HARRISON 



2697 



HARRISON 



Congress from 1853 to 1857, but took no other 

 part in public life ; it has been said, somewhat 

 uncharitably, of him that his only claim to 

 distinction was that he was "the son of a great 

 father and the father of a great son." Young 

 Benjamin spent his boyhood on his grand- 

 father's farm, and during the winters received 

 education in the near-by log schoolhouse. 

 Later he was instructed by a private tutor, 

 studied for two years at an academy near Cin- 

 cinnati, and in 1852 was graduated from Miami 

 University. A year later he was admitted to 

 the bar, and in 1854 removed to Indianapolis, 

 Ind., which was thereafter his home. 



As a Lawyer and Soldier. When young 

 Harrison went to Indianapolis he had only one 

 acquaintance in the whole community; that 



BENJAMIN HARRISON 



His ancestors were distinguished. One was a 

 Revolutionary patriot and signer of the Declara- 

 tion of Independence ; another was a military 

 hero and also a President of the United States. 



man, the clerk of the Federal court, gave him 

 desk space, and allowed him to hang his legal 

 sign at the door. For a short time Harrison 

 was content to act as court crier at $2.50 a 

 day, but when clients began to come to him 

 he quickly proved his industry and ability. 

 He had the advantage, moreover, of a dis- 

 tinguished name, and in a few years he took 

 high rank at the bar. 



The War of Secession interrupted Harrison's 

 legal career. When it broke out he was acting 

 as reporter of the Indiana supreme court, his 

 first public office. At the end of his two-year 

 term in 1862, he accepted a military commis- 

 sion as second-lieutenant of volunteers. He at 

 once helped to raise a new regiment, the 



Seventieth Indiana, and when it was com- 

 pleted, in August, 1862, was commissioned its 

 colonel. His regiment participated in numer- 

 ous engagements in Kentucky and Tennessee 

 in 1862 and 1863, was with Sherman in the cam- 

 paigns around Atlanta and with Thomas in 

 the battles around Nashville in 1864. He com- 

 manded a brigade at the battles of Kenesaw 

 Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and Nashville, 

 and his leadership in these battles won him 

 praise and the brevet rank of brigadier-general, 

 for "ability and manifest energy and gallan- 

 try." 



In 1864, while still in the field, Harrison was 

 again chosen reporter of the Indiana supreme 

 court, and after the war ended he performed 

 the duties of this office for three years. He 

 refused to be a candidate for reelection in 1868, 

 and returned to the private practice of law. In 

 1876 he was the Republican candidate for gov- 

 ernor, but his candidacy was undertaken from 

 a sense of duty when the regular nominee 

 declined to run. Though his defeat was a fore- 

 gone conclusion, he ran 2,000 votes ahead of 

 his ticket. In 1879 President Hayes appointed 

 him a member of the Mississippi River Com- 

 mission, under whose direction extensive river 

 improvements were to be made. In the next 

 year he was active in securing the nomination 

 and election of James A. Garfield to the Presi- 

 dency, and was offered a place in Garfield's 

 Cabinet. This he declined, preferring to take 

 his seat in the United States Senate, to which 

 the Indiana legislature had just elected him. 



In the Senate. Harrison's ability and his 

 capacity for hard work showed to his advan- 

 tage in the Senate. He was chairman of the 

 Committee on Territories, and urged the ad- 

 mission into the Union, as states, of the five ter- 

 ritories, North and South Dakota, Washing- 

 ton, Idaho and Montana. He was also at 

 various times a member of the committees on 

 Foreign Relations and on Military and Indian 

 Affairs. He was strongly in favor of a greater 

 navy, of civil service reform, and of larger 

 pensions for ex-soldiers. His demand for larger 

 pensions brought him into conflict with Presi- 

 dent Cleveland, who was vetoing a great num- 

 ber of pension bills. In the Indiana elections 

 of 1886 the Democrats won control of the 

 legislature, although the Republicans polled a 

 majority of the popular vote, and Harrison 

 was defeated for reelection to the Senate. The 

 general feeling among Indiana Republicans was 

 that Harrison was unjustly deprived of his Sen- 

 atorship, and in compensation, as the Presiden- 



