Phillips Brooks (1835 – 1893)

Biography

Phillips Brooks (1835 – 1893) was a noted United States clergyman and author, who briefly served as Bishop of Massachusetts in the Episcopal Church during the early 1890s. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, his father was William Gray Brooks and his mother was Mary Ann Phillips Four of the couple’s six sons (Phillips, Frederic, Arthur and John Cotton) were ordained in the Episcopal Church.

Phillips Brooks prepared for college at the Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard University in 1855 at the age of 20. After a brief period as a teacher at Boston Latin, he began in 1856 to study for ordination in the Episcopal Church in the Virginia Theological Seminary at Alexandria, Virginia, graduating in 1859. In 1860 he was ordained priest, and in 1862 became rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, where he remained seven years, gaining an increasing name as preacher and patriot. In addition to his moral stature, he was a man of great physical bearing as well, standing six feet four inches tall.

During the American Civil War he upheld the cause of the North and opposed slavery, and his sermon on the death of Abraham Lincoln was an eloquent expression of the character of both men. In 1869 he became rector of Trinity Church, Boston; today, his statue is located on the left exterior of the church.

He was consecrated Bishop of Massachusetts in 1891. He died unmarried in 1893, after an episcopate of only 15 months. His death was a major event in the history of Boston.

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