The Glenwood post., 1908-07-25
BISHOP POTTER
ENDS HIS WORK
DEATH OF FAMOUS EPISCOPAL
CLERGYMAN AFTER LONG
ILLNESS.
.REMAU kABLE CAREER
BROAD-MINDED, LIBERAL AND DE-
VOTED TO WORKS OF
CHARITY.

C0operstown, N. Y.-Henry Goldman
Potter, seventh Protestant Episcopal
bishop of the diocese of New York,
died Tuesday at FernlciGh, his sum
mer hsne here, after an illness of sew
eril weeks, aged IA years.
Gathered at the bedside of the dy-
ing churchman were Mrs. Potter, wife
of the prelate; Mrs. Mason c. Da-
vidge, who came from California, and
Miss Sarah Potter, his two daughters;
Alonzo Potter, his son; MIR. Edward
S. Clark, Stephen C. Clark and Mr..
and Mrs. P. Clark. Mrs. Charles Rus
sell and Mrs. William Hyde, his two
other daughters, who are abroad, have
been notified.
Henry Goldman Potter illustrated in
his career the force of heredity. Born
in 1896 in Schenectady, n. Y, he came
of race of churchmen and educators.
While he himself became church
man, he was in broader sense an edu-
Gator, although he never held peda-
gogic office. But his activities were so
varied that his influence in secular af-
fairs extended beyond the walls of
| inc CHURCH Ol WHICH dl any llllt HG
happsned to be rector, and in later
years beyond the boundaries Of his
bishopric.
For many years rector of Grace
church, the most fashionable congre-
CATION in New York City, he was
spoken of not infrequently in those
days as the pink of propriety," an al
lusion not always kindly meant, to the
faultless cut of his clerical garb, and
his general savoir faire. But under
polished and agreeable exterior he
carried an extraordinary capacity for
work and great ability as an admins
TRAITOR, with the result that the activ-
tiles of the parish were turned by him
iE.o numerous local missionary and
charitable channels.
Bishop Henry c. Potter-the son OF
Bishop Alonzo Potter and the nephew
of Bishop Horatio Potter-often would
leave a fashionable gathering where
he was by birth and poise the equal
of anyone, and hurry down to some
East Side settlement or lowly mission
to help make the church living
church in the true sense of the word.
Strange as it may seem, this tact
full yet militant churchman, who would
rather persuade than command, yet
never hesitated to command when sua
sion failed, was not intended for the
church. His father sent him to the
Episcopal academy in Philadelphia.
After leaving there, however, he did
not enter theological seminary-bul
a grocery store. 1t has been argued
that his experience as a clerk gave
him practical knowledge of business
life that afterward enabled him during
his ministry to address business men
with force and point. Rather, however
he was naturally man of large affairs
and the affairs of a church or a
diocese can be made large" or cir
cumscribed, in the spiritual and socio
logical sense, according to the calibeI
of the rector or bishop.
1t was in 1883, the year that marked
the rounding out of century in the
history of the diocese Of New
York, that Henry C. Potter was
elected coadjutor bishop of New
York. 1t was characteristic oi
the man that his first sermon as
coadjutor bishop was preached to the
prisoners on Blackwell's Island. In 9
way the act notified the diocese of the
new life and force that had come into
it-that the church in this diocese nc
longer was to be centered on itself
but was to adapt itself to the broader
needs of humanity.
Only once did his reformatory yea
lead him too far, in the opinion OF
many of his admirers. This was ir
the Subway tavern episode. But IL
must be borne in mind that he hoped
the tavern would prove real step in
the direction of temperance reform
Many of his sermons and addresses at
tracted more than temporary atten
tion. and he was the author Of severa
books.
Bishop Potter was a member of the
Metropolitan, Century, National Arts
Riding City. Players and st. Nicholas
clubs. In 1866 in Troy he joined the
Masonic brotherhood and was crowned
an honorary thirty-third degree Masor
in Boston in 1897. served as granc
chaplain of the grand lodge for man.
years and became a life member Of the
Scottish Rite bodies in this city. He
was an L. l.. L. of Union and a D. d
Of Trinity college.