A History of the American Episcopal Church

by William Wilson Manross

The aim of this history is to show the American Episcopal Church as a living institution, and to supply a connected narrative o its development, both internally and in its relations with the society in which it is situated. Such an object necessarily involves some lessening of the emphasis placed upon dramatic incidents and striking personalities, but I hope that the inherent interest of the Churchs story, which I have endeavored to bring out as fully as possible, will more than compensate for this loss, if it is a loss. As to sources, I have relied rather extensively upon secondary authorities in preparing chapters one, two, and eight, and for a few details elsewhere. Otherwise, the history has been based entirely upon a study of original sources, though in this class I include a large number of contemporary biographies which are not primary sources in the technical sense, but which generally represent the nearest approach that can now be made to their subjects. The excuse for using secondary sources in the chapters mentioned is that they deal with subjects which have been ex haustively treated by previous historians, and it seemed advisable to devote the time available for research to an investigation of the extensive portions of the history where a fresh approach appeared to be necessary. Parts of chapter nine are based on a sketch of Bishop White which I prepared for the Bishop White Prayer Book Society while already engaged in the present work, but that sketch was the result of a careful study of all the available sources. The secondary sources to which I am most indebted are W. S. Perrys The History of the American Episcopal Church., Volume I, for the first part of chapter one...

420 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1959