Harrison family of Virginia
The Harrison family of Virginia has shared in the 250-year history of the United States, its politics, public service, and religious ministry, beginning in the Colony of Virginia. Family members include a Founding Father of the United States, Benjamin Harrison V, and three U. S. presidents: William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, and Abraham Lincoln. Some Harrisons have served as state and local public officials and others have been instrumental in education, medicine, and business. Entertainer Elvis Presley is also in their number.
The Virginia Harrisons comprise two branches, both originating in northern England. One branch was led by Benjamin Harrison I, who journeyed from Yorkshire by way of Bermuda to Virginia before 1633 and eventually settled on the James River at Berkeley Plantation; Benjamin and his descendants are often referred to as the James River Harrisons. Successive generations of this part of the family served in the legislature of the Colony of Virginia. Benjamin Harrison V also served in the Continental Congress, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and later was Governor of Virginia.
The James River branch produced President William Henry Harrison, Benjamin V's son, and President Benjamin Harrison, William Henry's grandson, as well as another Virginia governor, Albertis Harrison. Descendants of the James River family include two Chicago mayors and members of the U.S. Congress. Sarah Embra Harrison of Danville, Virginia launched a decades-long church ministry, the "Pass-It-On Club", in the midst of the Roaring Twenties. Sarah had four siblings who were chief executives in the tobacco and banking industries.
The second branch of the Harrisons was led by Isaiah Harrison, who immigrated in 1687 from Durham, England and settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1737. Isaiah was likely the son of Rev. Thomas Harrison, the chaplain of the Jamestown Colony. Isaiah’s granddaughter Bathsheba married Captain Abraham Lincoln and they were President Lincoln’s grandparents. As members of the Virginia planter class, early generations of the Harrisons included typically abusive slaveholders. President Lincoln was credited with measures to eliminate slavery in the nation, and the Harrisons abandoned the institution.
Also among the Valley Harrisons were founders of the Virginia towns of Harrisonburg and Dayton. Musician and actor Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock and Roll," was a descendant of Isaiah’s granddaughter Elizabeth. Gessner Harrison, a University of Virginia professor, specialized in linguistics, and his daughter Mary Stuart was an early leader in women's advocacy. A number of the Harrisons chose medicine, including urologist Hartwell Harrison, who in 1954 collaborated in the world's first successful kidney transplant, as the donor's surgeon.
English origin
Several genealogists indicate the first Harrisons were Viking warriors of Norse origin, and that they arrived in northeast England with Cnut the Great; others say they are of Celtic descent. Harrisons are indeed found in early Yorkshire and Durham, in northern England. Some in their number used the older spelling "Harryson", although this mostly ended with their arrival in the New World. Among the earliest family was Thomas Harrison who was the Mayor of York, England.The two Virginia Harrison lines utilize similar coats of arms, both issued in English heraldry. They feature helmets and shields emblazoned by gold eagles on a dark field with supporters. The arms of William Henry Harrison, of the James River Harrisons, are sourced to Yorkshire; they depict three eagles and are mentioned in the arms of "Harrison of the North", granted in England in 1574, as well as those of "Harrison of London", granted in 1613 with a pedigree dating from 1374. They are often referred to as the "Yorkshire arms". The crescent below the helmet denotes a second eldest son, as in the case of William Henry.
The "Durham arms" were used by Daniel Harrison of the Shenandoah Valley Harrisons, featuring one eagle and sourced to Harrisons descended from Durham. Included is the crest shoulder gules signaling strength or martyrdom. These arms were first established by the pedigree of Robert Harrison in 1630, showing him to be the grandson of Rowland Harrison of Barnard Castle in Durham.
James River family
Multiple sources indicate the James River Harrisons first appeared in the Colony of Virginia soon after 1630, when Benjamin Harrison I left London for America by way of Bermuda. Author J. Houston Harrison references the tradition, supported by other writers, that Benjamin had four brothers: Thomas, who also ended up in the south of the American colonies, Richard and Nathaniel who were in the north, and Edward who remained in England.The parentage of the brothers is the subject of several different viewpoints. Genealogist McConathy states the father was Richard Harrison, who descended from Rowland Harrison of Durham. McConathy's work also allows the brothers could have been the sons of Thomas Harrison, Lord of Gobion's Manor, and wife Elizabeth Bernard of St. Giles, Northamptonshire, England. Still other sources indicate the father was merchant Robert Harrison of Yorkshire.
