Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (bishop)

Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (also Anthony, DeWolf, De Wolf, and DeWolfe; 1808–1895) was an Episcopal priest and later first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, USA.

Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe was born Mark Antony De Wolf Howe 5 April 1808, in Bristol, Rhode Island. (As an adult, he changed the spelling of his second middle name to De Wolfe.) He was the son of John and Louisa (Smith) Howe, and a descendant of James Howe, an English immigrant to Roxbury and Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1637. Maternally, he was connected to Richard Smith, the first town clerk of Bristol, Rhode Island from the 1680s. He was also related to Senator James De Wolf.

He attended Phillips Academy, Andover, and Middlebury College in Vermont. He left Middlebury to pursue education at Brown University, his father's alma mater. He graduated from Brown in 1828, having becoming friends with Francis Wayland, a president of Brown.

He taught Latin at Brown, as well as in the public schools of Boston. At the same time he studied law at his father's law office. Howe studied religion under John Bristed (son-in-law of John Jacob Astor and father of Charles Astor Bristed).

He was the recipient of several honorary degrees, including a LL.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1876.

In 1832, Howe was ordained deacon by Alexander V. Griswold, bishop of the Eastern Diocese, at Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church, South Boston.

Before the end of 1832, Howe became rector of Saint James' Episcopal Church, Roxbury, Massachsetts, serving until 1846, when he was called to Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he remained rector for 26 years.

He attended General Conventions in 1850, 1859, and 1865, helping lay the foundation for the church hymnal. He wrote Memoirs of the Life and Services of the Right Reverend Alonzo Potter, D. D., LL. D. in 1871.

That same year, Howe was elected bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. The original Diocese of Central Pennsylvania was the predecessor diocese of the current Diocese of Bethlehem, and as a result, he is counted as first bishop of Bethlehem as well. He was the father of writer Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe In 1895, Howe retired to his home in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he died 31 July 1895.

Consecrators

• Benjamin Bosworth Smith, ninth presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church
• Charles Pettit McIlvaine
• Alfred Lee

Howe was the 99th bishop consecrated in the Episcopal Church.

Family

Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe married, first, Julia Bowen Amory (1804-1841) and had 5 children:

• Louisa Smith Howe, b. 3 Oct 1834, d. 18 Mar 1845
• Thomas Amory Howe, b. 24 Mar 1836, d. 7 Feb 1840
• Mary Amory Howe, b. 4 May 1837, d. 4 Jan 1867, married William Hobart Hare, D.D., Missionary Bishop of Niobrara.
• Helen Maria Howe, b. 19 Jul 1838, d. 4 Apr 1839
• Julia Amory Howe, b. 30 Apr 1840, d. 9 May 1841

Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe married, second, Elizabeth Smith Marshall (1822-1855) and had 8 children:

• Herbert Marshall Howe, b. 16 Jul 1844, d. 30 Sep 1916
• Reginald Heber Howe, b. 09 Apr 1846, d. 06 Jun 1924
• Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe, b. 1848, d. 02 Jun 1860
• Julia Amory Howe, b. 31 Jan 1850, d. 22 Jun 1850
• Elizabeth Marshall Howe, b. 12 May 1851, d. 1904, married George Pomeroy Allen
• Frank Perley Howe, b. 19 Sep 1853, d. 24 Aug 1922
• Alfred Leighton Howe, b. 4 Apr 1854, d. 1911
• John Ernest Howe, b. 22 Sep 1855, d. 1 May 1857

Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe married, third, Eliza Whitney (1826-1909), daughter of Asa Whitney, and had 5 children:

• Anna Barnard Howe, b. 8 May 1858, d. 28 May 1858
• Arthur Whitney Howe, b. 15 May 1859, d. 1953
• Antoinette DeWolf Howe, b. 13 Jan 1861, d. 3 Apr 1862
• Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe, b. 28 Aug 1864, d. 6 Dec 1960
• Wallis Eastburn Howe, b. 12 Sep 1868, d. 15 Sep 1960