Horatio Potter

Potter "shrank from public notice, left no literary monument and has, regrettably, no biography. He is scarcely mentioned in the biographies of his older brother Alonzo, Bishop of Pennsylvania, and of his nephew, Henry Codman Potter, his successor in the See of New York."[2]

Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., S.T.D. was born on February 9, 1802, the youngest of the nine children to Joseph and Anne Potter. The Potters were Quaker farmers who lived near Beekman (now LaGrange) in Dutchess County, New York. "Their Quaker devotion appears in the names they bestowed on their oldest son, Paraclete, and only daughter, Philadelphia." Potter spent his earliest years at the family homestead.[3][2]

Union College, Schenectady, N. Y.

Paraclete Potter, Horatio's elder brother, was established in Poughkeepsie, New York, where the Poughkeepsie Academy was located. Therefore, in 1812, he had his ten-year-old brother Horatio move in with him and enroll in the Academy, which offered a better education than did the district schools in Beekman. While living with his brother, Horatio went with him to Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie, and he was impressed by the worship service. During his ten years in Poughkeepsie, Horatio "clerked at various times in his brother’s book store." Horatio remained with his brother through 1822. He wanted a college education, and, with his brother Alonzo's help. Horatio went to Union College, Schenectady, New York. He graduated in 1826 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[3][2]

After graduation, Horatio Potter followed his older brother Alonzo into the Episcopal Church. He was confirmed by Bishop John Henry Hobart at St. Thomas' Church in New York and began studying for holy orders.[2][4] Thus, Potter had no seminary training.[5]

Trinity College, Hartford

Potter was ordained deacon on July 15, 1827, and priest on December 14, 1828. He served his several months diaconate at Trinity Church, Saco, Maine.”[1] In 1828, Potter was elected professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Washington College (now Trinity College), Hartford, Connecticut).[6] While there, Potter "took an active part in plans for the enlargement of the college and the erection of its new buildings."[7]

Potter was twice married. His first marriage was to Mary Jane Tomlinson on September 22, 1827, with whom he had six children. On June 8, 1847, Mrs. Potter, “who had been the loved helpmeet of her husband in every good work,” died.[8][9] She left six children, five of them under twelve. In his loss, Potter perceived “the loving purposes of God.” He believed that his loss would add “earnestness and tenderness” to his “efforts to edify and console” his parishioners.[2][8] Their children were as follows:[10]

• Charles Henry [born July 6, 1828; died January 30, 1830][2][9]
• Mary Jane [born February 23, 1830; died September 30, 1834][9]
• Anna [born September 10, 1831][9]
• David T. [1836],
• Phoebe [1838],
• Horatio [1840],
• Robert Minturn [1843], and
• William Bleecker [1846].

In 1852, Potter took a holiday in Scotland, during which he met Mary Atchison Pollock, a forty-two-year-old Scottish lady. They corresponded after his return to Albany, during which Potter proposed marriage. Pollock accepted his proposal in 1853. When she arrived in New York, Potter met her at the dock and escorted her to Trinity Church for their wedding. There were no children by this marriage.[2][4]

St Peter's Episcopal Church

On February 27, 1833, Potter accepted the rectorship of St. Peter's Church, Albany, New York. He was instituted as rector on Saturday, May 11, 1833. In his first sermon, preached the next day, Potter said, “My brethren, I present myself before you today as your spiritual pastor–as your servant for Jesus' sake! . . . Give me, then, my brethren, I entreat you, your sympathy, your hearty support, and above all your fervent prayers.”[11]

Potter soon “gained the respect and regard of all his parishioners,” and “a high position” among the men of Albany. In all the “charitable and philanthropic” enterprises, he served not only as a “judicious adviser,” but also as a financial contributor. His ability was also recognized by other clergy. Potter remained as rector of St. Peter's for twenty-one years until his election as provisional bishop of New York in 1854. During his tenure there, “he modernized the church both spiritually and physically.”[12][4]

