Caroline Lavinia SCOTT
- Born: 1 Oct 1832
- Marriage: Benjamin HARRISON
 Another name
for Caroline was First Lady Of The United STATES.
General
Notes:
Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison
The centennial of President Washington's inauguration heightened the nation's
interest in its heroic past, and in 1890 Caroline Scott Harrison lent her
prestige as First Lady to the founding of the National Society of the Daughters
of the American Revolution. She served as its first President General. She took
a special interest in the history of the White House, and the mature dignity
with which she carried out her duties may overshadow the fun-loving nature that
had charmed "Ben" Harrison when they met as teenagers.
Born at Oxford,
Ohio, in 1832, "Carrie" was the second daughter of Mary Potts Neal and the
Reverend Dr. John W. Scott, a Presbyterian minister and founder of the Oxford
Female Institute. As her father's pupil--brown-haired, petite, witty--she
infatuated the reserved young Ben, then an honor student at Miami University;
they were engaged before his graduation and married in 1853.
After early
years of struggle while he established a law practice in Indianapolis, they
enjoyed a happy family life interrupted only by the Civil War. Then, while
General Harrison became a man of note in his profession, his wife cared for
their son and daughter, gave active service to the First Presbyterian Church and
to an orphans' home, and extended cordial hospitality to her many friends.
Church views to the contrary, she saw no harm in private dancing lessons for her
daughter--she liked dancing herself. Blessed with considerable artistic talent,
she was an accomplished pianist; she especially enjoyed painting for recreation.
Illness repeatedly kept her away from Washington's winter social season during
her husband's term in the Senate, 1881-1887, and she welcomed their return to
private life; but she moved with poise to the White House in 1889 to continue
the gracious way of life she had always created in her own home.
During
the administration the Harrisons' daughter, Mary Harrison McKee, her two
children, and other relatives lived at the White House. The First Lady tried in
vain to have the overcrowded mansion enlarged but managed to assure an extensive
renovation with up-to-date improvements. She established the collection of china
associated with White House history. She worked for local charities as well.
With other ladies of progressive views, she helped raise funds for the Johns
Hopkins University medical school on condition that it admit women. She gave
elegant receptions and dinners. In the winter of 1891-1892, however, she had to
battle illness as she tried to fulfill her social obligations. She died of
tuberculosis at the White House in October 1892, and after services in the East
Room was buried from her own church in Indianapolis.
When official
mourning ended, Mrs. McKee acted as hostess for her father in the last months of
his term. (In 1896 he married his first wife's widowed niece and former
secretary, Mary Scott Lord Dimmick; she survived him by nearly 47 years, dying
in January 1948.) Lived: 1832-1892
Caroline married Benjamin HARRISON,
son of John Scott HARRISON and Elizabeth Ramsey IRWIN. (Benjamin HARRISON was
born on 20 Aug 1833.)
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