Presidential Biographies | W. H. Harrison Administration - Education

Education

Harrison's schooling began as a young child on the Berkeley plantation where he and his siblings attended classes taught by private tutors. Unlike his older brothers who entered into business or studied law, Harrison was interested in natural history and decided to pursue a medical degree. In 1787, at the age of 14, he enrolled in Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia. Although the school was little more than a log cabin at the time, its headmaster was a well-respected physician. While at Hampden-Sydney Harrison founded a literary society, but it was military history that fascinated him. Harrison later left Hampden-Sydney for the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia, but the death of his father left him with too little money to continue his education.