The first act of modernizing the church physically was in 1834 by the purchase of a new organ.[13] This was followed in 1835 by renovating the church building: repairing the floors and pews, painting the interior, a new pulpit, addition of a vestry room, and new lamps. In 1847, a new Rectory was built.[14]

On June 1, 1835, the parish, having noticed Potter's impaired heath, the Vestry requested Potter to do whatever he thought best to restore his health. Following the Vestry's request, Potter spent the summer of 1835 abroad, principally in England. "He returned much refreshed."[15][2]

On November 7, 1837, in Alton, Illinois, a pro-slavery mob killed the abolitionist and newspaper publisher Elijah Parish Lovejoy. In response, on November 26, 1837, Potter preached a sermon in which he defended a free press and opposed slavery. Regarding the latter, he said, “Let us not refuse to think sometimes of the poor slave, whose rights to the products of his own labour, to the care of his own happiness, to the direction of his own physical, intellectual and moral energies are all invaded. . . . Let us not sit down contentedly with the thought, that this train of misery and guilt, this national blot, is to be perpetuated forever.”[16]

In 1837, Potter declined his election as president of Washington College (now Trinity College), Hartford, Connecticut.[17]

On April 25, 1841, Potter was invited to deliver a Discourse on the Death of William Henry Harrison to the New York State Legislature in St. Peter's Church, after the death of President William Henry Harrison. His theme was "Uprightness and Religious Character in Rulers." Rather than a conventional eulogy, Potter's address included “a probing analysis of the evils of political life” and an “eloquent characterization” of Harrison.[2][18]

On July 23, 1843, Potter preached a sermon on The Stability of the Church, as Seen in Her History and in Her Principles. In the sermon, he said that “our Church occupies, let it ever be remembered, a middle ground, in regard to its doctrines, discipline and worship, between Romanism on the one side and ultra Protestantism on the other.” In this statement, Potter articulated the via media position.[19]

On January 3, 1845, Potter's bishop, Benjamin T. Onderdonk was sentenced to suspension from “the exercise of his ministry and of his office as bishop.” This gave Potter the additional task of overseeing the missions in upstate New York.[2] Later in 1845, a voyage to England was offered made to Potter. On May 26, 1845, the Vestry of St. Peter's "resolved unanimously” that their Rector should take the voyage and expressed “their high estimate of his services and character." Potter was accompanied by his wife. In England, being of the high church persuasion, he met with “several of the leaders of the Oxford Movement,” such as John Keble, Isaac Williams, Edward Bouverie Pusey, George Moberly, and William Skinner, Bishop of Aberdeen. Potter returned to Albany in the autumn of 1845 “in greatly improved health and spirits.”[20][2]

In January 1849, St. Peter's faced a debt crisis, which, if not solved, would result in the loss of all of St. Peter's property including the church building and rectory. Previous vestries had paid annual deficits by selling of portions of the income producing real estate owned until all of it had been sold, leaving only the lot on which the church building and rectory were located. The 1849 Vestry took immediate action to relieve the parish's “great burden of debt.” With the debt crisis resolved, St. Peter's was freed to devote “greater energy and devotion” for work by Potter and his parishioners “for the advancement of the Church in the city, and the engaging in new works of piety and mercy.”[21]

Potter was characterized by Joseph Hooper, who wrote A History of Saint Peter's Church in the City of Albany, as one of "the most honored and distinguished of the rectors of St. Peter's."[22] While at St. Peter's, Potter was often asked whether he would accept election as a bishop, but he "discouraged every movement toward his election" until his election as bishop of the Diocese of New York of which St. Peter's was a part.[23]

In 1854, Bishop Wainwright, the provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York died after two years of strenuous work repairing “the neglect caused by the seven years' vacancy in the episcopate.” At the September 1854 Diocesan Convention, Potter was elected provisional bishop. He accepted the election. In his acceptance speech, Potter pleaded with his fellow Churchmen to "try to love each other, try to banish hard words, and satirical speeches, and uncharitable judgments from the Church of God."[2][23]

