Merriman Colbert Harris (July 9, 1846 – May 8, 1921) was a Missionary Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1904, who was active in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Japan.
[1] Merriman was born July 9, 1846, in Beallsville, Ohio, the son of Colbert and Catherine Elizabeth (Crupper) Harris.
Merriman served for three years as a soldier in the 12th Ohio Cavalry[3] in the American Civil War (1863–65), attaining the rank of corporal.
[4] Merriman entered the ministry of the Pittsburgh Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1869, serving as a pastor and a missionary.
He also served as Superintendent of all Pacific Coast Methodist Japanese missions, including the Hawaiian Islands, in 1890.