The Right Reverend John Henry Hobart III Bishop of New York

Bishop John Henry Hobart (1775–1830) served as the third Episcopal bishop of New York from 1816 until his death, operating out of Trinity Church. While celebrated for expanding the church across New York State and founding both the General Theological Seminary and Geneva College (later Hobart College), his tenure was deeply compromised by his stance on slavery. Hobart acted as a chief antagonist to the diocese’s abolitionist faction. He clashed repeatedly with John Jay and William Jay, who condemned Hobart’s High Church philosophy for shielding the institution of slavery from moral scrutiny. Opposing what he viewed as disruptive secular politics, Hobart sought to delay emancipation timelines and aggressively counter the influence of evangelical reformers, solidifying his role as a barrier to racial justice within the early diocese.