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Stephen Elliott (bishop)
Encyclopedia
The Right Reverend Stephen Elliott (August 31, 1806 – December 21, 1866) was the 37th
bishop
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He was the first Bishop of Georgia
and Provisional Bishop of Florida
. He was also the first and only Presiding Bishop
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America
.
, the son of Stephen Elliott
the botanist. He attended Harvard
and graduated in 1825 from South Carolina College
, where he was president of the Clariosophic Society
. He studied law and practiced in Charleston
(where he was one of the founders of the Forensic Club
) and Beaufort, South Carolina
from 1827 until 1833, when he became a candidate for holy orders
in the Episcopal Church. Elliott's pursuing ordination followed a conversion experience on hearing the Presbyterian evangelist Daniel Baker (1791–1857) preach at the Episcopal Church in Beaufort, South Carolina. He was ordained
a deacon
in 1835 and took priest
's orders the following year. Elliott was a professor of sacred literature and revealed religion at South Carolina College from 1835-41.
He married his cousin, Mary Gibbes Barnwell, daughter of Col. Robert W. Barnwell, LL.D. on Nov. 18, 1828. After her death, he married another cousin, Charlotte Bull Barnwell, daughter of John G. Barnwell and granddaughter of Gen. John Barnwell and of Gen. Stephen Bull, of the Revolutionary army. Among their children were the Rt Revd Robert Elliott (1840–1887), missionary bishop to West Texas; John Gibbes Barnwell Elliott, M. D.; R. Habersham Elliott; and their youngest, the novelist Sarah Barnwell Elliott
(1848–1928). (Note: a common misconception, frequently published, especially online, is that Confederate Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott, Jr.
(1832–1866) was the son of Bishop Elliott. The General was the son of Bishop Elliott's first cousin, Rev. Stephen Elliott (1804-1866).)
He died on December 21, 1866 in Savannah, Georgia
.
, and after his consecration
, February 28, 1841, became rector of St. John's Church, Savannah
. In 1844 he became provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida
, to be succeeded in 1851 by Francis Huger Rutledge, the first bishop of that diocese.
Bishop Elliott was committed to education. In 1845 he resigned the rectorship of St. John's to take charge of the Female Institute at Montpelier, Georgia, which he had founded several years earlier. He assumed the management and with it a large debt, and resided in Montpelier, 1845-53. He was also instrumental, with Bishops Polk and Otey, in the founding of The University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee
.
When secession occurred and the war arrived, many of the Christian denominations in the U.S. split into Northern and Southern branches, a division that persists in many denominations today. The Episcopal Church was no different, giving rise to the Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America. Stephen Elliott became the Presiding Bishop of the Confederate States. Largely through the efforts of Bishop Elliott and his friend Bishop John Henry Hopkins
of Vermont
, who was the Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, the Northern and Southern branches of the Church were reunited after the Civil War
. Both men considered this crucial to the survival of the Church and the nation.
He was succeeded as bishop of Georgia by John W. Beckwith
.
Succession of Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States
This list consists of the bishops in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, an independent province of the Anglican Communion. This shows the historic succession of the episcopate within this denomination.-Key to chart:...
bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He was the first Bishop of Georgia
Episcopal Diocese of Georgia
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, USA is one of 20 dioceses that comprise Province IV of the US Episcopal Church, and is a diocese within the worldwide Anglican Communion. The current bishop is the Rt. Rev. Scott Anson Benhase who succeeded the Rt. Rev. Henry I. Louttit, Jr...
and Provisional Bishop of Florida
Episcopal Diocese of Florida
The Episcopal Diocese of Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America . It originally comprised the whole state of Florida, but is now bounded on the west by the Apalachicola River, on the north by the Georgia state line, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the...
. He was also the first and only Presiding Bishop
Presiding Bishop
The Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America :The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the chief ecumenical officer of the church, and the leader and caretaker for the bishops of the...
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America
Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America
The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America was an Anglican Christian denomination which existed from 1861 to 1865. It formed from parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States during the American Civil War...
.
Life
He was born on August 31, 1806 in Beaufort, South CarolinaBeaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston. The city's population was 12,361 in the 2010 census. It is located in the Hilton Head Island-Beaufort Micropolitan...
, the son of Stephen Elliott
Stephen Elliott (botanist)
Stephen Elliott was an American legislator, banker, educator, and botanist who is today remembered for having written one of the most important works in American botany, A Sketch of the Botany of South-Carolina and Georgia.-Biography:Stephen Elliott was born in Beaufort, South Carolina on...
the botanist. He attended Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and graduated in 1825 from South Carolina College
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
, where he was president of the Clariosophic Society
Clariosophic Society
The Clariosophic Society, also known as MΣΦ , is a literary society founded in 1806 at the University of South Carolina, then known as South Carolina College, as a result of the splitting in two of the Philomathic Society, which had been formed within weeks of the opening of the college in 1805 and...
