Harrison family of Virginia

Benjamin Harrison V (1726–1791) followed his father serving in the House of Burgesses, and then became known in the family as "the Signer" of the Declaration of Independence, from his representation of Virginia in the First and Second Continental Congresses. He was chosen Chairman of the Congress' Committee of the Whole and therefore presided over final deliberations of the Declaration. [4]

He was a rather corpulent and boisterous man; Delegate John Adams referred to him variously as the Congress' "Falstaff", and as "obscene", "profane", and "impious", although he allowed that "Harrison's contributions and many pleasantries steadied rough sessions" and also that Harrison "was descended from one of the most ancient, wealthy and respectable Families in the ancient dominion."[4] The genuine and mutual enmity between Adams and Harrison stemmed from Adams’ upbringing in aversion to human pleasures and Harrison's appreciation for storytelling, fine food, and wine. There was also a political distaste between them—Adams was too radical for Harrison and the latter was too conservative for Adams. The two therefore had distinctly opposing congressional alliances—Harrison with John Hancock and Adams with Richard Henry Lee.[4]

John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence (1819) Benjamin Harrison V is seated at the table far left.

Harrison was a friend and confidant of fellow-Virginian George Washington; in 1775 he joined Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Lynch on a select committee to help the newly appointed General Washington secure much needed enlistments and supplies for the Continental Army. [4][lower-alpha 5] Harrison also served on the Board of War with Adams, Roger Sherman, James Wilson, and Edward Rutledge, and on the Committee of Secret Correspondence with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Johnson, John Jay, Robert Morris, and John Dickinson[4]

Pennsylvania Delegate Benjamin Rush years later recalled the Congress’ atmosphere during a signing of the Declaration on August 2, 1776; he described a scene of “pensive and awful silence” which he said Harrison singularly interrupted, when delegates filed forward to inscribe what they thought was their ensuing death warrant. Rush related that Harrison said to the diminutive Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts as he was about to sign, "I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes and be with the Angels, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead."[19]

Harrison's family indeed experienced retaliation from the British, like many others, for his role in the revolution. Benedict Arnold and his forces pillaged many plantations, including Berkeley, with the intent of obliterating all images of the treasonous families. In January 1781, the troops removed every family portrait from Harrison's home and made a bonfire of them. Benjamin V later returned to the House of Burgesses and was elected Governor of Virginia (1781–1784).[20][lower-alpha 6]

His brother Nathaniel served as sheriff of Prince George County and in the House of Delegates as well as the Senate; he later settled in Amelia County.[21] Nathaniel's son Edmund served as Speaker in the House.[22]

Grandfather–grandson presidents

President William Henry Harrison

President Benjamin Harrison

The "Signer's" son Benjamin Harrison VI (1755–1799) was for a time a successful businessman and also served in the Virginia House of Delegates. His brother was General William Henry Harrison who was also born at Berkeley, and served as a congressional delegate for the Northwest Territory; he was appointed in 1800 as Governor of the Indiana Territory, and served in the War of 1812.[23][24] In the 1840 presidential election, William Henry defeated incumbent Martin Van Buren, but fell ill and died just one month into his presidency; Vice President John Tyler, a fellow Virginian and neighbor, succeeded him.[23] William Henry was the father of Ohio Congressman John Scott Harrison (1804–1878) who was the father of Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901), a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.[25] Benjamin also served in the U.S. Senate (1881–1887) and was elected president in 1888 after defeating incumbent Grover Cleveland.[26] According to his national obituaries, Albertis Harrison (1907–1995) was another descendant; he served in the Virginia Senate (1947–1957), was then elected Attorney General of Virginia (1957–1961) and later Governor (1962–1966). He was finally appointed Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court (1968–1981).[27][28]

Thomas earned his B.A. from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in 1638, then sailed to Virginia in 1640.[11] He was a Puritan and left his parishes and his chaplaincy at Jamestown following the 1644 Indian Massacre there. He moved to Boston near his brothers, married Dorothy Symonds, and later repatriated to England. In 1650, he had a parish at St. Dunstan-in-the-East, London, and joined the English Puritans. In 1655, then a widower, he became the Chaplain for Henry Cromwell, accompanied him to Ireland, and there resided with the Governor and his family.[7]

Thomas also formed a close friendship with famed author and cleric, Bishop Jeremy Taylor. Taylor biographer Edmund Gosse indicated that Thomas "was rewarded by Governor Cromwell's confidence, and his advice was often asked for and acted upon. When in 1658 he published his extremely popular manual of piety, Topica Sacra, he was the most popular divine in Ireland."[7] Topica Sacra publicized Thomas as a robust and forceful cleric of his time. In an age of piety, the book invokes Job's insistence upon God's answers. Thomas was likewise confrontational in his prayers and, according to Gosse, was willing to "catechize" God for insight into His words. Thomas’ work was dedicated to Cromwell and was reprinted on its centennial.[7]