Benjamin Harrison's brother Richard settled in Connecticut Colony, while Nathaniel was in Boston. Thomas arrived in Virginia in 1640 and was a minister there before returning to England after several years. Benjamin arrived in Virginia by 1633, as he was installed as clerk of the Virginia Governor's Council in that year. In 1642, he became the first of the family to serve as a legislator in the Virginia House of Burgesses. His son Benjamin II served as county sheriff and in the House of Burgesses, and also was appointed to the Governor's Council, the upper house of the Colony's legislature.
The second Benjamin in turn fathered Benjamin Harrison III who similarly was drafted for public service and leadership, first as acting Attorney General, then Treasurer of the Colony and Speaker of the Burgesses. He acquired Berkeley Hundred from his father who bought it in 1691. Benjamin Harrison IV became a member of the House of Burgesses, but he did not otherwise pursue politics. He married Anne Carter, daughter of Robert "King" Carter, and built the family homestead Berkeley Plantation. At age 51, with young daughter Hannah in hand, he was struck by lightning as he shut an upstairs window during a storm on July 12, 1745; both were killed.
"The Signer" and two presidents
followed his father by serving in the House of Burgesses, and then became known in the family as "the Signer" of the Declaration of Independence, from his representation of Virginia in the First and Second Continental Congresses. He was chosen Chairman of the Congress' Committee of the Whole and therefore presided over final deliberations of the Declaration.File:Declaration of Independence, by John Trumbull.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Harrison V is seated front at the table far left.
Harrison was a rather corpulent and boisterous man; Delegate John Adams referred to him variously as the Congress' "Falstaff", and as "obscene", "profane", and "impious". However, Adams allowed that "Harrison's contributions and many pleasantries steadied rough sessions" and also that Harrison "was descended from one of the most ancient, wealthy, and respectable Families in the ancient dominion."
The genuine and mutual enmity between Adams and Harrison stemmed from Adams' upbringing in aversion to human pleasures and Harrison's appreciation for storytelling, fine food, and wine. There was also a political distaste between them—Adams was too radical for Harrison and the latter was too conservative for Adams. The two therefore had distinctly opposing congressional alliances—Harrison with John Hancock and Adams with Richard Henry Lee.
Harrison was a friend and confidant of fellow-Virginian George Washington; in 1775 he joined Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Lynch on a select committee to help the newly appointed General Washington secure much needed enlistments and supplies for the Continental Army. Harrison also served on the Board of War with Adams, and on the Committee of Secret Correspondence with Franklin.
Pennsylvania Delegate Benjamin Rush years later recalled the Congress' atmosphere during the signing of the Declaration on August 2, 1776; he described a morning scene of "pensive and awful silence," which he said Harrison singularly interrupted as delegates filed forward to inscribe what they thought was their ensuing death warrant. According to Rush, Harrison said to the diminutive Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, as the latter was about to sign, "I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body, I shall die in a few minutes and be with the Angels, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead."
Harrison's family indeed experienced retaliation from the British, like many others, for his role in the revolution. Benedict Arnold and his forces pillaged many plantations, including Berkeley, with the intent of obliterating all images of the treasonous families. In January 1781, the troops removed every family portrait from Harrison's home and made a bonfire of them. Benjamin V later returned to the House of Burgesses and was elected Governor of Virginia.
His brother Nathaniel served as sheriff of Prince George County and in the Virginia House as well as the state Senate; he later settled in Amelia County. Nathaniel's son Edmund served as Speaker in the House, and made his home at "The Oaks" in Amelia. The house, which was later disassembled and rebuilt in Richmond, remained in the Harrison family for over 230 years, when it was given to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and served as the home for the sitting Director until 2013.
The "Signer's" son Benjamin Harrison VI was for a time a successful businessman and also served in the Virginia House of Delegates. His brother was General William Henry Harrison who was also born at Berkeley, and served as a congressional delegate for the Northwest Territory; he was appointed in 1800 as Governor of the Indiana Territory, and served in the War of 1812. In the 1840 presidential election, William Henry defeated incumbent Martin Van Buren, but fell ill and died just one month into his presidency; Vice President John Tyler, a fellow Virginian and neighbor, succeeded him. William Henry was the father of Ohio Congressman John Scott Harrison who was the father of Benjamin Harrison, a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Benjamin also served in the U.S. Senate and was elected president in 1888 after defeating incumbent Grover Cleveland. According to his national obituaries, Albertis Harrison was another descendant; he served in the Virginia Senate, was then elected Attorney General of Virginia and later Governor. He was finally appointed Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court.