View source for Joseph Pere Bell Wilmer

{{Short description|American bishop}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type             = Bishop
| honorific_prefix = The Right Reverend
| name             = Joseph Pere Bell Wilmer
| honorific_suffix = D.D., LL.D.
| title            = [[Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana|Bishop of Louisiana]]
| image            = The Rt. Rev. Joseph Pere Bell Wilmer (cropped).jpg
| image_size       =
| alt              =
| caption          =
| native_name      =
| native_name_lang =
| church           = [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]]
| archdiocese      =
| province         =
| metropolis       =
| diocese          = [[Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana|Louisiana]]
| see              =
| elected          = May 18, 1866
| term             = 1866–1878
| quashed          = <!-- or | retired = -->
| predecessor      = [[Leonidas Polk]]
| successor        = [[John Nicholas Galleher]]
| opposed          =
| other_post       =
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination       = May 1834
| ordained_by      = [[Richard Channing Moore]]
| consecration     = November 7, 1866
| consecrated_by   = [[John Henry Hopkins]]
| rank             =
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name       =
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1812|02|11}}
| birth_place      = [[Swedesboro, New Jersey]], [[United States]]
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1878|12|02|1812|02|11}}
| death_place      = [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], [[United States]]
| buried           = [[Green Mount Cemetery]]
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality      = [[Americans|American]]
| religion         = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]]
| residence        =
| parents          = Simon Wilmer & Rebecca Frisby
| spouse           = Helen Skipwith
| children         = 6
| occupation       =
| profession       = <!-- or | previous_post = -->
| education        =
| alma_mater       =
| motto            =
| signature        = Signature of Joseph Pere Bell Wilmer.png
| signature_alt    =
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| coat_of_arms_alt =
<!---------- Other ---------->
| module           =
| other            =
}}
'''Joseph Pere Bell Wilmer''' (February 11, 1812 – December 2, 1878) was the second [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] bishop of [[Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana|Louisiana]].
==Early life==
Joseph Wilmer was born in [[Swedesboro, New Jersey]], United States, in 1812,<ref name="Batterson 223">Batterson, 223</ref><ref name="Duncan 42">Duncan, 42</ref> the son of the Rev. Simon (himself son of the Rev. Simon and uncle of Bishop [[Richard Hooker Wilmer]])<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHxK-awapugC&pg=PA6|title = Richard Hooker Wilmer Second Bishop of Alabama|isbn = 9781417919802|last1 = Whitaker|first1 = Walter C.|date = April 2005}}</ref> and Rebecca (Frisby) Wilmer.<ref>Hanson, 330</ref>  He attended the [[University of Virginia]], where he graduated in 1831; [[Kenyon College]], where he graduated in 1833; and [[Virginia Theological Seminary]], where he graduated in 1834.<ref name="Batterson 223" /><ref name="Duncan 42" />  In 1857, he received the degree of D.D. from [[Union College]] in [[Schenectady, New York]].<ref name="Duncan 42" /><ref name="Batterson 224">Batterson, 224</ref> Wilmer was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Church on July 10, 1834, in [[St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Alexandria, Virginia)|St. Paul's Episcopal Church]] in [[Alexandria, Virginia]], by Bishop [[Richard Channing Moore]] of [[Episcopal Diocese of Virginia|Virginia]]. He was ordained a priest by the same bishop at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in [[Petersburg, Virginia]], in May 1838.<ref name="Batterson 223" /><ref name="Duncan 42" />  He married Helen Skipwith, the daughter of Humburston and Sarah (Nevison) Skipwith, with whom he had six children.<ref name="Hanson 331">Hanson, 331</ref>
==Ordained ministry==
Wilmer began his ordained ministry by serving at St. Anne's Parish in [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle, Virginia]], from 1834 to 1838.  The following year he served as the chaplain at his alma mater, the University of Virginia.  In 1839, he was appointed chaplain in the [[United States Army]].  He resigned from the army in 1843 to take charge of Hungars Parish in [[Northampton County, Virginia]].  After that he served as rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in [[Goochland County, Virginia]], until 1848, when he became rector of [[St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)|St. Mark's Episcopal Church]] in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].  He served there until the breakout of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] in 1861, when he retired to his estate in Virginia.<ref name="Batterson 223" /><ref name="Duncan 42" />
==Episcopate==
His cousin [[Richard Hooker Wilmer]] was elected Bishop of Alabama by the [[Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America]] during the [[American Civil War]], and, although Richard Wilmer was unable to attend the first [[General Convention]] after the war, his consecration was ratified by the reunited church.<ref>Robert Emmet Gribbin, Jr., Henry C. Lay: Pioneer in the Southwest, (New York: The National Council, 1962) (in the Pioneer Builders in the Church pamphlet series edited by Powel Mills Dawley), pp. 20-22.</ref>
In May 1866, Joseph Wilmer was elected as the second bishop of the [[Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana|Diocese of Louisiana]], succeeding Bishop (and General) [[Leonidas Polk]], who had died during the siege of Atlanta in 1864.<ref name="Duncan 42" />  He was consecrated as bishop in [[Christ Church Cathedral (New Orleans)|Christ Church]], [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]], on November 7, 1866, by Presiding Bishop [[John Henry Hopkins]], as well as Bishops [[William Mercer Green]], [[Richard Hooker Wilmer]] (his cousin),<ref name="Hanson 331" /> and [[Charles Todd Quintard]].<ref name="Duncan 42" /><ref name="Batterson 224" />  During his episcopate, Bishop Wilmer grew the diocese, despite financial, flooding, and political troubles.<ref name="Duncan 42" />  During his first eight years, the number of congregations, church buildings, and communicants in the diocese more than doubled.<ref name="Duncan 44">Duncan, 44</ref>  Wilmer died suddenly of [[apoplexy]] in New Orleans on December 2, 1878.<ref name="Batterson 224" /><ref name="Duncan 44" />  He was buried at [[Green Mount Cemetery]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland]].<ref name="Batterson 224" />
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* Batterson, Hermon Griswold (1891). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=PVJDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA223 A Sketch-book of the American Episcopate]''. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippencott & Co. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
* Duncan, Herman Cope (1888). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=RolUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA42 The Diocese of Louisiana: Some of Its History, 1838-1888]''. New Orleans: A. W. Hyatt. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
* Hanson, George A. (1876). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=u0AUCoIl4IcC&pg=PA330 Old Kent: The Eastern Shore of Maryland]''. Baltimore: Clearfield. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmer, Joseph Pere Bell}}
[[Category:1812 births]]
[[Category:1878 deaths]]
[[Category:Kenyon College alumni]]
[[Category:People from Swedesboro, New Jersey]]
[[Category:University of Virginia alumni]]
[[Category:Virginia Theological Seminary alumni]]
[[Category:Episcopal bishops of Louisiana]]
[[Category:19th-century American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:19th-century American clergy]]