“I wish that my husband's friends had left him where he is, happy and contented in retirement.”
First Ladies of the US Anna Harrison Full Image

Anna Harrison


Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison
Years of service: 1841-1841
Born: 1775


First Ladies of the US Anna Harrison Full Image

Anna Symmes was raised in New York City by her maternal grandparents, who oversaw her exceptional education. Her marriage to Major General William Henry Harrison produced ten children, and she spent lengthy periods fending without him in the wilderness of Ohio. Anna homeschooled all her children, managed their land, and was a respected community leader in North Bend, Ohio. She avidly followed politics in newspapers. Recuperating from an illness, Anna sent her daughter-in-law, Jane Harrison, to fulfill White House hostess duties for the new administration. Anna never entered the White House after receiving word that her husband had died after only thirty days in office.