Bishop Visits Christ Church in 1940

Bishop Kenneth Abbott Viall visits Portsmouth, NH in 1940. Courtesy Portsmouth Athenaeum)

Portsmouth is a city rich with religious history. The archives of the Portsmouth Athenaeum are brimful of sermons by prominent ministers. These men were hugely influential figures in their day. We know a great deal about our maritime, commercial, military, architectural, political, and social history, but not so much about the religious life of New Hampshire’s only seaport.

The city has been visited by important church figures over the centuries, including publisher Elias Smith and itinerant revolutionary George Whitefield. For example, I selected this image of Bishop Kenneth Viall from the archives this week, not knowing who he was. The scanty record shows he visited Christ Church in Portsmouth around 1940. Here, for our mutual education, is an abridged entry from Wikipedia:  Kenneth Abbott Viall (December 19, 1893 – January 3, 1974) was born in Lynn, Massachusetts.  He received multiple degrees from Harvard. He was ordained in 1919 and served in Korea, then served in California until 1934, and then served in Japan until his death.

Bishop Viall was on furlough in 1940 in Cambridge when this picture was taken and remained in the USA during World War II. He was consecrated suffragan Bishop of Tokyo on April 25, 1949, and served for 10 years. Viall is buried at St. Michael’s Monastery, Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture.  (Photo courtesy of Portsmouth Athenaeum Collection.