrison. He studied at Farmer's College near Cincinnati, then at Miami University in Oxford, graduating in 1852.

He married Caroline Scott in Oxford in 1853, was admitted to the Ohio bar, and in 1854 moved to Indianapolis, where he built his law practice and his political career.

In the Civil War he raised and led the 70th Indiana, fought in the Atlanta campaign, and was made brevet brigadier general in 1865. He served in the US Senate from 1881 to 1887 and defeated Grover Cleveland in 1888.

As president he signed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890. Cleveland beat him in 1892. He died in Indianapolis in 1901 and is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery.

Ohio ties

North Bend (1833-1847)
birthplace and boyhood on his father's farm, The Point Hamilton County · source
Farmer's College, near Cincinnati (c.1847-1850)
student; met Caroline Scott Hamilton County · source
Oxford (Miami University) (1850-1853)
student, graduated 1852; married Caroline Scott in Oxford 1853 Butler County · source
Cincinnati (1852-1854)
read law with Judge Bellamy Storer; admitted to the Ohio bar 1854 Hamilton County · source

Timeline

1833 Born August 20 at North Bend, Ohio, the second of ten children of John Scott Harrison. source
1847 Enrolled with his brother Irwin at Farmer's College near Cincinnati. source
1850 Transferred to Miami University in Oxford. source
1852 Graduated from Miami University, where he had joined Phi Delta Theta. source
1853 Married Caroline Scott on October 20 in Oxford; her father, a Presbyterian minister, performed the ceremony. source
1854 Admitted to the Ohio bar and moved with Caroline to Indianapolis. source
1858 The North Bend house where he was born was destroyed by fire. source
1878 His father John Scott Harrison's body was stolen from its North Bend grave and found at the Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati. source
1888 Lost the popular vote to Grover Cleveland but won the Electoral College. source
1901 Died March 13 at his Indianapolis home of complications of influenza. source

What Benjamin is known for

23rd US president
Union brevet brigadier general (confirmed 1865-02-14)
Signed the Sherman Antitrust Act 1890

Stories

Courtship in Oxford

Harrison met Caroline Scott at Farmer's College near Cincinnati. Her father, the Rev. John Witherspoon Scott, headed the Oxford Female Institute, chartered in 1849, and Harrison transferred to Miami University in the same town in 1850. Caroline was educated at the Institute and married Harrison in 1853 in her parents' home across the street from it. The Institute's 1850 brick building survives; Miami University bought it in 1928, the DAR rededicated it as the Caroline Scott Harrison Memorial in 1930, and since 2003 it has housed the Oxford Community Arts Center. Caroline, the first President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution, died in the White House in 1892.

Source

The body in the chute

Benjamin Harrison's father, John Scott Harrison, died at North Bend in May 1878 and was buried in the family tomb on Mount Nebo with heavy precautions against grave robbers. The day after the funeral a family search party, looking in Cincinnati for the stolen body of a neighbor, Augustus Devin, found John Scott Harrison's own body hanging from a rope in a chute at the Medical College of Ohio. It is often said that Benjamin was the son who found him, but the source treats that as uncertain. Lawsuits followed, and the case helped pass Ohio's Anatomy Law of 1881.

Source

Honors and things named for them

Brevet brigadier general (confirmed 1865-02-14)

Family

grandfather: William Henry Harrison
father: John Scott Harrison
wife: Caroline Scott Harrison
son: Russell Benjamin Harrison
daughter: Mary Scott Harrison

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 Ohio Historical Marker 47-31, William Henry Harrison / Benjamin Harrison
North Bend Hamilton County · source
Benjamin Harrison birthplace site, Symmes and Washington avenues (house burned 1858; Ohio Historical Society sign) (demolished)
North Bend Hamilton County · source
2 Oxford Female Institute / Caroline Scott Harrison Memorial (Oxford Community Arts Center), 10 S. College Ave.; Ohio Historical Marker 32-9
Oxford Butler County · source
3 William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial (grave of his father and grandparents)
North Bend Hamilton County · source

Ohio places

Where Benjamin Harrison was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Born: North Bend, Hamilton County ZIP 45052 · North Bend · Hamilton County
School: Oxford, Butler County (Miami University, class of 1852) ZIP 45056 · Oxford · Butler County

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Benjamin Harrison, and what the record shows.

Often said Benjamin Harrison was born in his grandfather William Henry Harrison's house at North Bend.

The record Sources agree he was born at North Bend on a farm owned by his grandfather, in a house that burned in 1858, but they differ on whose house it was; Wikipedia ties his boyhood to his father's farm, The Point, and no opened source fixes the exact spot beyond the marker at Symmes and Washington avenues. source

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

No known restrictions
Portrait photograph of president of the United States Benjamin Harrison
Public domain
Collection: Cornell University Collection of Political Americana, Cornell University Library Repository: Susan...
No known restrictions
Collection: Cornell University Collection of Political Americana, Cornell University Library Repository: Susan...
No known restrictions
Collection: Cornell University Collection of Political Americana, Cornell University Library Repository: Susan...
No known restrictions
Omschrijving: Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) was de 23e president van de Verenigde Staten van Amerika en regeer...
Public domain
Benjamin Harrison
Public domain
* Printmakers include H.B. Hall, Albert Rosenthal, Max Rosenthal. Draughtsman is David McNeely Stauffer. Title...
Public domain
Benjamin Harrison circa 1850s
Public domain
Title: Benjamin Harrison Abstract/medium: 1 photographic print on mount.
Public domain
President Harrison being rowed ashore at foot of Wall Street, New York, April 29, 1889.
Public domain
Benjamin Harrison, steel engraving by Henry Bryan Hall, Jr., 1889
Public domain