In 1659, he married Katherine Bradshaw and resided in Chester, England. He later settled in Dublin and probably fathered a son named Isaiah in 1666, who was the patriarch of the Virginia Harrisons of the Shenandoah Valley. Thomas died in Dublin in 1682.[30]

J. Houston Harrison cites historian John Peyton who contended that the Valley Harrisons instead descended from Major General Thomas Harrison (1616–1660) who was born in the same year as the Reverend and whose wife was also named Katherine. The General participated in the regicide of King Charles I of England, and was therefore hanged, drawn and quartered in 1660. The Reverend's position as a non-conformist would have made them allies concerning the monarchy, which adds to the confusion of their identities. But no record is found at the Herald's College showing a pedigree and succeeding coat of arms for the General's family, as in the case of the Reverend. Also, no other lineage to the General has been adequately shown, and the notion is therefore discredited.[31]

Daniel Harrison House in Dayton, Virginia

The strongest evidence (though circumstantial5 for lack of a birth record) is that Reverend Thomas Harrison was the father of Isaiah Harrison (1666–1738), who was born in Dublin at the time of Thomas' residence and marriage there. Thomas' use of the name Isaiah for his son was highly atypical—the name is otherwise non-existent in family records to that time. However the name was quite in keeping with Puritan and non-conformist beliefs with which Thomas identified.[32][lower-alpha 7]

Isaiah may well have sailed from Dublin for New York in 1687, on the ship The Spotted Calf. His departure, following his father's death, was also a timely consequence of his father's position as a non-conformist. Isaiah Harrison is definitively shown at Oyster Bay on Long Island in 1687—this is the very same area from which his father Thomas had departed on his return to England forty years earlier.[33]

Harrisonburg historical marker notes founding by Thomas Harrison

The family of Richard Harrison lived just across Long Island Sound in New Haven, Connecticut. Richard arrived in Connecticut in 1644 and was Isaiah's uncle. John Harrison is shown in Flushing in 1685, and Samuel at Gloucester, New York in 1688.[31] There are records in Dublin which show Thomas' consistent and very unique spelling of Harrison with the double "s", not otherwise found in Ireland or England. Isaiah and his children utilized this same spelling in their American court records.[32][34]

Isaiah's first wife was Elizabeth Wright, with whom he had five children: Isaiah (b.1689), John (1691–1771), Gideon (1694–1729), Mary (1696–1781), and Elizabeth (b.1698).[35] Isaiah's wife Elizabeth died shortly after the birth of her youngest. Isaiah married Abigail Smith in 1700 and they had five children:[lower-alpha 8] Daniel (1701–1770), Thomas (1704–1785), Jeremiah (1707–1777), Abigail (1710–1780), and Samuel (1712–1790). The family lived at Oyster Bay for 14 years, then moved to Smithtown, New York near the Nissequogue River on Long Island, and remained for 19 years. They moved to Sussex County, Delaware in 1721, where Isaiah acquired the Maiden Plantation near the town of Lewes, and daughter Abigail married Alexander Herring (1708–1780).[36]

The Harrison family moved to the Valley of Virginia in 1737 via Alexandria, and camped in the Luray area while waiting for their land grants to be finalized. Isaiah died in 1738 and was buried on the banks of the Shenandoah River. Son John settled at Great Spring, and Samuel settled at nearby Linville. Elvis Presley, often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", descended from John and his wife Phoebe, through the Tunis Hood family[37] and Vernon Presley.[38] Isaiah’s son Daniel made the family's first Virginia land acquisition in 1739 in Rockingham County, and he and brother Thomas founded the towns of Dayton and Harrisonburg respectively.[31] Daniel used the "Durham arms" as his seal for the legal documents in Rockingham.[39]

Harrison descendant, President Abraham Lincoln

Abigail Harrison and her husband Alexander Herring settled at Linville also. Their daughter Bathsheba (1742–1836) married Captain Abraham Lincoln (1744–1786), also of Linville, and they had son Thomas (1778–1851) who married Nancy Hanks (1783–1818).[40][41] They gave birth to Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) who became president in 1860.[40][41] In his brief autobiography, Lincoln had his own take on his Virginia family roots: "My parents were both born in Virginia of undistinguished families... [m]y paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia...."[42]

During his final years as a prairie lawyer Lincoln's reputation was elevated in the lead-up to his presidential campaign by his success in a sensational murder trial involving a Harrison relative.[43] Lincoln in 1859 represented his third cousin Simeon Quinn “Peachy” Harrison.[lower-alpha 9] Peachy was as well the grandson of a political rival, Rev. Peter Cartwright.[45] Harrison was charged with the murder of Greek Crafton, whom he mortally wounded with a knife after suffering repeated assaults by Crafton. As Crafton lay dying of his wounds, he confessed to Cartwright that he was responsible for provoking Harrison. Lincoln called Cartwright to testify as to the confession but the judge initially denied its use as inadmissible hearsay. Lincoln succeeded in obtaining an acquittal after arguing with the judge, to the point of risking contempt, but ultimately convincing him to admit the testimony and confession as a dying declaration.[43]

