August 4, 2017

The President Benjamin Harrison Memorial Window.

Seen in the previous post, but I just wanted to close in on the image:

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It's the Archangel Michael:

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Harrison's widow commissioned Tiffany to make the window for the First Presbyterian Church, where Harrison had been an elder for 40 years.

Michael's medieval armor is — according to the wall card at the museum — intended to represent his "martial role in Heaven as a defender of God" and to refer to President Harrison's service in the Civil War.
[Harrison] commanded the brigade at the battles of Resaca, Cassville, New Hope Church, Lost Mountain, Kennesaw Mountain, Marietta, Peachtree Creek and Atlanta. When Sherman's main force began its March to the Sea, Harrison's brigade was transferred to the District of Etowah and participated in the Battle of Nashville.
Harrison was President from 1889 to 1893. He had the unique experience of defeating a President who was seeking re-election and having that man defeat him when he sought re-election. (The other President was Grover Cleveland, who is considered the 22nd and 24th President of the United States.) Harrison was also unique as the only President whose grandfather was President.

Another interesting thing about Benjamin Harrison is that 6 states joined the union in his 4 year term. That's the same number of states that joined the union in all of the years since then. 

31 comments:

tcrosse said...

Higgledy Piggledy Benjamin Harrison
Twenty-third President was, and as such
Served between Clevelands
Apart from this trivial idiosyncrasy didn't do much.

Michael K said...

His grandfather was "Tippicanoe" who ran with and was survived by Tyler.

Mr. Majestyk said...

Six states added in four years? I guess we were lucky that the Nation did not tip over with the sudden addition of so many states on one side of the country.

rcocean said...

Its extremely unfortunate that Harrison - a good POTUS - was beaten by a draft dodging 19th century Clinton Clone.

Ma, Ma, where' my Pa?
Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha.

rcocean said...

The large number of states added - west of the Mississippi - have more or less kept this country sane.

Can you imagine if the US Senate had 80 Senators and 22 were from the Northeast?

We'd be Brazil norte and celebrating the 2nd term of Ted Kennedy Junior.

jwl said...

I have no opinion on the qualities of President Harrison but I do believe stained glass windows are lovely and that there should be more of them in world.

Ralph L said...

from Wiki: Harrison had a third child (a female lawyer [at birth!]) at 63 by his second wife, who was his 1st wife's niece and younger than his other children. They didn't attend the wedding.

Allegedly, the first Thanksgiving took place at Berkeley's Hundred, the ancestral Harrison plantation on the James River.

Mr. Majestyk said...

What is it with this blog tonight? It's all about the Benjamin.

Or should I say The Benjamin?

Ann Althouse said...

"What is it with this blog tonight?"

I'm working on the Trump/Turnbull transcript but I'll have to finish it in the morning. If it was my homework, I could finish it, but I'm not going to grind it out. I'm going to celebrate the Brewers victory and do the Saturday crossword.

Charlie Eklund said...

That is a most fitting image for Michael the Archangel. The prayer for the protection of St. Michael is...

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

A fitting prayer any time but, truly, now more than ever.

William said...

A lot of presidents in the latter part of the 19th century were Civil War veterans, and most of them had seen heavy action. Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and McKinley have drab reputations and look undistinguished in their photos but they were, nonetheless, brave warriors.......McKinley started as a private and became a major based on his battlefield sagacity and valor, but it is his successor Teddy Roosevelt who has the legend and the glory for martial valor. TR's battle experience in Cuba lasted two hours. McKinley was at Antietam and that battle lasted an eternity......McKinley, at least in his later years, didn't look the part of a military hero, but Roosevelt did. You've got to look the part to land the role.

Mr. Majestyk said...

Ann, I wasn't complaining. I just needed a lead in to saying, "It's all about the Benjamin." This blog is great. I don't know how you do it day after day. I am just glad you do.

YoungHegelian said...

There arose such a fight.

J.S. Bach Cantata #19, BWV 19 "Es erhub sich ein Streit" for the Feast of St Michael the Archangel.

David Begley said...

What kind of church windows would Hillary commission for Bill?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Charlie Eklund:
That is a most fitting image for Michael the Archangel"

Indeed. Angels have been sentimentalized (it was a long process). People do not realize that Biblical angels were fearsome creatures. The first words Gabriel said to Mary were: "Be not afraid." He wasn't telling her that because he was a cute little cherub.

Laslo Spatula said...

From Wiki:

"Angel food cake, or angel cake, is a type of sponge cake made with egg whites, flour, and sugar... ...It differs from other cakes because it uses no butter... ...Angel food cake originated in the United States[1] and first became popular in the late 19th century.[2] It gained its unique reputation along with its name due to its light and fluffy texture, said to resemble the "food of the angels"."

