Background

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was born at Liverpool, England, the son of Peter Wainwright, an English merchant, and Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Mayhew of Boston. His father had come to Boston, Massachussets, shortly after the American Revolution, but prior to Jonathan's birth had returned to England, where he remained until the boy was about eleven years old.

Education

Jonathan spent several years at a Church of England school, and after the return of his parents to the United States, he attended an academy in Sandwich, Massachussets, where he prepared for Harvard. He was graduated at that institution in 1812.

Career

From 1815 to 1817 was instructor there in rhetoric and oratory. Meanwhile he studied theology, under the care of the rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and on April 13, 1817, was ordained deacon in St. John's Church, Providence, R. I. Having been called to Christ Church, Hartford, Connecticut, he was admitted to the priesthood there on August 16, 1817. In 1819 he became assistant minister at Trinity Church, New York, but in January 1821 assumed the rectorship of Grace Church, where he served for thirteen years.

In 1834 he reluctantly left New York to assume the rectorship of Trinity Church, Boston, to which position he was called partly because his pacific character and Massachusetts background made his presence in the diocese peculiarly desirable at a time when it was sadly divided. Early in 1838, however, he welcomed the opportunity to return to New York as assistant minister at Trinity, in charge of the congregation of St. John's Chapel. During the temporary absence of the rector, Dr. William Berrian, Wainwright was placed in charge of Trinity Parish as assistant rector. Although not inclined to controversy and considerate of the opinions of others, he nevertheless became involved with the Rev. Dr. George Potts, a Presbyterian divine, in what proved to be one of the celebrated disputations of the day. Rufus Choate had made the assertion that the Pilgrim Fathers had founded a "state without a king and a church without a bishop. " Wainwright retorted that "there cannot be a church, without a bishop. "

The newspaper letters through which the controversy was conducted were later published under the titleCan There Be a Church Without a Bishop? Controversy Between Rev. Drs. Wainwright and Potts . Letters Originally Published in the Commercial Advertiser (1844). In 1852 he was a delegate to the third jubilee anniversary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, held in Westminster Abbey, London. Oxford honored him with the degree of D. C. L. Upon his return to the United States, he was chosen provisional bishop of New York. His consecration service, November 10, 1852, marks the first time a bishop of the English Church participated in consecrating a prelate on American soil. Wainwright's election terminated a protracted controversy within the diocese caused by doctrinal differences and the suspension of Bishop Benjamin T. Onderdonk.

Uniting firmness with conciliation and impartiality, Wainwright soon brought harmony into the long-distracted diocese. A devoted advocate of higher education, he was one of the founders in 1829 and a member of the original council of the University of the City of New York (later New York University), incorporated to afford a liberal and non-sectarian school of higher learning. At first active in the enterprise, he withdrew his name as a candidate for chancellor, and later became inactive, probably because of a growing conviction that the university would not be entirely non-sectarian, and would prove a rival to Columbia College, of which he was long a trustee.

He was one of the first members of the examining board of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, and was for several years secretary to the board of trustees of the General Theological Seminary in New York. As a writer he was indefatigable, publishing sermons, addresses, and a number of books. He was the chief working member of the committee which prepared the standard edition of the Book of Common Prayer, and he supervised the American edition of the Illustrated Prayer Book (1843).

Achievements

• Jonathan Wainwright was primarily famous for writing pamphlet, as well as books about religion, the role of Church and other theological topics. His publications include: A Collection of Psalm, Hymn, and Chant Tunes, Adapted to the Service of the Episcopal Church (1823); The Pathways and Abiding-Places of Our Lord Illustrated in the Journal of a Tour Through the Land of Promise (1851); The Land of Bondage, its Ancient Monuments and Present Condition; Being the Journal of a Tour in Egypt (1852). Worn out by untiring labors and ceaseless devotion to his office, he died in New York City in his sixty-third year.

Works

More photos

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  • General Wainwright's Story

    (General Wainwright details the doomed defense of the Phil...)

  • The Choir and Family Psalter: Being the Psalms of David; Together with the Canticles of the Morning and Evening Prayer ... Arr. for Chanting. to Which Is Prefixed a Selection of Chants

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The Pathways and Abiding-Places of Our Lord: Illustr. in the Journal of a Tour Through the Land of Promise

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • A Sermon Preached on the Anniversary of the Boston Female Asylum for Destitute Orphans, September 25, 1835

    (A Sermon Preached on the Anniversary of the Boston Female...)

  • The Land of Bondage: Its Ancient Monuments and Present Condition: Being the Journal of a Tour in Egypt 1852

    (Originally published in 1852. This volume from the Cornel...)

Personality

He was a man whose intellectual, moral, and physical qualities were well balanced. In person he was of striking appearance, well proportioned, and of benevolent countenance. A dignified courtesy, ripeness of learning, a sanguine temperament, and strong social inclinations gained him much popularity.

Connections

On August 10, 1818, he married Amelia Maria, daughter of Timothy Phelps, of New Haven, Connecticut. She and eight of their fourteen children survived him, one of whom was Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright.

Father:

Peter Wainwright

Mother:

Elizabeth Mayhew

Spouse:

Amelia Maria

child:

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright

Friend:

George Potts