author
Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright
1792–1854
A leading Episcopal clergyman of the early 1800s, he preached in some of the most prominent churches in New York and Boston before becoming provisional Bishop of New York. His career joined scholarship, church leadership, and public speaking at a moment when the Episcopal Church was finding its footing in a growing nation.
1 Audiobook
A Sermon Preached on the Anniversary of the Boston Female Asylum for Destitute Orphans, September 25, 1835
by Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright
About the author
Born in Liverpool on February 24, 1792, to American parents, Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was raised partly in England before returning to the United States. He graduated from Harvard in 1812, later served there as a tutor, and entered the Episcopal ministry a few years afterward.
Over the course of his ministry, he served as assistant minister at Trinity Church in New York, rector of Grace Church in New York, and rector of Trinity Church in Boston. He later returned to New York, where he took charge of St. John's Chapel and became known as an influential preacher and church leader. Sources also credit him with helping in the establishment of New York University.
In 1852 he was consecrated provisional Bishop of New York, taking on a difficult role during a troubled period in the diocese. He served only a short time before his death in New York City on September 21, 1854, but he was remembered as an important figure in nineteenth-century American Episcopal life.