The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-03-14
NATION MoURNS Death OF BENJAMIN HARRISON.
Continued From Page One.

| ment sprang up between them. Two chill
/ dren-Russell b. and Mamie s.-were the
! result of this marriage.
| After his marriage, Mr. Harrison, who
was then practically without resources. be-
| gan to practice law in Indianapolis and
| soon, through diligence and thoroughness,
| obtained a sound reputation and much
| profitable work. In the Fremont campaign
| of 1856 he became one of the leading speak
| ers. and, about the same time. was elected
| reporter Of the Supreme Court of Indiana
which position he held when the Civil War
started.
| Such was his life when Governor Morton
met him Oh the street one day In July, 1852.
| and said:
Ben, 1 want you to raise regiment"
He accepted the assignment. raised the
| regiment and was sucossively commis-
stoned Second Lieutenant. Captain and
Colonel of the Seventeenth Indiana
AS Colonel, he went to the front and
so 5annary ,ss4 when Els resiment
assigned to the First Brigade of the Third
Two months later his regiment led the as
sault in the charge at Resaca. and many
Of its members We're killed and wounded.
AT Peach Tree Creek, while he was COM
manding a brigade, he attracted. by MS
soldierly qualities. most enthusiastic praise
from General Hawkins. and the result was
that on the Generals recommendation 10
Secretary OF War Stanton, he was promoted
to the rank of Brigadier General
Subsequently. he took part in the siege
and battle of Nashville. was present at the
surrender of General Johnston. and. with
his command. participated In the final re-
view OF the Union forces in washington
He served with credit and escaped without
injury.
His First Political Battles.
After the war he was again elected re,
porter of the Supreme Court, and fulhiled
the duties of that office until 1868, When ne
declined a reelection and gave all his time
TO the stndy of law. He was made can
didate for Governor in ls76. after another
candidate had been nominated and had de-
clined to run. Mr.. Harrison also declined,
but finally. after much urging, accepted the
nomination.
from the campaign with SO much popular
ity that his, friends found it easy to elect
him to the United States Senate in 1850. to
Joseph T. Macdonald. ON March a, lssl.
He took his seat on President Gartield's s
Inauguration day and served there mis-
himself him forward ~ I'd as a speaker. but when he
did speak he commanded great attention.
He proved himself warm friend OF the
soldiers. and often spoke warmly in their
favor.
In regard to Chinese immigration, he
charged that In enforcing exclusion treaty
His services on the Mississippi River Com
mission enabled him to discuss familiarly
all propositions In regard to the improve
ment Of that streams navigation. In the
second session of the Forty-seventh Con-
gress his principal speeches were on civil
Service reform, the Blair educational bill
provement.. While he favored the civil serv-
ice law, which was then being considered;
that Government employees should be at per-
feet liberty to contribute for political pur-
poses.
When AR. Harrison's term in the Senate
expired. on March a. 1857, ne made des-
perate fight for reelection, but was de-
feated by David Turpie. He then returned
to private life at indianapolis and gave his
attention to the business OF his law firm,
Harrison. Hines & Miller.
His Election to Presidency.
Nevertheless. he retained his interest In
politics and was generally looked upon as
the leader Of the Republican party in In
diana.
The positive refusal of James G. Blaine
to run again as candidate left John
with 299 votes, Gresham second with i'll
votes, and Harrison an apparently bad
fifth with so votes.
At the end of the eighth roll call, Har-
than was necessary for a choice. Levi p.
Morton of New. York was nominated on
President Cleveland had already been
nominated by the convention at st. Louis
on June 8. The tariff question was the
main issue on which the campaign, an un-
usually spirited one. was fought.
Mr.. Harrison was a pronounced protec-
ZIONIST. Mr.. Cleveland came boldly for
the eeetion s ehaeSa IN Noveber 1 ' Mr. rf narson
carried every Northern State except New
Jersey and Connecticut, and received 233
electoral votes TO 16s for Mr.. Cleveland.
He was inaugurated on Monday, March
T. 1889. in the midst of a rain.
His Second Battle With Cleveland.
The policy of President Harrison with re-
gard to the Indians proved remarkably Sue
When the Republican National Convention
met in Minneapolis on June ], 1892 the re-
~ ", Ior flr OraG-
ident was practically assured In fact. on
the first ballot he received $50 votes, or
clear majority of 166. his chief competitors.
James G. Blaine and Wm-McKinIey. receiv-
ing 1S2 each
Whitelaw Reid was nominated for Vice
President by acclamation.
The Democrats put forward Grover Cleve-
land and Adai Stevenson as their standard
bearers. Once more the battle was fought
on the issue Of tariff reform. This time
toral votes. as against LAG cast for Harrison.
On the very eve of the election. on Octo-
Der "a. 1892. President Harrison had sus-
loss of his wife.
Before he surrendered the reins Of gov
ernment to his successor. he was called
upon 10 make decision in the Hawaiian
difficulty. President Harrison. in message
to the Senate. recommended the annexa-
ton Of the islands under the treaty. The
acts of President Cleveland was to re-
verse the policy of his predecessor.
Up to the beginning Of 1886. he had been
considered one Of the most formidable Of
presidential possibilities But 1t gradually
leaked out that he had frequently expressed
to his friends a determination not to allow
his name to so before the convention. He
put that determination into writing on
February 8, 1896. in a letter addressed to
John X. Gowdy, chairman Of the Repub-
lican State Committee of Indiana
His Second Marriage.
Prior to his formal withdrawal from the
presidential arena, General Harrison had
INTERCEPTED the public by the announcement
on January Is of his engagement TO a niece
OF his first wife, Mrs. Mary Scott Lord
Dimmick of New York. Her first husband
was Benjamin Dimmick, son of Pennsyl-
vania politician, who, marrying in 1887, had
left her widow three months after the
ceremony.
Mrs. Harrison, with the consent OF her
husband, in 1885, had invited the widow to
take up her residence in the Harrison
homestead in Indianapolis. She remained a
member of the family until the death of
Mrs. Harrison. when she went to live with
her sister, Mrs Sarah Parker in New York.
The marriage took place on April 6. 1856.
1t was noticed that the children of Gen.
mcny. Nor were they among those who.
the next night, welcomed the bride to the
old homestead in Indianapolis
Elizabeth, was born to General and Mrs
Harrison on February q. 1887.