sentences:  James Hervey Otey, the first Bishop of Tennessee, with assistance from the rectors of Calvary and Grace (Memphis), St. Luke's (Jackson), St. Mary's (Covington), St. James (Bolivar), and by the new parish's own rector, Richard Hines, who would remain there until 1871.Thirteen years after its founding, St. Mary's became the first Episcopal cathedral in the American South.While the 1866 "Journal of the Proceedings" of the Diocese of Tennessee's 34th convention and the national Episcopal Church's 1868 "Journal of the General Convention" both list St. Mary's as a cathedral church, the official transition from parish to "bishop's church" was January 1, 1871.