Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)


 * Rector of the Church of the Advent, Philadelphia, 1859 - 1862
 * Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, 1862 - 1869
 * Rector of the Trinity Church, Boston 1869 - 1891
 * Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, 1891 - 1893
 * Author of O Little Town of Bethlehem 

Biography
The Right Reverend Phillips Brooks was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts, and particularly remembered as lyricist of the Christmas hymn, "O Little Town of Bethlehem". Religious Figure. He has been called "the greatest American preacher of the 19th Century."

He attended the Boston Latin School, Harvard University (where Phillips Brooks House was named after him) and Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.

In the Episcopal liturgical calendar he is remembered on January 23.

Pastoral Career
In 1859 he graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary, was ordained deacon by Bishop William Meade of Virginia, and became rector of the Church of the Advent, Philadelphia. In 1860 he was ordained priest, and in 1862 became rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, where he remained seven years, gaining an increasing name as Broad churchman,[2] preacher, and patriot. In addition to his moral stature, he was a man of great physical bearing as well, standing six feet four inches tall.

During the American Civil War he upheld the cause of the North and opposed slavery, and his sermon on the death of Abraham Lincoln was an eloquent expression of the character of both men. His sermon at Harvard's commemoration of the Civil War dead in 1865 likewise attracted attention nationwide.[2] In 1869 he became rector of Trinity Church, Boston; today, his statue is located on the left exterior of the church.

O Little Town of Bethlehem
Brooks wrote about his horseback journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, where he assisted with the midnight service on Christmas Eve, 1865:

"I remember standing in the old church in Bethlehem, close to the spot where Jesus was born, when the whole church was ringing hour after hour with splendid hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voices I knew well, telling each other of the Wonderful Night of the Savior's birth."

Ancestry
Born in Boston, Brooks was descended through his father, William Gray Brooks, from the Rev. John Cotton; through his mother, Mary Ann Phillips, he was a great-grandson of Samuel Phillips, Jr., founder of Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts). Three of Brooks' five brothers – Frederic, Arthur and John Cotton – were eventually ordained in the Episcopal Church.

Brooks is a descendant of the following:
 * Nathaniel Gorham (1738-1796)/immigrant ancestors - delegate to the Continental Congress, signer of the US Constitution, and a descendant of several early  Mayflower pilgrims.

Boston Gravestone

 * Location: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge MA.