Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the William Rollinson Whittingham Letters #5396-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Historical Collectible Auctions in June 2008 (Acc. 100960).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Bishops--Maryland--History--19th century.
• Clergy--Maryland--History--19th century.
• Episcopal Church--Bishops--History--19th century.
• Episcopal Church--Maryland--History--19th century.
• Episcopal Church. Diocese of Maryland. Bishop (1840-1879 : Whittingham)
• Maryland--Religious life and customs.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Religious aspects.
• Whittingham, William Rollinson, 1805-1879.

William Rollinson Whittingham was born in New York City, N.Y., and graduated from the General Theological Seminary in 1825. He was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1829 and became rector of Saint Mark's Church in Orange, N.J. Whittingham later served as rector of Saint Luke's Church in New York City, and in 1835 became a professor of ecclesiastical history at the General Theological Seminary. In 1840, he was elected Episcopal bishop of Maryland, the youngest American bishop to date, and served in that capacity until his death. During the Civil War, Whittingham supported the Union cause, which lost him the sympathies of many. At the time of his death in 1879, Whittingham was the second oldest American bishop, having served 39 years in office.

The collection consists of five letters written during the period surrounding the Civil War by Whittingham to Charles H. Hall, rector of the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C. In the letters, Whittingham discussed matters of the church, including his disapproval of the military occupation of church buildings.