Travels in Baptist History 1 -Samuel Harriss grave site

Travels in Baptist History 1 Samuel Harriss grave site – 02/11/2021

Harriss has been termed the blazing comet of Virginia. He was a militia colonel, member of the House of Burgess, judge, justice of the peace and had even been a warden in the Anglican Church. He had been in concern for his soul and while in course of his duties came upon a preaching meeting in the northern part of Pittsylvania County. Joseph and William Murphy were preaching that day. Harriss went in and set behind a loom in the back of the house. He could not hide from God and came under such conviction that he was found kneeling over a bench with all of his military regalia on the floor. He found Jesus and peace of soul. He would be baptized in July of 1759 by Daniel Marshall. He would heed the call to preach and would help to plant churches in Virginia and North Carolina with over 30 in Virginia alone. It is hard to estimate the impact the Harriss had all over Virginia as well as into North Carolina- he was seemingly all over Virginia preaching everywhere. Although he was threatened many times and even yanked off a platform while preaching he was not subjected to imprisonment as many other Virginia preachers were. Likely that was because of his stature as a former colonel. His status in Pittsylvania County also reduced persecution. He is buried several miles Northwest of Danville Virginia (where I live) by the site of where his house once stood (demolished sometime in either the late 60’s or early 70’s. Exact locations of these sites can be found on our church website http://www.brusharborbaptist.org/baptist-history-sites