WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON,

THE NINTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born in Charles City County, Virginia, February 9, 1773, and was educated for the medical profession at Hampden Sydney College. He graduated at a time when our north-western frontier was suffering much from the neighboring Indians, and, believing that he could be of greater service in repelling the savage invaders than in pursuing his studies, he accepted an ensign’s commission from President Washington, and joined the army. He was promoted to a lieutenancy in 1792, and his skill and bravery were highly commended by General Wayne, under whose command he was engaged in several actions. After the bloody battle of Miami Rapids, he was rewarded with the rank of captain, and immediately placed in command of Fort Washington. In 1797, he resigned his commission for the purpose of accepting the office of Secretary of the North-west Territory, from which he was elected a delegate to Congress in 1799.

When a territorial government was formed for Indiana, he was appointed the first Governor, and continued in that office till 1813. To his civil and military duties he added those of Commissioner and Superintendent of Indian Affairs; and, in the course of his administration, he concluded thirteen important treaties with the different tribes. On the 7th of November, 1811, he gained the celebrated battle of Tippecanoe, the news of which was received throughout the country with a burst of enthusiasm. During the war of 1812, he was made commander of the North-western army of the United States, and he bore a conspicuous part in the leading events in the campaign of 1812-13—the defense of Fort Meigs, and the victory of the Thames. In 1814, he was appointed, in conjunction with his companions in arms, Governor Shelby and General Cass, to treat with the Indians in the North-west, at Greenville; and, in the following year, he was placed at the head of a commission to treat with various other important tribes.

In 1816, he was elected a member of Congress from Ohio, and, in 1828, he was sent minister plenipotentiary to the republic of Colombia. On his return, he took up his residence at North Bend, on the Ohio, where he lived upon his farm, in comparative retirement, till 1836, when he became a candidate for the Presidency; and, although defeated on the first trial, four years afterward he was elected by a large majority, and inaugurated in 1841. But he did not long survive this crowning honor, as he died on the 4th of April, just one month after entering upon his duties. His funeral obsequies were performed on the 7th, and an immense concourse assembled to pay their testimony of respect. Funeral services and processions also took place in most of the principal cities throughout the country. As General Harrison was the first President who died while in office, his successor, Mr. Tyler, recommended that the 14th of May be observed as a day of fasting and prayer, and accordingly it was so observed.

Election for the Fourteenth Term, commencing March 4, 1841, and terminating March 3, 1845.

A STATES. PRESID’T. VICE-PRESID’T.

B C D E F G

10 Maine 10 10

7 New Hampshire 7 7

14 Massachusetts 14 14

4 Rhode Island 4 4

8 Connecticut 8 8

7 Vermont 7 7

42 New York 42 42

8 New Jersey 8 8

30 Pennsylvania 30 30

3 Delaware 3 3

10 Maryland 10 10

23 Virginia 23 22 1

15 North Carolina 15 15

11 South Carolina 11 11

11 Georgia 11 11

15 Kentucky 15 15

15 Tennessee 15 15

21 Ohio 21 21

5 Louisiana 5 5

4 Mississippi 4 4

9 Indiana 9 9

5 Illinois 5 5

7 Alabama 7 7

4 Missouri 4 4

3 Arkansas 3 3

3 Michigan 3 3

294 No. of Electors 234 60 234 48 11 1

Majority148

COLUMN HEADINGS:

(A) = No. of Electors from each State.

(B) = Wm. H. Harrison, of Ohio.

(C) = Martin Van Buren, of New York.

(D) = John Tyler, of Virginia.

(E) = Rich’d M. Johnson, of Kentucky.

(F) = L. W. Tazewell, of Virginia.

(G) = James K. Polk, of Tennessee.

William H. Harrison, elected President, took the oath of office, and entered upon his duties, March 4, 1841.

John Tyler, elected Vice-President, took the oath of office, and attended in the Senate, March 4, 1841.

Soon after his inauguration, President Harrison issued a proclamation, convening Congress for an extra session on the 31st of May, to consider “sundry weighty and important matters, chiefly growing out of the state of the revenue and finances of the country.” But he did not live to submit his remedial plans—dying, after a very brief illness, on the 4th of April, exactly one month after coming into office. He was the first President who had died during his official term, and a messenger was immediately dispatched with a letter, signed by all the members of the Cabinet, conveying the melancholy intelligence to the Vice President, then at Williamsburg, Va. By extraordinary means he reached Washington at five o’clock on the morning of the 6th, and at twelve o’clock the Heads of Departments waited upon him, to pay their official and personal respects. After signifying his deep feeling of the public calamity sustained by the death of President Harrison, and expressing his profound sensibility of the heavy responsibilities so suddenly devolved upon himself, he made known his wishes that the several Heads of Departments would continue to till the places which they then respectively occupied, and his confidence that they would afford all the aid in their power to enable him to carry on the administration of the government successfully. Mr. Tyler afterwards took and subscribed the following oath of office:

“I do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

JOHN TYLER.

“April 6, 1841.”

Pursuant to the proclamation of President Harrison, Congress met on the 31st of May, and continued in session until the 13th of September. On the 27th of July a bill for the establishment of “The Fiscal Bank of the United States,” passed the Senate by a vote of 26 to 23, and was concurred in by the House of Representatives on the 6th of August—128 to 91. President Tyler, however, returned the bill on the 16th, with his objections, and it was lost for lack of a constitutional majority. But the friends of a national bank were not to be deterred from their purpose by a single repulse: another bill (about the same in substance) was immediately hurried through both Houses, under the title of “The Fiscal Corporation of the United States,” but this shared the fate of its predecessor.

A Senate bill for the establishment of a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States, was concurred in by the House on the 18th of August, and became a law; but, meeting with very general condemnation, it was soon after repealed.

A bill was also passed at this extra session for the distribution of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands among the several States, in proportion to population.

In 1842 an important treaty, adjusting the north-eastern boundary of the United States, was negotiated at Washington between Mr. Webster, on the part of this country, and Lord Ashburton, on the part of Great Britain.

During the last year of Mr. Tyler’s administration much excitement prevailed on the proposed annexation of Texas to the Union, which was strongly resisted at the North, on the ground that the South and southern institutions would thereby gain increased power in the national councils. A treaty of annexation, signed by the President, was rejected by the Senate, but measures were taken by which Texas was admitted the year following.