Trinity Church

On Wednesday, November 22, 1854, in Trinity Church, New York City, Potter was consecrated bishop. The church was filled to overflowing and "the service was probably the most impressive and elaborate that had ever been held in the American Church.[24] He became bishop of a diocese in "a state of great depression and disquiet, owing to the controversies that resulted from the trial and suspension of the Bishop Onderdonk."[25] Potter's episcopate spanned “years of national division, ecclesiastical tensions between high and low church factions, and momentous economic and social changes in New York.”[4]

Potter's ministry both "as rector and as bishop was marked by energy and success."[37] During Potter's episcopate, the Diocese of New York grew so much that in 1868 the new dioceses of Albany, Central New York, and Long Island were removed from his diocese.[6][1]

Potter worked "to reach the laboring classes and the poor, to popularize the church, draw the plainer sort of people into its fold, and push Episcopal home missions in New York city and in the rural districts." The former controversies in his diocese became "practically unknown." Potter was "known and respected at home and abroad."[23]

In 1938, Potter "received the degree of Doctor in Divinity (D.D.) from Washington College (now Trinity College), Hartford, Connecticut."[38] In 1856, he received the degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from Hobart College[36] In 1860, the University of Oxford conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.).[17]

On May 3, 1883, in the Church of the Incarnation in New York City, Potter held his last service. After that, he became ill, an "illness from which he never recovered." His last days were spent at his home in New York. He died at home on January 2, 1887.[23][3][37]

Potter was buried in the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery at Poughkeepsie, New York.[23] On January 8, 1887 The New York Times ran article entitled "Bishop Potter’s Funeral" with the subtitle "Trinity Thronged with Sorrowing Friends." The article said,

From the time of the brief services at the Bishop’s home early in the morning, until the interment at Poughkeepsie, when the shadows of the day were lengthening, the ceremonies were marked by a quiet taste akin to the prelate’s habits of life, and through all coursed manifest sorrow for the dead and sympathy for the mourners. The special train bringing the Bishop’s remains to Poughkeepsie arrived at 2:30. When the cortege started from the railway station for Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery it was composed of twenty carriages and two large carryall sleighs. As the cortege made its way through Poughkeepsie city streets the tolling of the bells of the Episcopal churches added to the solemnity of the occasion. Following services at the gravesite, the casket was lowered into the grave with the lid covered with violets and evergreens for what was thought to be at the time Bishop Potter’s final rest. The funeral party departed for the railway station for their return to New York City.[3]

St John The Divine High Altar

During the American Civil War, Potter's "patriotism was marked, and at all times his labors for the ignorant, poor, and sick were continuous and efficient."[10]

An 1884 book described Potter in this way:[17]

Bishop Horatio Potter is regarded as one of the ablest scholars in the denomination. . . . In person he is tall and thin, erect in carriage, and of active step. His utterances are calm and dignified, full of earnestness, and ever displaying a gentle Christian spirit. Universally popular in his denomination among both clergy and laity, he has labored in the ministry with very great success.

The National Cyclopedia of American Biography published in 1898 was composed of "the biographical sketches of all persons prominently connected with the history of the nation." A sketch of Potter was included in the book.[39]

MC: Potter was marked by developed scholarship and literary skill. His addresses, sermons, and contributions to Church periodicals "exerted a strong and wholesome influence."[10]

• Bourgeois, Michael. All Things Human: Henry Codman Potter and the Social Gospel in the Episcopal Church (University of Illinois Press, 2003).
• Hooper, Joseph (November 30, 1900). "A history of Saint Peter's church in the city of Albany : with an introduction and description of the present edifice and its memorials". Albany, N. Y. : Fort Orange press – via Internet Archive.
• The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. J. T. White Company. 1898. Retrieved November 30, 2019.

• Documents by Horatio Potter from Project Canterbury
• Horatio Potter papers at Trinity Wall Street Archives