On May 13, 1800, President John Adams appointed William Henry Harrison as governor of the Indiana Territory, which at that time included parts or wholes of the future states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. Harrison served in this role for twelve years, during which he sought local recommendations for appointees, encouraged the development of representative government in the new territory, and sought to extinguish American Indian claims and remove them from the territory. Harrison, a Virginia-born patrician, tried unsuccessfully to introduce slavery into the territory, despite the Northwest Ordinance’s prohibition against it. In 1811, he led a military force against Tenkswatawa near Prophet’s Town. Tactically, the battle is often viewed as a draw, but the outcome had significant geopolitical ramifications which affected the strength of the pan-Indian alliance, influenced the forthcoming War of 1812, and many years later led to Harrison’s ascension to the presidency with the memorable campaign slogan, “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.”
#OTD in 1841, William Henry Harrison, former Governor of the Indiana Territory, and his family visited a Washington D.C. studio to sit for this silhouette portrait, created by the famous French artist August Edouart. President-elect Harrison had arrived in the capital just over a week earlier to deliver his inaugural address to Congress in which he promised lawmakers not to impede their progress with his own agenda. He stated: “Indeed, I hold all the above principles subject to the will of the majority and shall conclude this partial development of my plan of government with the assurance that whatever measure a majority of your community may propose will receive my sanction, as I do not allow my oath to support the Constitution to lay me under any foolish scruples in opposition to the Legislative will.” [Punctuation edited for clarity]. Harrison was the only president elected from the Whig Party and he promised to be a popular one, having won almost four times as many electoral votes as his opponent Martin Van Buren, as well as the popular vote in nineteen (out of twenty-six) states. President Harrison took office March 4, 1841 but served for only thirty-two days before his death from pneumonia. However, this was not the end of the Harrisons’ presidential ambitions. Also pictured in the portrait here, second from left, was William Henry Harrison’s seven-year-old grandson, Benjamin Harrison, who would become the 23rd President of the United States in 1889. Learn more about William Henry Harrison through the University of Virginia’s Miller Center: https://millercenter.org/president/harrison.
He died April 4, 1841 after serving only 31 days, historically claimed due to pneumonia. Funeral service was held April 7, 1841 in the East Room of the White House. He was the first Congressional delegate from the U.S. Northwest Territory, governor of the Indiana Territory, and a decorated brigadier general in the War of 1812.
What Really Killed William Henry Harrison? by Jane McHugh and Philip A. MacKowiak published March 31, 2014 in The New York Times. Was one of only five Presidents to have a beard, and all were Republicans. Indiana claims two Hoosier presidents – William Henry Harrison and his grandson, Benjamin Harrison.
