William White, an American bishop, born in Philadelphia, April 6,1748, died there, July 17,1836. He graduated at the college of Philadelphia in 1765, studied theology, was ordained deacon in England in 1770 and priest in 1772, and became assistant minister and afterward rector of Christ church and St. Peter's church, Philadelphia. In 1777 he was elected chaplain to congress. In 1786 he was elected bishop of Pennsylvania, and was consecrated by the archbishop of Canterbury, Feb. 4, 1787. He presided over the convention held in 1789 for the organization of the Protestant Episcopal church in the United States, and wrote the constitution of the church. With Bishop Seabury he had the chief part in revising the "Book of Common Prayer." He wrote "Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church," " Comparative Views of the Controversy between the Calvinists and Arminians," " Commentary on the Ordination Services," and "Lectures on the Catechism." His life was written by Dr. B. Wilson (Philadelphia, 1839).