Background
William H. Wilmer was born on October 9, 1782, at the family's ancestral "Stepney Manor" in Kent County of Chestertown, Maryland, the fifth son of Simon Wilmer, Sr. and Ann Ringgold.
(Excerpt from The Episcopal Manual: Being Intended as a Su...)
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William H. Wilmer was born on October 9, 1782, at the family's ancestral "Stepney Manor" in Kent County of Chestertown, Maryland, the fifth son of Simon Wilmer, Sr. and Ann Ringgold.
He received his collegiate training at Washington College, Kent County.
Wilmer was ordained in 1808. His first charge was Chester Parish, Chestertown, Maryland, which he held until he became rector in February 1812 of St. Paul's Church, Alexandria, then in the District of Columbia, but within the diocese of Virginia. The Episcopal Church in Virginia at that period was so utterly prostrate that a report made to the General Convention of 1811 expressed doubt of the probability of its revival. No diocesan convention had been held for seven years.
In March 1812, however, upon the death of the Bishop, James Madison, Wilmer united with another young minister, William Meade of Frederick County, in taking steps toward the calling of a convention. When the succeeding convention assembled in 1813 the reins were taken from the hands of the older clergy by four young ministers - Wilmer, Oliver Norris of Christ Church, Alexandria, John Dunn of Shelburne Parish, Loudoun County, and William Meade, the first three being elected members of the standing committee of the diocese.
This group entered into correspondence with Rev. Richard Channing Moore of New York, as the result of which Moore was elected bishop of Virginia at the convention of 1814. Wilmer was reelected president of the standing committee every year, and appointed a deputy from the diocese to every meeting of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Four times he was elected by the General Convention as president of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies. One of the leaders of the revival of the Church in Virginia, he was also a notable figure in the life of the Church outside his diocese. He was profoundly interested in the education of young men for the ministry and a vigorous leader in that field.
Beginning in 1815, a rapidly developing interest in this problem was aroused in both Virginia and Maryland. In 1818 the movement took form by the organization in the District of Columbia of the Society for the Education of Pious Young Men for the Ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church, still in existence as the Protestant Episcopal Education Society. Wilmer became its president and established in Washington in 1819 the Theological Repertory as the organ of its cause. He continued as president of the society and editor of the magazine until 1826.
In 1821 a theological professorship was established at the College of William and Mary, but it met with much opposition and was unsuccessful. The following year an attempt was made to establish a theological school in Maryland with Wilmer as president, but this also failed of success. In 1823, however, Wilmer, Meade, and others were able to reconcile the divided interests and organized at Alexandria the Theological Seminary in Virginia, with fourteen students and a faculty consisting of Wilmer and Rev. Reuel Keith. Classes were held at first in Wilmer's study and later in his parish house. From this beginning the Theological Seminary in Virginia has had continuous existence. During his whole ministry he was indefatigable in the effort to resuscitate the Church in dormant parishes, making frequent trips as a volunteer missionary into neighboring counties, holding services, and visiting scattered families.
In 1826 he became president of the College of William and Mary and rector of Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, Virginia. He carried into the administration of College affairs the same spirit of zeal and ability he had shown in his pastoral work, but his labors were cut short by his death on July 24, 1827.
(Excerpt from The Episcopal Manual: Being Intended as a Su...)
William Holland Wilmer was married to Harriet Ringgold, who died soon after their marriage. On January 23, 1812, Wilmer married Marion Hannah Cox, who died shortly after the birth of their sixth child in 1821. On February 5, 1823, he married Ann Brice Fitzhugh, two decades his junior, they had two children.