Merriman Colbert Harris (July 9, 1846 – May 8, 1921) was a Missionary Bishop of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

, elected in 1904, who was active in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Japan.

Birth and family

Merriman was born July 9, 1846 in

Beallsville, Ohio Beallsville ( ) is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Monroe County, Ohio, Monroe County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the village population was 409. The village gained national attention by losin ...

, the son of Colbert and Catherine Elizabeth (Crupper) Harris. Merriman married Flora L. Best October 23, 1873, in

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The city is within of Erie and within of Pittsburgh. It was the first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The population was 13,388 at the 2010 censu ...

. They had two daughters, Florence and Elizabeth.

Military service and education

Merriman served for three years as a soldier in the 12th Ohio Cavalry in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

(1863–65), attaining the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

. Following the end of the war, he attended the Washington Academy in Ohio, and the Harlem Springs Seminary. He then attended

Scio College Scio College ( ) was an institution of higher education in Ohio in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Parts of it merged into Mount Union College, while its pharmacy school merged with what would become the University of Pittsburgh School of ...

, earning the

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree (1873) and the

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree (1877) from

Allegheny College he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" (2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 ...

Ordained ministry and missionary service

Merriman entered the ministry of the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Annual Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

of the

in 1869, serving as a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

and a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

. He was sent to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 1873 and was stationed at

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

on the northern island of

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

. During his first stay in Japan, his converts included Kanzo Uchimura, Inazo Nitobe, and Akira Sato. He left Japan in 1892, and established Japanese missions on the Pacific Coast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

in areas with large numbers of Japanese emigrants. He became the Superintendent of Japanese missions in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in 1886. He also served as Superintendent of all

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

Methodist Japanese missions, including the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

, in 1890. During this period, Yosuke Matsuoka was one of his converts.

Episcopal ministry

Merriman Colbert Harris was elected a Missionary Bishop by the 1904 General Conference of the M.E. Church. He was assigned

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and Japan, where he remained until his death. As a Missionary Bishop he served with distinction. He was twice decorated with the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

by the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

. In 1919, ten years after the death of his first wife, Flora, he remarried his late wife's first cousin, Elizabeth Best, and lived within the grounds of Aoyama Gakuin, in a home given to him by his Japanese converts. He died May 8, 1921 in

Aoyama, Tokyo is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of Tokyo, located in the northwest portion of Minato Ward. The area is well known for its international fashion houses, cafes and restaurants. or "North Aoyama" refers to the area on the north side of Ao ...

and his grave is at the

Aoyama Cemetery is a cemetery in Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The cemetery is also famous for its cherry blossoms, and at the season of hanami, which many people would visit. History The cemetery was origin ...

Selected writings

*Address: ''Japanese Buddhism,'' San Francisco, 1887. Typed, in '' Methodist Bishops' Collection.'' *''Christianity in Japan,'' 1907. *''Save Korea,'' Quarterly-Centennial Documents, 1910. *Contributor, Japan Proverbs. *Statement in ''Competent Witnesses on Korea as a Mission Field,'' Korea Documents, with others.

References

* Leete, Frederick DeLand, Methodist Bishops. Nashville, The Methodist Publishing House, 1948. * Methodism: Ohio Area (1812–1962), edited by John M. Versteeg, Litt.D., D.D. (Ohio Area Sesquicentennial Committee, 1962). * Price, Carl F., Compiler and Editor: Who's Who in American Methodism, New York: E.B. Treat & Co., 1916. * The National Cyclopædia of American Biography, Volume XIV. New York, James T. White & Company, 1910. * The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Bishop Harris, 73, Weds: M. E. Missionary Weds Late Wife's Cousin; Bride, 53, Is Old Friend," Philadelphia, Nov. 13, 1919. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Merriman Colbert Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church Union Army soldiers People from Beallsville, Ohio 1846 births 1921 deaths Methodist writers Methodist missionaries in Japan American Methodist missionaries Methodist missionaries in Hawaii American expatriates in Japan Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Burials in Japan

Birth and family

Military service and education

Ordained ministry and missionary service

Episcopal ministry

Selected writings

See also

References