William Henry Elder

William Henry Elder (March 22, 1819 – October 31, 1904) was an American Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Natchez in Mississippi from 1857 to 1880 and as archbishop of Cincinnati in Ohio from 1883 until his death in 1904.

Elder was appointed Bishop of Natchez on January 9, 1857, by Pope Pius IX and consecrated on May 3 in Baltimore by Archbishop Francis Kenrick. At that time, the diocese included the entire state of Mississippi.

When Mississippi joined the Confederacy in 1861, Elder adopted a cautious stance. On the eve of the Civil War he wrote to his father:

It is hard to tell what is to be the fate of the country… We can all unite in praying to God to guide and protect us.

During the war he ministered to wounded soldiers and to enslaved and newly freed people in Natchez, sent priests as Confederate chaplains, and supported the Sisters of Mercy in caring for the sick.

Union troops occupied Natchez in July 1863. On June 18, 1864, Colonel B. G. Farrar, Elder’s former schoolmate, ordered clergy to pray publicly for President Abraham Lincoln as a sign of loyalty. Elder refused, insisting that the Church alone regulated its liturgy. General James Tuttle initially moved to enforce the order but delayed after Elder appealed to federal authorities. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ultimately agreed the military should not interfere in worship.

Tuttle’s successor, General Mason Brayman, took a harder line, declaring military orders must simply be obeyed. Elder was arrested and imprisoned in Vidalia, Louisiana, for several weeks until Washington intervened. He was released on August 12, 1864.