Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/648

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
*
592
*

HARRISON. 592 HARRISSE. with a Delegate in Congress, although by this arrangement his own power was appreciably di- minished. He rendered etl'ective and important service to the nation by early establishing friendly relations with a number of the Indian tribes, and by thus lessening the possibility of a continuation of Britisli influence in that region. On September 17, 1802. he concluded a treaty at Vineennes, and in July of the following year negotiated the more important treaty of Fort Wa.yne. But while in some regions the questions of land riglits and the allied problems arising from the ill-defined relations between the tribes and the newly organized government were being adjusted amicably, Harrison's force and ability were also tested by the necessitj' of meeting suc- cessfully conditions which required the use of arms. In this branch of the public service he was also active, his most important military cam- paign being that against Tecumseh's brother, the Prophet, in the region of the Wabash, cul- minating in his victory at the battle of Tippe- canoe (q.v.), November 7, 1811. Upon the outbreak of the War of 1812 he became a major- general of Kentucky militia, and in August, IS 12, was made a brigadier-general in the Regu- lar Army, and soon afterwards was appointed to the chief command in the Xorthwest, in which capacity, w'ith the rank, after March, 1813, of major-general, he was actively engaged during the Western campaigns of the war, becoming again conspicuous by his brave defense of Fort Meigs (q.v.) and by his complete victory over the Brit- ish at the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813. Harrison had thus repeatedly shown marked mili- tary talent, and the end of the war left him. next to Jackson, the most prominent military figure in American public life. Withdrawing, however, from the army, Harrison entered Con- gress as the representative of the district embrac- ing Cincinnati, and served from 1816 to 1819, w'hen he was elected to the State Senate, where he remained until 1821. In 1825 he returned to Washington as Senator from Ohio, retain- ing this position mitil 1828. when he was sent as Minister to Colombia. Upon returning from that post in the following year, he retired for sev- eral years from public life. In 1835 he was nominated for the Presidency liy Whig conventions in Indiana, Ohio, and Maryland, and by an Anti-Masonic convention at Harrisburg, Pa., and in the ensuing election succeeded in carrying seven States. Vermont. New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland. Kentucky. Ohio, and Indiana, securing 73 electoral votes, a.s against 170 given to Van Burcn and 51 divided among the three other can- didates. Moreover, the popular vote for Harrison in Connecticut. Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania approached very closely, and in Illinois and New York compared favorably with, that of Van Buren. When, finally, the financial policy of .lackson and Van Burcn brought such disastrous results as to turn against the Administration a large portion of the people, the situation became particularly favorable for whoever might be nominated by the Whig Party in 1840. Although in many respects Heniy Clay appeared as the lender of the party, he could not command its complete support as a Presidential candidate, and. accordingly, in the interest of harmony, he refrained from an active contest and left Harri- son as the leading candidate for the nomination. The Whig Convention met at Harrisburg, Decem- ber 4, 1839, and comprised 254 delegates. The 'unit rule' was introduced, and upon the first ballot Henry Clay received 103 votes. General Harrison 94, and General Scott 57. On the fifth ballot, during the third day of the convention, Harrison received 148 votes. Clay 90, and Scott 10, and Harrison was accordingly declared the nominee of the party. There forthwith began a political campaign which for popular enthusiasm and widespread activity has probably never been equaled in American polities. Throughout the country, meetings, processions, and a great variety of 'demonstrations' were held, and the general public took an energetic share in the contest. Nev campaign methods were introduced, and the log cabin and hard cider became especial emblems of the party of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too.' The 'stump speaker' was a prominent feature of this new method of campaigning, even General Harri- son himself making a .series of addresses. The early State elections in some of the New England States and in Ohio and Kentucky resulted in Whig victories, and in the Presidential election Van Buren carried only seven States, of which but two were Northern States, with a total elec- toral vote of only 60, as against the 234 votes secured by Harrison. Although in good health at the time of his inauguration. General Harrison was taken ill, and died on April 4, 1841. the whole political situation being thvis suddenly altered, and the Whig President being succeeded by John Tyler (q.v.). a former Democrat. Wil- liam H. Harrison was the grandfather of Presi- dent Benjamin Harrison. A Historical Narrative of Harrison's services was prepared by Moses Dawson (Cincinnati, 1824), a Memoir was writ- ten by James Hall (Philadelphia, 1836), and campaign biographies by C. S. Todd, S. J. Burr, Richard Hildreth, and I. R. Jackson were issued in 1840; but there is no adequate biography. Consult the sketch by Bostwick, in Wilson. Pres- idents of the United States (New York. 1894). HAR'RISONBURG. A town and the county- seat of Rockingham County, Va., 122 miles north- west of Richmond: on the Baltimore and Ohio, the Chesapeake and Western, and the Southern railroads (Map: Virginia, F 3). It is in the picturesque and fertile Shenandoah Valley, is of considerable importance as the commercial centre for this agricultural region, and has foundries and machine-shops, potteries, stave and heading works, saw and planing mills, fiouring-niills. etc. The water-works are owned by the municipality. Population, in 1890, 2792; in 1900. 3521. HAR'RISONVILLE. A city and the county- seat of Cass County, Mo., 45 miles south by east of Kansas City: on the Missouri Pacific, the Mis- souri, Kansas and Texas, and other railroads (Map: JMissouri. B 3). It has a county building that cost $50,000 and a public school library. There are some manufactures, and considerable trade in grain, agricultural produce, live stock, lumber, etc. Population, in 1890, 1645: in 1900. 1844. HARRISSE, a'rc's', Hexbt (1830—). A French I)ibHographcr and historian, born in Paris, of Russian-Hebrew parentage. Through long years of investigation in the archives of dif- ferent European countries, he was enabled to collect material for such works as Bibliotheca Americana Vetiistissii>ia (1866), a bibliography