ELDER, WILLIAM HENRY. - Third bishop of Natchez (Mississippi) and second archbishop of Cincinnati, b. at Baltimore on 22 March 1819, d. at Cincinnati on 31 Oct. 1604. He studied first at Emmitsburg (Maryland) and then in Rome at the College of Propaganda Fide. Ordained priest on 29 March 1846, he taught theology at Emmitsburg for 11 years. In 1857 he was consecrated bishop of Natchez; in 1880 he became titular bishop of Avara, coadjutor of the archbishop of Cincinnati, Purcell, whom he succeeded on 4 July 1883. His name is linked with numerous religious institutions which received from him impetus and new life. During the Civil War, in 1864, he refused to recite public prayers for the president of the United States, rightly considering that the imposition infringed religious freedom, and he was arrested.
ELDER, WILLIAM HENRY
BIBL.: J. G. Shea, History of the Cath. Church in U. S., New York 1890; R. C. M., s. V. in Dictionary of American Biography, VI, p. 69. Gabriella de Stefano
Cite this article
“ELDER, WILLIAM HENRY.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V (1950), p. 144. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/elder-william-henry.