James DeWolf Perry (October 3, 1871 – March 20, 1947) was an American
Episcopal clergyman and prelate. He was the 7th
Bishop of Rhode Island (1911–1946) and the 18th
Presiding Bishop of the
Episcopal Church (1930–1937).
Biography
The third of five children, Perry was born in the
Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
United States
* Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County
* Ge ...
neighborhood of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, to the Rev. James DeWolf Perry II and Elizabeth Russell Tyson.
His father was
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of Calvary Church in Germantown; he was also a descendant of Captain
Christopher Raymond Perry
Christopher Raymond Perry (December 4, 1761 – June 1, 1818) was an officer in the United States Navy who was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Washington County, Rhode Island, in 1780 and served until 1791. He was th ...
, (who was the father of Commodores
Oliver Hazard Perry
Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an American naval commander, born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The best-known and most prominent member
of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace A ...
and
Matthew C. Perry
Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He played a leading role in the o ...
), and Senators
William Bradford and
James De Wolf
James DeWolf (March 18, 1764December 21, 1837) was a slave trader, a privateer during the War of 1812, and a state and national politician. He served as a state legislator for a total of nearly 25 years, and in the 1820s as a United States senat ...
, and was great great grandson of Lieutenant
Benjamin Bourne
Benjamin Bourne (September 9, 1755September 17, 1808) was a United States representative from Rhode Island, a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island and a Uni ...
who served in the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
.
![JDPerry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/JDPerry.jpg)
After graduating from
Germantown Academy
Germantown Academy, informally known as GA and originally known as the Union School, is the oldest nonsectarian day school in the United States. The school was founded on December 6, 1759, by a group of prominent Germantown citizens in the Gree ...
in 1887, he matriculated at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
In 1895 he earned a
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...
from the
Episcopal Theological School
Episcopal may refer to:
*Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church
*Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese
*Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name
** Episcopal Church (United State ...
.
[ Perry was ordained a deacon by Bishop William Lawrence on June 9, 1895, and a priest on February 18, 1896.] He then served as a curate at Christ Church in Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
, until 1897, when he was named rector of Christ Church in Fitchburg. During the Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
, he was chaplain of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry from 1898 to 1904. In 1904 he became rector of St. Paul's Church in New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
.[ In 1908 he married Edith Dean Weir (daughter of John Ferguson Weir). She was an author and painter of miniatures. They had three children: James DeWolf, John Weir, and Beatrice Weir.][
On September 21, 1910, Perry was elected the 7th Bishop of Rhode Island at age 39][ and was consecrated on January 6, 1911, by Bishops Daniel Sylvester Tuttle, ]Leigh R. Brewer
Leigh Richmond Brewer (January 20, 1839 - August 28, 1916) was a Diocesan bishop, bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Montana, Montana in The Episcopal Church.
Biography
Brewer was born on January 20, 1839, in Berkshire, Vermont to Sheldon Sykes and L ...
, and William Lawrence.
Perry was admitted as a member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...
in 1915 and became president of the Society in 1921.
During World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he served as chief of Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
chaplains in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
from 1918 to 1919.[
On March 26, 1930, Perry was elected the 18th Presiding Bishop by the ]House of Bishops
The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of some Anglican churches and the second house in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. .[ He was the last Presiding Bishop to retain his diocesan jurisdiction while serving in the national post.][
In August 1930, he was chosen to deliver the farewell sermon at the ]Lambeth Conference
The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867.
As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...
and invited to lay the cornerstone of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Aberdeen.[ Especially interested in foreign missions, he once spent five months visiting mission stations in the ]Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
.[
The French government awarded him the ]Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
in 1934.
In a rare instance, he participated directly in politics in 1937 when he accepted an appointment to the Republican Party's Committee on Program, which was charged with drafting "a declaration of principles to redefine the party's stand on political and economic issues."[''New York Times'']
"Republicans Name Glenn Frank Head of Policy Group," Dec. 17, 1937
accessed December 10, 2009
He retired as Presiding Bishop in 1937, and as Bishop of Rhode Island in 1946.[ Perry died at the age of 75 from a ]heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
in Summerville, South Carolina
Summerville is a town in the U.S. state of South Carolina situated mostly in Dorchester County, with small portions in Berkeley and Charleston counties. It is part of the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Su ...
.
See also
*
* List of Episcopal bishops of the United States
The following is a list of bishops who currently lead dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States and its territories. Also included in the list are suffragan bishops, provisional bishops, coadjutor bishops, and assistant bishops ...
* Historical list of the Episcopal bishops of the United States
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, James De Wolf
1871 births
1947 deaths
Presiding Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
20th-century Anglican bishops in the United States
Clergy from Philadelphia
University of Pennsylvania alumni
Harvard University alumni
Germantown Academy alumni
James De Wolf
James DeWolf (March 18, 1764December 21, 1837) was a slave trader, a privateer during the War of 1812, and a state and national politician. He served as a state legislator for a total of nearly 25 years, and in the 1820s as a United States senat ...
DeWolf family
Episcopal bishops of Rhode Island
Episcopal Divinity School alumni