Henry Benjamin Whipple
Encyclopedia
Henry Benjamin Whipple was the first Episcopal bishop
of Minnesota
, a humanitarian and an advocate for Native American
s.
, he was raised in the Presbyterian church but became an Episcopalian through the influence of his grandparents and his wife, Cornelia, whom he married in 1842. Whipple attended Oberlin College
from 1838–1839 and worked in his father's business until he was admitted to holy orders in 1848.
After ordination Whipple served parishes in Rome, New York
and Chicago, where he gained a reputation for his service to poor immigrant groups. His Chicago ministry drew him to the attention of the newly formed Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota
which elected him its first bishop in 1859. He served until his death in 1901.
Although concerned with establishing his denomination in the new state of Minnesota, Whipple soon began to champion the cause of Native American groups in the state against what he saw as an abusive and corrupt Federal policy towards Indians. He is best known for his clemency pleas in favor of a group of Dakota or Sioux
who fought against the United States
government in the Sioux Uprising in the area around New Ulm, Minnesota
. On December 26, 1862, the largest mass execution in U.S. history occurred in Mankato following the Dakota War of 1862. Thirty-eight Dakota Amerindians were hanged for participation in the uprising. A total of 303 were sentenced to be hanged but President Lincoln pardoned 265 at the urging of Bishop Whipple. Lincoln's intervention was not popular at the time. Two commemorative statues are located on the site of the hangings (now home to the Blue Earth County Library and Reconciliation Park). He was referred to as "Straight Tongue" by Dakota Indians because of his honesty in dealing with them.
Whipple is memorialized by the Bishop Whipple Federal Building in Ft. Snelling, Minnesota
, which houses, among other things, offices for members of Minnesota's congressional delegation. He is buried beneath the altar
of the Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour
in Faribault, Minnesota
.
After several years working for his father, a country merchant, Whipple began studying for the ministry in the Episcopal Church. He was ordained a deacon in August 1849, became rector of Zion Church in Rome, New York
, in November 1849, and was ordained priest in 1850. Whipple served as rector of Zion Church from 1849–1857, becoming known both for the size and wealth of his parish and for his work among the poor. In 1857, Whipple helped organize and became the first rector of the Church of the Holy Communion, on Chicago
's South Side
, the first free church in the city. He drew his parishioners from "the highways and the hedges" - clerks, laborers, railroad men, travelers, and derelicts - sought converts among the city's Swedish population, and regularly officiated in a Chicago prison.
On June 30, 1859, Whipple was elected the first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota, an office he held until his death more than forty years later. He was consecrated bishop on October 13, 1859, and in December of that year made his first visitation of his diocese, including the Ojibwe missions of E. Steele Peake and John Johnson Emmegahbowh. In the spring of 1860 he moved his family to Faribault, establishing it as the see of the diocese.
During his episcopate, Whipple guided the development of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota from a few missionary parishes to a flourishing and prosperous diocese. For many years, especially during the first two decades of his episcopate, he made regular missionary sojourns by wagon or coach through the rural areas of the state, often in mid-winter, preaching in cabins, school houses, stores, saloons, and Indian villages. Until the diocese was financially secure, he pledged himself to personally support several of its missionary clergy and assumed many other financial obligations of the church. He unified a diocese that at the time of his election was divided into two quarreling factions.
In 1860, Whipple incorporated the Bishop Seabury Mission in Faribault, building it upon the foundations laid by James Lloyd Breck and Solon W. Manny, who in 1858 had founded a divinity school and school for boys and girls. With the help of gifts from eastern donors, the mission developed into three separate but closely connected schools: Seabury Divinity School, Shattuck School for boys, and St. Mary's Hall for the education of daughters of the clergy. Whipple also helped found the Breck School in Wilder, Minnesota, to educate the children of farmers.
Whipple was best known outside of Minnesota for his dedication to the welfare of the American Indians and for his missionary work among the Dakota and Ojibwe of Minnesota. He returned from his first visitation of his diocese with a firm commitment to the establishment of Indian missions and the reform of the United States Indian system. He regularly included Indian villages on his visitations, built up the Episcopal mission to the Ojibwe based at the White Earth Reservation, and appealed for support of Indian missions by addresses throughout the United States
and in Europe
.
In the early years of his episcopate, Whipple's espousal of Indian reform and commitment to Indian missions earned him the enmity of many whites who hated Indians, and led some of his fellow bishops to look upon him as a fanatic. His attitude was denounced most bitterly after Minnesota's Dakota Conflict of 1862, when, in appeals to the President and in the public press, he opposed wholesale executions and extermination or deportation of the Dakota. Among other things, he was up against the reputation of distant cousin and former Minnesota governor, Colonel Henry Sibley.
