Leon Harrison (August 13, 1866 – September 1, 1928) was an English-born American rabbi who ministered in St. Louis for 37 years.

Life

Harrison was born on August 13, 1866, in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, the son of Gustave Harrison and Louisa Nelson. Harrison attended the St. James School in Liverpool. He immigrated to America when he was young. In 1880, he was admitted to

New York City College The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, City ...

at the head of 920 candidates, ranking above every other student. In 1882, he transferred to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, where he graduated with a B.A. and first honors of his class in 1886. He then spent three years doing postgraduate study in philosophy at Columbia. In 1886, he graduated from the Emanuel Theological Seminary in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and was ordained a rabbi by Rabbi

Kaufmann Kohler Kaufmann Kohler (May 10, 1843 – January 28, 1926) was a German-born Jewish American biblical scholar and critic, theologian, Reform rabbi, and contributing editor to numerous articles of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906). Life and work Kauf ...

and Rabbi

Gustav Gottheil Gustav Gottheil (May 28, 1827, Pinne/ Pniewy, Grand Duchy of Posen, Prussia – April 15, 1903, New York City) was a Prussian born American rabbi. Gottheil eventually became one of the most influential, well-known and controversial Reform Jew ...

. Harrison then began serving as rabbi of Temple Israel in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

when he was twenty, making him one of the youngest rabbis in America at the time. As Temple Israel's rabbi for the next five years, he helped grow the small synagogue into one of the leading congregations in Brooklyn and get a new temple building built. In 1890, he was invited to deliver a sermon at Temple Israel in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

. This led the Temple, which at the time was trying to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Rabbi

Solomon H. Sonneschein S. H. Sonneschein, Solomon H. Sonnenschein (June 24, 1839 in Szent Marton, Turocz megye, Hungary – 1908) was a Hungarian-American rabbi. He received his education at Boskowitz, Moravia, where he obtained his rabbinical diploma in 1863, and l ...

, to unanimously name him their new rabbi over 27 other candidates. He then moved to St. Louis and officially began working as Temple Israel's rabbi in the start of 1891. Harrison introduced Sunday services at Temple Israel, although he later abandoned them in favor of late Friday evening services. He was vice-president of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society, director of the Tenement House Improvement Association, co-editor of the Semitics section of the ''Editor's Encyclopedia'', and a founder of the Social Settlement League and the Fresh Air Society in St. Louis. He gave a eulogy at Henry Ward Beecher's funeral service in Brooklyn when he was twenty-one, delivered a memorial address for

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in t ...

in St. Louis, and delivered the Thanksgiving oration as a representative of the Jewish community in the 1904

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 mil ...

. He served as rabbi of Temple Israel until his death. In 1931, his sermons were posthumously published in a volume called ''The Religion of a Modern Liberal''. On September 1, 1928, Harrison fell in front of a subway car at the

116th Street–Columbia University station The 116th Street–Columbia University station is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at the intersection of Broadway and 116th Street in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, just ...

in New York City. He had returned from a European trip a week earlier and was staying with his sister. The death was initially considered a suicide but was later ruled an accident. A funeral service was held at Temple Israel in New York City, where Rabbi Samuel Thurman of the United Hebrew Congregation in St. Louis, Rabbi

Maximilian Heller Maximilian Heller (January 31, 1860 – March 30, 1929) was a Czech-born American rabbi. Life Heller was born on January 31, 1860, in Prague, Bohemia, Austrian Empire, the son of well-to-do wool merchant Simon Heller and Mathilde Kassowitz. He c ...

of Temple Sinai in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Union Temple of Brooklyn The Union Temple of Brooklyn is a Reform Judaism, Reform synagogue located at 17 Eastern Parkway (Brooklyn), Eastern Parkway between Underhill Avenue and Plaza Street East in the Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brookly ...

officiated the service and delivered eulogies. The funeral was attended by prominent members of the New York City Jewish community and representatives of his St. Louis congregation, including Rabbi

Samuel Schulman Samuel Schulman (14 February 1864 – 2 November 1955) was an American rabbi. Biography Schulman was born in Russia; he came to the United States with his family in 1868, and attended the New York City public schools. He graduated from the N ...

Congregation Emanu-El Emanu-El (also spelled Emanuel) ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל ''imanuél'', " God swith us", from עִמָּנוּ ''imánu'', "with us" + אֵל ''el'', "God"), or Temple Emanuel, may refer to the following Jewish synagogues: Australia * Emanuel ...

, Rabbi Nathan Stern of the West End Synagogue, Rabbi Aaron Eiseman of Mt. Neboh Congregation, Rabbi A. B. Tintner Unity Congregation, Rabbi Clifton Levy of the Jewish Science Congregation, and Rabbi Irving Reichert of Tremont Temple. After the funeral service, the body was brought to

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...

, where a special train brought it back to St. Louis. Another funeral was held there, and he was buried in

New Mount Sinai Cemetery New Mount Sinai Cemetery is a cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. Its first burial was in 1853, and its rural cemetery landscape design was laid out in 1907. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. As of the 2005 listing, t ...

References

External links

Leon Harrison Papers
at the ''

American Jewish Archives The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, founded in 1947, is committed to preserving a documentary heritage of the religious, organizational, economic, cultural, personal, social and family life of American Jewry. It has be ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Leon 1866 births 1928 deaths Clergy from Liverpool 19th-century English Jews American people of English-Jewish descent English emigrants to the United States City College of New York alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni 19th-century American rabbis 20th-century American rabbis American Reform rabbis Rabbis from New York City Rabbis from Missouri Religious leaders from Brooklyn Clergy from St. Louis Railway accident deaths in the United States