Rep. John Scott Harrison

John Scott Harrison (October 4, 1804 – May 25, 1878) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio and the only man to be both the son and the father of U.S. Presidents.

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, the son of future President William Henry Harrison and Anna Tuthill Symmes and the grandson of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V, Harrison completed preparatory studies and studied medicine. He later abandoned this to become a farmer. After the death of his father, his mother moved in with him and helped him with raising his children including his second son, future President Benjamin Harrison. He was elected a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1852, reelected an Oppositionist in 1854 and served from 1853 to 1857. After being defeated for a third term in 1856, Harrison retired to his estate "Point Farm" in North Bend, Ohio where he died on May 25, 1878. He was interred in the William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial in North Bend with his parents and other family members.

Not long after his death, Harrison's body was stolen from his grave. One of his sons and some friends discovered his naked body hanging from a tree by a rope. His body was later returned to his grave. [1]

John Scott Harrison was buried in Congress Green Cemetery in North Bend, Ohio. As the funeral party walked to John Scott’s grave, it was discovered that the grave of Augustus Devin, a relative of the Harrisons who died the Saturday before, had been disturbed. Some suggested that the grave might have been disturbed by hogs, uprooting the earth. However, after examining the grave it was discovered that the body of Augustus Devin was not in the grave. It was clear that body snatchers had stolen his remains.

Following the discovery the family wanted to make sure that the widowed Devin’s widowed mother did not find learn of the situation and that all safety measures were taken to assure that John Scott Harrison’s body did not meet the same fate. Benjamin Harrison and his younger brother, John, supervised the lowering of their father’s casket into a grave that was 8 feet long, wide, and deep. They had the metal casket placed into a brick vault with thick walls and a stone bottom. Then, three flat stones, over eight inches thick, were used to enclose the casket in the vault. The largest stone was placed over the upper end of the casket, while two smaller ones were laid over the lower end. The three stones were then cemented together and the grave was left open for several hours to let the cement cure. The grave was then backfilled. To further safeguard his father’s body, Benjamin paid a young man $30 to guard over the grave for 30 nights.

Later that day, Benjamin Harrison and his wife took a train back home in Indianapolis. Benjamin was preparing his address that would open the Indian Republican State Convention on June 5, 1878. Benjamin’s younger brother, John, stayed in Cincinnati in hopes to find the body of Augustus Devin. He took on the task along with his cousin, George Eaton. They acquired a warrant from Squire Wright’s office and were being assisted by Cincinnati’s Constable Lacey and Detective Snelbaker, along with another officer. They set out to check the medical schools which were always in need of cadavers for studies and they suspected that the grave robbers might have been in cahoots with the medical professors.

Their first stop was the Ohio Medical School. They were informed that a wagon had passed thought the alley on the south side of the college building. The informer claimed that the wagon stopped at the door in the hall where cadavers were rumored to be dumped off, and something had been taken out. Harrison and Eaton thought that their young cousin’s body was sold much earlier that week. The officers suggested that they search the college.

A janitor named A.Q. Marshall showed them around, protesting the whole time that no bodies would be found. They thoroughly searched the building, finding nothing, and were ready to give up when Constable Lacey noticed a taut rope attached to a windlass in an elevator chute. When Detective Snelbaker went to pull up the rope, he found that something heavy was suspended on it. When they pulled the object into light, they found it was a dead body with a cloth over its head. It was clear that the body belonged to an old man, not their young cousin Devin. Despite the body not being the one they were looking for, they laid it on the floor to take a look at it. When Lacey cast aside the cloth with a stick, Harrison caught sight of the face, he stepped back in horror and exclaimed, “My God, that’s my father!” Harrison came looking for his young cousin and instead found the corpse of his father, who had been buried only 24 hours earlier.

Apparently, the grave robbers were quick in taking the body from its grave. It was suspected that the robbers were present during the burial, as they knew precisely where the grave was located. The robbers removed the two smaller stones originally placed across the foot of the outer casket had been lifted on end. Then they drilled a series of holes in the outer casket in exactly the same fashion as when Devin’s body was stolen. Finally, the lid of the inner casket was pried up, the glass seal broken, and the body drawn out feet-first. This was contrary to the usual practice of body snatching, which was to take out the body out head-first. This was another reason why many felt the perpetrators had been present at the funeral and knew that the smaller stones had been placed over the foot of the vault. The young watchman, who was paid the $30 to watch over the grave, was overcome with fear once the sun set and darkness set in over the cemetery and ran back home, leaving the grave unattended.

