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| Benjamin Harrison |
| 23rd President of The United States 1889-1893 |
Benjamin Harrison was born on August 20, 1833 in North Bend, Ohio. He was the second
of eight children. He was also the grandson of President William Henry Harrison and great
grandson of revolutionary leader and former Virginia governor Benjamin Harrison. His early
schooling took place in a one room schoolhouse near his home. After graduating from Miami
University in Oxford, Ohio, he took up the study of law in the Cincinnati law office of Storer and
Gwynne. Before completing his law studies, he married Caroline Lavinia Scott who was the
daughter of a Presbyterian minister in 1853. During their married life they had two children,
Russell and Mary, known as Mamie. He was admitted to the bar and began practicing law.
He joined the Republican Party shortly after its formation in 1856. He supported Abraham
LIncoln for president. In 1862, he joined the Seventieth Regiment of the Indiana Volunteers
during the Civil War, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier general. After the war, he ran for
Governor of Indiana. He lost that race but became influential with the new Republican party.
In 1880, he was named to the United States Senate by the Indiana State legislature. ( Note:
Senators were not elected by popular vote until 1913.) He championed pensions for Civil
War veterans, high protective tariffs, a modernized navy, and conservation of western lands.
Harrison won the 1888 presidential election by carrying the Electoral College. Harrison
advocated the conservation of forest reserves, and he embarked on an adventurous foreign
policy that included U.S. expansion in the Pacific and the building of a canal across Central
America. He also supported the landmark Sherman Antitrust Act, the first bill ever to attempt
to limit the power of America's giant corporations. In the area of civil rights for African
Americans, Harrison endorsed two bills designed to prevent southern states from denying
African Americans the vote, and he appointed the great and eloquent former slave Frederick
Douglass as minister to Haiti.
On the international front, he convened the first Pan-American Conference in 1889. He
negotiated an American protectorate over the Samoan Islands, attempted to annex Hawaii,
and continued the work of modernizing and expanding the United States Navy. Most
importantly, he saw trade as an essential part of the nation's foreign policy and negotiated a
number of important reciprocal trade agreements that set the pattern for American trade
policy.
In 1892, he lost his bid for re-election for president and during this time his wife Caroline,
had passed away. He returned home to Indianapolis after leaving the White House in 1893.
After some years, he married again. Her name was Mary Lord. Together, they had a
daughter, Elizabeth. He remained active in public life until his death from pneumonia in 1901.
of eight children. He was also the grandson of President William Henry Harrison and great
grandson of revolutionary leader and former Virginia governor Benjamin Harrison. His early
schooling took place in a one room schoolhouse near his home. After graduating from Miami
University in Oxford, Ohio, he took up the study of law in the Cincinnati law office of Storer and
Gwynne. Before completing his law studies, he married Caroline Lavinia Scott who was the
daughter of a Presbyterian minister in 1853. During their married life they had two children,
Russell and Mary, known as Mamie. He was admitted to the bar and began practicing law.
He joined the Republican Party shortly after its formation in 1856. He supported Abraham
LIncoln for president. In 1862, he joined the Seventieth Regiment of the Indiana Volunteers
during the Civil War, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier general. After the war, he ran for
Governor of Indiana. He lost that race but became influential with the new Republican party.
In 1880, he was named to the United States Senate by the Indiana State legislature. ( Note:
Senators were not elected by popular vote until 1913.) He championed pensions for Civil
War veterans, high protective tariffs, a modernized navy, and conservation of western lands.
Harrison won the 1888 presidential election by carrying the Electoral College. Harrison
advocated the conservation of forest reserves, and he embarked on an adventurous foreign
policy that included U.S. expansion in the Pacific and the building of a canal across Central
America. He also supported the landmark Sherman Antitrust Act, the first bill ever to attempt
to limit the power of America's giant corporations. In the area of civil rights for African
Americans, Harrison endorsed two bills designed to prevent southern states from denying
African Americans the vote, and he appointed the great and eloquent former slave Frederick
Douglass as minister to Haiti.
On the international front, he convened the first Pan-American Conference in 1889. He
negotiated an American protectorate over the Samoan Islands, attempted to annex Hawaii,
and continued the work of modernizing and expanding the United States Navy. Most
importantly, he saw trade as an essential part of the nation's foreign policy and negotiated a
number of important reciprocal trade agreements that set the pattern for American trade
policy.
In 1892, he lost his bid for re-election for president and during this time his wife Caroline,
had passed away. He returned home to Indianapolis after leaving the White House in 1893.
After some years, he married again. Her name was Mary Lord. Together, they had a
daughter, Elizabeth. He remained active in public life until his death from pneumonia in 1901.
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| The Harrison’s home in Indianapolis, Indiana |