The lack of butter makes the Angel.

Proverbs 30:33
For the churning of milk produces butter, And pressing the nose brings forth blood; So the churning of anger produces strife.

There is too much butter in our Society.

"Last Tango in Paris" -- from Wiki: "The film contains a scene in which Brando's character engages in anal rape using butter as a lubricant."

Too much butter.

From 'South Park':

Butter's Dad: Son, sometimes it's OK to tell a little white lie. Like when you catch your father jacking off in a gay men's bath house.

Leopold 'Butters' Stotch: Oh okay. Who's Jack?

Butter everywhere, no angels.

I am Laslo.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Infinite Quisp" (an excerpt)...

Napken opened his refrigerator, and took a moment to feel joy at its clean interior. There was only what he needed, no more. No whims. no fizzy water. Just eight cubes of butter squared away in their printed wax paper...

With the introduction of Enhanced Butter, butter was all anyone needed for their day's nutritional requirements. Napken took a cube of butter from the top shelf -- on the side it read "Your Body. Your Butter." in waxy red letters -- and placed it on a plate...

Sure, there were still people who ate meat. Some ate expensive vegetables, those who found significance in things grown in dirt. Napken was fine with the simplicity of Enhanced Butter -- and now it was More Buttery Than Ever...

I am Laslo.

traditionalguy said...

Electing blue eyed Presbyterian Warriors our President is an American tradition.

clint said...

The numbering of presidents has always been a peeve of mine.

The fact that we call the 44th person to be President the 45th President seems remarkably untidy.

And for the popular vote fetishists -- note that Benjamin Harrison lost the popular vote to Grover Cleveland.

MrCharlie2 said...

Maybe the unusual circumstances of President Pence's succession will allow a correction of the numbering.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Michael is a bad-ass! So is Gabriel.

Dad29 said...

Another Indiana/Civil War factoid: one Indiana artillery company which fought at Chickamauga was under the command of Cpt. Eli Lilly.

Yup, THAT Eli Lilly.

Ann Althouse said...

"Ann, I wasn't complaining. I just needed a lead in to saying, "It's all about the Benjamin.""

I understood that. Still... something urges me to defend against criticisms.

"This blog is great. I don't know how you do it day after day. I am just glad you do."

Thanks.

Kate said...

The window depicts St. Michael standing before a window. That Tiffany fellow is a tricky one.

tcrosse said...

When the NYT crossword appears in other papers a couple of weeks later, the puzzle's title is usually omitted. This makes it particularly difficult to figure out what the gimmick is in Thursday's puzzle. Which makes it more satisfying to figure it out.

Stephen A. Meigs said...

A lot of presidents in the latter part of the 19th century were Civil War veterans, and most of them had seen heavy action. Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and McKinley have drab reputations and look undistinguished in their photos but they were, nonetheless, brave warriors

I believe McKinley served under Hayes in the 23rd Ohio. Colonel Hayes didn't participate in Antietam because on September 14, 1862, he almost got killed, three days before Antietam at Fox's Gap, South Mountain. Exactly 39 years later, McKinley died as a result of assassination, the kind of coincidence superstitious zombies are deluded into arranging their killings of children, teenagers, presidents, etc., about.

Stephen A. Meigs said...

Oh, and any particular reason you left off Garfield?

Roger Sweeny said...

Ailurophobia

Anonymous said...

I share a birthday with President Harrison, the Younger (August 20,in case you were thinking of getting me a gift), so I've always had a passing interest in his life. Not only were all those states added under his administration, so was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act iirc.
I once got a library book on 'presidential humor' and the chapter on PBH was larger than any other's.
Bermuda Hundred is where the Union Army camped during the Peninsula Campaign. Pres. Lincoln stayed there when he came down to see how things were going.

policraticus said...

That is interesting iconography to associate with the archangel Michael. He is more generally depicted brandishing a sword or slaying a dragon. The archangel who blows a horn I always associated with Gabriel, the messenger of God. I noodled about and was surprised to see that the tradition of Gabriel announcing the resurrection is rather thin. The angel who announces the Last Judgment is unnamed in scripture, making the identification of angel in the Tiffany window as either Michael or Gabriel equally valid.

It is a glorious work of art. Too bad it no longer graces an alter. Even worse, the idea of something similar being commissioned by a modern congregation is very unlikely.

Mitch H. said...

IIRC, so many states came into the Union during Harrison's term because Cleveland and the Democrats were deliberately blocking entry of Republican-leaning territories during Cleveland's first term. Notably South Dakota in particular, but I believe it was true of the other northern-tier western states as well.