Daniel Harrison served as a Captain in the French and Indian War and later as a deputy sheriff in Augusta County. Brother Thomas was a lieutenant in that conflict. Daniel's son “Col. Benjamin” (1741–1819) was a regimental commander in the Virginia Militia during the revolution, and then was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.[46]

Univ. of Va. Prof. Gessner Harrison

Among their descendants were physicians and educators, including Benjamin's son, Peachy Harrison (1777–1848), the great-uncle and namesake of Lincoln's aforementioned client; in addition to his medical practice he was county sheriff and served as well at the House of Delegates, the Virginia Senate, and the state's Constitutional Convention.[47] The latter's son, Dr. Gessner Harrison (1807–1862), graduated with an M.D. and LL.D. from the University of Virginia, and in 1828 was appointed by the school's rector, James Madison, as a professor. He was highly regarded in the classics and linguistics, and served as faculty chairman. The devout Gessner is also remembered for declining Thomas Jefferson’s invitation to Sunday dinner at Monticello, saying it would represent a desecration of the sabbath. Jefferson promptly commended him for his "filial piety" and arranged it for another evening. Gessner's family became a fixture in Jefferson's “Academical village.”[48]

Gessner married Prof. George Tucker’s daughter Eliza, and their daughter Mary Stuart (1834–1917) married Prof. Francis Smith. She became a noted author and translator at the university; she was also among the nation’s early advocates for women’s rights, speaking on behalf of Virginia women in Chicago at the 1893 World’s Congress of Women.[49][lower-alpha 10] Mary Stuart’s daughter, Rosalie Smith (1870–1956), married a descendant of the James River family, Dr. Isaac Carrington Harrison (1870–1949), the first of three by that name to take an M.D. at the university.[51] His son J. Hartwell Harrison (1909–1984) became a professor of surgery at Harvard University, and chief of the Urology Dept. at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He was a member of the surgical team which in 1954 brought kidney transplantation to the world; his primary role was surgeon for the donor. He later was the Editor-in-chief of the textbook Campbell's Urology.[52]

• Bruce, Philip A., The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Virginia Historical Society, Vol. 2, No. 3, Jan. 1895.
• Calhoun, Charles William (2005). Benjamin Harrison. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-8050-6952-5.
• Dekle, George R. "Abraham Lincoln's Last Murder Case:News Reports". Illinois State Register & Illinois State Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
• Dowdey, Clifford, "The Great Plantation", Rinehart & Co., 1957
• Gugin, Linda C.; St. Clair, James E., eds. (2006). The Governors of Indiana. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press and the Indiana Historical Bureau. ISBN 0-87195-196-7.
• Guralnick, Peter; Jorgensen, Ernst (1999). Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of His Life and Music. Ballantine.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Harrison, Francis Burton, "Rev. Thomas Harrison, Berkeley's 'Chaplain'", Virginia Historical Society, Vol. 53, No. 4, Oct. 1945, pp. 302–311 [kinship is noted].
• Harrison, Francis Burton, "Benjamin Harrison of Gobions Manor”, Virginia Historical Society, Vol. 54, No. 4, Oct. 1946 [kinship is noted]
• Harrison, J. Houston (1935). Settlers by the Long Grey Trail. Joseph K. Ruebush Co.. [The author's kinship is noted; an extensive bibliography (pp. 619–627) is also noted, as well as a heavy reliance upon public records.]
• History.com Editors. "U.S. Presidents–Benjamin Harrison". A & E Television Networks. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
• Hood, Dellman O., The Tunis Hood Family: Its Lineage and Traditions, Metropolitan Press, 1960
• Keith, Charles P., “Ancestry of President Benjamin Harrison”, Lippincott Co., 1893
• Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. New York: Vintage Books a Division of Random House, Inc., 2003.
• Lincoln, Abraham. "Short Autobiography, 1859". The History Place. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
• McConathy, Ruth H., Supplement to the House of Cravens, University of Wisconsin, 1972
• Smith, Howard W., "Benjamin Harrison and the American Revolution". Edward M. Riley, editor. Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1978.
• Moore, Anne Chieko; Hale, Hester Anne (2006). Benjamin Harrison: Centennial President. Nova Publishers. ISBN 978-1-6002-1066-2.
• Smith, Mary Stuart (1893). Eagle, Mary K. O. (ed.). The Congress of Women: The Virginia Woman Today. Philadelphia: S. I. Bell. pp. 410–411.
• Wayland, John W. (1987). The Lincolns in Virginia. Harrisonburg: C.J. Carrier.
• Willard, Frances Elizabeth (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. p. 669. Retrieved November 27, 2019.