Horatio Potter (February 9, 1802 – January 2, 1887), was an educator and the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

He is scarcely mentioned in the biographies of his older brother Alonzo, Bishop of Pennsylvania, and of his nephew, Henry Codman Potter, his successor in the See of New York.

Therefore, in 1812, he had his ten-year-old brother Horatio move in with him and enroll in the Academy, which offered a better education than did the district schools in Beekman.

While living with his brother, Horatio went with him to Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie, and he was impressed by the worship service.

He was confirmed by Bishop John Henry Hobart at St. Thomas' Church in New York and began studying for holy orders.

[2][9] Their children were as follows:[11] In 1852, Potter took a holiday in Scotland, during which he met Mary Atchison Pollock, a forty-two-year-old Scottish lady.

In his first sermon, preached the next day, Potter said, "My brethren, I present myself before you today as your spiritual pastor–as your servant for Jesus' sake!

Potter remained as rector of St. Peter's for twenty-one years until his election as provisional bishop of New York in 1854.

[15] This was followed in 1835 by renovating the church building: repairing the floors and pews, painting the interior, a new pulpit, addition of a vestry room, and new lamps.

"[17][2] On November 7, 1837, in Alton, Illinois, a pro-slavery mob killed the abolitionist and newspaper publisher Elijah Parish Lovejoy.

In response, on November 26, 1837, Potter preached a sermon in which he defended a free press and opposed slavery.

Rather than a conventional eulogy, Potter's address included "a probing analysis of the evils of political life" and an "eloquent characterization" of Harrison.

In the sermon, he said that "our Church occupies, let it ever be remembered, a middle ground, in regard to its doctrines, discipline and worship, between Romanism on the one side and ultra Protestantism on the other."

On May 26, 1845, the Vestry of St. Peter's "resolved unanimously" that their Rector should take the voyage and expressed "their high estimate of his services and character."

Previous vestries had paid annual deficits by selling of portions of the income producing real estate owned until all of it had been sold, leaving only the lot on which the church building and rectory were located.

"[23] Potter was characterized by Joseph Hooper, who wrote A History of Saint Peter's Church in the City of Albany, as one of "the most honored and distinguished of the rectors of St.

"[27] Potter's episcopate spanned "years of national division, ecclesiastical tensions between high and low church factions, and momentous economic and social changes in New York.

[25][1] On December 12, 1860, Potter issued a pastoral letter addressed To the Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of New York.

He said that the occasion for the letter was the "impending calamity" of the "political fabric" of the United States being torn apart "by the conflict of sectional passions."

In the face of this "crisis," Potter called on "every man that loves his country" to the "duty of carrying out those principles of conciliation and compromise, on which this government was founded, and by adhering to which alone it can be maintained."

Then, Potter took each candidate by the right hand, received her into the Community of Saint Mary, gave her his episcopal blessing.

This was the first time since the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England in the sixteenth century that an Anglican Bishop constituted a religious community.

"[40] In September 1883, his "failing health" forced Potter to ask for an assistant so that he could "be relieved of the administration of the diocese."

[7][1] Potter worked "to reach the laboring classes and the poor, to popularize the church, draw the plainer sort of people into its fold, and push Episcopal home missions in New York city and in the rural districts."

[25] On January 8, 1887 The New York Times ran article entitled "Bishop Potter's Funeral" with the subtitle "Trinity Thronged with Sorrowing Friends."

The article said,From the time of the brief services at the Bishop's home early in the morning, until the interment at Poughkeepsie, when the shadows of the day were lengthening, the ceremonies were marked by a quiet taste akin to the prelate's habits of life, and through all coursed manifest sorrow for the dead and sympathy for the mourners.

When the cortege started from the railway station for Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery it was composed of twenty carriages and two large carryall sleighs.

As the cortege made its way through Poughkeepsie city streets the tolling of the bells of the Episcopal churches added to the solemnity of the occasion.

Following services at the gravesite, the casket was lowered into the grave with the lid covered with violets and evergreens for what was thought to be at the time Bishop Potter's final rest.

[4] During the American Civil War, Potter's "patriotism was marked, and at all times his labors for the ignorant, poor, and sick were continuous and efficient.