Oval pendant necklace with a miniature painted portrait of a young man with dark curly hair, wearing a green coat and white shirt.

Benjamin Harrison

Text reading 'Penny Harroose' in cursive handwriting

BORN - April 5, 1726, at Berkeley Plantation, near Charles City, VA.  Parents (English ancestry) - Benjamin Harrison IV (b1695-d1745) and Anne Carter Harrison (b1704-d1745).  Eleven Children – Anne Carlin Harrison Randolph (b1723-d1745), Elizabeth Harrison Randolph (b1725-d1783), Benjamin Harrison V (b1726-d1791), Lucy Carter Harrison Necks (b1728-d1789), Hannah Harrison Calvert (b1730-d1745, age 15), Carter Henry Harrison (b1732-d1793), Robert Carter Harrison (b1733-d1771), Henry Harrison (b1734-d1772), Nathaniel Harrison, Sr. (b1742-d1782), Charles Harrison (b1742-d1793), Maria Harrison (b1743-d1745, age 2).  Being the eldest son, Benjamin (V) inherited the Berkeley Plantation.      

DIED - April 24, 1791(1791-04-24) (aged 64), at Berkeley Plantation, near Charles City, VA.  Suffered from Gout in his later years.  Religion – Anglican / Episcopalian.  Buried - Family cemetery at the Berkeley Plantation.                                                                                               

APPEARANCE – The picture above is a miniature cameo of Benjamin Harrison and is believed to be the only surviving portrait of him painted during his life.  Large man, at 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighing between 250-300 pounds, sense of humor, excelled at committee work.  Harrison once picked up the much smaller John Hancock and set him on the President’s chair, quipping “We will show Mother Britain how little we care for her by making a Massachusetts man our president.” 

FAMILY – Married - Elizabeth Bassett (b1730-d1792).  Nine Children – Elizabeth Harrison Bassett (b1730-d1792), Elizabeth Harrison Barner (b1751-d1815), Ann Harrison Coupland (b1753-d1831), Benjamin Harrison VI (b1755-d1795), Lucy Harrison Randolph (b1755-d1784), Carter Bassett Harrison (b1756-d1808), Nathaniel Harrison (b1759-d1782), Sarah Harrison Minge (b1770-d1812), William Henry Harrison Sr. (b1773-d1841).  Benjamin Harrison was the father of 9th US President, William Henry Harrison and the Great-Grandfather of 23rd US President, Benjamin Harrison (b1833–d1901).

OCCUPATION – PLANTER, MERCHANT, LEGISLATOR, VA GOVERNOR.  Attended the College of William and Mary, but left before graduating to manage Berkeley Plantation when his father suddenly died from a lightning strike in 1745.  Classmate of Thomas Jefferson.  Member of the Continental Congress representing Virginia from 1774 to 1778.  Governor of Virginia from 1781 to 1784.

AT SIGNING – Age 50 at signing.  Known for his sense of humor.  On August 2, while preparing to sign the Declaration, he famously said to Elbridge Gerry who had taken his place at the table to sign – “I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing.  From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes and be with the Angels, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.”

AFTER SIGINING – Continued to serve in Congress in Philadelphia until 1778.  Spent heavily on the war from his personal fortune.  The British Army under the command of Benedict Arnold, pillaged Berkeley in 1780.  They built a bonfire of all the Harrison family possessions and portraits and took rifle practice using his cows.  Harrison and his family fled to avoid capture.   

HISTORIC SITES                                                                                                                                                   

Berkeley – Berkeley Plantation, Charles City (1726).  Located at 12602 Harrison Landing Road, Charles City, VA 23030, Phone 804-829-6018, Website www.berkeleyplantation.com. 

Church – Old Westover Episcopal Church (1730).  Located at 6401 John Tyler Memorial Highway, Charles City, VA 23030, Phone 804-829-2488, Website westoverepiscopalchurch.org.

A two-story brick house with a gabled roof, white window frames, a central front door, and surrounded by green bushes and trees under a blue sky.

Home of Benjamin Harrison, Berkeley Plantation, Charles City (1726). 

Located at 12602 Harrison Landing Road, Charles City, VA 23030, Phone 804-829-6018, Website www.berkeleyplantation.com.  

The roadside historical marker reads – “BERKELEY PLANTATION OR HARRISON’S LANDING - A short distance south, it was first settled in 1619, when the first Thanksgiving was held here.  The present mansion, built in 1726, was the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and President William Henry Harrison.  During July and August, 1862, it was the headquarters of General McClellan.  The bugle call "Taps" was composed here then by General Butterfield.­”