Jane Irwin Harrison

Jane Harrison (née Irwin; July 23, 1804 in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania – May 11, 1846) briefly acted as First Lady of the United States during her father-in-law William Henry Harrison's presidency.

Jane Irwin Harrison
Acting First Lady of the United States
In role March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 Serving with Anna Harrison
President	William Henry Harrison
Preceded by	Angelica Van Buren (Acting)
Succeeded by	Sarah Childress Polk
Personal details
Born	Jane Irwin July 23, 1804 Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	May 11, 1846 (aged 41) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Spouse(s)	William Henry Harrison Jr. ​ ​ (died 1838)​

Her father was Archibald Irwin (died 1840), who married her mother Mary Ramsey in 1798. After her mother's death in 1813, Jane and her siblings were adopted by her father's second wife. Her grandfather was James Ramsey, who owned Millmont Farm at Montgomery Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania.[1]

She married William Henry Harrison, Jr., the son of General William Henry Harrison. The couple had three children - Ashton Irwin, Harry Irwin, and Lauren Dawkins - before William Henry Harrison, Jr. died in 1838.

In 1840 William Henry Harrison was elected president. His wife Anna was too ill to travel when her husband left Ohio for his inauguration, but assisted by her aunt, Jane Irwin Findlay (her father's sister, who was then seventy-three), Jane Irwin Harrison acted as official hostess during President Harrison's brief tenure in office, which lasted for 32 days in 1841.

Her sister, Elizabeth Ramsey Irwin (1810–1850), married John Scott Harrison in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1831 — another son of William Henry Harrison — and became mother of US President Benjamin Harrison.

Jane Irwin Harrison died May 11, 1847 at age 42 in Cincinnati.[2]

• 
  Birthplace of Jane Irwin Harrison in Irwinton Mills, near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania

Notes

1. "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes Paula Stoner Dickey (n.d.). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Millmont Farm" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
2. For her death date, see her gravestone: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11550736/jane-findlay-whiteman/photo#view-photo=46622012 The gravestone provides a death date of May 11, 1847. She would have been 42.

References

• Original text based on White House biography

External links

• Locket photograph misidentified as Jane Irwin Harrison as a widow, 1843 A close examination of the photograph clearly shows a woman who is significantly greater in age than 39. It is most likely a photograph of her foster mother Jane Irwin Findlay.