John Cleves Short

Married June 29 1814

John Short was born in Lexington, KY to Peyton Short and Maria Symmes. He was the grandson of Judge John Cleves Symmes, the grantee of the Symmes purchase which encompassed a large tract of land which included the present day site of Cincinnati.

He was educated at Princeton College and successfully engaged in the practice of law after passing the bar. During the war of 1812 he accompanied then General William Henry Harrison as aide-de-camp and subsequently upon his return to Cincinnati was elected judge of the court of common pleas.

Prior to being elected judge he married Betsey Bassett Harrison, daughter of President Harrison. The couple had one daughter who died in infancy. In 1846 he experienced the loss of Betsey, and in 1849 married Mrs. Mary Ann Mitchell. She survived him by about 7 years.

In 1817 he erected a home on the banks of the Ohio called Short Hill. He lived there 47 years, dying in the home March 3rd, 1864.

Source: A Biographical Cyclopedia and Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Men, 1880 by J.C. Yorston in Cincinnati