The birthplace of William Henry Harrison was in Charles City County, Virginia on his father's family plantation. The family plantation was called Berkeley. Berkeley Plantation is on the James River about 20 miles below Richmond.
His father, Benjamin Harrison, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His mother was Elizabeth Bassett Harrison, a member of one of the "first families" of Virginia.
On Nov. 22, 1795, William Henry Harrison married Anna Symmes, daughter of Judge
John Cleves Symmes. Judge Symmes was a land speculator with a patent for a vast acreage of Ohio land. He was not very pleased with his daughter's marriage. However over the next 19 years the Harrison's became parents to 10 children. The Harrisons' children included:
- Elizabeth Bassett Harrison Short b. 29 Sep 1796 d. 1846
- John Cleves Symmes Harrison b. 28 Oct 1798 d. 1830
- Lucy Singleton Harrison Estes b. 05 Sep 1800 d. 1826; born, during trip to the elder Harrison's Berkeley Plantation, in Richmond, on the banks of the James River
- William Henry Harrison b. 03 Sep 1802, in Vincennes, IN; d. 1838
- John Scott Harrison b. 04 Oct 1804, in Vincennes, IN; d. 1878 father of the 23rd president Benjamin Harrison
- Benjamin Harrison b. 08 Sep 1806 in Vincennes, IN; d. 1840
- Mary Symmes Harrison Thornton b. 1809 in Vincennes, IN; d. 1842
- Carter Bassett Harrison b. 26 Oct 1811 in Vincennes, IN; d. 1839
- Anna Tuthill Harrison Taylor b. 28 Oct 1813 in North Bend, IN; d. 1845
- James Findlay Harrison b. 21 Jun 1818 d. 06 Apr 1819 in North Bend, IN
When William Henry Harrison was 68 years old he was elected President and became the oldest man to be inaugurated as President. His wife, Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison, was too ill to go to Washington so he asked the widow of his son, William Henry Harrison, Jane Irwin Harrison to accompany him as hostess until his wife could come to Washington. He caught pneumonia during his inaugural address and died, one month after the inauguaration, on April 4, 1841. Anna Harrison was packing when she got the word of his death.
Mrs. Harrison lived for twenty more years. She stayed at her home in North Bend until the Harrison home burned in 1858. At that time she went to live nearby with her last surviving child, John Scott Harrison. She died there in February 1864 at the age of 88. John Scott Harrison was the father of Benjamin Harrison who later became the twenty-third President of the United States.
-
Born: February 9, 1773
Married: Anna Tuthill Symmes in 1795
Children: Elizabeth Bassett Harrison; John Cleves Symmes Harrison; Lucy Singleton Harrison; William Henry Harrison; John Scott Harrison; Benjamin Harrison; Mary Symmes Harrison Thornton; Carter Bassett Harrison; Anna Tuthill Harrison Taylor; James Findlay Harrison
Died: April 4, 1841
Buried: North Bend, Ohio
Years in office: March 4, 1841- April 4, 1841
Party: Whig
HOME
PAGE
