Thomas Harmon was a Methodist circuit rider.
Harmon was born October 10th, 1783 in Connecticut. In 1808, he moved to the Canadas. Harmon converted to Methodism on December 26th, 1809. He quickly became very active in the church; he was licensed as an exhorter in 1810, and as a local preacher in 1812. Harmon was in Stoney Creek when a draft order was issued. He was drafted, and although he had previously believed it inappropriate for a religious man to take up arms, after much prayer he decided to comply with the draft. He fought in the Battle of Queenston Heights not long after.[1] Accounts of his performance in battle are favourable.[2] Before the end of the war, Harmon was released from service, and took work as a circuit rider, on the Niagara Circuit.[3] He also rode on the Yonge Street Circuit during the war.[4] After the war, Harmon was ordained a deacon, and made a local preacher in 1819. During the course of the war he lost one of his legs in an accident, which made him unable to continue circuit riding.[5]
In 1817, he was assigned to Detroit. That year, membership in the Methodist church in Detroit increased by ten people.[6]
In 1819, he was given his deacon's orders.[7]
In 1823, he was assigned to the Long Point circuit, where he rode alongside Daniel Sherpherdson. The pair oversaw a decrease in circuit membership of sixty-nine people.[8]
Notes
edit- ^ Carroll, John (1867). Case and his cotemporaries, or, The Canadian itinerants' memorial constituting a biographical history of Methodism in Canada, from its introduction into the Province, till the death of the Rev. Wm. Case in 1855. Vol. I. Toronto: Wesleyan Conference Office. p. 298.
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 299
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 300
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 301
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 302
- ^ Carroll, volume II, page 129
- ^ Carroll, volume II, page 217
- ^ Carroll, volume II, page 452
References
edit- Carroll, John (1867). Case and his cotemporaries, or, The Canadian itinerants' memorial constituting a biographical history of Methodism in Canada, from its introduction into the Province, till the death of the Rev. Wm. Case in 1855. Vol. I. Toronto: Wesleyan Conference Office.
- Carroll, John (1869). Case and his cotemporaries, or, The Canadian itinerants' memorial constituting a biographical history of Methodism in Canada, from its introduction into the Province, till the death of the Rev. Wm. Case in 1855. Vol. II. Toronto: Wesleyan Conference Office.