Sold – William Henry Harrison Intervenes With the Treasury to Help a Relative in the War of 1812

Harrison was a major general in the War of 1812 and returned home to Ohio a hero. He was elected to two important offices, serving in the House of Representatives from 1816-1819 and in the U.S. Senate from 1825-1828. One of his Ohio colleagues in Washington was Gen.

James Findlay, former mayor of Cincinnati, who served in the House from 1825-1833. Findlay’s brother William was Governor of Pennsylvania and then its U.S. Senator from 1821-27, while Harrison was in the same body. The Harrisons and Findlays were related by marriage, both having intertwined with a very early Ohio pioneer family named Irwin.

Archibald Irwin Sr. had a son William, a daughter Jane who married James Findlay, and another son Archibald Jr. This second Archibald had two daughters who married sons of the future president: Jane Irwin married William Henry Harrison, Jr. in 1824 and Elizabeth Irwin married John Scott Harrison, his younger brother, in 1831. Jane was brought up by her aunt, Mrs. James Findlay, and remained close to her. Elizabeth became the mother of Pres. Benjamin Harrison.

In the 1840 election, William Henry Harrison was elected President of the United States. When March 4, 1841, the time for the Harrison inauguration, arrived, the new President’s wife was unable to go to Washington because of illness. So her daughter-in-law Jane, the wife of William Henry Jr., went instead, taking along her aunt, Mrs. Findlay. Thus it was that Jane Harrison served as First Lady, while her aunt lived in the White House with her.

Their tenure there was short, as Pres. Harrison caught pneumonia at the inauguration and died April 4, only a month after he became chief executive. James Smith was a business partner of Gen. Findlay, their firm Smith & Findlay operating one of the early stores in Cincinnati. He was highly thought of, and was elected the first sheriff of Hamilton County (which includes Cincinnati). During a portion of this time he was collector of revenue in the Northwest Territory for the U.S. government. He was also captain of the first militia company raised in Cincinnati, and when the War of 1812 broke out, went to the front as paymaster of the First Regiment, to assist in paying off the troops on the frontier. He saw action in Fort Meigs when it was besieged by the British and Indians.

 In order to serve as paymaster, Smith was required to provide security in the form of a surety. William Irwin, brother of Archibald Irwin Jr. and Jane Findlay, acted in this capacity on his behalf. Irwin’s liability was ongoing until Smith’s account could be settled, and by 1821 the time to do that had arrived. Irwin was apparently called upon to advance money per his surety agreement and needed as much time as he could get to provide the funds. Thus he called upon his friend and future relative, William Henry Harrison, fresh from Washington and with plenty of friends and influence there, to aid him. The result is the following letter.

William Henry Harrison Autograph Letter Signed, one page 4to, Columbus, O., January 22, 1821. "You forgot to give me an answer to the application I made to you in behalf of Mr. W. Irwine of Cincinnati. The Secy. of the Treasury has referred him to you to fix the time which shall be given him to procure the vouchers necessary to settle the account of Pay Master James Smith whose security he is. Mr. Irwine is a particular friend of mine & a very worthy man. I must beg of you to indulge him with as long time as possible." He has added a P. S. "Be pleased to drop a line to Mr. Irwine on the subject."

The recipient of this letter was very likely one of the chief auditors of the Treasury Department, as a person in that position would have had the responsibility of handling matters such as this. Spelling was lax in those days, and you may note that Harrison spelled the Irwin name Irwine. An interesting letter of Harrison, indicating he was not above intervening with government officials to assist his friends and relatives. William Irwin died just a few years later, perhaps of surprise or aggravation at having to actually make a surety payment on behalf of the usually-reliable Smith. An uncommon ALS. $2,995