WILLIAM HENRY ELDER

Background

William Henry Elder was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the ninth child of Basil Spalding and Elizabeth Miles (Snowden) Elder.

Education

He received his early education in a Catholic private school in Baltimore and in 1831 entered Mount St. Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, then presided over by Rev. John Baptist Purcell whom he afterward succeeded as archbishop of Cincinnati.

In 1837 he graduated from this institution and in the fall of the same year entered Mount St. Mary’s Theological Seminary.

In 1842 he was sent to Rome to complete his theological training in the College of the Propaganda, where he received his degree of doctor of divinity.

Career

On March 29, 1846, he was ordained priest in the chapel of that institution, the officiating prelate being Msgr. Brunelli. Elder then returned to his alma mater as professor of theology and remained there for eleven years. On March 3, 1857, he was consecrated bishop of Natchez by Archbishop Kenrick. In 1878 his diocese was swept by yellow fever, and his acts of mercy during the epidemic won for him universal commendation. On January 30, 1880, he was transferred to the titular See of Avara and made coadjutor with the right of succession to Archbishop Purcell of Cincinnati, whom he succeeded July 4, 1883. He assumed his episcopal duties when the financial affairs of the diocese were in a chaotic condition.

Achievements

• By his prudence and wisdom order was restored; the diocese was built up, much property and several churches were added; new seminaries were founded and old ones were reopened; charitable institutions were placed upon a sound footing; and the number of the faithful increased.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Character-glimpses Of Most Reverend William Henry Elder, D.d.: Second Archbishop Of Cincinnati...

    ( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)

Views

During the Civil War he visited the camps and battlefields, rendering spiritual and material aid alike to friend and foe.

Deeming this an infringement of religious liberty and refusing to allow any but his ecclesiastical superiors to dictate his episcopal functions, he declined to obey.

He was arrested, tried, and convicted; but the decision of the military court was overruled in Washington.

In 1878 his diocese was swept by yellow fever, and his acts of mercy during the epidemic won for him universal commendation.

“I want to be near my children always, ” he said when refusing the offers of more comfortable quarters (Cincinnati Times Star, Nov. 2, 1904).

Quotations: He was devotedly attached to his parishioners. “I want to be near my children always, ” he said when refusing the offers of more comfortable quarters (Cincinnati Times Star, Nov. 2, 1904).

Personality

He was devotedly attached to his parishioners.

His personal modesty, his universal charity, his great piety and his sincere catholicity gained him the love and respect of all creeds and denominations.

Connections

Father:

Basil Spalding Elder

Mother:

Elizabeth Miles (Snowden) Elder