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HARRISON, BENJAMIN. 



was the second. When he was sixteen years 

 old he was sent to school at an institution on 

 College Hill, a suburb of Cincinnati. It had 

 been called Carey's Academy, but was at this 

 time enlarged and renamed Farmer's College. 

 Here Harrison's literary tastes were fostered, 

 and history and political science became his 

 chief delights. He entered the junior class at 

 Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; joined the 

 literary society, and very soon distinguished 

 himself in debate. The drill of that little ros- 

 trum was of incalculable benefit to the speaker, 

 who during a political canvass of intense excite- 

 ment was to make one, two, or three speeches 

 a day, for which the nation was listening. 



The best known of his classmates are Hon. 

 Milton Sayler, formerly a member of Congress, 

 and the Rev. David Swing. One who knew 

 him in college writes: 



Harrison, as I remember, was an unpretentious but 

 courageous student. He was respectable in languages 

 and the sciences, and excelled in political economy 

 and history, the former being largely due to the 

 foundations laid under the instruction of Dr. Bishop 

 at Farmer's College. Harrison had a good voice and 

 a pure diction, tie talked easily and fluently. His 

 manner was indicative of much earnestness of char- 

 acter. He never seemed to regard life as a joke, nor 

 the opportunities for advancement as subjects for 

 sport. During the four years that I was with him, 

 he impressed me with the belief that he was ambitious. 

 As a writer and speaker, he always did his best. By 

 this I mean that he, as a rule, made special prepara- 

 tion, giving as much time as possible to the matter in 

 hand. The subject of his graduating address was 

 " The Poor of England," and his treatment of it 

 showed that lie had sounded both the depths and the 

 causes of this poverty. He was a protectionist at the 

 age of nineteen. He is a protectionist still. His 

 whole career has been illustrative of his desire to save 

 His countrymen from the poverty which oppresses 

 " The Poor of England." 



He decided to become a lawyer, and after 

 leaving Oxford was received into the office of 

 Storer and Gwynne, in Cincinnati, in which city 

 he found a home with his half-sister, wife of 

 Dr. Eaton. At the close of his second year of 

 study he brought his young bride, Caroline La- 

 vinia Scott (whose father was principal of a 

 seminary in Oxford), to the homestead at North 

 Bend, and on concluding his studies he settled 

 in Indianapolis, Ind. He had inherited from 

 an aunt a plot of ground in Cincinnati, on which 

 he raised the $800 with which they began the 

 world. John Rea, Clerk of the United States 

 Court, gave him desk-room. There Gen. Lew 

 Wallace (who has written his biography) first 

 met him, and he gives this description of his 

 personal appearance : " He was small in stature, 

 of slender physique, and what might be called a 

 blonde. His eyes were gray, tinged with blue, 

 his hair light, reminding one of what in ancient 

 days along the W abash was more truly than 

 poetically described as ' a tow-head.' He was 

 plainly dressed, and in that respect gave tokens 

 of indifference to the canons of fashion. He 

 was modest in manner, even diffident; but he 

 had a pleasant voice and look, and did not lack 

 for words to express himself." He was soon 



appointed crier of the Federal Court, which 

 during term-time brought him two dollars and 

 a half a day, the first money he had earned. 



In August, 1854, a son, Russell, was born to 

 them, and Mr. Harrison removed the little 

 household to a home of their own. It was 

 one story high, and had three rooms and a lean- 

 to kitchen. Sometimes Mrs. Harrison em- 



MRS. BENJAMIN HARRISON. 



ployed a servant, but she was her own cook 

 as well as nurse. Her husband filled the 

 water-buckets and brought in the wood before 

 he left for the office. Of the se days he says: 

 " They were close times, I tell you. A five- 

 dollar bill was an event. There was one good 

 friend through it all Robert Browning, the 

 druggist. I shall always recollect him with 

 gratitude. He believed in me. When things 

 were particularly tight I could go into his store 

 and borrow five dollars from the drawer. A 

 ticket in its place was all that was required." 

 Not long after this, Harrison formed a law 

 partnership with William Wallace. 



In 1858 a daughter, Mary, was born. In 

 1860 Mr. Harrison became Republican candi- 

 date for Reporter of the Supreme Court, and 

 he went into the canvass with his usual energy 

 and enthusiasm, and was elected. 



A year later came President Lincoln's call 

 for troops. Business led Harrison to call upon 

 Gov. Morton, who was found pacing gloomily 

 up and down his room. When the matter in 

 hand was disposed of, the never-resting sub- 

 ject of the state of the country was broached. 

 Gov. Morton expressed deep anxiety and bitter 

 mortification that there had been no response 

 to the call for troops. Pointing to a building 

 in process of erection, he said : " The people 

 are following their own private affairs, so that 

 it has come to be a serious question what I 

 shall do next to arouse them." To the man at 

 his side this was the final and irresistible ap- 

 peal. He said, simply : " Governor, if I can be 

 of any service, I will go." Gov. Morton re- 

 plied instantly : " You can raise a regiment, but 

 it is asking too much of you to go into the 

 field with it ; you have just been elected Re- 

 porter of the Supreme Court. But go to work 

 and raise it, and we will find somebody to com- 

 mand it." Harrison replied that he could not; 



