children who were considered property." Marriage and children In 1748, Harrison married Elizabeth Bassett of New Kent County; she was the daughter of Colonel William Bassett and Elizabeth Churchill. Harrison and his wife had eight children during their 40-year marriage. Among them was eldest daughter Lucy Bassett (1749–1809), who married Peyton Randolph. Another daughter, Anne Bassett (1753–1821), married David Coupland. The eldest son was Benjamin Harrison VI (1755–1799), a briefly successful merchant who served in the Virginia House of Delegates but who died a self-indulgent, troubled, young widower. Another was Carter Bassett Harrison (c.1756–1808), who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and the U.S. House of Representatives. The youngest child was General William Henry Harrison (1773–1841), who became a congressional delegate for the Northwest Territory and also was governor of the Indiana Territory. In the 1840 United States presidential election, William Henry defeated incumbent Martin Van Buren but fell ill and died just one month into his presidency. Vice President John Tyler, a fellow Virginian and Berkeley neighbor succeeded him. William Henry's grandson, Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901), was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Benjamin served in the U.S. Senate and was elected president in 1888 after defeating incumbent Grover Cleveland. Virginia delegate In 1749, Harrison first took his father's path in being elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, initially for Surry County; however, he was not of legal age to assume his burgesses seat, which was delayed until 1752. His county representations in the Burgesses were as follows: 1752–1761 – Surry County 1766–1781 – Charles City County 1785–1786 – Surry County 1787–1790 – Charles City County In his first year in the House of Burgesses in 1752, Harrison was appointed to the Committee of Propositions and Grievances and thereby participated in a confrontation with King George and his Parliament and their appointed Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie. There developed a dispute with the governor over his levy of a pistole (a Spanish gold coin) upon all land patents, which presaged the core issue of the American Revolution two decades later—taxation without representation. Harrison assisted in drafting a complaint to the governor and the Crown, which read that the payment of any such levy would be "deemed a betrayal of the rights and privileges of the people." When the British Privy Council received the complaint, it replied: "that the lower house is a