Robert Woodward Barnwell (bishop) explained

Type:Bishop
Honorific Prefix:The Right Reverend
Robert Woodward Barnwell
Honorific Suffix:D.D.
Elected:May 18, 1900
Term:1900–1902
Retired:-->
Predecessor:Richard Hooker Wilmer
Successor:Charles Minnigerode Beckwith
Ordination:1875
Ordained By:John W. Beckwith
Consecration:July 25, 1900
Consecrated By:Hugh Miller Thompson
Birth Date:27 December 1849
Buried:Old Live Oak Cemetery
Parents:John G. Barnwell & Emma Elliott
Spouse:Margaret Coutrier Blair (m. 1879)
Children:7
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Robert Woodward Barnwell (December 27, 1849 – July 24, 1902) was the third bishop of the Diocese of Alabama in The Episcopal Church, serving only two years.[1]

Early life and education

Barnwell was born on December 27, 1849, in Beaufort, South Carolina, son of John G. Barnwell and Emma Elliott. He was educated at Trinity College in Connecticut and graduated in 1871.[2] While there, he was a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall). He then studied at the General Theological Seminary and graduated in 1873.[3]

Ordained ministry

Barnwell was ordained deacon in 1873 by Bishop John Williams and priest in 1875 by Bishop John W. Beckwith. He served in St George's Church in Griffin, Georgia, between 1873 and 1876. In 1876, he transferred to Demopolis, Alabama, as rector of Trinity Church, while in 1880, he became rector of St Paul's Church in Selma, Alabama.

Episcopacy

On May 18, 1900, Barnwell was elected as the Coadjutor Bishop of Alabama. However, prior to his consecration, the diocesan bishop of Alabama Richard Hooker Wilmer died and hence Barnwell was instead consecrated as the third diocesan Bishop of Alabama on July 25, 1900, in St Paul's Church, Selma by the Bishop of Mississippi Hugh Miller Thompson. He died two years later on July 24, 1902, in Selma, Alabama.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Book: . 1903 . Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Council of the Diocese of Lexington . Cincinnati . Sellers, Davis, and Company . 14 . Rt. Rev Robert Woodward Barnwell, D.D., Bishop of Alabama, died July 24, 1902, aged fifty-two years, and in the second year of his episcopate..
  2. Web site: Catalogue of the members of the fraternity of Delta Psi - 1912 . 2022-08-10 . www.familysearch.org . English.
  3. Book: . 1903 . Appletons' Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events: Embracing Political, Military, and Ecclesiastical Affairs; Public Documents; Biography, Statistics, Commerce, Finance, Literature, Science, Agriculture, and Mechanical Industry . 42 . Appleton . 436.
  4. Book: Owen, Thomas McAdory & Du Bose, Joel Campbell . 1903 . The Gulf States Historical Magazine . 1. 154.