Mark Anthony De Wolfe Howe

The Right Reverend Mark Anthony De Wolfe Howe was the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. Because the original Diocese of Central Pennsylvania was the predecessor diocese of the current Diocese of Bethlehem, he is counted as first bishop of Bethlehem as well. [The Diocese of Pennsylvania was divided in 1871, with the western portion named Diocese of Central Pennsylvania and Reading made the see city, overseen by Bishop Howe. The see was moved to Bethlehem in 1890. In 1904, the diocese was divided, with the eastern part keeping the name Central Pennsylvania and the western half taking the name Diocese of Harrisburg. The eastern diocese changed its name to Bethlehem in 1909, and Harrisburg changed its name to Central Pennsylvania beginning in 1972. Therefore, the original and current dioceses of Central Pennsylvania are not in fact the same jurisdiction. ( [http://www.diocesecpa.org/old/history/history.html History of Central Pennsylvania] )]

Background

Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe was born 5 April 1808, in Bristol, Rhode Island. He was the son of John and Louisa (Smith) Howe, and a descendant of James Howe, an English immigrant to Roxbury and Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1637. Maternally, he was connected to Richard Smith, the first town clerk of Bristol, Rhode Island from the 1680s. He was also related to Senator James De Wolf.

He attended Phillips Academy, Andover, and Middlebury College in Vermont. He left Middlebury to pursue education at Brown University, his father's alma mater. He was graduated from Brown in 1828, having becoming friends with Francis Wayland, a president of Brown.

He taught Latin at Brown, as well as in the public schools of Boston. At the same time he studied law at his father's law office. Howe studied religion under the Reverend John Bristed (son of John Jacob Astor and father of Charles Astor Bristed).

In 1832, Howe was ordained deacon by Bishop Alexander V. Griswold, bishop of the Eastern Diocese, at Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church, South Boston.

Before the end of 1832, Howe became rector of St. James' Church in Roxbury, serving until 1846, when he was called to St. Luke's Church, Philadelphia. He remained rector of St. Luke's for 26 years.

He attended several General Conventions: 1850, 1859, and 1865, helping lay the foundation for the church hymnal. He wrote "Memoirs of the Life and Services of the Right Reverend Alonzo Potter, D. D., LL. D." in 1871.

That same year, Howe was elected bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. In 1895, Bishop Howe retired to his home in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he died 31 July 1895.

Consecrators

* The Most Reverend Benjamin B. Smith, 9th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
* The Right Reverend Charles P. McIlvaine
* The Right Reverend Alfred LeeHowe was the 99th bishop consecrated in the Episcopal Church.

ee also

* Succession of Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States

References

* "The Episcopal Church Annual". Morehouse Publishing: New York, NY (2005).
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