Although a high churchman in doctrine, Whipple preached tolerance of all views which fell within the scope of the church's basic teachings. Urging that the church's task was to "preach Christ crucified" and that sectarian quarrels hindered this mission, he pled for unity among all branches of the Episcopal and Anglican communions, and for harmonious relations among members of all Christian denominations. Both in Chicago and in Minnesota, he worked closely with ministers and communicants of the national Swedish church. His interest in the church's missionary efforts was reflected in his presidency of the Western Church Building Society (1880–1893), his service on several committees and commissions of the General Convention concerned with missionary affairs, and in special missions to Cuba and to Puerto Rico.
From the late 1870s until his death, Whipple's health compelled him to spend the winter months each year at his winter home in Maitland, Florida
, where he held missionary services and in 1880 built the Carpenter Gothic
Church of the Good Shepherd
on land which he had purchased. The church was consecrated on March 17, 1883, and Bishop Whipple conducted regular services there each winter for the rest of his life.
Whipple married Cornelia Wright, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Wright of Adams, New York in 1842. They had six children. Cornelia Whipple died in 1890 from injuries suffered in a railroad accident, and in 1896 Whipple married Evangeline Marrs Simpson
, widow of industrialist Michael Hodge Simpson and the lover-companion of Rose Cleveland
, 26th First Lady of the United States
.
Henry B. Whipple died on September 16, 1901.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, a humanitarian and an advocate for Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s.
Summary of his life
Born in Adams, New YorkAdams (town), New York
Adams is a town in Jefferson County, New York, USA. The population was 5,143 at the 2010 census. The town is named after President John Adams.The Town of Adams also has a village named Adams...
, he was raised in the Presbyterian church but became an Episcopalian through the influence of his grandparents and his wife, Cornelia, whom he married in 1842. Whipple attended Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
from 1838–1839 and worked in his father's business until he was admitted to holy orders in 1848.
After ordination Whipple served parishes in Rome, New York
Rome, New York
Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. It is located in north-central or "upstate" New York. The population was 44,797 at the 2010 census. It is in New York's 24th congressional district. In 1758, British forces began construction of Fort Stanwix at this strategic location, but...
and Chicago, where he gained a reputation for his service to poor immigrant groups. His Chicago ministry drew him to the attention of the newly formed Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota
Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota
The Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America which has jurisdiction over all of Minnesota, except Clay County, which is in the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota, and Browns Valley, which is in the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota. It is...
which elected him its first bishop in 1859. He served until his death in 1901.
Although concerned with establishing his denomination in the new state of Minnesota, Whipple soon began to champion the cause of Native American groups in the state against what he saw as an abusive and corrupt Federal policy towards Indians. He is best known for his clemency pleas in favor of a group of Dakota or Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
who fought against the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government in the Sioux Uprising in the area around New Ulm, Minnesota
New Ulm, Minnesota
New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,522 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Brown County....
. On December 26, 1862, the largest mass execution in U.S. history occurred in Mankato following the Dakota War of 1862. Thirty-eight Dakota Amerindians were hanged for participation in the uprising. A total of 303 were sentenced to be hanged but President Lincoln pardoned 265 at the urging of Bishop Whipple. Lincoln's intervention was not popular at the time. Two commemorative statues are located on the site of the hangings (now home to the Blue Earth County Library and Reconciliation Park). He was referred to as "Straight Tongue" by Dakota Indians because of his honesty in dealing with them.
Whipple is memorialized by the Bishop Whipple Federal Building in Ft. Snelling, Minnesota
Fort Snelling, Minnesota
Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort Saint Anthony, was a military fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota River and Mississippi River in Hennepin County, Minnesota...
, which houses, among other things, offices for members of Minnesota's congressional delegation. He is buried beneath the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
of the Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour
Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour
The Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour in Faribault is the oldest cathedral in Minnesota. Built 1862 - 1869, it was the first church in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America designed as a cathedral. The architect was James Renwick, Jr., who also designed St. Patrick's Cathedral in New...
in Faribault, Minnesota
Faribault, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,818 people, 7,472 households, and 4,946 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,644.8 people per square mile . There were 7,668 housing units at an average density of 605.8 per square mile...
.
His life in detail
Henry Benjamin Whipple was born on February 15, 1822 in Adams, New York. He was educated at a private boarding school in Clinton, New York, and at Jefferson County Institute in Watertown, New York. In 1839, he attended Oberlin Collegiate Institute, but his health failed and his physician recommended an active business life.After several years working for his father, a country merchant, Whipple began studying for the ministry in the Episcopal Church. He was ordained a deacon in August 1849, became rector of Zion Church in Rome, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, in November 1849, and was ordained priest in 1850. Whipple served as rector of Zion Church from 1849–1857, becoming known both for the size and wealth of his parish and for his work among the poor. In 1857, Whipple helped organize and became the first rector of the Church of the Holy Communion, on Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's South Side
South Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
, the first free church in the city. He drew his parishioners from "the highways and the hedges" - clerks, laborers, railroad men, travelers, and derelicts - sought converts among the city's Swedish population, and regularly officiated in a Chicago prison.
