Benjamin Harrison III

Benjamin Harrison III (1673 – April 10, 1710) was an early member of the Harrison Family of Virginia, serving as the colony's Attorney General, Treasurer, and Speaker of the House of Burgesses. He was the great grandfather of 9th U.S. President, William Henry Harrison and the great-great-great grandfather of 23rd U.S. President, Benjamin Harrison.

Biography

Harrison was born in 1673, the son of Benjamin Harrison and Hannah Churchill.^[1] He purchased a portion from the land patent of Berkeley Hundred from Giles Bland, where he would raise his family after marrying Elizabeth, daughter of Lewis Burwell II and Abigail Smith. This location was home to the first official Thanksgiving held on 4 December 1619 in America, and where his son, Benjamin Harrison IV, began to construct the family's Berkeley Plantation in 1726.^[2]

In 1697, at just 24, he became the Attorney General of the Virginia Colony, serving until 1702,^[3] before moving onto the House of Burgesses between 1703–1706, where he was the Speaker in 1705. He became Treasurer of the colony in 1705, serving until his death in 1710.^[2] Harrison began to compile the history of the colony shortly before he died, leaving it unfinished.^[4]

His children included:

• Benjamin Harrison IV, who married Anne Carter, daughter of Robert Carter and Betty Landon
• Elizabeth Harrison, who married John Calvert, son of George Calvert and Elizabeth Doyne
• Nathaniel Harrison, who married Mary Cary, daughter of John Cary and Jane Flood

References