| OCR Text |
Show FT IT J ' 7 historical Wighlights If Clmo Scott WgUoh (Released by Western Newspaper Union J First Presidential Death hundred years ago Ameri-cans Ameri-cans were mourning the loss of j their Chief Executive William Hen-! Hen-! ry Harrison. When he died on April - 4. 1841, it marked the first presi-, presi-, dentin! death in the White House and J the end of the shortest presidential term in historyexactly one menth. I Harrison was also the oldest man lever chosen to that high office. He ; was nearly 68 years old when he ; w'on his victory over President Mar- tin Van Buren, candidate for re-elec-Uion, in the campaign of 1840. The j rigors of that campaign undermined I his health and the long tiresome I journey to Washington from Ohio, made by canal-boat and on horse-jback, horse-jback, told heavily on his strength. March 4, 1841, the day of his in-j in-j auRuration, was cold and disagree-: disagree-: able. While delivering his inaugural address, the longest ever given by any President. Harrison stood outdoors out-doors bareheaded. He caught a severe se-vere cold which developed Into pneumonia pneu-monia and resulted in his death. Despite the fact that Harrison is chiefly remembered as the leading figure In the exciting "Log Cabin-Hard Cabin-Hard Cider" campaign of 1840, he had many other real claims to distinction dis-tinction that are little known to most Americans. Born in Virginia February Feb-ruary 3, 1773, the son of Beajamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, he became be-came the ward of Robert Morris, j the "Financier of the Revolution," j after his father's death. ' Prophetic of Harrison's later role i in the development of the West was ' his determination to enlist in the army for service against the Indi-: Indi-: ans in the Ohio country. Morris op-i op-i posed this plan, but young Harrison Jk i -- , I, "1.4 I " --' - - i rum' applied directly to President Washington Wash-ington and, although he was only 19 years old, he was commissioned an ensign. His gallant conduct during "Mad Anthony" Wayne's campaign won the favor of his commander, a promotion to a captaincy and command com-mand of Fort Washington, later Cincinnati, Cin-cinnati, Ohio. In 1798 Harrison resigned from the army but President Adams immediately im-mediately appointed him secretary of the Northwest Territory. In 1800 President Jefferson made him the first governor of the new Territory of Indiana, an office which he held for 12 years. As governor he was also charged with negotiating negotiat-ing treaties for the cession of Indian lands. It was his activity In this regard which caused the famous Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, to unite the tribes to resist further encroachments encroach-ments upon their hunting grounds. But Tecumseh's plans were ruined when his brother, The Prophet, made a premature attack on the force of 1,000 soldiers which Harrison Harri-son had assembled on the banks of the Tippecanoe river. That victory made the young governor a popular military hero. The War of 1812 added to his reputation, culminating as it did in his victory at the Battle of the Thames at which Tecumseh was killed. In 1816 Harrison was elected to congress and after serving serv-ing one term retired from politics. However, he was elected to the senate sen-ate in 1825, but, during the administration admin-istration of President Jackson, his fortunes, both political and financial, sank to such a low state that he was glad to accept a position as county recorder in order to support his large family. (He was the father of 10 children, more than any other President before or since his time.) In 1836 Harrison returned to the political arena as the Anti-Masons' candidate for President. Although he received only 73 electoral votes, he apparently was the strongest of Van Buren's prospective opponents. This belief was Justified in the campaign cam-paign of 1840 which sent him to the White House for his short and ill-fated stay there. Few of our Presidents have had more nicknames than William Henry Hen-ry Harrison. Because he had lived on a farm near North Bend, Ohio, he was called the "Honest Farmer of North Bend," also the "Buckeye Who Follows the Plow." Significant of his role in opening the Old Northwest North-west to settlement were his two nickn?mcs of "Hero of the West" and "Father of the Great West." But his favorite nicknames were those which reflected his career ai a military hero and an Indian fighter fight-er "The Hero of the Thames" and "Old Tippecanoe." |
