Los Angeles County
Biographies
RT. REV. WILLIAM BERTRAND STEVENS
It was in
October 1920 that the Rt. Rev. William Bertrand Stevens came to Los Angeles and since that date he has been closely
associated with southern California
and its interests. He holds a
conspicuous position not only as a Bishop of the Diocese of the Los Angeles
Protestant Episcopal Church but in all the progressive movements of southern California as well. He has the universal respect and admiration
of the citizens for his splendid capabilities, his intelligent and forceful
conduct of the high duties in the cause of his religion, and for his patriotic
interest in the civic and social affairs of this portion of the state. It is a significant fact that Bishop Stevens
was appointed to his high office only ten years after his ordination as a
deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Rt. Rev.
William Bertrand Stevens was born in Lewiston, Maine, on November 19, 1884, a son of Albion Morse and Ada (McKenzie) Stevens, and he is descended from old
American colonial stock, his forebears having settled in Maine in the eighteenth century. Some of his ancestors served in the colonial
and Revolutionary wars. His father was a
business man, first in Maine and later in Boston, Massachusetts. It was in Maine
that our subject passed his youthful days and was a student in Bates College,
which institution conferred upon him the Bachelors of Arts degree. For some time thereafter he was engaged in
business pursuits in Boston,
but the desire to enter the ministry was uppermost in his mind. Consequently, he began to study for his
vocation at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
from which he was graduated in 1910 with the degree of Bachelor of
Divinity. Continuing his higher studies
in New York, he received the Master of Arts
degree from Columbia University in 1911, and that of Doctor of Philosophy
from New York University in 1916. Further academic honors have been accorded
him by the University of Southern California, which gave him the Doctor of
Laws degree in 1921, and Bates
College, from which he
received the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1922. He is also an Honorary Fellow in Philosophy
at the University
of Southern California.
Bishop
Stevens was ordained as a deacon in the church in 1910 by Bishop Lawrence and a
priest in 1911 by Bishop Greer. He
served during 1910-12 as curate of Holy Trinity Church in New York city; was
next called to St. Ann’s Church, also in that city, where he carried on a very
successful institutional work. In this
connection he was likewise engaged in religious educational affairs and was a
member of the first inter-church committee on weekday religious
instruction. His final parish work was
at St. Mark’s Church in San Antonio,
Texas, in which place he was very
successful both in his ecclesiastical efforts and in his activities in behalf
of community interests. This incumbency
having been filled during the period of the United States’ participation in the
World war, he had opportunity to do patriotic service by acting as assistant
field director of the American Red Cross in Fort Sam Houston.
On October
20, 1920, Dr. Stevens was consecrated as bishop coadjutor of Los
Angeles by Bishop Johnson of Los Angeles,
Bishop Nichols of San Francisco,
and several other bishops from various parts of the country. Upon Bishop Johnson’s death in 1928 he
succeeded as Bishop. Bishop Stevens’
range of work in his present high position covers a wide area, both within the
church and outside. His fine energy and
keen zest have been manifested in everything he has done and his democratic
spirit of cooperation has been outstanding during the years he has been in Los Angeles. It is appropriate to note in this connection
his many affiliations and memberships in various organizations, which included
briefly his scope of activities. His is
a member of the Churchman’s Association of New York; a 33 Mason; is Chaplain
General of the Society of Colonial Wars; is state chaplain of the Sons of the
Revolution; a member of the University Club; the Jonathan Club; the Los Angeles
Country Club; the Los Angeles Athletic club; the Kiwanis Club, the Harvard
Club; and the Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Mu Alpha
fraternities. When the Los Angeles
chapter of the English Speaking Union was organized he was named honorary
chairman, and he is likewise a trustee and a director in various other
institutions, including Occidental College, Scripps College, Bishop’s School for
Girls, Harvard School, Hospital of the Good Samaritan, School for Christian Service,
at Berkeley, California; and he is a Major in the Reserve Corps of the United
States Army and Captain in the California Naval Militia.
In the year
1911, at Holy Trinity
Church in New York City, Bishop Stevens was married to
Miss Violet Heathcote Bond, a daughter of the late William E. Bond of that
city. Of this union there are four
daughters, vis.; Ellen Hewson, who married Gilbert Parker Prince; Miss Ann
Heathcote Stevens; Miss Edith McKenzie Stevens, and Miss Emily McIlvaine
Stevens.
Transcribed
By: Michele Y. Larsen on July 4, 2012.
Source: California
of the South Vol. V,
by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 117-119,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles,
Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 Michele
Y. Larsen.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPHIES
GOLDEN NUGGET INDEX