In the end, John Scott Harrison’s body was privately placed in the John Strader Mausoleum at Spring Grove Cemetery to await a second burial. The Harrison family wanted the whole incident to be kept secret. Unfortunately, the boys at the fire station right next to the medical school told a newspaper man in Cincinnati the facts of the event. The reporter tracked down all the main participants but no one would talk, and the undertakers who had been sworn to silence would not even admit that they had ever hear of John Scott Harrison. Eventually, the news was confirmed by three Harrison relatives who had visited John Scott’s grave early in the morning, following the funeral, and found the robbed grave.

Although the Cincinnati police were investigating the case, they did not get far. The guilty men continued to elude justice, and those who were taken into custody were released. The end of the legal outcome of the Harrison’s case was lost forever after all the records were destroyed during a fire set to the Hamilton County courthouse during the Cincinnati riot of 1886.

Benjamin Harrison and his family never publicly spoke of the incident. From this incident, action was demanded, and four significant things happened that changed the world of funeral service. First, Ohio passed legislation that made grave robbing a serious crime, with both fines and imprisonment as a consequence. Second, Andrew Van Bibber invented what he called the “mort-safe,” which was a steel cage in which a casket was placed and padlocked. In 1879, George W. Boyd of Springfield, Ohio, patented the first metal grave vault to use the air bell principle of sealing and locking form within. Finally, the uniform Anatomical Gift Act was enacted, which put grave robbers out of business

John Scott Harrison

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

from Ohio's 2nd district

In office

March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857

Preceded by Lewis D. Campbell

Succeeded by William S. Groesbeck

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Born October 4, 1804

Vincennes, Indiana, USA

Died May 25, 1878

North Bend, Ohio, USA

Political party Whig, Oppositionist

Spouse (1) Lucretia Knapp Johnson (2) Elizabeth Ramsey Irwin

Profession Politician, Farmer

John Scott Harrison (October 4, 1804 – May 25, 1878) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio and the only man to be both the son and the father of U.S. Presidents.

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, the son of future President William Henry Harrison and Anna Tuthill Symmes and the grandson of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V, Harrison completed preparatory studies and studied medicine. He later abandon this to become a farmer. After the death of his father, his mother moved in with him and helped him with raising his children including his second son, future President Benjamin Harrison. He was elected a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1852, reelected an Oppositionist in 1854 and served from 1853 to 1857. After being defeated for a third term in 1856, Harrison retired to his estate "Point Farm" in North Bend, Ohio where he died on May 25, 1878. He was interred in the William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial in North Bend with his parents and other family members.

Not long after his death, Harrison's body was stolen from his grave. One of his sons and some friends discovered his naked body hanging from a tree by a rope. His body was later returned to his grave.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scott_Harrison

John Scott Harrison (1804-1878) was an American Congressman who represented the second district of Ohio from 1853 to 1857. To date, he is the only person in history who was the son of one President (William Henry Harrison) and the father of another (Benjamin Harrison).

John Scott was born to William Henry and Anna Symmes Harrison on October 4, 1804 at Vincennes, Indiana. He studied medicine, but became a farmer. He was elected to Congress in 1852 as a Whig and in 1854 as an Opposition Party candidate (The Opposition party was a transition from the Whig party to the Republican party). When he was defeated in 1856 he retired to his farm in Hamilton County, Ohio.

Harrison died on May 25, 1878 at his home near North Bend, Ohio and was buried in the Harrison tomb there. His body was stolen from its grave, and was later discovered in the quarters of a medical student who lacked legitimate access to corpses for medical study.

• ***************************************

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8624

John Harrison graduated from law school valedictorian of his class. He was forced back to the family farm to manage affairs. His father gave him 600 acres bordering his own vast estate dubbed with the name "The Point Farm." He was left with three children when his first wife died. Harrison married a second time. He was a member of the 33rd and 34th Congress but was unsuccessful for reelection retiring to "Point Farm." Their existence was tied to the rise and fall of the Ohio River. Barely navigable in dry season and then in the spring it was turbulent and destructive washing away land and buildings.

Their second child was Benjamin, the future president, who was born at the "Big House" the resident of his grandfather, President William Harrison. It was a relentless struggle for the family of nine children to survive. John's wife Elizabeth died while Benjamin was away at school. Money was so tight, he seriously doubted that he could keep the two oldest boys in school. The family was laid low due to illnesses, cholera, smallpox, typhoid and dysentery. John Harrison was well along the road to financial ruin, but managed to send his son Ben to Miami University at Oxford, Ohio.

