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- [S9495] Ancestry.com, Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2016;).
- [S5142] Find a Grave - US Index (Famous), First Lady SCOTT Caroline Lavinia "Carrie" Harrison 1832-1892 - Wife of President Benjamin Harrison.
Presidential First Lady. She was the wife of Benjamin Harrison, who served as the 23rd US President from March 1889 until March 1893. She was born one of five children and the second daughter of a Presbyterian minister and professor of science and mathematics at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She received a good education and was highly exposed to literature, art, music, and religion. In 1845 her family relocated to College Hill, near Cincinnati, Ohio, where her father became a chemistry and physics instructor at Farmer's College. In 1848 she met Benjamin Harrison, who was one of her father's freshman students and they began a courtship. The following year her family returned to Oxford, Ohio, where her father became the first president of the Oxford Female Institute. She enrolled as a student, studying English literature, theater, art, and painting and in 1852, her senior year, she joined the faculty as an Assistant in Piano Music and graduated that same year with a degree in music. She then moved to Carrollton, Kentucky, to teach music but became ill and returned to Ohio soon afterward. On October 20, 1853, she married Benjamin Harrison and they moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, after he completed his law studies and set up his first practice. After the outbreak of the American Civil War, she joined local groups such as the Ladies Patriotic Association and the Ladies Sanitary Committee, which helped care for wounded soldiers directly and raised money for their care and supplies while her husband was off to war. In 1881 her husband was elected to the US Senate by the Republican-dominated Indiana legislature and the family moved to Washington DC. Her poor health kept her from participating much in social events there, but she supported charities and headed the Garfield Hospital Aid Society. After her husband was elected US President in 1888 and they moved to the White House, she oversaw an extensive renovation, purging it of rodents and insects, laying new floors, installing new plumbing, painting and wallpapering, and adding more bathrooms. She was noted for her elegant White House receptions and dinners. In 1889 she raised the first Christmas tree in the White House and introduced the use of orchids as the official floral decoration at state receptions. A talented artist, she conducted china-painting classes in the White House for other women as it was a popular craft of the time. In 1890 she helped found the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and served as its first President General. In 1891 she had electricity installed but was too frightened to handle the switches, leaving the lights on all night and having a building engineer turn them off each morning. Later that year, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and the following summer she traveled to the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York, as the mountain air was considered beneficial for those suffering from the disease. After her condition became terminal, she returned to the White House, where she died at the age of 60. The Harrisons' daughter Mary Harrison McKee took up the duties of the White House hostess during the last months of his term.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3590/caroline-lavinia-harrison
- [S11545] Wikipedia: Caroline Harrison, Caroline Harrison.
Caroline Lavinia Harrison (née Scott; October 1, 1832 – October 25, 1892) was an American music teacher, artist, and the first lady of the United States from 1889 until her death. She was married to President Benjamin Harrison, and was the second first lady to die while serving in the role.
The daughter of a college professor, Harrison was well-educated, and she expressed interest in art, music, and literature throughout her life. She married Benjamin Harrison in 1853 and taught music while he engaged in a legal and political career. She was heavily involved in the community, working at her church, participating in charity work, and managing local institutions such as an orphanage and a women's club. During the Civil War, she contributed to the war effort through women's volunteer groups. When her husband was nominated for the presidency, she was a hostess as her home became the center of a front porch campaign.
As first lady, Harrison took little interest in her duties as hostess and dedicated much of her time to charity work. She was in favor of women's rights, and she was an organizing member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, serving as its first President General. Harrison engaged in a major undertaking to renovate the White House, having much of its interior and utilities entirely redone. These renovations included the addition of electricity, though the family declined to use it for fear of electrocution. Her plans for the White House would later influence the construction of the East Wing and the West Wing. She also took inventory of furnishings and other possessions kept in the White House, beginning the practice of White House historical preservation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Harrison
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1832 - 1892 (60 years)
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