Harrison

On March 13, 1901, Benjamin Harrison - the 23rd president of the United States and grandson of the first Ohioan elected president, William Henry Harrison - died in Indianapolis. Born on a farm in North Bend, Ohio, Aug. 20, 1833, Benjamin was the son of John Scott Harrison - the only man to be a son and father of a president. Benjamin Harrison read law in Cincinnati after graduating from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. As a colonel during the Civil War, he recruited and trained the men of the 70th Indiana Regiment. Elected a U.S. senator from Indiana in 1880, Harrison championed the causes of Indians, homesteaders and Civil War veterans. He was nominated a presidential candidate at the Republican Convention of 1888. He ran against the incumbent president, Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland of New York. Democrats dubbed Harrison "Little Ben," because he was only 5-foot-6. Benjamin Harrison didn't win the popular vote, but he carried the Electoral College. Cleveland defeated him in an 1892 rematch. After his presidency, Harrison resumed practicing law in Indiana.

Rebecca Goodman

Ohio Moments will appear here daily during 2003. Have a suggestion? Contact Rebecca Goodman at rgoodman@enquirer.com or (513) 768-8361.