He died at home at the age of seventy three. Following the funeral, the family accompanied the body to the Congress Green Cemetery, where the Harrison family plot overlooked the Ohio River. Prior to burial, they discovered a nearby body was missing from an uprooted gravesite. A decision was made to hide the body of John Scott Harrison. Benjamin supervised the lowering of his father in a secret grave, an eight foot excavation was made secure by placement of concrete slabs around the remains and two watchmen were hired. Ben was determined his father's body would be safe and returned to Indianapolis. The oldest son, John Harrison Jr. set about solving the mystery of the missing body. Grave robbing and selling the remains to a research facility was commonplace. A tip led him to the Ohio Medical School in Cincinnati where instead of finding the missing corpse, located his father who it was thought safely buried just 24 hours before. The body was briefly interred in a temporary vault at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Some time later he was reinterred securely in the vault of his father, President William Henry Harrison, at North Bend, down the road from Congress Green Cemetery.

Not much remains: The Harrison residence "The Point," which was a brick two-story farm house located on the six hundred acre farm in North Bend deteriorated and was razed in 1959 despite attempts by the Daughters of the American Revolution to save it. It was here that the mother of John Harrison after the "Big House," on the President William Harrison estate, was destroyed by fire and came to live with her son and where she died. (bio by: Donald Greyfield)

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, the son of future President William Henry Harrison and Anna Tuthill Symmes and the grandson of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V, Harrison completed preparatory studies and studied medicine. He later abandoned this to become a farmer. After the death of his father, his mother moved in with him and helped him with raising his children including his second son, future President Benjamin Harrison. He was elected a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1852, reelected an Oppositionist in 1854 and served from 1853 to 1857. After being defeated for a third term in 1856, Harrison retired to his estate "Point Farm" in North Bend, Ohio where he died on May 25, 1878. He was interred in the William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial in North Bend with his parents and other family members.

Not long after his death, Harrison's body was stolen from his grave. One of his sons and some friends discovered his naked body hanging from a tree by a rope. His body was later returned to his grave. [1]

John Scott Harrison was buried in Congress Green Cemetery in North Bend, Ohio. As the funeral party walked to John Scott’s grave, it was discovered that the grave of Augustus Devin, a relative of the Harrisons who died the Saturday before, had been disturbed. Some suggested that the grave might have been disturbed by hogs, uprooting the earth. However, after examining the grave it was discovered that the body of Augustus Devin was not in the grave. It was clear that body snatchers had stolen his remains.

Following the discovery the family wanted to make sure that the widowed Devin’s widowed mother did not find learn of the situation and that all safety measures were taken to assure that John Scott Harrison’s body did not meet the same fate. Benjamin Harrison and his younger brother, John, supervised the lowering of their father’s casket into a grave that was 8 feet long, wide, and deep. They had the metal casket placed into a brick vault with thick walls and a stone bottom. Then, three flat stones, over eight inches thick, were used to enclose the casket in the vault. The largest stone was placed over the upper end of the casket, while two smaller ones were laid over the lower end. The three stones were then cemented together and the grave was left open for several hours to let the cement cure. The grave was then backfilled. To further safeguard his father’s body, Benjamin paid a young man $30 to guard over the grave for 30 nights.

Later that day, Benjamin Harrison and his wife took a train back home in Indianapolis. Benjamin was preparing his address that would open the Indian Republican State Convention on June 5, 1878. Benjamin’s younger brother, John, stayed in Cincinnati in hopes to find the body of Augustus Devin. He took on the task along with his cousin, George Eaton. They acquired a warrant from Squire Wright’s office and were being assisted by Cincinnati’s Constable Lacey and Detective Snelbaker, along with another officer. They set out to check the medical schools which were always in need of cadavers for studies and they suspected that the grave robbers might have been in cahoots with the medical professors.

Their first stop was the Ohio Medical School. They were informed that a wagon had passed thought the alley on the south side of the college building. The informer claimed that the wagon stopped at the door in the hall where cadavers were rumored to be dumped off, and something had been taken out. Harrison and Eaton thought that their young cousin’s body was sold much earlier that week. The officers suggested that they search the college.

A janitor named A.Q. Marshall showed them around, protesting the whole time that no bodies would be found. They thoroughly searched the building, finding nothing, and were ready to give up when Constable Lacey noticed a taut rope attached to a windlass in an elevator chute. When Detective Snelbaker went to pull up the rope, he found that something heavy was suspended on it. When they pulled the object into light, they found it was a dead body with a cloth over its head. It was clear that the body belonged to an old man, not their young cousin Devin. Despite the body not being the one they were looking for, they laid it on the floor to take a look at it. When Lacey cast aside the cloth with a stick, Harrison caught sight of the face, he stepped back in horror and exclaimed, “My God, that’s my father!” Harrison came looking for his young cousin and instead found the corpse of his father, who had been buried only 24 hours earlier.

