Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (bishop)

For other people named Mark Howe, see Mark Howe (disambiguation).
Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe
1st Bishop of Central Pennsylvania
Church Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America
Diocese Central Pennsylvania
In office 1871-1895
Successor Nelson S. Rulison
Orders
Ordination 1832
Consecration 5 October 1789
Personal details
Born (1808-04-05)April 5, 1808
Bristol, Rhode Island
Died July 31, 1895(1895-07-31)
Bristol, Rhode Island
Previous post Rector of St. Luke's Church, Philadelphia, PA
In this Multi-word name, the family name is Howe, not De Wolfe Howe.

Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (also Anthony, DeWolf, De Wolf, and DeWolfe; 1808–1895) was an Episcopal priest and later first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, USA.

Early Life and Education

Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe was born Mark Antony De Wolf Howe 5 April 1808, in Bristol, Rhode Island. (As an adult, he changed the spelling of his second middle name to De Wolfe.) He was the son of John and Louisa (Smith) Howe, and a descendant of James Howe, an English immigrant to Roxbury and Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1637. Maternally, he was connected to Richard Smith, the first town clerk of Bristol, Rhode Island from the 1680s. He was also related to Senator James De Wolf.

He attended Phillips Academy, Andover, and Middlebury College in Vermont. He left Middlebury to pursue education at Brown University, his father's alma mater. He graduated from Brown in 1828, having becoming friends with Francis Wayland, a president of Brown.

He taught Latin at Brown, as well as in the public schools of Boston. At the same time he studied law at his father's law office. Howe studied religion under John Bristed (son-in-law of John Jacob Astor and father of Charles Astor Bristed).

He was the recipient of several honorary degrees, including a LL.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1876.

Ordination and Pastoral Career

In 1832, Howe was ordained deacon by Alexander V. Griswold, bishop of the Eastern Diocese, at Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church, South Boston.

Before the end of 1832, Howe became rector of St. James' Church in Roxbury, serving until 1846, when he was called to Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he remained rector for 26 years.

He attended General Conventions in 1850, 1859, and 1865, helping lay the foundation for the church hymnal. He wrote Memoirs of the Life and Services of the Right Reverend Alonzo Potter, D. D., LL. D. in 1871.

That same year, Howe was elected bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. The original Diocese of Central Pennsylvania was the predecessor diocese of the current Diocese of Bethlehem, and as a result, he is counted as first bishop of Bethlehem as well.[1] He was the father of writer Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe[2] In 1895, Howe retired to his home in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he died 31 July 1895.

Consecrators

Howe was the 99th bishop consecrated in the Episcopal Church.

Family

Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe married, first, Julia Bowen Amory (1804-1841) and had 5 children:

Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe married, second, Elizabeth Smith Marshall (1822-1855) and had 8 children:

Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe married, third, Eliza Whitney (1826-1909), daughter of Asa Whitney, and had 5 children:

See also

References

  1. The Diocese of Pennsylvania was divided in 1871, with the western portion named Diocese of Central Pennsylvania and Reading made the see city, overseen by Bishop Howe. The see was moved to Bethlehem in 1890. In 1904, the diocese was divided, with the eastern part keeping the name Central Pennsylvania and the western half taking the name Diocese of Harrisburg. The eastern diocese changed its name to Bethlehem in 1909, and Harrisburg changed its name to Central Pennsylvania beginning in 1972. Therefore, the original and current dioceses of Central Pennsylvania are not in fact the same jurisdiction. (History of Central Pennsylvania)
  2. Walt Howe Genealogy
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