William Henry Elder (1819 - 1904) was a U.S. archbishop. He served as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Natchez from 1857 to 1880 and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Cincinnati between 1883 and 1904.

Early Life

William Henry Elder was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 22, 1819. His father, Basil Elder, was a descendant of William Spalding Elder, an emigrant from England to the United States in colonial times. His mother was Elisabeth Miles (Snowden) Elder. In 1831 William Henry Elder entered Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, then presided over by the Rev. John Baptist Purcell, who afterwards became the second Bishop, and later the first Archbishop of Cincinnati .

Ordination and Bishop of Natchez

Elder was ordained a priest in Rome, March 29, 1846. He became professor at the seminary at Emmitsburg, MD, a position he held until appointed Roman Catholic Bishop of Natchez, for which he was consecrated in the cathedral of Baltimore by Archbishop Kenrick, on May 3, 1857.

The diocese was geographically huge; it comprised the entire state of Mississippi. In 1864 he was brought into prominence by his refusal to obey the order of the Federal troops at Natchez to have certain prayers for the President of the United States recited publicly in the churches of his diocese.^* He refused to be told what to pary for on the grounds it was not American and not within Church Law. He was arrested, tried, and convicted and sent to jail in Vidalia, Louisiana. Later the decision of the military court was reversed in Washington. Elder wrote a letter to President Lincoln regarding the matter.

During his time in Natchez the Yellow Fever broke out in 1878 and he ministered to the sick, eventually contracting the disease, though he survived. At the time he arrived in Natchez the diocese had eleven missions (churches), nine priests and 10,000 Catholics. When he left there were forty-one churches, 25 priests, six religious houses for men, five convents, thirteen parish schools and 12,500 Catholics.

Archibishop of Cincinnati

On January 30, 1880, he was transferred to Cincinnati, becoming auxiliary bishop and coadjutor with the right of succession to Archbishop Purcell, whom he succeeded July 4, 1883. Archbishop Elder was third Bishop and first Archbishop of Cincinnati. He became bishop at a time of great financial difficulty in the Archdiocese. Elder systematically organized the administration of the diocese. He reopened Mount Saint Mary Seminary in 1887, which had been closed since 1879. He instituted the office of chancellor of the diocese and insisted on annual reports from clergy and parishes, in order to bring the diocese out of great debt.

He served the Archdiocese until his death in Cincinnati on 31 October 1904. He is buried at St. Joseph Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Elder High School, a Cincinnati, Ohio parochial school was named for Bishop Elder.

References

• Biography of William Henry Elder
• Succession of Archbishop William Henry Elder
• Portrait of Archbishop William Henry Elder (Cincinnati Art Museum)

1819 births | 1904 deaths | American prelates | Roman Catholic bishops