Bettie Harrison Eaton May 14, 1904

THE CINCINNATI TIMES-STAR
May 14, 1904

Obituary
scans from newspaper collection of
Ruth Adams-Battle

transcribed by Liz Stratton

click image for full view


Sister of One President;
Granddaughter of Another.
-------------
Octogenarian Bettie Harrison Eaton Was a Friend of Harriet
Beecher Stowe and Others Whose Names Are Linked
With American History -- Funeral Was Held Friday.

In the death of Bettie Harrison Eaton, who was the granddaughter of one President of the United States, William Henry Harrison, and the sister of another, Benjamin Harrison, Cincinnati loses one of its most interesting pioneer residents. Mrs. Bettie Harrison Eaton died Thursday at the residence of Dr. Denman of West Ninth street, where she had been under treatment for several months. Widely known because of her close relationship to two Presidents, Mrs. Eaton was a notable pioneer. For the past few years her home had been in North Bend, O., but some months ago she came to Cincinnati to be treated for heart disease. Her death was due to valvular disease of the heart, superinduced by grip. A life full of entertaining incidents made Mrs. Bettie Harrison Eaton an entertaining talker and a clever writer. Some of he writings are found in the "Hesperian Tree" of John James Platt's collection. A wealth of valuable relics were willed by Mrs. Eaton to her relatives. Among the relics of interest is a dress which was worn by the mother of Mrs. Eaton -- Lucretia Johnson -- to the ball given in honor of the Marquise D'Lafayette. Then there is a wonderful silver soup ladle that belonged to Gen. Harrison. A quaint locket, which once belonged to Elizabeth Bassett, who was the wife of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and father of Gen. Harrison, is willed to a member of the family. One of the prize possessions of Mrs. Eaton was a scrap book, which she herself compiled, and which contains a clipping of all newspaper articles that have appeared in relation to any member of the Harrison family. Numerous family portraits were in possession of Mrs. Eaton of the Harrison Presidents, and many of these are very quaint. A few years ago Mrs. Eaton compiled, for Frank Leach a history of the children of the Harrison family and also a similar manuscript of the Symmes family. Among the many interesting stories of the famous people she had met, Mrs. Eaton used to tell how once, when she was a child, Lyman Beecher, father of the famous preacher, Henry Ward Beecher, visited her father's home. Looking at the great man in his big coat little Bettie propounded the riddle to Lyman Beecher, "What animal do you think you look like?" Then she told Mr. Beecher, who insisted on knowing the answer, that to her mind, in his great coat he looked "like a great bear." and he never saw her afterward without laughingly referring to the "bear story." On the night when her brother Benjamin was born Mrs. Eaton tells that Harriet Beecher Stowe, the famous novelist, was a guest at her father's house. Mrs. Eaton was a friend of Bayard Taylor and knew McKinley and many other great persons. She was buried from North Bend Friday. The Cincinnati relatives who survive her are: Mrs. Lillie S. Eaton, her daughter-in-law; Scott Harrison Eaton, grandson, at Yale; Mrs. Thornton Lewis, Miss Jean Harrison, Mrs. W. T. Buckner and Mrs. D.W. McClung, nieces. Mrs. T. I. Devin of Iowa and Mrs. S. V. Morris of Minnesota are sisters of Mrs. Eaton; C. B. Harrison of Tenn., and J. S. Harrison of Kansas City are brothers.


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