White, William, 1748–1836, American Episcopal bishop, b. Philadelphia, grad. College of Philadelphia (now Univ. of Pennsylvania), 1765. He was ordained in England in 1772, returning to become assistant rector, then rector, of Christ Church, Philadelphia. Instrumental in organizing the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, White drafted its first constitution and also aided in the American revision of the Book of Common Prayer. He was elected bishop of Pennsylvania in 1786. His works include Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (2d ed., 1836).
See his Life and Letters (ed. by W. H. Stowe, 1937).
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