22
23
W. L. Ormsby, sc.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
William Henry Harrison was born at the seat of his father, at Berkely, on James river, twenty-five miles from Richmond, Virginia. His father, Benjamin Harrison, was a descendant of the celebrated leader of that name in the wars of Oliver Cromwell. He appears to have inherited republicanism, for he acted a most conspicuous part in our own revolutionary struggle. He represented Virginia in Congress, in the years 1774, 1775 and 1776, and was chairman of the committee of the whole house when the Declaration of Independence was read, and was one of the signers of that act. In 1782 he succeeded Governor Nelson in the executive chair of that state. William Henry Harrison, the subject of this memoir, was educated at the college of Hampden Sydney, which he left at the age of seventeen, to obey the wishes of his father in the study of medicine, and for that purpose repaired to Philadelphia in 1791, that he might prosecute his studies with greater advantage.
He had hardly commenced the study of his new profession when the death of his distinguished parent obliged him to return. After his return, and during the time appropriated for the settlement of his father’s estate, the preparations for a campaign against the Indians of the west caused much excitement, and Harrison resolved to enter the service of his government despite the most eloquent entreaties and persuasions of his guardian and friends. Nothing could check his enthusiastic ardor. He begged, he importuned, and Washington at last yielded to his constant importunities, and presented him with an ensign’s commission. With a heart beating with enthusiasm, he departed for Fort Washington, now Cincinnati, where he arrived only in time to learn the unparalleled massacre of St. Clair’s army, and the deaths of several distinguished officers. The sight of the broken troops had no effect on the warlike zeal of young Harrison. In the following year, General Wayne assumed the command, and appointed Ensign Harrison as one of his aids.
The first time he had a chance to distinguish himself was in the engagement of Roche de Bouc, in the official report of which, his general did him the justice to name him especially.
After the departure of General Wayne for the Atlantic States, in 1795, Harrison was left in command of Fort Washington. During the first year of his garrison life, he married the daughter of Judge Symmes, the proprietor of the Miami purchase. But the active mind of Harrison could not be confined within the walls of a garrison; he therefore resigned his commission, and obtained an appointment as secretary of the northwestern territory. His able talents, exercised in that capacity, soon made him popular, and in 1799 he was elected the first delegate in Congress for that extensive region, now comprising the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and the territory of Michigan. The first object of his attention was a repeal of the obnoxious land bill, which ordained, that not less than four thousand acres could be sold at once. He became chairman of the committee on lands and framed a bill, which was carried with very little opposition. This bill lowered the number of acres to sections, half-sections, and quarter-sections, so as to enable the industrious husbandman to commence his labors; also providing for the payment of the lands in such a way as to meet the exigences of the most frugal means.