Presidential Convention
Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The Whig Convention of Dec. 1839 met in this church and nominated Wm. Henry Harrison for president, John Tyler for vice-president. Popularized as "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too," they were elected, 1840.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In December 1839, the young Whig Party gathered in this Harrisburg church to choose its national ticket. Passing over Henry Clay, the delegates nominated William Henry Harrison — celebrated frontier and military hero — for president, with John Tyler of Virginia for vice-president. Their rollicking 1840 "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" campaign, all log cabins and hard cider, swept them into office.
Why it matters
This convention helped launch the modern era of mass political campaigning, when slogans, image, and popular spectacle first decided a presidential election.
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Related people
- · William Henry Harrison
- · John Tyler
Related events
- · Whig National Convention of 1839
- · Election of 1840
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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When John Harris's settlement at the Susquehanna crossing was still a scattering of cabins, its first congregation gathered in a log meeting house raised in 1787 — the earliest church in what would become Pennsylvania's capital. Land set aside for worship by the Harris family anchored the community, and by 1822 a permanent brick sanctuary had replaced the logs. The marker traces the young town's spiritual and civic roots in the decades just after independence.
John Harris' Gift
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John Harris, whose ferry and trading post gave Harrisburg its start, laid out the town in the 1780s on the Susquehanna's east bank. In 1785 he set aside a four-acre parcel — today part of Capitol Park — to be held in trust for public use. A generation later, in 1810, the legislature accepted the gift and chose the growing river town as Pennsylvania's capital.
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