The Rev. James Otis Sargent Huntington, OHC (23 July 1854 – 28 June 1935), a priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 of the Episcopal Church, was the founder of the Order of the Holy Cross

Order of the Holy Cross

The Order of the Holy Cross is an international Anglican monastic Order that follows the Rule of St. Benedict.-History:The Order was founded in 1884 by the Rev. James Otis Sargent Huntington, an Episcopal priest, in New York City. The Order moved to Maryland briefly before settling in West Park,...

, an Anglican Benedictine monastic order for men whose mother house

Holy Cross Monastery (West Park, New York)

Holy Cross Monastery is located on US 9W in West Park, New York, USA. It is the mother house of the Order of the Holy Cross, an Anglican religious order inspired by the Benedictine tradition....

 is now located in West Park, 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...

.

Life

He was born in Roxbury

Roxbury, Massachusetts

Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, the younger son of Frederick Dan and Hannah Huntington. While he was a child his father, a Unitarian

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

 minister

Minister of religion

In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...

, converted to the Episcopal Church, and in quick succession was ordained deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 and priest, and then consecrated Bishop

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 Central New York. James went to Harvard, as his father did, and later studied at St. Andrew’s Divinity School in Syracuse

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

. He was ordained priest around 1880, and began work among working-class immigrants on Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

's Lower East Side

Lower East Side, Manhattan

The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....

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Soon after his ordination, Father Huntington attended a retreat in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 and began to feel called to the monastic life. In 1884 he founded the Order of the Holy Cross with two companions, Robert Dod and James Cameron. They continued working in the poorest sections of the East Side, where Father Huntington became involved in the labor union and land-tax movements. He was later a founder of the Church Association for the Advancement of the Interests of Labor, and was an early member of the Knights of Labor

Knights of Labor

The Knights of Labor was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s. Its most important leader was Terence Powderly...

.

The Order of the Holy Cross chose Father Huntington as Superior for several non-consecutive terms, but most of his time and energy were used in parish and missionary work. Under his leadership the Order moved to Westminster, Maryland

Westminster, Maryland

Westminster is a city in northern Maryland, United States. It is the seat of Carroll County. The city's population was 18,590 at the 2010 census. Westminster is an outlying community within the Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA, which is part of a greater Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV...

 in the 1890s, and shortly after to West Park. The cornerstone for the Order’s monastery, which now serves as its guest house, was laid in 1902, and the building was finished in 1904. Designed by Gothic-Revival Architect Henry Vaughan

Henry Vaughan (Architect)

Henry Vaughan , a prolific and talented church architect, came to America to bring the English Gothic style to the American branch of the Anglican Communion . He was an apprentice under George Frederick Bodley and went on to great success popularizing the Gothic Revival style.-Life:Vaughan was...

, it was the first building built for an Anglican

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

 religious order since the reign of Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

. Father Huntington also founded St. Faith's Home for Wayward Girls, St. Andrew's School at Sewanee

Sewanee, Tennessee

Sewanee is an unincorporated locality in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States, treated by the U.S. Census as a census-designated place . The population was 2,361 at the 2000 census...

, Kent School

Kent School

Kent School is a private, co-educational college preparatory school in Kent, Connecticut, USA. The Reverend Frederick Herbert Sill, Order of the Holy Cross, established the school in 1906 and it retains its affiliation with the Episcopal Church of the United States.Students at Kent come from more...

, and the Mission in Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

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Father Huntington died on 28 June 1935, and is buried in the Monastery Church of St Augustine in West Park. The Episcopal Church commemorates his life annually on the anniversary of his entry into monastic life 25 November 1884.