Henry Harrison ( – January 3, 1766) was a merchant and politician, and the mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1762–1763.
Early life Harrison was born in Lancashire, England in .
In his early life, he was captain of the ship The Snow Squirrel.
Career After moving to the Province of Pennsylvania in what was then British America, Harrison served as an alderman. He was also a member and vestryman of Christ Church. He became wealthy as a dry-goods merchant.
On October 5, 1762, he was appointed mayor of Philadelphia, serving until October 4, 1763.
He also served as manager of the Public Hospital and was a local real estate developer.
Personal life On April 13, 1748, Harrison married Mary Aspden (1718–1803), formerly of Lancashire and the daughter of Mathew Aspen. In 1760, he built a home in Philadelphia on Coombes Alley (today known as Cuthbert Street). Together, they were the parents of five children:Philadelphia Deeds D21, 171 Maryland State Archives MSA SC 1138-001-965 (Legislative History Project Files)
Mary Harrison (1750–1797), who married the Right Reverend William White, D.D., first consecrated Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Diocese of Philadelphia, in 1773.The lives of eminent Philadelphians, now deceased, by Henry Simpson, published by W. Brotherhead, 1859. Anne Harrison (1757–1780), who married William Paca (1740–1799), signer of the Declaration of Independence and later governor of Maryland, on February 28, 1777.Revolutionary Patriots of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, by Henry C. Peden, Jr., published by Heritage Books, 2006. , Matthias Harrison (1759–1817), who married Rebecca Mifflin, daughter of Turrut Francis. George Harrison (1762–1845) who married Sophia Francis in 1792. Joseph HarrisonPhiladelphia Deeds D21, 171 Maryland State Archives MSA SC 1138-001-965 (Legislative History Project Files)
Harrison died on January 3, 1766, in Philadelphia, where he was buried in Christ Church Burial Ground. His stone is inscribed "Alderman and sometime Mayor of Philadelphia, A Christian and useful Citizen. His desolate Widow, sadly bewailing her irretrievable loss, and striving to alleviate her grief with the memory of his worth, Erected this Stone."A record of the inscriptions on the tablets and gravestones in the burial-grounds of Christ Church, Philadelphia, Collins, Printer (1864) His estate was estimated to be worth over £15,086.12.0 which included 157 troy ounces of plate valued at £78.10 (roughly $2,000,000 in 2017 figures).
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