Apparently, the grave robbers were quick in taking the body from its grave. It was suspected that the robbers were present during the burial, as they knew precisely where the grave was located. The robbers removed the two smaller stones originally placed across the foot of the outer casket had been lifted on end. Then they drilled a series of holes in the outer casket in exactly the same fashion as when Devin’s body was stolen. Finally, the lid of the inner casket was pried up, the glass seal broken, and the body drawn out feet-first. This was contrary to the usual practice of body snatching, which was to take out the body out head-first. This was another reason why many felt the perpetrators had been present at the funeral and knew that the smaller stones had been placed over the foot of the vault. The young watchman, who was paid the $30 to watch over the grave, was overcome with fear once the sun set and darkness set in over the cemetery and ran back home, leaving the grave unattended.

In the end, John Scott Harrison’s body was privately placed in the John Strader Mausoleum at Spring Grove Cemetery to await a second burial. The Harrison family wanted the whole incident to be kept secret. Unfortunately, the boys at the fire station right next to the medical school told a newspaper man in Cincinnati the facts of the event. The reporter tracked down all the main participants but no one would talk, and the undertakers who had been sworn to silence would not even admit that they had ever hear of John Scott Harrison. Eventually, the news was confirmed by three Harrison relatives who had visited John Scott’s grave early in the morning, following the funeral, and found the robbed grave.

Although the Cincinnati police were investigating the case, they did not get far. The guilty men continued to elude justice, and those who were taken into custody were released. The end of the legal outcome of the Harrison’s case was lost forever after all the records were destroyed during a fire set to the Hamilton County courthouse during the Cincinnati riot of 1886.

Benjamin Harrison and his family never publicly spoke of the incident. From this incident, action was demanded, and four significant things happened that changed the world of funeral service. First, Ohio passed legislation that made grave robbing a serious crime, with both fines and imprisonment as a consequence. Second, Andrew Van Bibber invented what he called the “mort-safe,” which was a steel cage in which a casket was placed and padlocked. In 1879, George W. Boyd of Springfield, Ohio, patented the first metal grave vault to use the air bell principle of sealing and locking form within. Finally, the uniform Anatomical Gift Act was enacted, which put grave robbers out of business

John Scott Harrison

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

from Ohio's 2nd district

In office

March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857

Preceded by Lewis D. Campbell

Succeeded by William S. Groesbeck

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Born October 4, 1804

Vincennes, Indiana, USA

Died May 25, 1878

North Bend, Ohio, USA

Political party Whig, Oppositionist

Spouse (1) Lucretia Knapp Johnson (2) Elizabeth Ramsey Irwin

Profession Politician, Farmer

John Scott Harrison (October 4, 1804 – May 25, 1878) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio and the only man to be both the son and the father of U.S. Presidents.

John Scott Harrison (October 4, 1804 – May 25, 1878) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio and the only man to be both the son and the father of U.S. Presidents.

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, the son of future President William Henry Harrison and Anna Tuthill Symmes and the grandson of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V, Harrison completed preparatory studies and studied medicine. He later abandoned this to become a farmer. After the death of his father, his mother moved in with him and helped him with raising his children including his second son, future President Benjamin Harrison. He was elected a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1852, reelected an Oppositionist in 1854 and served from 1853 to 1857. After being defeated for a third term in 1856, Harrison retired to his estate "Point Farm" in North Bend, Ohio where he died on May 25, 1878. He was interred in the William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial in North Bend with his parents and other family members.

Not long after his death, Harrison's body was stolen from his grave. One of his sons and some friends discovered his naked body hanging from a tree by a rope. His body was later returned to his grave.

John Scott Harrison was buried in Congress Green Cemetery in North Bend, Ohio. As the funeral party walked to John Scott’s grave, it was discovered that the grave of Augustus Devin, a relative of the Harrisons who died the Saturday before, had been disturbed. Some suggested that the grave might have been disturbed by hogs, uprooting the earth. However, after examining the grave it was discovered that the body of Augustus Devin was not in the grave. It was clear that body snatchers had stolen his remains.

Following the discovery the family wanted to make sure that the widowed Devin’s widowed mother did not find learn of the situation and that all safety measures were taken to assure that John Scott Harrison’s body did not meet the same fate. Benjamin Harrison and his younger brother, John, supervised the lowering of their father’s casket into a grave that was 8 feet long, wide, and deep. They had the metal casket placed into a brick vault with thick walls and a stone bottom. Then, three flat stones, over eight inches thick, were used to enclose the casket in the vault. The largest stone was placed over the upper end of the casket, while two smaller ones were laid over the lower end. The three stones were then cemented together and the grave was left open for several hours to let the cement cure. The grave was then backfilled. To further safeguard his father’s body, Benjamin paid a young man $30 to guard over the grave for 30 nights.

