Anna Harrison Biography

Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison was the wife of the ninth President of the United States, William Henry Harrison. Being married to the president she assumed the First Lady of the United States but this title was only nominal as she never entered the White House during her husband’s one-month term in 1841. Thus she has the distinction of holding the title for the shortest length of time. She is also the oldest woman ever to become the First Lady as she was 65 years old at the time her husband became the president; she was also the first woman to be widowed while serving as the First Lady. As a woman Anna Harrison was a very simple and home-loving individual who was fully dedicated to being a good wife and a responsible mother. Having lost her mother at an early age, she had her share of hardships while growing up. At the age of 20 she fell in love with Lieutenant William Henry Harrison, an army man, and decided to marry him. Her father strongly disapproved of her choice but the young woman eloped with Harrison. Eventually reconciled with her father, she went on to bear ten children and became a contented homemaker. It was much later in life that her husband became the president and she, the First Lady.