Henry Onderdonk
Henry Ustick Onderdonk (March 16, 1789 – December 6, 1858) was the second Episcopal bishop of Pennsylvania.
The Right Reverend Henry Ustick Onderdonk D.D. | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Pennsylvania | |
 | |
| Church | Episcopal Church |
| Diocese | Pennsylvania |
| Elected | July 17, 1836 |
| In office | 1836-1844 |
| Predecessor | William White |
| Successor | Alonzo Potter |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | April 11, 1816 by John Henry Hobart |
| Consecration | October 25, 1827 by William White |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 16, 1789 New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | December 6, 1858 (aged 69) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Buried | Church of St. James the Less |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Parents | John Onderdonk & Deborah Ustick |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Carter |
| Children | 8 |
| Previous post | Assistant Bishop of Pennsylvania (1827-1836) |
Early life
Onderdonk was born in New York City.[1] He studied at Columbia University, receiving his degree in 1805, and then traveled to Britain for further education, receiving his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh.[1] On returning to the United States, Onderdonk practiced medicine in New York before being ordained to the deaconate and priesthood by Bishop John Henry Hobart.[1] In 1816, he went to western New York as a missionary and then returned east to become rector of St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn, remaining there for seven years.[1]
Bishop of Pennsylvania
Onderdonk was elected assistant Bishop of Pennsylvania in 1827, serving initially as assistant to Bishop William White.[2] He was the 21st bishop of the ECUSA, and was consecrated by bishops William White, Alexander Viets Griswold, and James Kemp. However, bishop Kemp died of injuries received in a stage coach accident while returning from the consecration, so Onderdonk substituted in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland until a successor was elected.[3]
On Bishop White's death in 1836, Onderdonk succeeded him as bishop.[2] Onderdonk was a strong advocate of the pre-Tractarian High Church position, in company with his brother Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk, who was also a bishop. When Rev. Alexander Crummell petitioned to be allowed to move to Pennsylvania to establish another church (besides the peripatetic St. Thomas congregation) to serve Philadelphia's African-American community, Bishop Onderdonk reportedly replied, "I will receive you into this diocese on one condition: No negro priest can sit in my church convention and no negro church must ask for representation there." Crummell reportedly paused for a moment before declining.[4]
In 1844, Onderdonk was suspended from the exercise of his episcopal office after rumors of alcoholism.[2] The suspension was lifted in 1856, two years before his death.[2]
He is buried in the churchyard of Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia.
Notes
- Batterson, 94
- Batterson, 95
- George Freeman Bragg, The First Negro Priest on Southern Soil (Baltimore: Church Advocate Press, 1909) p. 13, available at google books
- Du Bois, W.E.B The Souls of Black Folk, p. 139.
References
- Batterson, Hermon Griswold (1878). A Sketch-book of the American Episcopate. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippencott & Co. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- The Episcopate in America, by William Stevens Perry
External links
| Episcopal Church (USA) titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William White |
2nd Bishop of Pennsylvania coadjutor 1827-1836 1836-1844 |
Succeeded by Alonzo Potter |
Authority control  |
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