Later that day, Benjamin Harrison and his wife took a train back home in Indianapolis. Benjamin was preparing his address that would open the Indian Republican State Convention on June 5, 1878. Benjamin’s younger brother, John, stayed in Cincinnati in hopes to find the body of Augustus Devin. He took on the task along with his cousin, George Eaton. They acquired a warrant from Squire Wright’s office and were being assisted by Cincinnati’s Constable Lacey and Detective Snelbaker, along with another officer. They set out to check the medical schools which were always in need of cadavers for studies and they suspected that the grave robbers might have been in cahoots with the medical professors.

Their first stop was the Ohio Medical School. They were informed that a wagon had passed thought the alley on the south side of the college building. The informer claimed that the wagon stopped at the door in the hall where cadavers were rumored to be dumped off, and something had been taken out. Harrison and Eaton thought that their young cousin’s body was sold much earlier that week. The officers suggested that they search the college.

A janitor named A.Q. Marshall showed them around, protesting the whole time that no bodies would be found. They thoroughly searched the building, finding nothing, and were ready to give up when Constable Lacey noticed a taut rope attached to a windlass in an elevator chute. When Detective Snelbaker went to pull up the rope, he found that something heavy was suspended on it. When they pulled the object into light, they found it was a dead body with a cloth over its head. It was clear that the body belonged to an old man, not their young cousin Devin. Despite the body not being the one they were looking for, they laid it on the floor to take a look at it. When Lacey cast aside the cloth with a stick, Harrison caught sight of the face, he stepped back in horror and exclaimed, “My God, that’s my father!” Harrison came looking for his young cousin and instead found the corpse of his father, who had been buried only 24 hours earlier.

Apparently, the grave robbers were quick in taking the body from its grave. It was suspected that the robbers were present during the burial, as they knew precisely where the grave was located. The robbers removed the two smaller stones originally placed across the foot of the outer casket had been lifted on end. Then they drilled a series of holes in the outer casket in exactly the same fashion as when Devin’s body was stolen. Finally, the lid of the inner casket was pried up, the glass seal broken, and the body drawn out feet-first. This was contrary to the usual practice of body snatching, which was to take out the body out head-first. This was another reason why many felt the perpetrators had been present at the funeral and knew that the smaller stones had been placed over the foot of the vault. The young watchman, who was paid the $30 to watch over the grave, was overcome with fear once the sun set and darkness set in over the cemetery and ran back home, leaving the grave unattended.

In the end, John Scott Harrison’s body was privately placed in the John Strader Mausoleum at Spring Grove Cemetery to await a second burial. The Harrison family wanted the whole incident to be kept secret. Unfortunately, the boys at the fire station right next to the medical school told a newspaper man in Cincinnati the facts of the event. The reporter tracked down all the main participants but no one would talk, and the undertakers who had been sworn to silence would not even admit that they had ever hear of John Scott Harrison. Eventually, the news was confirmed by three Harrison relatives who had visited John Scott’s grave early in the morning, following the funeral, and found the robbed grave.

Although the Cincinnati police were investigating the case, they did not get far. The guilty men continued to elude justice, and those who were taken into custody were released. The end of the legal outcome of the Harrison’s case was lost forever after all the records were destroyed during a fire set to the Hamilton County courthouse during the Cincinnati riot of 1886.

Benjamin Harrison and his family never publicly spoke of the incident. From this incident, action was demanded, and four significant things happened that changed the world of funeral service. First, Ohio passed legislation that made grave robbing a serious crime, with both fines and imprisonment as a consequence. Second, Andrew Van Bibber invented what he called the “mort-safe,” which was a steel cage in which a casket was placed and padlocked. In 1879, George W. Boyd of Springfield, Ohio, patented the first metal grave vault to use the air bell principle of sealing and locking form within. Finally, the uniform Anatomical Gift Act was enacted, which put grave robbers out of business

John Scott Harrison

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

from Ohio's 2nd district

In office

March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857

Preceded by Lewis D. Campbell

Succeeded by William S. Groesbeck

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Born October 4, 1804

Vincennes, Indiana, USA

Died May 25, 1878

North Bend, Ohio, USA

Political party Whig, Oppositionist

Spouse (1) Lucretia Knapp Johnson (2) Elizabeth Ramsey Irwin

Profession Politician, Farmer

John Scott Harrison (October 4, 1804 – May 25, 1878) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio and the only man to be both the son and the father of U.S. Presidents.

