Francis Burton Harrison was born in New York City on December 18, 1873, as one of four children of Burton Norvell Harrison, a lawyer and former secretary to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and Constance Cary, a novelist and Civil War heroine. Harrison was a graduate of Yale University in 1895, where he was a member of the secret society Skull and Bones, and received his law degree from the New York Law School two years later. His early work included two years as an evening instructor at the New York Law School and service in the United States Army during the Spanish-American War.

Harrison was a member of the Democratic Party and served as a member of Congress from 1903-1905, and 1907-1913 until he resigned to become the chief executive of the Philippines, 1913-1921. While in Congress, he was responsible for the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, which finally passed on December 17, 1914. In 1934, he was asked to return to the Philippines to help them transition from a United States territory to commonwealth with an elected Filipino government. He became the principle advisor of the first President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Manuel L. Quezon, in November 1935, for almost a year and then returned at Quezon's request in May 1942, to serve the government in exile after the Japanese invaded the Philippines.

Francis Burton Harrison was married six times and had children in five of his marriages. The following list of children has been constructed from several incomplete sources and from internal information from the letters but cannot be vouched for with total confidence.