Philip Mercer Rhinelander (June 6, 1869 – September 21, 1939) was Bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania
The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America encompassing the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware in the state of Pennsylvania.
The Diocese has 36,641 ...
from 1911 to 1923. He graduated from
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 1891.
Early life
Rhinelander was born in 1869. He was the youngest of eight children born to Frances Davenport (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Skinner) Rhinelander (1828–1899) and
Frederic W. Rhinelander
Frederic William Rhinelander (February 12, 1828 – September 24, 1904) was an American who was prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age and served as president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Early life
Rhinelander was born in New Y ...
(1828–1904), the president of
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
. Frederic William Rhinelander (1859–1942), His older brother, Frederic W. Rhinelander Jr., was married to Constance Satterlee, a daughter of Bishop
Henry Y. Satterlee
Henry Yates Satterlee (January 11, 1843 – February 22, 1908) was the first Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Through his sister Ethel, he was the uncle of
Frederic Rhinelander King
Frederic Rhinelander King (April 13, 1887 – March 20, 1972), was an American architect, and the co-founder with Marion Sims Wyeth of the architecture firm Wyeth and King.
Early life
Frederic Rhinelander King was born in 1887. He was the son of ...
, a prominent architect with the firm of
Wyeth and King
Marion Sims Wyeth (February 17, 1889 – February 4, 1982) was an American architect known for his range in styles such as Art Deco, Mediterranean Revival, and classical Georgian, French, and Colonial. He designed numerous mansions in Palm Beac ...
.
His paternal grandparents were Frederic William Rhinelander and Mary Lucretia "Lucy Ann" (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Stevens) Rhinelander. His maternal grandparents were the Rev. Thomas Harvey Skinner and Frances Louisa (née Davenport) Skinner. Through his maternal aunt, Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander, the wife of George Frederic Jones, he was a first cousin of novelist and decorator Edith (née Jones) Wharton and
Frederic Rhinelander Jones
Mary Cadwalader Rawle Jones (December 12, 1850 – September 22, 1935) was an American author, socialite, and social leader during the Gilded Age.
Early life
Mary, who was known as Minnie, was born on December 12, 1850 at Powel House, her family ...
. Through aunt Mary Elizabeth Rhinelander, the wife of Thomas Haines Newbold, he was a first cousin of
New York State Senator
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan compo ...
Concord, New Hampshire
Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua.
The village of ...
, before graduating from
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 ...
with an A.B. degree in 1891, from Oxford with another A.B. degree in 1896, and from Oxford again with an M.A. degree in 1900.
Career
After he finished at Oxford, he was ordained a deacon at Calvary Church in 1896, in New York City, by his older brother's father-in-law, Bishop Satterlee, the first Bishop of Washington who had been his rector in New York. He followed Satterlee to Washington where he worked under him at St. Mark's Church, a parish and mission for seven years. In 1903, due to health issues, he ended parish work and became a professor of pastoral studies at the
Berkeley Divinity School
Berkeley Divinity School, founded in 1854, is a seminary of The Episcopal Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Along with Andover Newton Theological School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Berkeley is one of the three "Partners on the Quad," ...
in
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...
. He was at the School for four years, during which time he was married, and then in 1907, became the new chair of the History of Religion and Missions at the Episcopal Theological School, then in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
. In 1909, he was offered the vicarship of Trinity Church in Manhattan, "one of the most important of the ten houses of worship then conducted by Trinity parish, New York" but declined.
On May 10, 1911, he was elected Bishop Coadjutor of Pennsylvania, and later, succeeded the Rt. Rev. Alexander Mackay-Smith as the 7th
Bishop of Pennsylvania
The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America encompassing the counties of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery, Bucks County, Pe ...
. Rhinelander served in this role until May 1, 1923 when he resigned due to poor health. He was succeeded by Thomas J. Garland in a 1924 election.
Along with Bishop James E. Freeman, he was instrumental in the creation of the
Washington Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church. The cathedral is loc ...
, which he later served as a trustee of and where he was a Warden of the College of Preachers.
Personal life
On May 9, 1905, Rhinelander was married to Helen Maria Hamilton (1870–1956). Helen was the daughter of William Gaston Hamilton and his first wife, Helen Maria (née Pierson) Hamilton. Her paternal grandfather was
John Church Hamilton
John Church Hamilton (August 22, 1792 − July 25, 1882) was a historian, biographer, and lawyer. He was a son of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Early life
Hamilton was born on August 22, 1792, in Philade ...
, the fourth son of
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
, the first
Treasury Secretary
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
, and his wife,
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton
Elizabeth Hamilton (née Schuyler ; August 9, 1757 – November 9, 1854), also called Eliza or Betsey, was an American socialite and philanthropist. Married to American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, she was a defender of his works and co- ...
. Together, they were the parents of:
* Frederic William Rhinelander (b. 1906)
* Philip Hamilton Rhinelander (1908–1987), the head of education at Harvard University and a dean of
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
.
* Laurens Hamilton Rhinelander (b. 1909), an attorney and professor of law, who married Louise Merriman Reed in 1937.
Rhinelander died at his summer home, known as Dogmar on Eastern Point in
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...
, on September 21, 1939. After his funeral at St. John's Episcopal Church in Gloucester, he was buried at
Island Cemetery
The Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery are a pair of separate cemeteries on Farewell and Warner Street in Newport, Rhode Island. Together they contain over 5,000 graves, including a colonial-era slave cemetery and Jewish graves. The pair ...
in Newport.
Honors and legacy
Bishop Rhinelander received an honorary
Doctor of Divinity
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...
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 Manhatt ...
. He received an honorary
Doctor of Laws
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...
from 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 ...