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, the son of future President William Henry Harrison and Anna Tuthill Symmes and the grandson of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V, Harrison completed preparatory studies and studied medicine. He later abandon this to become a farmer. After the death of his father, his mother moved in with him and helped him with raising his children including his second son, future President Benjamin Harrison. He was elected a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1852, reelected an Oppositionist in 1854 and served from 1853 to 1857. After being defeated for a third term in 1856, Harrison retired to his estate "Point Farm" in North Bend, Ohio where he died on May 25, 1878. He was interred in the William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial in North Bend with his parents and other family members.

Not long after his death, Harrison's body was stolen from his grave. One of his sons and some friends discovered his naked body hanging from a tree by a rope. His body was later returned to his grave.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scott_Harrison

John Scott Harrison (1804-1878) was an American Congressman who represented the second district of Ohio from 1853 to 1857. To date, he is the only person in history who was the son of one President (William Henry Harrison) and the father of another (Benjamin Harrison).

John Scott was born to William Henry and Anna Symmes Harrison on October 4, 1804 at Vincennes, Indiana. He studied medicine, but became a farmer. He was elected to Congress in 1852 as a Whig and in 1854 as an Opposition Party candidate (The Opposition party was a transition from the Whig party to the Republican party). When he was defeated in 1856 he retired to his farm in Hamilton County, Ohio.

Harrison died on May 25, 1878 at his home near North Bend, Ohio and was buried in the Harrison tomb there. His body was stolen from its grave, and was later discovered in the quarters of a medical student who lacked legitimate access to corpses for medical study.

• ************************************** http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8624

John Harrison graduated from law school valedictorian of his class. He was forced back to the family farm to manage affairs. His father gave him 600 acres bordering his own vast estate dubbed with the name "The Point Farm." He was left with three children when his first wife died. Harrison married a second time. He was a member of the 33rd and 34th Congress but was unsuccessful for reelection retiring to "Point Farm." Their existence was tied to the rise and fall of the Ohio River. Barely navigable in dry season and then in the spring it was turbulent and destructive washing away land and buildings.

Their second child was Benjamin, the future president, who was born at the "Big House" the resident of his grandfather, President William Harrison. It was a relentless struggle for the family of nine children to survive. John's wife Elizabeth died while Benjamin was away at school. Money was so tight, he seriously doubted that he could keep the two oldest boys in school. The family was laid low due to illnesses, cholera, smallpox, typhoid and dysentery. John Harrison was well along the road to financial ruin, but managed to send his son Ben to Miami University at Oxford, Ohio.

He died at home at the age of seventy three. Following the funeral, the family accompanied the body to the Congress Green Cemetery, where the Harrison family plot overlooked the Ohio River. Prior to burial, they discovered a nearby body was missing from an uprooted gravesite. A decision was made to hide the body of John Scott Harrison. Benjamin supervised the lowering of his father in a secret grave, an eight foot excavation was made secure by placement of concrete slabs around the remains and two watchmen were hired. Ben was determined his father's body would be safe and returned to Indianapolis. The oldest son, John Harrison Jr. set about solving the mystery of the missing body. Grave robbing and selling the remains to a research facility was commonplace. A tip led him to the Ohio Medical School in Cincinnati where instead of finding the missing corpse, located his father who it was thought safely buried just 24 hours before. The body was briefly interred in a temporary vault at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Some time later he was reinterred securely in the vault of his father, President William Henry Harrison, at North Bend, down the road from Congress Green Cemetery.

Not much remains: The Harrison residence "The Point," which was a brick two-story farm house located on the six hundred acre farm in North Bend deteriorated and was razed in 1959 despite attempts by the Daughters of the American Revolution to save it. It was here that the mother of John Harrison after the "Big House," on the President William Harrison estate, was destroyed by fire and came to live with her son and where she died. (bio by: Donald Greyfield)

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, the son of future President William Henry Harrison and Anna Tuthill Symmes and the grandson of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V, Harrison completed preparatory studies and studied medicine. He later abandoned this to become a farmer. After the death of his father, his mother moved in with him and helped him with raising his children including his second son, future President Benjamin Harrison. He was elected a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1852, reelected an Oppositionist in 1854 and served from 1853 to 1857. After being defeated for a third term in 1856, Harrison retired to his estate "Point Farm" in North Bend, Ohio where he died on May 25, 1878. He was interred in the William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial in North Bend with his parents and other family members.

Not long after his death, Harrison's body was stolen from his grave. One of his sons and some friends discovered his naked body hanging from a tree by a rope. His body was later returned to his grave.

