Carter Bassett Harrison
(c. 1756-1808)
BIRTH
c. 1756
PLACE
Charles City County, Virginia
DEATH
April 18, 1808
PLACE
Prince George County, Virginia
FAMILY
MOTHER
Elizabeth Bassett
(1730-1792)
HOMES
RELIGIOUS VIEWS
RELIGION NOT DOCUMENTED
DENOMINATION NOT DOCUMENTED
MEMBERSHIPS
AWARDS
Carter Bassett Harrison (c.1756–1808) was a Virginia lawyer, planter, and congressman, son of signer Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Bassett. Educated at William & Mary, he represented Surry County in the state legislature before serving three terms in Congress from 1793 to 1799. Initially elected against Washington’s administration, he became a Democratic-Republican. He returned to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1805 and died in Prince George County in 1808.
EARLY LIFE
The exact date and place of Carter Bassett Harrison’s birth have not been established in the source used for this entry. The surviving biographical summary provides only limited evidence about childhood, schooling, and the daily circumstances of the household, so those details are not reconstructed here without documentation. What can be stated securely is that this person belonged to the interconnected family world from which HistoryGPS traces participants, relatives, and later descendants of the Revolutionary generation.
The available biographical record identifies Carter Bassett Harrison with work or public activity as a doctor, lawyer, governor. Those roles provide the clearest documented basis for including this person in the database and should be read in the political, military, professional, or household context of the period. Carter Bassett Harrison died on Apr 18, 1808 in Prince George County, Virginia. Additional claims about employment, public service, or accomplishments have been omitted where the consulted source did not support them.
CAREER
DEATH
Carter Bassett Harrison was a Virginia lawyer, planter, and congressman, son of signer Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Bassett. Educated at William & Mary, he represented Surry County in the state legislature before serving three terms in Congress from 1793 to 1799. Initially elected against Washington’s administration, he became a Democratic-Republican. The available biographical record identifies Carter Bassett Harrison with work or public activity as a doctor, lawyer, governor. Additional claims about employment, public service, or accomplishments have been omitted where the consulted source did not support them. Harrison returned to the House of Delegates in 1805, this time representing Prince George County alongside his brother Benjamin and nephew Benjamin Harrison Jr., and both won re-election, thus serving until 1808 when voters instead elected Charles Gee and Allen Temple to represent them. Harrison died in Prince George County, Virginia on April 18, 1808, survived by his widow. Carter's burial location is now lost, but he was probably buried at his old plantation, "Maycox," in Prince George County. Jane Byrd Harrison died about 1813. His grandnephew Benjamin Harrison, became the 23rd President.
POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
Carter Bassett Harrison (1756–1808), the Virginia congressman. Smith’s Benjamin Harrison book concerns his father, the Declaration signer. Five dedicated biographies were not identified. These editorial selections include biographies where available, with personal writings, biographical reference and related studies clearly labelled.
1. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005 — United States Congress. [Biographical reference] Find on Amazon
2. Some Prominent Virginia Families — Louise Pecquet du Bellet. [Family biography] Find on Amazon
3. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Volume II — Lyon Gardiner Tyler (editor). [Biographical reference] Find on Amazon
4. Benjamin Harrison and the American Revolution — Howard W. Smith; Edward M. Riley (editor). [Related biography of his father] Find on Amazon
5. The Hornbook of Virginia History: A Ready-Reference Guide to the Old Dominion's People, Places, and Past — Emily J. Salmon; Edward D. C. Campbell Jr. (editors). [Historical and biographical reference] Find on Amazon
100756