Henry Harrison ( – January 3, 1766) was a merchant and politician, and the

mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, 1762–1763.

Early life

Harrison was born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in . In his early life, he was captain of the ship ''The Snow Squirrel''.

Career

After moving to the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to W ...

in what was then

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

, Harrison served as an alderman. He was also a member and vestryman of Christ Church. He became wealthy as a dry-goods merchant. On October 5, 1762, he was appointed mayor of Philadelphia, serving until October 4, 1763. He also served as manager of the Public Hospital and was a local real estate developer.

Personal life

On April 13, 1748, Harrison married Mary Aspden (1718–1803), formerly of Lancashire and the daughter of Mathew Aspen. In 1760, he built a home in Philadelphia on Coombes Alley (today known as Cuthbert Street). Together, they were the parents of five children: * Mary Harrison (1750–1797), who married the Right Reverend William White, D.D., first consecrated Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Diocese of Philadelphia, in 1773. * Anne Harrison (1757–1780), who married

William Paca William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

(1740–1799), signer of the Declaration of Independence and later governor of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, on February 28, 1777.''Revolutionary Patriots of Anne Arundel County, Maryland'', by Henry C. Peden, Jr., published by Heritage Books, 2006. , * Matthias Harrison (1759–1817), who married Rebecca Mifflin, daughter of Turrut Francis. * George Harrison (1762–1845) who married Sophia Francis in 1792. * Joseph Harrison Harrison died on January 3, 1766, in Philadelphia, where he was buried in

Christ Church Burial Ground Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia is an important early-American cemetery. It is the final resting place of Benjamin Franklin and his wife, Deborah. Four other signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here, Benjamin Rush, ...

. His stone is inscribed "Alderman and sometime Mayor of Philadelphia, A Christian and useful Citizen. His desolate Widow, sadly bewailing her irretrievable loss, and striving to alleviate her grief with the memory of his worth, Erected this Stone."A record of the inscriptions on the tablets and gravestones in the burial-grounds of Christ Church, Philadelphia
Collins, Printer (1864) His estate was estimated to be worth over £15,086.12.0 which included 157

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and the ...

s of plate valued at £78.10 (roughly $2,000,000 in 2017 figures).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Henry 1710s births 1766 deaths Mayors of Philadelphia Burials at Christ Church, Philadelphia People of colonial Pennsylvania Sailors from Lancashire British emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Colonial American merchants