Phillips Brooks

Born: December 13, 1835, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Died: January 23, 1893, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

An American clergyman and author, who briefly served as Bishop of Massachusetts in the Episcopal Church during the early 1890s. In the Episcopal liturgical calendar he is remembered on January 23. He is known for being the lyricist of "O Little Town of Bethlehem".

Brooks has been called “the greatest American preacher of the 19th Century.” He attended the Boston Latin School, Harvard University (where Phillips Brooks House was named after him) and Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. He be­came an Episcopal priest in 1860, and became Rector of the Church of the Advent, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.