John Scott Harrison

I found a small yet interesting piece of American history last night. Recently I have been doing some research into the geography of Ohio, and I came across a place called North Bend, a town in the Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky metropolitan area. In the early second half of the 19th century a man named John Scott Harrison retired there after losing his House of Representatives seat.

Harrison is unique because he is the only man (and also only person) in all of United States history to be both the child of a president and the parent of another. His father was William Henry Harrison, the ninth president; and his son was Benjamin Harrison, the twenty-third. As for Harrison's own political career, he represented Ohio's second congressional district for two terms, serving from 1853-57, when he was defeated in his re-election for a third term. He lived in North Bend until his death in 1878; unfortunately, he did not see one of his sons become president (Benjamin Harrison was elected in 1888).

Small, obscure historical facts such as this always fascinate me. I appreciate looking up a particular topic and coming across minor events or people with an interesting, unexpected fact to them.