WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON | Autograph note signed by the shortest-serving president in U.S. history

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON

AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED ("W.H. HARRISON"), REGARDING A LEGAL TRANSACTION

1 page (8 x 9 3/4 in.; 203 x 248 mm) on a bifolium, Cincinnati, 24 January 1830; hinged to card.

An autograph note signed by the shortest-serving president in U.S. history

In 1829, Harrison returned to the United States from Gran Columbia, where he had served as minister plenipotentiary, and settled on his farm in North Bend, Ohio. After nearly four decades of government service, he had accumulated no substantial wealth, subsisted on his savings, a small pension, and the income produced by his farm.

Following this period as a private citizen, Harrison won the 1840 presidential campaign, defeating the incumbent, Martin Van Buren, in a landslide victory. Thirty days into his term, however, Harrison began experiencing cold-like symptoms, and the efforts of his physicians to treat what they believed to be pneumonia, only exacerbated the situation. It is likely that Harrison died of septic shock due to "enteric fever" (typhoid or paratyphoid fever). On 4 April 1841, Harrison became the first president to die in office, and the shortest-serving president in U.S. history.