Anna Symmes Harrison
- Harrison, Anna SymmesAnna Tuthill Symmes was born to John Cleves and Anna Tuthill Symmes on July 25, 1775, in Sussex County, New Jersey; her mother died the following year. Her father, an officer in the Continental Army, determined that he could not raise her himself, and so she was raised by her maternal grandparents on Long Island. She received an excellent education and is the first first lady to be formally educated. When she was 14, she rejoined her father on his land near Cincinnati. In 1795, at the age of 20, she met and married William Henry Harrison, an officer in the American Revolutionary War; together they had 10 children.
William Henry Harrison rose to the rank of general and achieved fame after defeating Chief Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. At the time, he was serving as the governor of the Indiana Territory. In 1814, the Harrisons’ oldest child was married, and their last child was born. Harrison was elected to Congress in 1816 and departed for Washington leaving, Anna and the children behind. He returned to the territories with his election to the Ohio state legislature in 1819, but left again for Washington in 1824 after being elected to the U.S. Senate from Ohio. Harrison first campaigned for the presidency during the election of 1836, but a crowded field left him little chance for victory. In 1840, Harrison was the sole candidate for the Whig party on a ticket with a southern Democrat, John Tyler. Harrison was a popular military hero, and his campaign emphasized his log-cabin roots.
Anna Harrison was 65 years old when William Henry Harrison won the presidency. In relatively poor health and despondent over the deaths of several of their children over the previous decade, she did not immediately accompany her husband to Washington for the inaugural. Instead, she designated her daughter-in-law, Jane Irwin Harrison, to serve as hostess until she arrived. However, she never assumed her official duties as first lady since President Harrison died within a month of taking office, the victim of pneumonia contracted on the day of his inaugural. In 1855, Anna moved in with her only surviving son, John Scott Harrison (father to future president Benjamin Harrison), in North Bend, Ohio, where she lived until her death on February 25, 1864.
Although she never actually assumed the duties of first lady, Anna Harrison nevertheless achieved many firsts among those holding the position. She was the first to be formally educated as a child, the oldest woman to become first lady, and the first to become widowed while her husband was in office. As a result, she was the first former first lady to receive a pension and the first to be the grandmother of a future president, Benjamin Harrison (1889–93).
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Portrait and Perspectives
Portrait of Anna Harrison
Wife of President William Henry Harrison, mother of John Scott Harrison, and paternal grandmother of President Benjamin Harrison.
Wives of the American Presidents, 2d Ed
Their personalities often set the tone for Washington society, from Julia Tyler's open hospitality to Sarah Polk's somber religious devotion. Some, like Abigail Adams, had little formal schooling. Others, such as Pat Nixon and Hillary Clinton, earned college degrees. There were those who outlived their spouses as well as women who died before seeing their husbands realize their presidential dreams. In spite of differing circumstances, these presidential wives influenced--sometimes overtly and often inadvertently--everything from domestic political agendas to foreign policy through their relationships with their husbands. This book discusses the lives and circumstances of the women who have been married to an American president. It emphasizes the relationship each wife had with her husband and the ways in which this contributed to the success or failure of his presidency. Details include birthplace, upbringing, political viewpoints and final resting place. Chapters are also included on women such as Hannah Van Buren and Jane Wyman, who although married to men who eventually became president, never became first lady.