The Tudors Henry VIII ... Barack Obama Tuesday November 16, 2010 American Presidents John Adams Thomas Jefferson ... White House Biography Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison was the twenty-third President of the United States. He served from 1889-1893. He was born on August 20, 1833 in North Bend, Ohio. He was named for his great-grandfather, who had been a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His father, John, was a farmer and Benjamin was one of nine children. Benjamin was seven years old when his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, was elected President in 1841. Benjamin’s father lived too far from town to make schooling feasible, so he built a one room schoolhouse of his own and hired a teacher each winter to teach his children. When Harrison was fourteen, he was sent away to a college prep school and at sixteen, entered Miami University in Ohio. He studied hard and graduated in 1852 at the age of eighteen. Harrison moved to Cincinnati and began to clerk and study law. In 1853, he married Caroline Scott, whose father was president of a girl’s school in Oxford, Ohio. They would have two children. After completing his law studies, Harrison moved to Indianapolis, Indiana and established a law practice in 1854. Harrison did well and, in 1855, began a partnership with William Wallace. In 1860, he entered politics as a Republican and ran for the office of Reporter to the Supreme Court of Indiana. The speaking and debate skills that he developed in college paid off and he won the election easily. | |
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