Harrison, Jane Irwin (1804–1846)

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Harrison, Jane Irwin (1804–1846)

Served briefly as White House hostess. Born Jane Findlay Irwin in 1804; died in 1846; daughter of Archibald Irwin and Mary (Ramsey) Irwin; daughter-in-law of Anna Symmes Harrison (1775–1864) and William Henry Harrison (president of the United States); married William Henry Harrison, Jr., in 1824; children: two sons.

Jane Irwin Harrison was born in 1804. One of her sisters married John Scott Harrison and was the mother of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States. Jane married William Henry Harrison, Jr., son of Anna Symmes Harrison and William Henry Harrison, in 1824. Jane's husband, a lawyer, died in 1838, leaving Jane a widow with two sons. The eldest later married the daughter of a John Kennedy of Ireland.

Jane Harrison accompanied her father-in-law William Henry Harrison to Washington when her mother-in-law was forbidden to travel because of illness. She and her aunt and namesake, Jane Findlay, were just beginning to set up the White House when Harrison died. They had done no formal entertaining, but did attend the inaugural ball. They accompanied the president's body back to North Bend, Ohio, where Jane died five years later.

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Harrison, Jane Irwin (1804–1846)

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Harrison, Jane Irwin (1804–1846)