William Henry Augustus Bissell Explained

Type:Bishop
Honorific-Prefix:The Right Reverend
Honorific-Suffix:D.D.
William Henry Augustus Bissell
Bishop of Vermont
Church:Episcopal Church
See:Vermont
Elected:March 11, 1868
Term:1868–1893
Predecessor:John Henry Hopkins
Successor:Arthur C. A. Hall
Ordination:August 2, 1840
Ordained By:Benjamin T. Onderdonk
Consecration:June 3, 1868
Consecrated By:Samuel A. McCoskry
Birth Date:November 10, 1814
Birth Place:Randolph, Vermont, United States
Death Place:Burlington, Vermont, United States
Buried:Lake View Cemetery
Nationality:American
Religion:Anglican
Spouse:Martha Cotton Moulton
Children:3
Parents:Ezekiel Bissell & Elizabeth Washburn Bissell

William Henry Augustus Bissell (November 10, 1814 - May 14, 1893) was the second bishop of Vermont in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.[1]

Education

Bissell was born on November 10, 1814, in Randolph, Vermont, the son of Ezekiel Bissell and Elizabeth Washburn. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1836 and commenced his teaching career in Detroit. He also studied theology at Vermont Episcopal Institute.

Ordination

Bissell was ordained deacon on September 29, 1839, by Bishop Benjamin T. Onderdonk of New York. He was ordained a priest a year later on August 2 by the same bishop. Bissell served as assistant of Christ Church in Troy, New York. In 1941 he was appointed rector of Trinity Church in Watervliet, New York, a post he held until 1845 when he became rector of Grace Church in Lyons, New York. In 1848 he was appointed rector of Trinity Church in Geneva, New York.

Episcopacy

Bissell was elected Bishop of Vermont in 1868 and consecrated bishop on June 3, 1868, by Samuel A. McCoskry Bishop of Michigan and co-consecrated by John Williams of Connecticut, Horatio Potter of New York, Arthur Cleveland Coxe of Western New York and Henry A. Neely of Maine. Bissell died on May 14, 1893, in Burlington, Vermont.

Personal life

Bissell married Martha Cotton Moulton on August 25, 1838, and had four children.

Notes and References

  1. News: . OBITUARY: BISHOP WILLIAM HENRY A. BISSELL . . May 16, 1893 . December 4, 2013.