William Porcher DuBose

William Porcher DuBose (April 11, 1836 – August 18, 1918) was an American priest, author, and theologian in the Episcopal Church in the United States. After service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, in which he became a chaplain in his cousin's regiment, DuBose served as a Professor, Chaplain, and Dean of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Later he served as Chaplain at Fairmount College in Monteagle, Tennessee (currently the DuBose Conference Center, named after William Porcher DuBose) and as priest-in-charge at the nearby Chapel of the Holy Comforter.

Early life and education In 1836, William Porcher DuBose was born near Winnsboro, Fairfield County, South Carolina (near Columbia, South Carolina) to the former Jane Sinkler Porcher (Porcher is French and pronounced as if spelled por-shay) and her husband, Capt. Theodore Samuel DuBose. Both sides of his family were descended from French Huguenots who had immigrated as religious refugees in 1686 and settled in the Midlands of South Carolina. DuBose grew up on the family plantation near Winnsboro; his parents were planters and major slaveholders, owning 204 slaves in 1860. His great-uncle William DuBose (1787 or 1788 - 1855) was also a planter and major slaveholder; he was elected as South Carolina's lieutenant-governor. W. P. DuBose was privately educated, including at Mount Zion College, a private male academy in Winnsboro. Later he taught there.

At age 15, DuBose entered the South Carolina Military Academy (now known as The Citadel) in 1851. By his final year (1855), he was the ranking officer as well as Assistant Professor of English. He graduated from SCMA in 1855 "with first honors".

In 1856, DuBose entered the University of Virginia, graduating with a Master of Arts degree in 1859. The legion fought at the Second Battle of Bull Run, where DuBose was injured twice. For part of 1862, DuBose was a prisoner of war before being exchanged. While there, DuBose also taught Greek at his alma mater, Mt. Zion College. At the diocesan convention in 1870, he was considered to be a serious contender to succeed Bp. Davis, which DuBose later considered a "fortunate escape".

Marriages, Family, and Later Life While on leave from the military, on April 30, 1863, DuBose married Anne Barnwell Peronneau of Charleston, South Carolina. They had four children before her death. (The South Carolina Biographical Dictionary says that she died in 1873 and that he married Louisa Yerger in 1878.

William Porcher DuBose was formerly honored with a Lesser Feast on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on August 18. On July 10, 2022, at the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops approved resolution C003, which removed William Porcher DuBose from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts Calendar on a trial basis due to his writings in support of white supremacy and the KKK. In an explanatory note to the resolution it was stated, "The Episcopal Church should not be honoring a man who saw no conflict in teaching Jesus, but believing that Jesus would somehow condone the enslaving, killing, torturing and destroying of the families of a people, slaves or free."

On June 27, 2024, the 81st General Convention confirmed DuBose’s removal from the calendar of the Episcopal Church by a nearly unanimous vote.

Writings The Christian Ministry. no publisher, 1870. The Soteriology of the New Testament. New York: MacMillan, 1892. The Ecumenical Councils. New York: Christian Literature Co., 1896. The Gospel in the Gospels. New York: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1906. High Priesthood and Sacrifice. New York: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1908. The Reason of Life. New York: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1911. Turning Points in My Life. New York: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1912 More than 40 published articles. A Dubose Reader, ed. Donald S. Armentrout. Sewanee, TN: University of the South, 1984.