Caroline Scott Harrison
1889-1893

Caroline Lavinia Scott was born on October 1, 1832 in Oxford, Ohio.
When she was 17 she met Ben Harrison. He was a student of her father at Farmer's College in Cincinnati.

After she graduated from Oxford Female Institute she taught music.

Library of Congress

They were secretly engaged in 1852 and were married on October 20, 1853. The Harrisons had two children, Russell Benjamin and Mary Scott.

In 1881 Caroline suffered a bad fall and her health wasn't good after that.

She became Ben's First Lady when he was elected in 1889.

The Harrison's had electricity installed in the White House, but were afraid of it. They refused to touch the switches.

Caroline founded the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1890.

She also put up the first Christmas tree in the White House.

On October 25, 1892 Caroline died in the White House. She had been sick with tuberculosis. She was 63.

Her daughter Mary McKee then served as hostest for White House affairs.

She is buried in Indaianapolis.

Visit our site on U.S. Presidents

Books and Websites

Books

Smithsonian Presidents and First Ladiesby James Barber and Amy Pastan.
First Ladies: Women Who Called The White House Home (First Ladies) by Beatrice Gormeley.

Websites

http://www.firstladies.org/ National First Ladies Library
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/058_flal.htmlLibrary of Congress, Images of the First Ladies

Comments and/or corrections should be sent to Jim at jim@anewadventure.org.