Rev. John A. Broadus remarked, in an address memorializing Harrison a decade afterwards, that the loss occasioned by the death of Harrison was overshadowed by the chaos of the American Civil War:
He fell amid the storm of war.
Three years earlier and the death of Gessner Harrison would have stirred the entire South.
The journals of every state would have included tributes from many an admiring and grateful pupil...And so it is likely that the young of today can scarcely believe, the old can with little difficulty recall, how widely known and how highly honored and admired, how warmly loved, was this mere civilian, the quiet and unpretending professor of 1859.

Historian William F. Boogher has also said the following of Harrison:

 
He was perhaps the most important figure in the educational history of the Southern States in the period before the Civil War.

Univ.
of Va. Chapel features a pair of stained glass windows (height-13 ft.)
which are dedicated to him.

Harrison Hall, a former dormitory at the university, was named for him.

Harrison Hall, an academic building at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is also named in his memory.
Rev. John A. Broadus remarked, in an address memorializing Harrison a decade afterwards, that the loss occasioned by the death of Harrison was overshadowed by the chaos of the American Civil War:
He fell amid the storm of war. Three years earlier and the death of Gessner Harrison would have stirred the entire South. The journals of every state would have included tributes from many an admiring and grateful pupil...And so it is likely that the young of today can scarcely believe, the old can with little difficulty recall, how widely known and how highly honored and admired, how warmly loved, was this mere civilian, the quiet and unpretending professor of 1859. 
Historian William F. Boogher has also said the following of Harrison:

 
He was perhaps the most important figure in the educational history of the Southern States in the period before the Civil War.
Univ. of Va. Chapel features a pair of stained glass windows (height-13 ft.) which are dedicated to him.
Harrison Hall, a former dormitory at the university, was named for him.
Harrison Hall, an academic building at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is also named in his memory.
Gessner Harrison