Manross, William Wilson

(Feb. 21, 1905-July 5, 1987). Episcopal Church historian, author, and seminary professor. He was born in Syracuse, New York. Manross received his B.A. from Hobart College in 1926; his S.T.B. from the General Theological Seminary in 1931; and his M.A. in 1930 and his Ph.D. in 1938, both from Columbia University. He was ordained deacon on June 4, 1929, and priest on June 11, 1930. From 1929 until 1939, Manross was fellow and tutor at the General Theological Seminary. Manross was librarian of the Church Historical Society from 1948 until 1956. He was professor of church history and librarian at the Philadelphia Divinity School from 1958 until his retirement in 1973. For thirty-five years Manross was a member of the editorial board of the Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His two major books are A History of the American Episcopal Church (1935), and The Episcopal Church in the United States, 1800-1840: A Study in Church Life (1938). He also compiled The Fulham Papers in the Lambeth Palace Library: American Colonial Section Calendar and Indexes (1965). Manross died in Havertown, Pennsylvania.