John Scott Harrison was buried in Congress Green Cemetery in North Bend, Ohio. As the funeral party walked to John Scott’s grave, it was discovered that the grave of Augustus Devin, a relative of the Harrisons who died the Saturday before, had been disturbed. Some suggested that the grave might have been disturbed by hogs, uprooting the earth. However, after examining the grave it was discovered that the body of Augustus Devin was not in the grave. It was clear that body snatchers had stolen his remains.

Following the discovery the family wanted to make sure that the widowed Devin’s widowed mother did not find learn of the situation and that all safety measures were taken to assure that John Scott Harrison’s body did not meet the same fate. Benjamin Harrison and his younger brother, John, supervised the lowering of their father’s casket into a grave that was 8 feet long, wide, and deep. They had the metal casket placed into a brick vault with thick walls and a stone bottom. Then, three flat stones, over eight inches thick, were used to enclose the casket in the vault. The largest stone was placed over the upper end of the casket, while two smaller ones were laid over the lower end. The three stones were then cemented together and the grave was left open for several hours to let the cement cure. The grave was then backfilled. To further safeguard his father’s body, Benjamin paid a young man $30 to guard over the grave for 30 nights.

Later that day, Benjamin Harrison and his wife took a train back home in Indianapolis. Benjamin was preparing his address that would open the Indian Republican State Convention on June 5, 1878. Benjamin’s younger brother, John, stayed in Cincinnati in hopes to find the body of Augustus Devin. He took on the task along with his cousin, George Eaton. They acquired a warrant from Squire Wright’s office and were being assisted by Cincinnati’s Constable Lacey and Detective Snelbaker, along with another officer. They set out to check the medical schools which were always in need of cadavers for studies and they suspected that the grave robbers might have been in cahoots with the medical professors.

Their first stop was the Ohio Medical School. They were informed that a wagon had passed thought the alley on the south side of the college building. The informer claimed that the wagon stopped at the door in the hall where cadavers were rumored to be dumped off, and something had been taken out. Harrison and Eaton thought that their young cousin’s body was sold much earlier that week. The officers suggested that they search the college.

A janitor named A.Q. Marshall showed them around, protesting the whole time that no bodies would be found. They thoroughly searched the building, finding nothing, and were ready to give up when Constable Lacey noticed a taut rope attached to a windlass in an elevator chute. When Detective Snelbaker went to pull up the rope, he found that something heavy was suspended on it. When they pulled the object into light, they found it was a dead body with a cloth over its head. It was clear that the body belonged to an old man, not their young cousin Devin. Despite the body not being the one they were looking for, they laid it on the floor to take a look at it. When Lacey cast aside the cloth with a stick, Harrison caught sight of the face, he stepped back in horror and exclaimed, “My God, that’s my father!” Harrison came looking for his young cousin and instead found the corpse of his father, who had been buried only 24 hours earlier.

Apparently, the grave robbers were quick in taking the body from its grave. It was suspected that the robbers were present during the burial, as they knew precisely where the grave was located. The robbers removed the two smaller stones originally placed across the foot of the outer casket had been lifted on end. Then they drilled a series of holes in the outer casket in exactly the same fashion as when Devin’s body was stolen. Finally, the lid of the inner casket was pried up, the glass seal broken, and the body drawn out feet-first. This was contrary to the usual practice of body snatching, which was to take out the body out head-first. This was another reason why many felt the perpetrators had been present at the funeral and knew that the smaller stones had been placed over the foot of the vault. The young watchman, who was paid the $30 to watch over the grave, was overcome with fear once the sun set and darkness set in over the cemetery and ran back home, leaving the grave unattended.

In the end, John Scott Harrison’s body was privately placed in the John Strader Mausoleum at Spring Grove Cemetery to await a second burial. The Harrison family wanted the whole incident to be kept secret. Unfortunately, the boys at the fire station right next to the medical school told a newspaper man in Cincinnati the facts of the event. The reporter tracked down all the main participants but no one would talk, and the undertakers who had been sworn to silence would not even admit that they had ever hear of John Scott Harrison. Eventually, the news was confirmed by three Harrison relatives who had visited John Scott’s grave early in the morning, following the funeral, and found the robbed grave.

Although the Cincinnati police were investigating the case, they did not get far. The guilty men continued to elude justice, and those who were taken into custody were released. The end of the legal outcome of the Harrison’s case was lost forever after all the records were destroyed during a fire set to the Hamilton County courthouse during the Cincinnati riot of 1886.

