Whipple, Henry Benjamin

Whipple, Henry Benjamin, 1822–1901, American Episcopal bishop, b. Adams, N.Y. He was ordained a priest in 1850, and in 1859 he was consecrated the first bishop of Minnesota. With James Lloyd Breck he founded (1860) in Faribault, Minn., the Bishop Seabury Mission, which developed into the Seabury Divinity School. Bishop Whipple's influence was great with the Native Americans, among whom he worked and by whom he was called "Straight Tongue"; he was successful in obtaining some government reforms in the administration of Native American affairs.

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Whipple, Henry Benjamin (1822–1901) Episcopal bishop, Indian advocate; born in Adams, N.Y. Ordained in 1850 after a brief career as a merchant, he held rectorships in New York, Florida, and Illinois before becoming Episcopal bishop of Minnesota in 1859. He established missions among the Indians, who called him Straight Tongue, and spoke out for more civilized treatment of the tribes. After the 1862 uprising of the Minnesota Sioux, he convinced President Lincoln to commute death sentences of more than 300 (but 38 Sioux were hanged). In his last years he was presiding bishop of the American Episcopal Church.