The Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon Scott (January 22, 1800-November 29, 1892) was an American Presbyterian minister and academic whose daughter, Caroline Harrison

Caroline Harrison

Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison , wife of Benjamin Harrison, was first lady of the United States from 1889 until her death. She was the first “first lady” to be born in October.-Early life:...

 became first lady of the United States as wife of Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...

.

Scott was the son of George McElroy and Anna (Rea) Scott and was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania

Beaver County, Pennsylvania

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 181,412 people, 72,576 households, and 50,512 families residing in the county. The population density was 418 people per square mile . There were 77,765 housing units at an average density of 179 per square mile...

. Educated at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, he became the first professor of science at Miami University

Miami University

Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...

 in Oxford, Ohio. He was ultimately fired from that position during the presidency of George Junkin

George Junkin

Rev. George Junkin, D. D., LL. D. was an American educator and Presbyterian minister who served as the first president of Lafayette College and later as president of Miami University and Washington College .-Biography:He was the son of Joseph Junkin, and the sixth of fourteen children born in...

 for his anti-slavery views. After teaching in Cincinnati, he returned to Oxford, Ohio in 1849 as the first president of a Presbyterian women's college known as the Oxford Female Institute from which his daughter Caroline graduated in 1852.

Scott presided over the wedding of his daughter to the future U.S. President Benjamin Harrison in 1853. Dr. Scott later served as president of the Oxford Female College

Oxford Female College

Oxford Female College was one of three women's colleges in Oxford, Ohio in the 19th Century. The college merged with the Oxford Female Institute, forming the Oxford College for Women which existed as an independent school until it merged with Miami University in 1928...

 and as professor at Hanover College

Hanover College

Hanover College is a private liberal arts college, located in Hanover, Indiana, near the banks of the Ohio River. The college is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church . The college was founded in 1827 by the Rev. John Finley Crowe, making it the oldest private college in Indiana. The Hanover...

. He resided with President and Mrs. Harrison in the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

and died there in 1892, about a month after his daughter's death.

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