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Dr Benjamin Harrison VIII

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Dr Benjamin Harrison VIII

Birth
Berkeley, Charles City County, Virginia, USA
Death
11 May 1898 (aged 74)
Millwood, Clarke County, Virginia, USA
Burial
Millwood, Clarke County, Virginia, USA GPS-Latitude: 39.1067155, Longitude: -78.0142421
Memorial ID
View Source
Father: Benjamin Harrison VII (1787-1842)
Mother: Mary Willing Page (1780-1865)
01/30/1842 - Father, Benjamin Harrison, died at Berkeley Plantation, Charles City Co., VA (buried: Berkeley Plantation Graveyard, Charles City Co., VA)
1845-1846 - Attended, University of Pennsylvania, Medical Department, Philadelphia, PA
1846 - M.D. degree, University of Pennsylvania, Medical Department, Philadelphia, PA (from: VA; thesis: "Intermittent Fever")
08/14/1850 - Practiced medicine and farmed, 12th District, Clarke Co., VA (lived alone - indexed in the 1850 U.S. Census as Benjamin Harrison)
02/04/1858 - Married, Matella Cary "Mattie" Page (1835-1898), Saratoga, Clarke Co., VA [Note: Mattie inherited "Longwood" estate, near Millwood, Clarke Co., VA, after her mother died in 1855.]
07/14/1860 - Practiced medicine and farmed, Clarke Co., VA (lived with wife, "Matilda", and one child - indexed in the 1860 U.S. Census as Benjamin Harrison)
00/00/1861 - In the service of the Virginia Militia
05/12/1862 - Lived with wife, Mattie, at "Longwood", near Millwood, Clarke Co., VA
05/15/1862 - Fell from his horse which made him late coming home
05/25/1862 - Took his surgical instruments (and a pistol) to treat wounded Confederates during fighting with the U. S. Army of Gen. N. P. Banks that was occurring between their home in Clarke Co., VA, and Winchester, VA
08/01/1862 - Visited his wife at their home in Clarke Co., VA
10/24/1862 - Went with Dr. Robert Powel Page from their homes in Clarke Co., VA, to Winchester, VA
12/27/1862 - Fell again from his horse and remained delirious for the rest of the day
12/31/1862 - At home in Clarke Co., VA, with his wife Matella
02/06/1863 - Three year old son, Benjie, asked his mother if God had any boys and why they didn't come down to play with him?
02/28/1863 - Both Dr. Harrison and his wife were warned to leave their house as quickly as possible because some Yankee soldiers were on their way to raid it. Dr. Harrison rode off with a few pieces of clothing in his saddlebags.
Mrs. Harrison stayed but "hid everything that I thought they could steal or could incriminate me or Dr. H." No Yankees came.
03/04/1863 - Yankees inquiring in Clarke Co., VA, about Dr. Harrison who is still in hiding
03/10/1863 - Wife, Matella, sent a letter to her husband. [She doesn't say where he is.]
04/03/1863 - Yankee soldiers came to Longwood and told "servants" that they were free to go with them if they so desired. Four went with them. [The number who stayed, if any, was not mentioned.]
04/10/1863 - Dr. Harrison came to a neighboring plantation, Prospect Hill, Clarke Co., VA, where he met his wife, briefly, before he returned to hiding, leaving her "again desolate."
04/24/1863 - A "nasty old Yankee" came to the front yard of Longwood on horseback and asked if Dr. Harrison "was at home, where he was, and when he would return." To all queries, Matella "give him little satisfaction", asked if
she could not attend to it, "he said, 'No', it was business of importance and he would come again and see if he could not find him."
04/25/1863 - Yankee General R. H. Milroy "has closed the apothecary shops. No one allowed to buy a dose of medicine even for a dying person without [taking] the oath [of allegiance to the United States].
04/28/1863 - Wife, Matella, writes in her diary, "It is such a degradation to be so dependent upon the servants as we are. Here is my household in the greatest uncertainty owing to the whims of a trifling girl Sallie who says she is going to the Yankees, and if she goes tomorrow, or anytime, I will have to shut up house and move off as I can't keep it with only Dize."
05/05/1863 - Dr. Harrison still in hiding and reported to be near Harrisonburg, VA. Wife, Matella, said in her diary "I can't imagine what he was doing there."
06/00/1863 - Met her husband for about 23 hours in Moundsville, but had to part when Yankees were reported nearby. [Now in West Virginia]
06/13/1863 - Federal troops were driven out Clarke Co., VA, by Confederates on their way to Gettysburg. Dr. Harrison met his wife in a woods near Longwood and apparently felt safe to stay at Longwood.
07/24/1863 - Confederate Army, still retreating from their defeat in Gettysburg, left the area of Clarke Co. VA, forcing Dr. Harrison to again leave his home.
01/23/1864 - Visited his home and told his wife that he "had been robbed of his watch by three Yankees in Confed uniforms"
01/27/1864 - According to his wife, Dr. Harrison left, "for parts unknown"
05/10/1864 - A party of Yankees met Dr. Harrison and took his saddle.
08/11/1864 - Yankees "carried off George who has hitherto been a faithful servant"
10/24/1864 - Dr. Harrison "was preserved mercifully from a most horrible death by Pluto. He escaped with a dreadfully mangled arm."
11/20/1864 - Asked to be discharged from Militia duty [It appears that his letter was forwarded to a General Jackson [not Stonewall, he died in 1863], but the response, if any, is unknown.]
00/00/1865 - Mother, Mary, died in Clarke Co., VA
07/21/1870 - Practiced medicine and farmed, Chapel Township, Clarke Co., VA (lived with wife, Mattie C., and two children, "Benjmin", and Mary C. Harrison - indexed in the 1870 U.S. Census as "Benjmin" Harrison)
1874 - Practiced medicine, Millwood, Clarke Co., VA
06/07/1880 - Practiced medicine, Chapel District, Clarke Co., VA (lived with wife, Mattie, two sons, and a daughter - indexed in the 1880 U.S. Census as Benj. Harrison)
05/11/1898 - Died at lower "Longwood" plantation, his residence, near Millwood, Clarke Co., VA, after several years of bad health (buried: Old Chapel Cemetery, Millwood, Clarke Co., VA)
08/31/1898 - Widow, Matella, died at "Longwood", her residence, near Millwood, Clarke Co., VA (buried: Old Chapel Cemetery, Millwood, Clarke Co, VA)