Benjamin Harrison and his family never publicly spoke of the incident. From this incident, action was demanded, and four significant things happened that changed the world of funeral service. First, Ohio passed legislation that made grave robbing a serious crime, with both fines and imprisonment as a consequence. Second, Andrew Van Bibber invented what he called the “mort-safe,” which was a steel cage in which a casket was placed and padlocked. In 1879, George W. Boyd of Springfield, Ohio, patented the first metal grave vault to use the air bell principle of sealing and locking form within. Finally, the uniform Anatomical Gift Act was enacted, which put grave robbers out of business

John Scott Harrison

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

from Ohio's 2nd district

In office

March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857

Preceded by Lewis D. Campbell

Succeeded by William S. Groesbeck

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Born October 4, 1804

Vincennes, Indiana, USA

Died May 25, 1878

North Bend, Ohio, USA

Political party Whig, Oppositionist

Spouse (1) Lucretia Knapp Johnson (2) Elizabeth Ramsey Irwin

Profession Politician, Farmer

John Scott Harrison (October 4, 1804 – May 25, 1878) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio and the only man to be both the son and the father of U.S. Presidents.

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, the son of future President William Henry Harrison and Anna Tuthill Symmes and the grandson of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V, Harrison completed preparatory studies and studied medicine. He later abandon this to become a farmer. After the death of his father, his mother moved in with him and helped him with raising his children including his second son, future President Benjamin Harrison. He was elected a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1852, reelected an Oppositionist in 1854 and served from 1853 to 1857. After being defeated for a third term in 1856, Harrison retired to his estate "Point Farm" in North Bend, Ohio where he died on May 25, 1878. He was interred in the William Henry Harrison Tomb State Memorial in North Bend with his parents and other family members.

Not long after his death, Harrison's body was stolen from his grave. One of his sons and some friends discovered his naked body hanging from a tree by a rope. His body was later returned to his grave.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scott_Harrison

John Scott Harrison (1804-1878) was an American Congressman who represented the second district of Ohio from 1853 to 1857. To date, he is the only person in history who was the son of one President (William Henry Harrison) and the father of another (Benjamin Harrison).

John Scott was born to William Henry and Anna Symmes Harrison on October 4, 1804 at Vincennes, Indiana. He studied medicine, but became a farmer. He was elected to Congress in 1852 as a Whig and in 1854 as an Opposition Party candidate (The Opposition party was a transition from the Whig party to the Republican party). When he was defeated in 1856 he retired to his farm in Hamilton County, Ohio.

Harrison died on May 25, 1878 at his home near North Bend, Ohio and was buried in the Harrison tomb there. His body was stolen from its grave, and was later discovered in the quarters of a medical student who lacked legitimate access to corpses for medical study.

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John Harrison graduated from law school valedictorian of his class. He was forced back to the family farm to manage affairs. His father gave him 600 acres bordering his own vast estate dubbed with the name "The Point Farm." He was left with three children when his first wife died. Harrison married a second time. He was a member of the 33rd and 34th Congress but was unsuccessful for reelection retiring to "Point Farm." Their existence was tied to the rise and fall of the Ohio River. Barely navigable in dry season and then in the spring it was turbulent and destructive washing away land and buildings.

Their second child was Benjamin, the future president, who was born at the "Big House" the resident of his grandfather, President William Harrison. It was a relentless struggle for the family of nine children to survive. John's wife Elizabeth died while Benjamin was away at school. Money was so tight, he seriously doubted that he could keep the two oldest boys in school. The family was laid low due to illnesses, cholera, smallpox, typhoid and dysentery. John Harrison was well along the road to financial ruin, but managed to send his son Ben to Miami University at Oxford, Ohio.

He died at home at the age of seventy three. Following the funeral, the family accompanied the body to the Congress Green Cemetery, where the Harrison family plot overlooked the Ohio River. Prior to burial, they discovered a nearby body was missing from an uprooted gravesite. A decision was made to hide the body of John Scott Harrison. Benjamin supervised the lowering of his father in a secret grave, an eight foot excavation was made secure by placement of concrete slabs around the remains and two watchmen were hired. Ben was determined his father's body would be safe and returned to Indianapolis. The oldest son, John Harrison Jr. set about solving the mystery of the missing body. Grave robbing and selling the remains to a research facility was commonplace. A tip led him to the Ohio Medical School in Cincinnati where instead of finding the missing corpse, located his father who it was thought safely buried just 24 hours before. The body was briefly interred in a temporary vault at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Some time later he was reinterred securely in the vault of his father, President William Henry Harrison, at North Bend, down the road from Congress Green Cemetery.

Not much remains: The Harrison residence "The Point," which was a brick two-story farm house located on the six hundred acre farm in North Bend deteriorated and was razed in 1959 despite attempts by the Daughters of the American Revolution to save it. It was here that the mother of John Harrison after the "Big House," on the President William Harrison estate, was destroyed by fire and came to live with her son and where she died. (bio by: Donald Greyfield)

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Harrison