Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/53

 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, ninth president of the United States, born in Berkeley, Charles City County, Va., February 9, 1773; died in Washing ton, D. C., April 4, 1841, was the third and youngest son of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence, born in Berkeley, Charles City County, Va., about 1740; died in April, 1791. He was a descendant of Colonel John Harrison, a distinguished officer during the civil wars of England, and one of the judges who tried and condemned the unfortunate Charles the First, for which, and for his active participation in the affairs of the commonwealth under Crom well, he was himself tried and executed after the restoration. As a member of the burgesses in 1764 he served on the committee that prepared the memorials to the king, lords, and commons; but in 1765, with many other prominent men, opposed the stamp act resolutions of Henry as impolitic. He was chosen in 1773 one of the committee of correspondence which united the colonies against Great Britain in 1774, appointed one of the dele gates to congress, and four times re-elected to a 31