Guy Hasegawa provided input to this biography.

Note: Dr. Harrison's wife, Matella Cary Page Harrison, kept a diary. A portion that covered the Civil War years was published by the Clarke County Historical Society as:
Plater, Richard C., Jr. (editor) (1983) Civil War Diary of Miss Mattella [sic - Matella] Cary Page Harrison of Clarke County, Virginia, 1835-1898. in: Proceedings of the Clarke County Historical Society, vol. 22, pp. 1 - 79. Posted at:
http://www.clarkehistory.org/media/CCHA%20Proceedings%20Volume%2022%20(1982-1983).pdf

This biographical sketch is from:
Hambrecht, F.T. & Koste, J.L., Biographical
register of physicians who served the
Confederacy in a medical capacity.
07/29/2018. Updated 08/20/2018.
Unpublished database.
Father: Benjamin Harrison VII (1787-1842)
Mother: Mary Willing Page (1780-1865)
01/30/1842 - Father, Benjamin Harrison, died at Berkeley Plantation, Charles City Co., VA (buried: Berkeley Plantation Graveyard, Charles City Co., VA)
1845-1846 - Attended, University of Pennsylvania, Medical Department, Philadelphia, PA
1846 - M.D. degree, University of Pennsylvania, Medical Department, Philadelphia, PA (from: VA; thesis: "Intermittent Fever")
08/14/1850 - Practiced medicine and farmed, 12th District, Clarke Co., VA (lived alone - indexed in the 1850 U.S. Census as Benjamin Harrison)
02/04/1858 - Married, Matella Cary "Mattie" Page (1835-1898), Saratoga, Clarke Co., VA [Note: Mattie inherited "Longwood" estate, near Millwood, Clarke Co., VA, after her mother died in 1855.]
07/14/1860 - Practiced medicine and farmed, Clarke Co., VA (lived with wife, "Matilda", and one child - indexed in the 1860 U.S. Census as Benjamin Harrison)
00/00/1861 - In the service of the Virginia Militia
05/12/1862 - Lived with wife, Mattie, at "Longwood", near Millwood, Clarke Co., VA
05/15/1862 - Fell from his horse which made him late coming home
05/25/1862 - Took his surgical instruments (and a pistol) to treat wounded Confederates during fighting with the U. S. Army of Gen. N. P. Banks that was occurring between their home in Clarke Co., VA, and Winchester, VA
08/01/1862 - Visited his wife at their home in Clarke Co., VA
10/24/1862 - Went with Dr. Robert Powel Page from their homes in Clarke Co., VA, to Winchester, VA
12/27/1862 - Fell again from his horse and remained delirious for the rest of the day
12/31/1862 - At home in Clarke Co., VA, with his wife Matella
02/06/1863 - Three year old son, Benjie, asked his mother if God had any boys and why they didn't come down to play with him?
02/28/1863 - Both Dr. Harrison and his wife were warned to leave their house as quickly as possible because some Yankee soldiers were on their way to raid it. Dr. Harrison rode off with a few pieces of clothing in his saddlebags.
Mrs. Harrison stayed but "hid everything that I thought they could steal or could incriminate me or Dr. H." No Yankees came.
03/04/1863 - Yankees inquiring in Clarke Co., VA, about Dr. Harrison who is still in hiding
03/10/1863 - Wife, Matella, sent a letter to her husband. [She doesn't say where he is.]
04/03/1863 - Yankee soldiers came to Longwood and told "servants" that they were free to go with them if they so desired. Four went with them. [The number who stayed, if any, was not mentioned.]
04/10/1863 - Dr. Harrison came to a neighboring plantation, Prospect Hill, Clarke Co., VA, where he met his wife, briefly, before he returned to hiding, leaving her "again desolate."
04/24/1863 - A "nasty old Yankee" came to the front yard of Longwood on horseback and asked if Dr. Harrison "was at home, where he was, and when he would return." To all queries, Matella "give him little satisfaction", asked if