On June 30, 1859, Whipple was elected the first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota, an office he held until his death more than forty years later. He was consecrated bishop on October 13, 1859, and in December of that year made his first visitation of his diocese, including the Ojibwe missions of E. Steele Peake and John Johnson Emmegahbowh. In the spring of 1860 he moved his family to Faribault, establishing it as the see of the diocese.
During his episcopate, Whipple guided the development of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota from a few missionary parishes to a flourishing and prosperous diocese. For many years, especially during the first two decades of his episcopate, he made regular missionary sojourns by wagon or coach through the rural areas of the state, often in mid-winter, preaching in cabins, school houses, stores, saloons, and Indian villages. Until the diocese was financially secure, he pledged himself to personally support several of its missionary clergy and assumed many other financial obligations of the church. He unified a diocese that at the time of his election was divided into two quarreling factions.
In 1860, Whipple incorporated the Bishop Seabury Mission in Faribault, building it upon the foundations laid by James Lloyd Breck and Solon W. Manny, who in 1858 had founded a divinity school and school for boys and girls. With the help of gifts from eastern donors, the mission developed into three separate but closely connected schools: Seabury Divinity School, Shattuck School for boys, and St. Mary's Hall for the education of daughters of the clergy. Whipple also helped found the Breck School in Wilder, Minnesota, to educate the children of farmers.
Whipple was best known outside of Minnesota for his dedication to the welfare of the American Indians and for his missionary work among the Dakota and Ojibwe of Minnesota. He returned from his first visitation of his diocese with a firm commitment to the establishment of Indian missions and the reform of the United States Indian system. He regularly included Indian villages on his visitations, built up the Episcopal mission to the Ojibwe based at the White Earth Reservation, and appealed for support of Indian missions by addresses throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
In the early years of his episcopate, Whipple's espousal of Indian reform and commitment to Indian missions earned him the enmity of many whites who hated Indians, and led some of his fellow bishops to look upon him as a fanatic. His attitude was denounced most bitterly after Minnesota's Dakota Conflict of 1862, when, in appeals to the President and in the public press, he opposed wholesale executions and extermination or deportation of the Dakota. Among other things, he was up against the reputation of distant cousin and former Minnesota governor, Colonel Henry Sibley.
Although a high churchman in doctrine, Whipple preached tolerance of all views which fell within the scope of the church's basic teachings. Urging that the church's task was to "preach Christ crucified" and that sectarian quarrels hindered this mission, he pled for unity among all branches of the Episcopal and Anglican communions, and for harmonious relations among members of all Christian denominations. Both in Chicago and in Minnesota, he worked closely with ministers and communicants of the national Swedish church. His interest in the church's missionary efforts was reflected in his presidency of the Western Church Building Society (1880–1893), his service on several committees and commissions of the General Convention concerned with missionary affairs, and in special missions to Cuba and to Puerto Rico.
From the late 1870s until his death, Whipple's health compelled him to spend the winter months each year at his winter home in Maitland, Florida
Maitland, Florida
Maitland is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States, part of the Greater Metro Orlando area. The population was 12,019 at the 2000 census. As of 2006, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 14,172...
, where he held missionary services and in 1880 built the Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...
Church of the Good Shepherd
Church of the Good Shepherd (Maitland, Florida)
The Church of the Good Shepherd built in 1880 is an historic Episcopal church building located at 331 Lake Avenue in Maitland, Orange County, Florida. Designed by renowned New York architect Charles C...
on land which he had purchased. The church was consecrated on March 17, 1883, and Bishop Whipple conducted regular services there each winter for the rest of his life.
Whipple married Cornelia Wright, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Wright of Adams, New York in 1842. They had six children. Cornelia Whipple died in 1890 from injuries suffered in a railroad accident, and in 1896 Whipple married Evangeline Marrs Simpson
Rose Cleveland
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland , was the First Lady of the United States from 1885 to 1886, during the first of her brother U.S. President Grover Cleveland's two administrations.-Biography:...
, widow of industrialist Michael Hodge Simpson and the lover-companion of Rose Cleveland
Rose Cleveland
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland , was the First Lady of the United States from 1885 to 1886, during the first of her brother U.S. President Grover Cleveland's two administrations.-Biography:...
, 26th First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
.
Henry B. Whipple died on September 16, 1901.
External links
- Material by and about Whipple, with bibliography from Project CanterburyProject CanterburyProject Canterbury is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999, and is hosted by the non-profit Society of Archbishop Justus...
- Bishop Whipple's personal papers and Minnesota diocesan records are available at the Minnesota Historical Society.
- Bishop Whipple Genealogy
- Short biography of Evangeline Marrs Whipple, includes a photo of her and Bishop Whipple