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Caroline Scott Harrison 1832 ~ 1892
Caroline Scott Harrison
Mrs. Harrison was among the most highly educated and
accomplished women who ever occupied the White House. Caroline
Scott Harrison was born in Oxford, Ohio, October 1, 1832. Mrs.
Harrison's ancestors were Scotch, immigrating to America and
settling in the Valley of Neshaminy, Bucks County, Pennsylvania,
where the village of Hartsville now stands, twenty miles north
of Philadelphia. At this place Reverend William Tennent, in
1726, founded the historic Log Collie, which was the original of
Princeton College. Mrs. Harrison's great-grandfather, John
Scott, son of the founder of the family in this country, took up
his residence in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and purchased
land opposite Belvidere, New Jersey, which is still known as the
Scott Farm. During the Revolutionary War he was a quartermaster
in the Pennsylvania line. His brother, Matthew Scott, after
serving as Captain in the army, moved to Kentucky. Mrs.
Harrison's grandfather, Reverend George McElroy Scott, graduated
from the University of Pennsylvania in 1793, and studied
theology with the President of Princeton College, Reverend
Stanhope Smith. His first charge was Mill Creek Church, Beaver
County, Pennsylvania, the first Presbyterian Church of that
locality. He occupied the pulpit in 1799. Her father. Dr. John
W. Scott, was born in 1800, while his father was pastor of the
Mill Creek Church. Descending from an educated ancestry, Mrs.
Harrison had superior educational advantages early in life. She
graduated in 1852 from Oxford, Ohio, Female Seminary. Benjamin
Harrison, her future husband, took his degree at Oxford
University in the same town. They were engaged at the time of
their graduation, but Mrs. Harrison taught music in Carrollton,
Kentucky, for one year before her marriage October 20, 1853, and
removed to Indianapolis, Indiana. When the Civil War broke out,
Benjamin Harrison decided to enter the army, his wife saying to
him "Go and help to save your country, and let us trust in the
shielding care of a higher Power for your protection and safe
return."
She took great pride in her husband's distinguished service,
especially in his heroic deeds at Resaca and Peach Tree Creek,
Georgia. She was a woman of strong individuality and deep
sympathy for those in distress; she was generous and benevolent
to a fault; she was one of the most active workers in the
Presbyterian Church and Sunday school and in all patriotic and
charitable organizations; she was universally popular. During
Senator Harrison's six years in the United States Senate, prior
to his election to the Presidency, Mrs. Harrison was one of the
best known and universally beloved ladies of the Senate.
When her husband was made President, Mrs. Harrison's experiences
had served to fit her for the duties of Mistress of the White
House, and no criticism was ever made of her conduct. She
recognized the fact that the house belonged to the Nation, but
at the same time she made it a home for her family and none of
her predecessors made it more attractive for all who cared to
visit the White House. Her receptions and other social functions
were charming in every sense of the word. Her long illness and
pathetic death have left a lasting impression upon the Nation.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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