Life of the Reverend James De Koven

James de Koven (1831-1879) was a priest, an educator and a leader of the Anglo-Catholic movement in the Episcopal Church. De Koven was born in Middletown, Connecticut. Educated at Columbia College and General Theological Seminary, he was ordained deacon in 1854 and priest in 1855. He taught at Nashotah House beginning in 1854 and at Racine College beginning in 1859. At the General Conventions of 1871 and 1874, de Koven defended the use of candles, incense and such liturgical gestures as bowing and kneeling. In 1874 he was nominated to be Bishop of Wisconsin but not elected and, in 1875, he was elected Bishop of Illinois but, because his "ritualist" stance was controversial, he did not receive the required consents from other dioceses and never became a bishop.