Perry, William Stevens

(Jan. 22, 1832-May 13, 1898). Bishop and church historian. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Perry graduated from Harvard College in 1854 and then studied for a while at the Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon on Mar. 29, 1857, and priest on Apr. 7, 1858. From 1858 until 1861 Perry was rector of St. Luke's Church, Nashua, New Hampshire, and from 1861 until 1863 he was rector of St. Stephen's Church, Portland, Maine. He served as rector of St. Michael's Church, Litchfield, Connecticut, 1864-1869, and of Trinity Church, Geneva, New York, 1869-1876. From 1871 until 1874, Perry was professor of history at Hobart College in Geneva, and in 1876 for several months he was president of the college. He was secretary of the House of Deputies from Oct. 24, 1865, until Oct. 3, 1877, and from Oct. 23, 1868, until his death, he was the third historiographer of the Episcopal Church. On Sept. 10, 1876, he was consecrated the second Bishop of Iowa and served in that position until his death. Among his many publications are Journals of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (1861), Documentary History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Connecticut, 1701-1789 (1863-1864), Historical Collections Relating to the American Colonial Church, 5 vols. (1870-1878), Historical Notes and Documents Illustrating the Organization of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (1874), and The History of the American Episcopal Church, 1587-1883, 2 vols. (1885). Perry died in Davenport, Iowa.