William Logan Harris (4 November 1817 – 2 September 1887) was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1872.

Birth and family

Harris was born near Ontario in Richland County, Ohio, a son of James and Mary (Logan) Harris. His father died when William was sixteen years old. William then made his home for some time with his uncle and guardian, Stephen Harris, (who was a brother of the Honorable John Harris of

Stark County, Ohio Stark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 374,853. Its county seat is Canton. The county was created in 1808 and organized the next year. It is named for John Stark, an officer in th ...

). Harris married Nancy Jane Atwell 9 August 1840. They had three children: Mary Celestina, Hattie Augusta, and William Hamilton (who married Grace Fancher Nicoll 1 December 1885).

Education

Harris attended the schools near his home. He was

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to the Christian faith 10 June 1834. He entered the

Norwalk Seminary Norwalk Seminary was a private, Methodist school in Norwalk, Ohio. Opening in 1838 with Edward Thomson as principal, by 1842 it had an attendance of nearly four hundred. Nonetheless, the school was unsuccessful financially, and it was forced to ...

( Norwalk, Ohio) shortly thereafter, pursuing a course of classical and mathematical studies.

Honorary degrees

Harris was honored by Allegheny College with the

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

degree in 1856. He received an honorary LL.D. degree in 1870 from

Baldwin University The history of Baldwin Wallace University dates back to 1828, when co-founder John Baldwin settled in present-day Berea, Ohio. His founding eventually established Baldwin–Wallace College. This founding of present-day Baldwin Wallace Universit ...

Ordained ministry

Harris united with the M.E. Church in 1834, and was Licensed to Preach in the early part of 1837. He was admitted on trial to the Michigan Annual Conference (which at that time covered northwestern Ohio as well) 7 September 1837. In 1840 he became a founding member of the North Ohio Annual Conference. When the conference boundaries were further realigned, he became a member of the Central Ohio Conference (aka the Delaware Ohio Conference). Harris served in Ohio for eight years as pastor at, successively,

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, Bellville,

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, and Chesterville, and in 1844 was appointed to Delaware, Ohio. He also was an active abolitionist. In the time preceding the American Civil War, he took part in the discussion, writing books, pamphlets, etc. on this subject.

Academic ministry

Harris became a tutor (or

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) at

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

, Delaware, Ohio in 1845. In 1846–47 he again entered pastoral work, appointed to Toledo. In 1848 he was assigned to Norwalk, Ohio. He was then elected Principal of the

Baldwin Institute The history of Baldwin Wallace University dates back to 1828, when co-founder John Baldwin settled in present-day Berea, Ohio. His founding eventually established Baldwin–Wallace College. This founding of present-day Baldwin Wallace Universit ...

(later University),

Berea, Ohio Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio and is a western suburb of Cleveland. The population was 19,093 at the 2010 census. Berea is home to Baldwin Wallace University, as well as the training facility for the Cleveland ...

, remaining there from 1848 to 1851. In 1852 Harris was elected Professor of

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and Natural History at Ohio Wesleyan, serving in this position for eight years.

Other ministry pursuits

In 1860 Harris was elected by the General Conference one of the Corresponding Secretaries of the Missionary Society of the M.E. Church, which office he held by quadrennial re-elections until his election to the episcopacy. Harris was elected a delegate to the General Conferences of 1856–72, serving as secretary of that body at each of these quadrennial sessions. He also contributed largely to the periodical literature of his denomination.

Episcopal ministry

Harris was elected to the episcopacy of the M.E. Church by the General Conference of 1872 which met in Brooklyn, New York. Then during 1872–73, Harris made the first official episcopal tour ever made circumnavigating the globe (leaving from San Francisco), visiting M.E. Mission Stations in

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, India, Bulgaria, and Western Europe. Harris also became recognized as an expert in Methodist church law.

Death and burial

Harris experienced symptoms of heart disease, being indisposed during an 1887 trip to England. Upon his return to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

he was unable to walk, and he died 2 September 1887 at his residence in New York City. He was buried in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago.

Selected writings

* ''The Powers of the General Conference'', 1859. * ''Ecclesiastical Law and Rules of Evidence'', written with Judge William J. Henry (of Illinois), with special reference to the government of the M.E. Church, 1870.

Notes

References

* Biographical/Genealogical information about the Harris Family from Rootsweb.co

*''Methodism: Ohio Area (1812-1962)'', edited by John M. Versteeg, Litt.D., D.D. (Ohio Area Sesquicentennial Committee, 1962). * "Obituary", ''Bellville Star:'' 8 September 1887, Vol. 10, No. 50 (reprinted from the ''Mansfield News:'' 3 September 1887

Attribution: *

External links

Picture of Bishop Harris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, William Logan 1817 births 1887 deaths American Methodist Episcopal bishops People from Richland County, Ohio Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church American theologians American religious writers Burials at Rosehill Cemetery American abolitionists Activists from Ohio Methodist abolitionists 19th-century Methodists 19th-century American clergy