Notes for BENJAMIN CARTER HARRISON:
1885 Iowa Census
Given: Benjman
Surname: Harrison
Township Number: 90
Range: 45
Section: 27
Location: SW NW
Age: 39
Sex: M
Marital Status: M
Birth State: MI
Subject to Military Duty: X
Entitled to Vote: X
Can Read or Write: X
Line Number: 12
Dwelling Number: 2
Family Number: 2
Page Number: 368
State: IA
County: Plymouth
Township Name: Lincoln
Family History Film: 1020171
Volume: 245

More About Benjamin Carter Harrison:
Burial: July 30, 1892, Lincoln Township, Plymouth County, Iowa
Census: 1880, IA Plymouth Lincoln ED177 10B 10/17


Benjamin Carter Harrison was born 27 June 1846, in Climax Township, Kalamazoo County, Michigan and died on 27 July 1892, in Clarenda, Page County, Iowa. He was buried on 30 July 1892, in Lincoln Township Cemetery, Hinton, Plymouth County, Iowa. Ben Harrison was an adventurous fellow. He was brilliant, and held many patents, however he was wild and unpredictable. He bet two of his farms in a wrestling match in the Harrisonville settlement and his brother Keg won the match and Ben kept his farms and won the bet. Ben and his first wife, Josie divorced in 1876, and so their son, Cilbert, was raised by his grandparents for many years. Cilbert learned magic tricks and to play the banjo thanks to his grandpa Alex I . Cilbert adored his grandmother, Bett, and had wonderful tales of her strength and convictions. Ben was a wanderer, and the Harrisons had another family that they feuded with, known as the Greens . One wild night, the Green boys beat Ben so severely that he was rushed home to his mother's care and nearly died. Ben never fully recovered from the headaches and had many other ailments. Ben had gone from one family settlement to another Harrisonville, Iowa; Hill City, South Dakota; and Dodge City, Kansas, but after this he and Cilbert and second wife moved to Hinton, Iowa. Under Ben's care, Harrisonville really began to prosper, and he started the family cemetery , which later became known as the Lincoln Township Cemetery. He added a general store, bakery, mail service, a patent shop, a huge farming operation with homes for the families to reside in, and finally a horse race track also used for other sporting events. Ben's second wife and daughter died while Ruth was giving birth. Ben married Lillie Dean, and she was also very helpful in contributing to the Harrisonville settlement. They made frequent trips to Michigan, and Ben also went along on the Texas adventure. This was a very bleak experience, and as a thank you to the black share croppers who took the Harrison's in, Ben moved the share croppers to Harrisonville and helped to establish households the following year. Signs of Ben's earlier head trauma began to show up again. He became completely irrational, and desperate. The last years of his life he was blind and unable to function mentally. He died in June 1892, and the family decided to continue to build the family settlements in his honor. He married Josephine Joan Ainsworth on 12 February 1865, in Kalamazoo County, Michigan . "Josie" was born in 1848, in New York, and died on 19 June 1880, in Exector, Fillimore County, Nebraska. Ben and Josie had 1 child:

Cilbert Wyman Harrison

Benjamin Carter Harrison married Ruth Culvertson on 31 January 1879, in Athens, Calhoun County, Michigan. Ruth was born in 1861, in Bristol, Indiana, and died April in 1880, Hinton, Lincoln Township, Plymouth County, Iowa. Ruth is buried in Lincoln Township Cemetery, in Hinton, Plymouth County, Iowa.
Ben and Ruth had 1 child:

Ruth Elizabeth Harrison

He married Lillian Dean born on 19 June 1880, in Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa She was born on 13 October 1865, in Cedar Rapids, Johnson County, Iowa. Lillian died on 22 April 1902, in Banner Township, Woodbury County, Iowa. She was buried on 24 April 1902, in Lincoln Township Cemetery, in Hinton, Iowa. Lillian was the daughter of Samuel W. Dean and Catherine Jane Roe , and the niece of Lydia Ann Roe . Ben and Lillie had 2 children:

Bert Benjamin Harrison I
Orphelia Jane "Orpha" Rinehart

More About BENJAMIN CARTER HARRISON:
Burial: July 30, 1892, Lincoln Township Cemetery, Plymouth County, Iowa
Census: 1880, IA Plymouth Lincoln ED177 10B 10/17

More About BENJAMIN HARRISON and LILLIAN DEAN:
Marriage: June 19, 1880, Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa

Children of LILLIAN DEAN and BENJAMIN HARRISON are:
45. i. BERT BENJAMIN5 HARRISON, b. September 02, 1884, Banner Township, Woodbury County, Iowa; d. December 21, 1961, Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa.
46. ii. ORPHELIA JANE HARRISON, b. August 1887, Banner Township, Woodbury County, Iowa; d. December 10, 1930, Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa.