Dromo's Den

[Up] [Dromo's Den]

William Henry Harrison Biography

William Henry Harrison Image

HARRISON, WILLIAM HENRY (1773-1841). Ninth President of the United States. He was the son of Benjamin Harrison (1740-91), a signer of the Declaration of Independence; was born at Berkeley, Charles City Co., Va., Feb. 9, 1773; was educated at Hampden-Sidney College and, although the profession of medicine had been chosen for him, entered the army as an ensign in 1791, became a lieutenant in June, 1792, and served against the Indians as an aid-de-camp on the staff of General Wayne, taking part in the battle of the Maumee and in other engagements, and becoming a captain in May, 1797. Resigning in June, 1798, he was soon appointed Secretary of the Northwest Territory under Gen. Arthur St. Clair, but in October, 1799, resigned that position to become a Territorial Delegate in Congress, where, in May, 1800, he secured the passage of a law encouraging the sale of land in sections or half sections to actual settlers. The same year he was appointed Governor of Indiana Territory, which then comprised the region later embraced in the States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and for a time subsequent to the Treaty of 1803 his jurisdiction also extended over that part of the lands then acquired from France by the Louisiana Purchase (q.v.), which was known as the District of Louisiana. Harrison's executive work in the Northwest continued until September, 1812, and was marked by conspicuous success in a variety of difficult undertakings, in which he secured the hearty appreciation of the people affected by his administration and the marked approval of the national government. With the proslavery party he sought the establishment of a second-grade government, with a representative assembly, as a means of promoting slavery. The first law passed by that assembly (1805) was one in response to Harrison's first recommendation, that for preventing the sale of liquor to the Indians. In the courts, too, and on various occasions he urged justice to the red men. He concluded several treaties with the Indians by which a total amount of about 75,000 square miles of territory was ceded to the United States, the first among them being the Treaty of Fort Wayne, on June 7, 1803. Some of these cessions aroused the hostility of Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, who, it was alleged, were encouraged by the British, but after a few ineffectual conferences Harrison vanquished them at the battle of Tippecanoe (q.v.), Nov. 7, 1811. Upon the outbreak of the War of 1812 he became a major general of Kentucky militia and in August, 1812, was made a brigadier general in the regular army and soon afterward was appointed to the chief command in the Northwest, in which capacity, with the rank, after March, 1813, of major general, he was actively engaged during the Western campaigns of the war, becoming again conspicuous by his brave defense of Fort Meigs (q.v.) and by his complete victory over the British at the battle of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813. Harrison had thus repeatedly shown marked military talent, and the end of the war left him, next to Jackson, the most prominent military figure in American public life. Withdrawing, however, from the army, Harrison, in July, 1814, negotiated the second Treaty of Greenville, by which the Indians were detached from the British interest. From 1810 to 1819 he was a member of Congress from the district embracing Cincinnati, and from 1819 to 1821 he served in the State Senate. In 1825 he returned to Washington as Senator from Ohio, retaining this position until 1828, when he was sent as Minister to Colombia. Upon returning from that post in the following year, he retired for several years from public life. In 1835 he was nominated for the presidency by Whig conventions in Indiana, Ohio, and Maryland, and by an Antimasonic convention at Harrisburg, Pa., and in the ensuing election succeeded in carrying seven States--Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana- securing 73 electoral votes, as against 170 given to Van Buren and 51 divided among the three other candidates. Moreover, the popular vote for Harrison in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania approached very closely, and in Illinois and New York compared favorably with, that of Van Buren. When, finally, the financial policy of Jackson and Van Buren brought such disastrous results as to turn against the administration a large portion of the people, the situation became particularly favorable for whoever might be nominated by the Whig party in 1840. Although in many respects Henry Clay appeared as the leader of the party, he could not command its complete support as a presidential candidate, and accordingly, in the interest of harmony, he refrained from an active contest and left Harrison as the leading candidate for the nomination. The Whig Convention met at Harrisburg, Dec. 4, 1839, and comprised 254 delegates. The "unit rule" was introduced, and upon the first ballot Henry Clay received 103 votes, General Harrison 94, and General Scott 57. On the fifth ballot, during the third day of the convention, Harrison received 14S votes, Clay 90, and Scott 16, and Harrison was accordingly declared the nominee of the party. There forthwith began a political campaign which for popular enthusiasm and widespread activity has probably never been equaled in American politics. Throughout the country meetings, processions, and a great variety of "demonstrations" were held, and the general public took an energetic share in the contest. New campaign methods were introduced, and the log cabin and hard cider became especial emblems of the party of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." The "stump speaker" was a prominent feature of this new method of campaigning, even General Harrison himself making a series of addresses. The early State elections in some of the New England States and in Ohio and Kentucky resulted in Whig victories, and in the presidential election Van Buren carried only seven States, of which but two were Northern States, with a total electoral vote of only 60, as against the 234 votes secured by Harrison. Although in good health at the time of his inauguration, General Harrison was taken ill, and died on April 4, 1841, the whole political situation being thus suddenly altered, and the Whig President being succeeded by John Tyler (q.v.), a former Democrat. William H. Harrison was the grandfather of President Benjamin Harrison.