But, in his early Indianapolis days he was a man who worked for $2.50 a week as a “court crier” and was defeated for the office of Marion County clerk.

DESCRIBED by many biographers as an able but often obscure and cold-blooded man, Harrison, the 23d President, is remembered best as one of the most intellectual men to occupy the White House.

Although a man who remained a shadow after his years as President and who admitted he never possessed a magnetic personality, Harrison displayed an aptitude for leadership in the Civil War that won him a commission to the rank of brigadier general.

Harrison was the only grandson of a President who himself became President. His grandfather, William Henry Harrison, the hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe, was our ninth President.

Born on Aug. 20, 1833, on his grandfather’s farm at North Bend, Ohio, Benjamin Harrison was named for his great-grandfather, John Scott Harrison, a farmer who had served two terms in Congress.

After spending his early years on the farm, Harrison attended Farmer’s College in a Cincinnati suburb for three years. There he met his future wife, Caroline Lavinia Scott. In 1852 Harrison followed Lavinia to Oxford, Ohio, and was graduated from Miami of Ohio University.

HARRISON was married in 1854, was admitted to the Ohio bar and moved to Indianapolis that same year.

The young couple attended First Presbyterian Church, then located on the east side of Monument Circle and Harrison was active in youth work at the YMCA.

As the son of a Whig congressman and grandson of a Whig President, Harrison’s name was familiar to voters. Although his father wrote him that “none but knaves should ever enter the political arena,” Harrison ran for county clerk and lost, then ran successfully for Indianapolis city attorney in 1857.

He became secretary of the Republican State Central Committee in 1858 and was elected reporter of the Indiana Supreme Court in 1860.

In 1862, Governor Oliver P. Morton asked Harrison to recruit ad command the 70th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteers in the Civil War.

COL. HARRISON molded his regiment onto a well disciplined unit that fought in many battles. An excellent commander, called “Little Ben” by his men because of his five-foot, six-inch height, Harrison rose quickly to the rank of brigadier general.

After the war, he won national prestige as an attorney and in 1876 ran successfully for governor of Indiana. Five years later he turned down a post in the cabinet of President James T. Garfield and was elected to the U. S. Senate.

During his term in the Senate, Harrison supported civil service reform, a protective tariff, a strong Navy and regulation of the railroads. He was a vocal critic of President Grover Cleveland’s vetoes of veterans’ pension bills.

In 1888, the Republican national convention nominated Harrison -- partly because of his name, partly because of his war record and partly because of his popularity with veterans.

Harrison, in a front-porch campaign from his home, supported high tariffs, which were the chief election issue. Cleveland called for lower tariffs, but did not campaign actively because he felt it was beneath the dignity of the presidency.

Harrison’s campaign was spiced by a campaign song entitled, “Grandfather’s Hat Fits Ben.”

In the election, Harrison trailed Cleveland by more than 90,000 popular votes, but by carrying New York and several other states with high electoral vote counts, he won the election in the Electoral College.

Congress passed the Sherman Anti-trust Act during Harrison’s term in office and provided for the building of a two-ocean Navy of steel ships.

Harrison also did more than any other President to increase respect for the United States flag. By his order the flag waved above the White House and other government buildings. Harrison also urged that the flag be flown over every school in the land.

Life in the White House was thoroughly photographed for the first time during Harrison’s term. Electric lights and bells were installed, but the Harrison, fearing shocks, often used the old gas lights or asked the White House electrician to turn off the switches on and off.

The GOP renominated Harrison in 1892 and the Democrats again nominated Cleveland. Discontented farmers turned from the Republicans to the new Populist Party which had been formed in protest against falling farm prices.

ALSO, angry factory workers deserted the Republicans, charging hostile interference by the Federal and state governments in settling strikes and labor disputes with the result that Cleveland won easily.

Personal tragedy struck Harrison just two weeks before the election when his wife died on Oct. 25.

Harrison then returned to Indianapolis to practice law. In 1896 he married Mrs. Mary Dimmick, who had nursed his wife during her last illness.

Harrison died in his home on March 13, 1901, and was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.