William Stevens Perry (January 22, 1832 – May 13, 1898) was a 19th-century

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of the

Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of ...

and an educator. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Iowa from 1876 to 1898.

Biography

Early life and ministry

He was born at

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, studied at Brown University, but took his degree from Harvard in 1854. He studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the Unit ...

before finishing his studies privately. He was ordained a deacon at Grace Church in

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, and a priest (1858) at St. Paul's,

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, where he spent the first year of his ministry. His succeeding charges were in St. Luke’s Church Nashua, New Hampshire, St. Stephen’s Church

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

, St. Michael’s Church

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, and Trinity Church

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. He taught history at Hobart College for several years and served the institution as president from April to September, 1876, when he was consecrated Bishop of Iowa.

Bishop of Iowa

He did much for the cause of education in his diocese—reopened Griswold College, founded St. Katharine's Hall for girls, Kemper Hall for boys, and Lee Hall for training candidates for orders. Several other schools were founded throughout the diocese. Some of the schools were parish based while others were sponsored by the diocese. Bishop Perry reformed the vestries in the diocese, and reduced the number parishes by removing the ones that did not function on a regular basis, if at all. Grace Cathedral had been completed by his predecessor, Bishop

Henry Washington Lee Henry Washington Lee (July 29, 1815 – September 26, 1874) was a 19th-century bishop in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He served as the first Bishop of Iowa from 1854–1874. He also served as Provisional Bisho ...

, but it was up to Perry to establish the administration. He named the Very Rev. Willis H. Barris as

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and a chapter based on the English model. He gave a report on the model at the Anglican Congress in

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while he attended 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 ...

. In the 1884 Diocesan Convention, Bishop Perry proposed goals that embraced the Social Gospel Movement that was popular at the time. As a result, three hospitals were founded during his episcopate: Cottage Hospital in Des Moines, St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids and St. Luke's Hospital in Davenport. A Home for the Friendless, supported by J.M. Griffith, was begun in

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

and a Home for the Friendless was also begun in Davenport by Clarissa C. Cook. In 1862 he became the Assistant Secretary of the General Convention and became Secretary in 1868. He attended the Third Lambeth Conference in 1888 and the Fourth in 1897. He was a hereditary member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati, a founding member of The

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in Iowa, and also a member of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Naval Order of the United States. He was also a member of the Masonic Brotherhood

Later life and death

Bishop Perry was in poor health during the latter part of his life and took several trips to

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to recuperate. While he was on visitation to Northeast Iowa, Bishop Perry suffered a paralytic stroke on May 12, 1898, and died the following day. His funeral was held in St. John’s Church in Dubuque and he was buried in the churchyard of the Church of St. James the Less in

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Honors

Perry received several honorary degrees. In 1869 he received a

Doctor of Sacred Theology The Doctor of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Doctor, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Roman Catholic C ...

from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

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, and the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

awarded him a

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 ...

in 1876. He was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

in 1882.

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awarded him a Doctor of Divinity in 1888 when he was in

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for the Lambeth Conference. He was made an Honorary Chaplain of the

Venerable Order of St John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British British monarchy ...

in England on 9 May 1898.

Writings

Among his writings are: *''Documentary History of the

'' (1863–1864), with Dr. F. L. Hawks *''Historical Collections of the American Colonial Church'' (five volumes, 1871–1878) *''Historical Notes and Documents Illustrating the Organization of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America'' (1874) *''Historical Sketch of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 1784–1884'' (1884)

Literature

*William Stevens Perry, ''Episcopate in America'' (1895), sketch and bibliography

References

External links

Documents by and about William Stevens Perry
from Project Canterbury * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, William Stevens 1832 births 1898 deaths American educators American religious writers Brown University alumni Burials at the Church of St. James the Less Harvard University alumni Historians of the American Revolution Historians of the Thirteen Colonies People from Davenport, Iowa Clergy from Providence, Rhode Island Episcopal bishops of Iowa 19th-century Anglican bishops in the United States Members of the American Antiquarian Society General Society of Colonial Wars