William Henry Harrison died in the White House on April 4, 1841, just 30½ days after being inaugurated as the 9th President of the United States.

Harrison took the oath of office on March 4, 1841. Despite cold weather, he rode to the ceremony on horseback, without an overcoat, and then delivered an inaugural address that lasted almost two hours. After the ceremony, he rode through the streets in the inaugural parade, and that evening attended three inaugural balls. All that activity took a toll on the 68-year-old, and by March 26 he was suffering from a severe cold. Doctors were called in, but their medical practices were crude, including the use of heated suction cups to supposedly draw out the disease, and the same bleeding tactics that had killed George Washington. All this only weakened Harrison further. As a last resort, a number of Native American "remedies" were tried, including one involving the use of live snakes. The President never recovered, however, and made history by serving the shortest term of any President.

Harrison's was interred in the receiving vault of the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., until final burial arrangements could be made. The Harrison family chose a site at the crest of Mt. Nebo on the family estate in North Bend, Ohio, for his tomb, and the interment occurred July 7, 1841.

In 1871, John Harrison, one of the late President's sons, sold all but 6 acres of the estate. He offered the remaining portion, containing the tomb and other burial sites, to the State of Ohio in exchange for a pledge of perpetual maintenance. The Ohio General Assembly did not formally accept the bequest and appropriate funds until 1919, however, by which time the tomb and grounds had fallen into serious disrepair. Work to rehabilitate the grounds and tomb began that year, construction of the current memorial and tomb began in 1922, and the Memorial was completed in the spring of 1922. Located just west of South Bend, just off US-50, the vault beneath the memorial contains the remains of Harrison, his wife Anna, and their son John Scott.

William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial, south face

Memorial, north face

burial vault

Questions or comments about this page?

This page was last updated on October 25, 2017.