Henry Van Dyke Johns was an Episcopal

Episcopal Church (United States)

The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...

 clergyman who served as Chaplain of the Senate.

Early years

Johns was born October 23 , 1803 in New Castle County, Delaware

New Castle County, Delaware

New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 its population was 538,479, an increase of 7.6% over the previous decade. The county seat is Wilmington. The center of population of Delaware is located in New Castle County, in the town of...

, the son of the son of Kensey and Anne (Van Dyke) Johns. His was a prominent political family in New Castle, Delaware. His father was Chief Justice of the state and his grandfather was Governor of Delaware, Nicholas Van Dyke

Nicholas Van Dyke (governor)

Nicholas Van Dyke was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware. He served in the Delaware General Assembly, as a Continental Congressman from Delaware, and as President of Delaware.-Early life and family:Van Dyke was born at Berwick, his family's home in St...

. His older brother John Johns

John Johns

John Johns was the fourth Episcopal bishop of Virginia.-Early life and education:Born into a prominent political family in New Castle, Delaware, John Johns was born in 1796. He was the son of Chief Justice Kensey Johns III, and grandson of Governor Nicholas Van Dyke of Delaware.In 1815, Johns...

 was to become the Episcopal Bishop of Virginia.

Ministry

Johns was confirmed and ordained to the office of deacon in the Episcopal church, in Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes)

Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes)

Holy Trinity Church, also known as Old Swedes is a church in Wilmington, Delaware that is a National Historic Landmark. It was dedicated on July 4, 1699.-History:...

, Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

, by William White (Bishop of Pennsylvania)

William White (Bishop of Pennsylvania)

The Most Reverend William White was the first and fourth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA , the first Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania , and the second United States Senate Chaplain...

, in August, 1827. He became the first rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Georgetown, D.C.. He served as Chaplain of the Senate (1829). In 1832, Johns moved to Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

, but returning to Maryland in 1833 he became rector of All Saints Church in Frederick, Maryland

Frederick, Maryland

Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...

 and then in 1836, Trinity Church in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1837 he served as rector of St. Andrew’s, Baltimore. In 1838 he moved to St. Paul's Church, Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, but returned to Maryland in 1843 and became rector of Christ Church, Baltimore. Thereafter he served as the first rector of Emmanuel Church, Baltimore.

Personal life

Johns married Lavinia Montgomery in 1827. They were the parents of seven children, Montgomery, Mary Lavinia, Henry Van Dyke, Jr., John Kinsey, Fidelia Rogerson, Lavinia M., and James Carroll Johns. Johns died on April 22 1859. Ten thousand people attended his funearl on foot. Memorial Episcopal Church, Bolton Hill, Baltimore, Maryland (built between 1861 and 1864 ), is a memorial to Henry Van Dyke Johns; the Marble Pulpit, Communion Table and Reading Desk, now in Memorial Church, are those formerly used in Christ Church during the ministry of Rev. Dr. Johns, and his brother who preceded him and thereafter became Bishop of Virginia.