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Primary sourceDocument1815

Signed Check by William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison · 1815

A handwritten check from 1815, drawn on the Miami Exporting Company and signed by William Henry Harrison, showing his everyday financial dealings.

Harrison personally signed this check, making it a direct record of his own handwriting and finances.

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Handwritten check on aged, yellowed paper, dated 1815, drawn on the Cashier of the Miami Exporting Company to pay two hundred dollars, signed by William Henry Harrison. Diagonal cancellation lines cross the check, and the surface shows faded ink and wear.
Check signed by William Henry Harrison, 1815. National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

About this source

What it is

This is a bank check dated 1815, drawn on the Cashier of the Miami Exporting Company for two hundred dollars, signed by William Henry Harrison. It is held by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Why it matters

Simple everyday documents like checks help historians understand the ordinary business and financial life of a public figure outside of politics or war. It shows Harrison managing money years before he became president.

Look closer

  • What does this document tell us about daily life and money in the early 1800s?
  • Why might a museum keep something as ordinary as a check?
  • What does the handwriting and the cancellation marks suggest about how the check was used and later filed away?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of William Henry Harrison on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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