Thomas Richey
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Thomas Richey (November 1, 1831 — June 3, 1905) was a prominent Irish-American
Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...
priest, professor, and author in the Episcopal Church. He was born in
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,
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, in
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and had settled in
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by 1847, following his graduation at 16 from Queen's College, Belfast. Richey was a tutor at St. James College,
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under
John Barrett Kerfoot John Barrett Kerfoot (March 1, 1816 – July 10, 1881) served as Rector of the College of St. James near Hagerstown, Maryland, as President of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and as the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburg ...
from 1848-1851. He was graduated from the
General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating ...
of the Episcopal Church in 1854 and ordained to the priesthood by Bishop
Horatio Potter Horatio Potter (February 9, 1802 – January 2, 1887), was an educator and the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Dearth of biographical information Potter "shrank from public notice, left no literary monument and has, regrettab ...
in 1855.


Ecclesiastical career

From 1854 to 1858, Richey was rector of St. Luke's, Catskill, an important early American Tractarian parish center. He was then called to the rectorship of
Mount Calvary Church Mount Calvary Church is a Catholic Church, Catholic parish located in the Seton Hill, Baltimore, Seton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. The church was founded in 1842 as a mission congregation within the Episcopal Church (United States), ...
, Baltimore, where he served from 1858 to 1862. Between 1864 and 1869, he was the second dean of St. Stephen's College, Annandale on Hudson, now known as
Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...
, and from 1863 to 1867 as the rector of Saint James Church, Fordham, in the Bronx.''Among the Elms of Fordham: The Sesquicentennial Gazette'', 2003, p. 8. From 1869 to 1879, Richey was professor of ecclesiastical history at the former Seabury Divinity School in
Faribault, Minnesota Faribault ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 24,453 at the 2020 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highwa ...
. In 1879 he was appointed St. Mark's Church in the Bowery Professor of Church History at his alma mater, the General Theological Seminary, and he served in this capacity until 1902. ''The New-York Tribunes obituary identified Richey as "the most popular and beloved professor in the seminary." The seminary's board of trustees requested his resignation on the grounds of infirmity in 1902; Richey declined the offer of a pension and insisted on retirement at half salary with status as professor emeritus.


As author

Richey's handbooks on the "rights and duties of rectors, wardens, vestrymen, etc." were first published in 1866 and went through many editions. His 1897 response to the papal encyclical ''
Apostolicae curae ''Apostolicae curae'' is the title of an apostolic letter, issued in 1896 by Pope Leo XIII, declaring all Anglican ordinations to be "absolutely null and utterly void". The Anglican Communion made no official reply, but the archbishops of C ...
'' on Anglican ordinations preceded the official response (''Saepius Officio'') by the
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and the
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. He received an honorary
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degree from
Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...
.


Personal life

His brother
Joseph Richey Joseph Richey (October 5, 1843 – September 21, 1877) was an Anglo-Irish priest of Episcopal Church in the United States. He was known for his work among the African-American community of Baltimore and for his high church Anglicanism. His feast ...
was also a major Anglo-Catholic clergy figure in Baltimore, who is now included in the ''Lesser Feasts and Fasts'' of the
Episcopal Diocese of Maryland The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland forms part of Province 3 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Province 3 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Having been divided twice, it no longer includes all of Marylan ...
. Neither Thomas Richey nor Joseph Richey are related to three other prominent Anglo-Catholic brother-priest contemporaries, Arthur Ritchie (1849-1921), Robert Ritchie (1845-1907), and Edward Ritchie (1851-1936). In 1858, Thomas Richey married Emma Cecelia Bacot (1833-1916), and they were survived by three daughters and two sons. He is buried at Rosedale Cemetery in
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. Richey's daughter Maud married Judge Samuel Seabury, a descendant of
Samuel Seabury Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729February 25, 1796) was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He was a leading Loyalis ...
, first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His sons Alban (1860-1934) and Francis (1874-1959) both became priests.


Bibliography

*''On Moral Unity, and the Way of Its Attainment'' (1861) *
The Parish Hand-book: A Practical Guide on the Rights and Duties of Rectors, Wardens, Vestrymen, etc.
' (1866) *
Truth and Counter Truth
' (1869) *
The Churchman's Hand-book: A Practical Guide on the Rights and Duties of Rectors, Wardens, Vestrymen, etc.
' (1879) *
The Question of the Day: What is the Bible, for What Object was It Written, and How Is It to Be Read?
' (1882) *''The Redemption of the Creature: A Sermon Preached before the Annual Convention of the Diocese of New York'' (1882) *
The Nicene Creed and the Filioque
' (1884) *''Prayer Book Revision in England and America'' (1886) *
The Parables of the Lord Jesus according to S. Matthew
' (1890) *"Syrian Christianity and the School of Antioch" in
The History and Teachings of the Early Church as a Basis for the Re-union of Christendom: Lectures Delivered in 1888, under the Auspices of the Church Club, in Christ Church, N.Y.
' (1893) *''Heads of Church History for Use in the General Theological Seminary'' (1894) *"The Primitive Church" in
Five Lectures Upon the Church Delivered before the Church Club of the Diocese of Connecticut
' (1896) *
Leo XIII and Anglican Orders: The Proper Gift of the Christian Ministry and the Sacraments
' (1897) *
Points in Church History, for Schools and Colleges
' (1899)


References

*''The New York Tribune'', June 4, 1905 *''The Baltimore Sun'', June 4, 1905 *''The Evening Star'' (Washington, D.C.), June 4, 1905 *''The Boston Globe'', June 4, 1905


External links


Grave
in Montclair, New Jersey {{DEFAULTSORT:Richey, Thomas 1831 births 1905 deaths 19th-century American Episcopal priests American Anglo-Catholics People from Newry 20th-century American Episcopal priests Anglo-Catholic clergy Anglo-Catholic writers General Theological Seminary alumni Doctors of Divinity Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Christian clergy from County Down Irish emigrants to the United States Scholars and academics from County Down