The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-17
SERVED MANKIND HALF A CENTURY
Held High Place in Councils of
CHURCH and Nation, and Was
Beloved by the People.
TYPICAL PIONEER OF GREAT WEST

I ly anxious that I came away dreading
lest this news should come I shall so
| to Faribault as soon as possible and
stay until after the funeral
Henry Benjamin Whipple was born in
Adams, Jefferson county N. Y, on the
18th of February, 1922, being descended
| from sturdy colonial stock. He himself
has said: Il account it a cause for graf
| ltude that so far as l have known the
! history of my family, it has numbered a
| women, who have been loyal and useful
| in their devotion to the church and state -
| Sixteen of his kinsfolk were officers in
| the Colonial and Revolutionary wars.
Brig. Gen. Whipple was one Of the sign
| ers of the Declaration of Independence,
| and the mother of Stephen Hopkins, an
! other signer, was Whipple. The b sh-
| ops grandfather, Benjamin Whipple, was
] distinguished in the infant navy of the
| Revolution. His mother was Elizabeth
Wager, woman of sterling character
and great intellectual ability. OF her the
| bishop said: owe much to my holy
mother, from whom l learned the bless
edness of Gods word and whose unfal-
tering voice in speaking of Divine truth
saved me from skepticism. P"
WAS IN POLITICS.
At the age of ten he was sent to a.
boarding school and prepared for coll
| lege, but as he was entering manhood
| he was, obliged, on account of feeble
health, to give up his school work tenn
porarily and turn his attention to mer-
camille pursuits. He took an active in
terest in politics for several years. He
| himself said: Il had always been great
| ly interested in politics and I believed
that if good men were to be elected to
public office it was essential that geod
men interest themselves in politics and
! attend the primary meetings. I became
a Democrat of the conservative school,
Through the influence of Gov. Dix he was
| appointed division inspector, with the
rank of colonel on the staff of Maj. Gen.
Corse. When he finally became a candi-
date for holy orders the famous Thurlow
| Weed remarked that che hoped good
politician had not been spoiled to make
| a poor preacher.
ENTERS THE MINISTRY.
Upon deciding to study for the minis
| try he followed a theological course of
| study under the direction of DR.. William
| D. Wilson, afterwards prominent pro-
fessor in Cornell university. He was or
| dained deacon in Trinity church, Geneva,
N. Y, Aug. II, 1S49, and ordained a
priest in Christ's church, Sackett's Har-
Dor, N. Y, July 16, 1850, being ordained
! on both occasions by Bishop; de Lancey
| In 1850 he became rector of lions church
at Rome, N. Y, where he remained seven
years
| In the suburbs of Rome there was a
large population of the extreme poor,
and with this population the. young
preacher labored earnestly. ministering
not only to their spiritual needs, but to
their physical needs as well. EIe en-
rolled them all among his parishioners.
Mrs. Whipple, he went South to spend a
winter in Florida and accepted the tenn
/ porary charge of Trinity church at St.
1 Augustine. Here again he gave his at
tention largely to the poorer classes, the
negroes and the poor whites, holding
services on the plantations around
HE IS. CALLED WEST.
While at Rome he had received many
| calls West, but had declined them all,
! feeling that his work needed to be done
! But finally he accepted call to Chlcago
! to organize the Church of the Holy Com
| munion, and hither he journeyed in the
spring of 1857. In order to- get into the
! inner life of the railroad men, many of
whom were near to his church. he studied
books on engineering and railway. econ
| omy. He went among the round houses
and made the acquaintance of engineers
| and workers, and invited them to his
| church. He took a personal interest In
| their daily life, and visited them when
ever they were in sickness or trouble. He
visited every saloon, .shop and factory
within reach of his church, and left his
card and an invitation to attend his
services. He made his appeal to them
on broad grounds, never emphasizing re-
ligious dogmas or courting doctr-nal argu-
ments.
In the summer of 1859 he was, great
ly to his surprise, elected first bishop Of
James church. in Richmond, Va, Oct.
13, 1859. His first service in Minne=ota
was held on Nov. 10 at Wabasha, where
| active part in the organization of Sea-
bury mission. out of which grew Sea-
bury divinity school, st. Mary's hall, q
school for girls, and Shattuck school. for
boys all of these being located at Fari-
| bault where Bishop Whipple located his
! home and residence. Immediately upon
! assuming his work in Minnesota, Bishop
| Whipple began his great mission work
| among the Indians. the work which is his
! greatest monument. and in. which he took
| the greatest pride, and into which he put
| his best life and effort.
WORK AMONG INDIANS.
On Nov. %. 1859, he visited the Indian
| mission at Gull Lake, where he began his
| Indian affairs were then at their worst,
| Without government, without protection,
without personal rights of property sub
ject to every & eyh influence, nee. and the pr prey
| frewater flowed in rivers of death" Then
| and there he consecreated himself to this
work as the aim of his life. He went
from wigwam to wigwam preaching the
1 simplicity of true religion to the untutor-
| ed savage and practicing the spirit of
religion in deeds of kindness everywhere,
| winning the reQ men TO MIN Dy pure az
| lection. His work was full of discourage
ment and hardship. and many friends
! tried to disSuade him from it, He said,
'"I resolved that, God being my helper,
it should never be said that the first
| bishop of Minnesota turned his back on
the heather at his own door,
No man in the history of the great
| Northwest ever achieved the results
among the Indians that this churchman
did. BY kindness. by tact, by faith. he
| won their love and confidence. and all his
lifelong they trusted him and went to
him in their sorrow and their JOY. Among
/ all the tribes he WAS known as "Silver
Tongue because of his eloquence, and
Straight Tongue" because they said he
| consrnued ON Sixth Page.