Random Thoughts

As we saw last week, John Scott Harrison was the son of President William Henry Harrison and the father of President Benjamin Harrison, giving him a unique place in U.S. history.

Like other members of his family, John Scott was also an elected public official, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio from 1853 to 1857.

Harrison, who had been born in 1804, died in 1878. On the day of his funeral, his family learned some disturbing news. A family friend, a young boy named Augustus Devin (or Horace Devins, according to one source), had died a few days earlier and had been buried nea...