Benjamin Harris was our 23rd president, from 1889-1893. Former president Cleveland served before him and then after him (the only president to have served two terms not consecutively, as least for now). Benjamin Harris's grandfather, Willian Henry Harris was our 9th president but only served for 32 days (the shortest term in history so far) after getting pneumonia. According to our docent, he gave a very long speech (the longest in history actually) that lasted about 1 hour and 45 minutes that was outside on a very cold and rainy day.
Benjamin Harris was born in North Bend, Ohio and grew up on a farm. He attended and graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He met his wife Caroline Lavina Scott and married her the year after he graduated. They had 2 children. After he studied law in Cincinnati, he decided to move to Indianapolis to set up his own law practice. He served in the Civil War as the Union Army as a lieutenant. At the end of the war, he ended up attaining the rank of general (He was also the last Civil War general to serve as president).
After the war, he resumed his law practice and decided to go into politics. However, he was unsuccessful for the Republican nomination in 1872 but won the election 4 years later but lost to a close race. He ended up getting a seat at the US Senate from 1881-1887 and later on, eventually beat former President Cleveland to become president.
Towards the end of his presidential term, he ran against former President Cleveland again. Because his wife was very ill, he did not campaign much. Unfortunately she died of tuberculosis and then 2 weeks later, Benjamin Harris lost to Cleveland. After leaving the White House, he returned home to resume his law practice.
At the age of 62, he married his wife's niece, who was also her caretaker (Mary Lord Dimmick). They had one daughter. His adult children disapproved of his marriage to a relative that was also about 25 years younger than him. A few years later, he died of pneumonia at his home on March 13, 1901.
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Now that you know the general history of this president, let me tell you about my experience...
Admission is $14 for adults, $13 for veterans and seniors and $9 for college students with ID and children. Hours of operation are limited so plan accordingly. My husband and I ended up coming to this place twice. Once for the tour of the home and the second time was for a special (free) July 4th event that is dog friendly (in which we brought our little girl dog to join us).
The docent we had, unfortunately I did not get his name, was great. He was very informative and spoke at a great pace. What did surprise me about the tour was that you were able to take as many photos inside the home as you wish. The other thing that surprised me was that the majority of the furniture was original to the Harrison family and was well preserved.
Benjamin Harrison was given many canes (although he did not need them to walk) during his presidency, in which you can view his collection. But there is one in a case on his oval office desk that is very special, in his 16 room mansion. It has carvings of other presidents, including himself. But he is at the very bottom and had said that he would never use it because he does not want to put himself in the ground. Another thing I found to be interesting was that when he left office, he and his wife took many items from the White House, which included china plates and silverware, a cabinet, furniture, etc. Our docent told us he was surprised that they were allowed to take so many things and surprisingly it is all well preserved (as you can also view in the home). One last thing I want to mention about the tour was that we were told he was the first president to have his voice recorded and you will actually get to hear his voice played during the tour.
Overall, we had a great time learning about Benjamin Harris and would highly recommend a visit if you are interested in learning about US President history. read more