. He studied law and practiced in Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
(where he was one of the founders of the Forensic Club
Forensic Club
The Forensic Club was a short-lived private organization chartered in 1826 to offer lectures in the law in Charleston, South Carolina.On November 18, 1825, a group of Charleston's elite drafted a petition which was delivered to the statehouse and which requested a charter for a new organization to...
) and Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston. The city's population was 12,361 in the 2010 census. It is located in the Hilton Head Island-Beaufort Micropolitan...
from 1827 until 1833, when he became a candidate for holy orders
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
in the Episcopal Church. Elliott's pursuing ordination followed a conversion experience on hearing the Presbyterian evangelist Daniel Baker (1791–1857) preach at the Episcopal Church in Beaufort, South Carolina. He was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
in 1835 and took priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
's orders the following year. Elliott was a professor of sacred literature and revealed religion at South Carolina College from 1835-41.
He married his cousin, Mary Gibbes Barnwell, daughter of Col. Robert W. Barnwell, LL.D. on Nov. 18, 1828. After her death, he married another cousin, Charlotte Bull Barnwell, daughter of John G. Barnwell and granddaughter of Gen. John Barnwell and of Gen. Stephen Bull, of the Revolutionary army. Among their children were the Rt Revd Robert Elliott (1840–1887), missionary bishop to West Texas; John Gibbes Barnwell Elliott, M. D.; R. Habersham Elliott; and their youngest, the novelist Sarah Barnwell Elliott
Sarah Barnwell Elliott
Sarah Barnwell Elliott was a novelist, short story writer, and an advocate of women's rights.-Biography:She was born in Savannah, Georgia to Stephen Elliott a bishop in the Episcopal Church who was one of the founders of the University of the South at Sewanee. She received private tutoring and...
(1848–1928). (Note: a common misconception, frequently published, especially online, is that Confederate Brigadier-General Stephen Elliott, Jr.
Stephen Elliott, Jr.
Stephen Elliott, Jr. , was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War. He was a planter, state legislator in South Carolina and militia officer before the Civil War and a fisherman after the war...
(1832–1866) was the son of Bishop Elliott. The General was the son of Bishop Elliott's first cousin, Rev. Stephen Elliott (1804-1866).)
He died on December 21, 1866 in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
.
Episcopacy
In 1840 he was chosen first bishop of the Diocese of GeorgiaEpiscopal Diocese of Georgia
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, USA is one of 20 dioceses that comprise Province IV of the US Episcopal Church, and is a diocese within the worldwide Anglican Communion. The current bishop is the Rt. Rev. Scott Anson Benhase who succeeded the Rt. Rev. Henry I. Louttit, Jr...
, and after his consecration
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
, February 28, 1841, became rector of St. John's Church, Savannah
St. John's Church, Savannah
St. John's Church in Savannah is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia.The church was formed in 1840 from the growing Christ Church, Savannah, as part of a plan to increase Episcopal presence in Georgia and to provide for a first bishop of the diocese. In addition to his Episcopal duties,...
. In 1844 he became provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida
Episcopal Diocese of Florida
The Episcopal Diocese of Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America . It originally comprised the whole state of Florida, but is now bounded on the west by the Apalachicola River, on the north by the Georgia state line, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the...
, to be succeeded in 1851 by Francis Huger Rutledge, the first bishop of that diocese.
Bishop Elliott was committed to education. In 1845 he resigned the rectorship of St. John's to take charge of the Female Institute at Montpelier, Georgia, which he had founded several years earlier. He assumed the management and with it a large debt, and resided in Montpelier, 1845-53. He was also instrumental, with Bishops Polk and Otey, in the founding of The University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee is an unincorporated locality in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States, treated by the U.S. Census as a census-designated place . The population was 2,361 at the 2000 census...
.
When secession occurred and the war arrived, many of the Christian denominations in the U.S. split into Northern and Southern branches, a division that persists in many denominations today. The Episcopal Church was no different, giving rise to the Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America. Stephen Elliott became the Presiding Bishop of the Confederate States. Largely through the efforts of Bishop Elliott and his friend Bishop John Henry Hopkins
John Henry Hopkins
John Henry Hopkins was the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont and was the eighth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.-Early life and career:...
of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, who was the Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, the Northern and Southern branches of the Church were reunited after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Both men considered this crucial to the survival of the Church and the nation.
He was succeeded as bishop of Georgia by John W. Beckwith
John W. Beckwith
John Watrous Beckwith was the Second Bishop of Georgia. He was the 86th bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America .-Life:...
.
External links
- Bishop Elliott's Address to the Diocese of Georgia 1864
- Bibliographic directory from Project CanterburyProject CanterburyProject Canterbury is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999, and is hosted by the non-profit Society of Archbishop Justus...