William Hobart Hare

Background

William Hare was born on May 17, 1838, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, the son of Rev. George Emlen Hare and Elizabeth Catharine Hobart, daughter of Bishop John Henry Hobart.

Education

William received his schooling in the Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, of which from 1846 to 1857 his father was headmaster, and in 1855 entered the sophomore class of the University of Pennsylvania. Eye trouble and the desire to save his father expense caused him to withdraw in his junior year.

Career

On June 19, 1859, William Hare was admitted to the diaconate and became assistant at St Luke’s Church under Dr. M. A. DeWolfe Howe. In May of this year he had taken charge of St. Paul's Church in the Chestnut Hill suburb of Philadelphia, and on May 25, 1862, was ordained to the priesthood. In 1863 he went with his wife to Michigan and Minnesota in the hope of benefiting the latter’s health, and there his interest in the needs of the Indians was awakened. Upon his return, having in the meantime resigned his rectorship, he conducted the affairs of St Luke's parish during his father-in-law’s absence, and in 1864 assumed care of one of its missions, the Church of the Ascension, which in 1867 became independent and chose him for its rector.

Hare's missionary career began in 1871 when he was appointed secretary and general agent of the Foreign Committee of the Board of Missions. The zeal and abilities which he displayed led the House of Bishops before the close of that year to elect him to the missionary episcopate of Cape Palmas and parts adjacent in Africa, but since the House of Deputies felt that he was more needed in his present position, the Bishops rescinded their action. On November 1, 1872, however, Hare was notified that he had been elected missionary bishop of Niobrara, the ecclesiastical term for the country north of the Niobrara River, inhabited by the Sioux Indians.

On January 9, 1873, at St. Luke’s Church, Philadelphia, Hare was consecrated. In this difficult field for nearly thirty-seven years, always under threat of a physical breakdown, he was a potent factor in the advancement of every civilizing influence. He won the trust and affection of the Indians, and his judgment and advice were held in high regard by government officials.

In 1880 Hare was made defendant in a suit for libel instituted by one of his clergy whom he had brought to trial before a court of presbyters. The case was decided against him. But later the decision was reversed with the recommendation that the “case be left to the wise and judicious arbitrament of mutual friends. ” The affair brought him much painful notoriety, but did not reflect upon his character or impair his influence. By 1883 immigration into Dakota had brought many white people there, and the House of Bishops changed the limits of his jurisdiction and substituted the name South Dakota in its title for that of Niobrara.

In February 1891 the House of Bishops requested Hare to proceed to Japan and administer the affairs of the jurisdiction for six months or a year, unless in the meantime a bishop should be elected. He was absent from March to August, and again in Japan and China, from January to April 1892.

From as early as 1875 when his physician had sent him to Europe for rest Hare had labored under the knowledge that he was handicapped by mitral stenosis. In 1895 his condition became serious, and in 1896 he again went abroad. Upon his return, however, he bravely resumed his work. On April 17, 1907, he underwent an operation at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York, for a malignant growth on his face, which included the removal of his right eyeball; but later returned to his duties in South Dakota, now lightened by an assistant bishop chosen in 1905. Death came to him in Atlantic City in October 1909, and he was buried beside Calvary Cathedral in Sioux Falls.

Achievements

• William Hare was one of the leading missionaries in America, who earned the title "the Apostle of the West" for his dedicated work in the rural Dakota among pioneers and Native Americans. He established boarding schools for Indian children, chapels and small missionary residences. At Sioux Falls he established All Saints School for girls, opened in 1883, that the daughters of his missionaries and other white girls might have suitable educational advantages.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The life and labors of Bishop Hare, apostle to the Sioux

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

  • Reminiscences: An Address Delivered by William Hobart Hare, Missionary Bishop of South Dakota, at a Service Commemorative of the Fifteenth Anniversary of His Consecration

    ( About the Book Biographical books, or bios, are detaile...)

Connections

On October 30, 1861, Hare was married to Mary Amory Howe.

Father:

George Emlen Hare

Mother:

Elizabeth Catharine (Hobart) Hare

Spouse:

Mary Amory (Howe) Hare

Grandfather:

John Henry Hobart

Son:

Hobart Amory Hare

References

• The Life and Labors, of Bishop Hare: Apostle to the Sioux (Classic Reprint)
• The Latest Studies on Indian Reservations.