she could not attend to it, "he said, 'No', it was business of importance and he would come again and see if he could not find him."
04/25/1863 - Yankee General R. H. Milroy "has closed the apothecary shops. No one allowed to buy a dose of medicine even for a dying person without [taking] the oath [of allegiance to the United States].
04/28/1863 - Wife, Matella, writes in her diary, "It is such a degradation to be so dependent upon the servants as we are. Here is my household in the greatest uncertainty owing to the whims of a trifling girl Sallie who says she is going to the Yankees, and if she goes tomorrow, or anytime, I will have to shut up house and move off as I can't keep it with only Dize."
05/05/1863 - Dr. Harrison still in hiding and reported to be near Harrisonburg, VA. Wife, Matella, said in her diary "I can't imagine what he was doing there."
06/00/1863 - Met her husband for about 23 hours in Moundsville, but had to part when Yankees were reported nearby. [Now in West Virginia]
06/13/1863 - Federal troops were driven out Clarke Co., VA, by Confederates on their way to Gettysburg. Dr. Harrison met his wife in a woods near Longwood and apparently felt safe to stay at Longwood.
07/24/1863 - Confederate Army, still retreating from their defeat in Gettysburg, left the area of Clarke Co. VA, forcing Dr. Harrison to again leave his home.
01/23/1864 - Visited his home and told his wife that he "had been robbed of his watch by three Yankees in Confed uniforms"
01/27/1864 - According to his wife, Dr. Harrison left, "for parts unknown"
05/10/1864 - A party of Yankees met Dr. Harrison and took his saddle.
08/11/1864 - Yankees "carried off George who has hitherto been a faithful servant"
10/24/1864 - Dr. Harrison "was preserved mercifully from a most horrible death by Pluto. He escaped with a dreadfully mangled arm."
11/20/1864 - Asked to be discharged from Militia duty [It appears that his letter was forwarded to a General Jackson [not Stonewall, he died in 1863], but the response, if any, is unknown.]
00/00/1865 - Mother, Mary, died in Clarke Co., VA
07/21/1870 - Practiced medicine and farmed, Chapel Township, Clarke Co., VA (lived with wife, Mattie C., and two children, "Benjmin", and Mary C. Harrison - indexed in the 1870 U.S. Census as "Benjmin" Harrison)
1874 - Practiced medicine, Millwood, Clarke Co., VA
06/07/1880 - Practiced medicine, Chapel District, Clarke Co., VA (lived with wife, Mattie, two sons, and a daughter - indexed in the 1880 U.S. Census as Benj. Harrison)
05/11/1898 - Died at lower "Longwood" plantation, his residence, near Millwood, Clarke Co., VA, after several years of bad health (buried: Old Chapel Cemetery, Millwood, Clarke Co., VA)
08/31/1898 - Widow, Matella, died at "Longwood", her residence, near Millwood, Clarke Co., VA (buried: Old Chapel Cemetery, Millwood, Clarke Co, VA)

Guy Hasegawa provided input to this biography.

Note: Dr. Harrison's wife, Matella Cary Page Harrison, kept a diary. A portion that covered the Civil War years was published by the Clarke County Historical Society as:
Plater, Richard C., Jr. (editor) (1983) Civil War Diary of Miss Mattella [sic - Matella] Cary Page Harrison of Clarke County, Virginia, 1835-1898. in: Proceedings of the Clarke County Historical Society, vol. 22, pp. 1 - 79. Posted at:
http://www.clarkehistory.org/media/CCHA%20Proceedings%20Volume%2022%20(1982-1983).pdf

This biographical sketch is from:
Hambrecht, F.T. & Koste, J.L., Biographical
register of physicians who served the
Confederacy in a medical capacity.
07/29/2018. Updated 08/20/2018.
Unpublished database.


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