John Strange, Methodist Circuit Rider  

Although I can offer no proof other than intuition, I believe my great-great grandfather John Strange Harrison was named after an early Methodist Circuit Rider, the Reverend John Strange.  He was the first of the family to bear the "Strange" name, given to him by his parents in 1820.  According to James H. Stone in his biography of Judge Bazel Harrison:

"He [Bazel Harrison] was, for over seventy years, a consistent member of the Methodist church, and has related to us the story of his conversion."
 



On page In "Water Over the Dam, Vicksburg Then and Now", text by Grace Molineaux and Special Writers, published in 1972, by the Vicksburg Historical Society, there is also mention of Bazel and Martha Harrison and the early establishment of the Methodist faith in Kalamazoo County:

"Soon these Methodist Circuit Riders appeared regularly in the area, and the first church meetings were held early in 1832.  On August 5, 1832, Reverend Erastus Felton of the Ohio Conference preached in a small school building on Prairie Ronde and formed a class of 12 members:  Joshua Duncan, Polly Duncan, Nathan Cobb, Darius Wells, Rebecca Breeden, Mary Frakes, Ruth Lloyd, Louisa Cooper, Bazel Harrison and Martha Harrison.
    In November 1832 James Robe arrived as pastor of the Kalamazoo Mission, which included Prairie Ronde and Vicksburg.  Services were held in the barn of Bazel Harrison in the summer and later in the home of Darius Wells"
So far the "Strange" surname has not appeared in any of the known relationships prior to 1820.  There were six John Strange Harrisons' and a Jesse:
John Strange, son of Bazel and Martha (Stillwell) Harrison.
John Strange, son of Ephraim and Almira "Alma" (Reynolds) Harrison.
John Strange, son of William "Uncle Billy" and America (Harrison) Harrison.
John Strange, son of Benjamin Aion and Jane (Stilwell) Harrison.
John Strange, son of Bazel Jr. and Almira (Abbey) Harrison.
Jesse Strange, son of John Strange and Ellen Louise (Tupper) Harrison.
From pages 399 and 400 of "Sketches of Western Methodism: Biographical, Historical, and Miscellaneous Illustrative of Pioneer Life", by James Bradley Finley, printed at the Methodist book concern, for the author, 1854:
"This talented and useful preacher was a native of Virginia.  He was born on the 15th day of November, 1789, and when quite a boy emigrated to the wilds of Ohio.  Here, under the ministrations of the early pioneer fathers of Methodism, he embraced the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church.  It was not long after his conversion that his talent and piety were exhibited to such a degree as to convince the Church, in connection with his own deep and powerful impressions, that he was called of God to enter the ministry.  In the year 1810 he commenced his itinerant career  under the venerable Quinn.  His first circuit was Wills Creek, in the wilds of Muskingum, where he labored, with all the zeal and fire of youth, in proclaiming the Gospel to sinners.  The next appointment which he received was Cincinnati, as the colleague of the venerable Burke.  He travelled successively Whitewater,Oxford, Lawrenceburg, Whiteoak, Mad River, and Union circuits, and Charlestown and Indianapolis districts.  His excessive labors, however, proved too much for his constitution, and during his whole ministerial life, with slight intervals of rest, he was in abundant labors:
"For Jesus day and night employed.
His heritage he telled to clear."
He was regarded in both Ohio and Indiana--in the latter of which states he spent the close of his life--as a faithful, eloquent, and beloved minister of Jesus Christ.  Numerous seals to his ministry, which will, doubtless, be stars in the crown of his rejoicing in the day of eternity, are to be found all over the west.  On the second of December, 1834, in the forty-fifth year of his age, and the twenty-third of his ministry, he was called away by the gentle summons of his world where labor is exchanged for rest, and prayer is lost in praise."
John Strange, Methodist Circuit Rider, was buried in Indianapolis, Indiana, he reportedly did marry and fathered children.

This web page is authored by Scott Duncan.  All information listed without a reference should be verified.

 
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