Harrison family of Virginia

The Harrison family is a prominent political family in U.S. history. Among the First Families of Virginia, they came to the Colony of Virginia in 1630 when Benjamin Harrison (the first of many to bear that name) left England for the Americas.

His son, Benjamin Harrison Jr., begat Benjamin Harrison III, who begat Colonel Benjamin Harrison IV in 1693. His son is known in modern times as Benjamin Harrison V, and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. For the next two centuries the Harrisons would play some role in American political history.

Most famously, the Harrison family produced numerous Governors of Virginia (serving during both the Colonial era and after independence), as well as two U.S. Presidents; William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison.

The family has a longer recorded heritage in politics, however. Their earliest notable ancestor is the thirteenth century Baron Robert II de Holland, also an ancestor to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, and Winston Churchill.

By marriage they are related to the Lee family, the , and Randolph family.

Plantation, namings

Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia, the site in 1619 of the first Thanksgiving in what is now the United States, was long the seat of the Harrison family. Nearby along Virginia State Route 5 and the Virginia Capital Trail, the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge, a major drawbridge across the James River, is named in honor of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States, as was U.S. Army Fort Benjamin Harrison near Indianapolis, Indiana. [ http://www.fhra.org/ ] [ http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/indianapolis/index.htm ]

Family tree (partial list of politically noteworthy persons)

*Reverend Dr. James Blair (1656-1743), born in Scotland, Highest ranking representative of the Church of England in Colony of Virginia as Commissary of the Bishop of London; he helped found and became First President of the College of William and Mary in 1693, married Sarah Harrison, daughter of Benjamin Harrison Jr (II)
*Philip Ludwell (1672-1726) married daughter of Benjamin Harrison II. (son of Philip Ludwell Royal Governor of the Colony of Carolina (predecessor of State of North Carolina)
*Peyton Randolph (1721-1775), Brother-in-law of Benjamin Harrison V, Delegate to the Continental Congress from Virginia 1774-1775.
*Benjamin Harrison V (1726-1791), Brother-in-law of Peyton Randolph, Delegate to the Continental Congress from Virginia 1774, member of the Virginia General Assembly 1776, Governor of Virginia 1782-1784.
*John Cleves Symmes (1742-1814), Father-in-law of William Henry Harrison, Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court 1777-1787, Delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey 1785-1786, Justice of the Northwest Territory Supreme Court 1788-1802.
**Carter Bassett Harrison (1752-1808), Son of Benjamin Harrison V, member of the Virginia General Assembly, U.S. Representative from Virginia 1793-1799.
**Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753-1813), Nephew of Peyton Randolph, Delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention 1776, Attorney General of Virginia 1776-1782, Delegate to the Continental Congress from Virginia 1779-1782, Governor of Virginia 1786-1788, Virginia House Delegate 1788, Attorney General of the United States 1789-1794, U.S. Secretary of State 1794-1795.
**Beverley Randolph (1754-1797), Nephew of Benjamin Harrison V, Governor of Virginia 1788-1791.
**Burwell Bassett (1764-1841), First cousin of William Henry Harrison, Virginia House Delegate 1787-1789 1819-1821, Virginia State Senator 1794-1805, U.S. Representative from Virginia 1805-1813 1815-1819 1821-1829.
**William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), son of Benjamin Harrison V, Secretary of the Northwest Territory 1798-1799, U.S. Congressional Delegate from the Northwest Territory 1799-1800, Governor of Indiana Territory 1801-1812, U.S. Representative from Ohio 1816-1819, Ohio State Senator 1819-1821, candidate for Governor of Ohio 1820, U.S. Senator from Ohio 1825-1828, U.S. Minister to Gran Colombia 1828-1829, candidate for President of the United States 1836, President of the United States 1841.
***John Scott Harrison (1804-1878), son of William Henry Harrison, U.S. Representative from Ohio 1853-1857.
***Carter Harrison, Sr. (1825-1893), grandnephew of Benjamin Harrison V, U.S. Representative from Illinois 1875-1879, Mayor of Chicago, Illinois 1879-1887 1893; candidate for Governor of Illinois 1884.
****Alvin Saunders (1817-1899), grandfather of William H. Harrison, delegate to the Iowa Constitutional Convention 1846, Iowa State Senator 1854-1856 1858-1860, delegate to the Republican National Convention 1860 1868, Governor of Nebraska Territory 1861-1867, U.S. Senator from Nebraska 1877-1883.
****Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901), son of John Scott Harrison, candidate for Governor of Indiana 1876, U.S. Senator from Indiana 1881-1887, President of the United States 1889-1893.
*****Carter Harrison, Jr. (1860-1953), son of Carter Harrison, Sr., Mayor of Chicago, Illinois 1897-1905 1911-1915; delegate to the Democratic National Convention 1916 1920 1932 1936.
******William H. Harrison (1896-1990), Grandson of Alvin Saunders and President Benjamin Harrison. Indiana State Representative 1927-1929, Wyoming State Representative 1945-1950, U.S. Representative from Wyoming 1951-1955 1961-1965 1967-1969, candidate for U.S. Senate from Wyoming 1954.

NOTE: William Henry Harrison was also fourth cousin once removed of U.S. President John Tyler, his Vice-President, who succeeded him after he died very soon after taking office.

ee also

*List of United States political families

References