John Harrison was born on December 17, 1773, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of Thomas and Sarah (Richards) Harrison. His father, born in Thurston field, Cumberland, England, had come to America about 1764 and established himself as a merchant; his mother was a prominent minister of the Society of Friends.
John Harrison was educated in Philadelphia and at an early age was apprenticed to a druggist, Townsend Speakman. Later he went to Europe to study the business of manufacturing chemicals, and during his two years abroad found opportunity to study the science of chemistry itself under the eminent Dr. Joseph Priestley.
In 1793 John Harrison entered into partnership with Samuel Betton in Philadelphia, with whom he established a wholesale and retail trade in chemicals and drugs. In 1793-1794 he began a series of experiments in the manufacture of sulphuric, nitric, and muriatic acids on a practical scale, and in 1801, having dissolved the partnership of Betton & Harrison, he started his own business. He added white lead to his manufactures in 1806, and then successively various other chemicals and colors.
In 1807 Harrison had built what was for his day a very large leaden chamber, eighteen feet high, eighteen feet wide, and fifty feet long, in which he was able to produce nearly a half million pounds of sulphuric acid annually. The acid prepared in this chamber was concentrated by boiling in glass retorts, and its cost was greatly increased by the constant breaking of the glass. In an effort to reduce costs, Harrison, with Dr. Eric Bollman, devised a method of concentration in a platinum still. The still they put into use weighed seven hundred ounces, and had a capacity of twenty-five gallons. It was in continuous service for fifteen years. This was perhaps the first instance of the use of platinum for such a purpose.
Harrison’s business grew to large proportions. In 1831 he admitted his sons Thomas and Michael into partnership, the firm being known as John Harrison & Sons.
Harrison found time for other than commercial activities, and displayed other interests: he was a captain of Philadelphia militia in 1792; on March 23, 1796, he was elected a member of the famous Schuylkill Fishing Company; from 1821 to 1824 he served as recorder of the City and County of Philadelphia, and on February 16, 1824, he was elected a member of the first board of managers of the Franklin Institute. Harrison died in Philadelphia after a long illness.
Harrison was married on November 27, 1802, to Lydia Leib of Philadelphia. They had eight children, one of whom, George Leib Harrison, was the father of Charles Custis Harrison provost of the University of Pennsylvania.
