American bishop
Gregory Thurston Bedell
(August 27, 1817 – March 11, 1892) was the third
Episcopal
Bishop of Ohio
.
Early life
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Bedell was born in
Hudson, New York
in 1817, the son of Rev. Gregory Townsend Bedell of
Staten Island
and his wife, Penelope Thurston Bedell.
[1]
While an infant, Bedell's family moved to
Fayetteville, North Carolina
.
[2]
In 1822, they moved again to Philadelphia where his father became the rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.
[2]
Bedell was given a thorough preparation for college in Dr. Muhlenberg's increasingly admired school in Queen's County, New York. After gaining the diploma from the Institute at Flushing, Bedell attended
Bristol College
, an Episcopal institution not destined for a long life. He graduated in 1836 and headed to Alexandria to be prepared for ordination at the
Virginia Theological Seminary
, graduating in 1840.
[3]
Bedell was ordained deacon that same year by his great-uncle, Bishop
Richard Channing Moore
, and was ordained priest by the same bishop in 1841.
[4]
After his ordination to the priesthood, he served as rector of
Church of the Holy Trinity
in
West Chester, Pennsylvania
.
[4]
Two years later, Bedell moved to
Church of the Ascension
in
New York City
, where he remained until his elevation to the episcopate.
[3]
While there, Bedell earned a
doctorate of divinity
from
Norwich University
.
[3]
In 1845, Bedell married Julia Strong.
[1]
They had three children, all of whom died in infancy.
[1]
Bishop of Ohio
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Bedell was consecrated coadjutor Bishop of Ohio in 1859. He was the
67th
bishop in the ECUSA, and was consecrated in
St. Paul's Church
,
Richmond, Virginia
by Bishops
William Meade
,
Charles Pettit McIlvaine
, and
John Johns
, along with other co-consecrators.
[5]
He served as coadjutor bishop for fourteen years and, during the
American Civil War
, preached loyalty to the Union. When Bishop McIlvaine died in 1873, Bedell succeeded him as the third Bishop of Ohio.
[5]
In 1875, the diocese was divided into northern and southern parts, and Bedell remained bishop of the northern part, which retained the name "Ohio".
[6]
Theologically, Bedell leaned toward the evangelical side of the Episcopal Church, in contrast to the growing
Tractarian
movement.
[3]
That one coming out of Muhlenberg's Church Institute at Flushing (and from 1836, College Point NY) sympathized more with the evangelical element of Anglican Christianity should not surprise us; for Muhlenberg called himself an "Evangelical Catholic" Christian. The first half of the term connoted the spontaneous, Spirit-driven aspect of the Faith; the latter stood for order, structure, and the orthodox dogmas of the historic Catholic Church of the Creed. While many of the Flushing and College Point alumni identified with the High Church and (later) Anglo-Catholic wings of the PECUSA, many did not.
Bedell resigned his episcopal duties in 1889, owing to physical infirmity, and died in 1892.
[3]
Notes
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- ^
a
b
c
Dwight, 711
- ^
a
b
Magazine of Western History, 405
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Perry, 143
- ^
a
b
Batterson, 192
- ^
a
b
Batterson, 193
- ^
Appelton's, v.1, 215
References
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