Charles Chapman Grafton (April 12, 1830 – August 30, 1912) was the second Episcopal Bishop of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Early life and education

Born on April 12, 1830, in Boston, Massachusetts, he became an ardent supporter of the Oxford Movement, an affiliation of

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that led to

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in The Episcopal Church. A graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover in 1846, in 1853 Grafton graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

with a degree in law, but he found himself drawn toward the ordained ministry. Grafton studied theology under William Whittingham, Bishop of Maryland, and was ordained deacon on Dec. 23, 1855.

Priesthood

Grafton began his ordained ministry as assistant at

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. On May 30, 1858, he was ordained priest. He then served as curate at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Baltimore and chaplain of the deaconesses of the

Episcopal Diocese of Maryland The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland forms part of Province 3 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Having been divided twice, it no longer includes all of Maryland and now consists of the central, northern, and western Maryland c ...

. At the close of the Civil War, Grafton went to Britain. With

Richard Meux Benson Richard Meux Benson (6 July 1824 – 14 January 1915) was a priest in the Church of England and founder of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the first religious order of monks in the Anglican Communion since the Reformation. He is commem ...

and Simeon Wilberforce O'Neill he co-founded the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE), also known as the Cowley Fathers. Grafton returned to the United States and, in 1872, became fourth rector of the Church of the Advent in Boston. A jurisdictional dispute concerning Grafton's overseas religious superior led to his withdrawal from the SSJE. Grafton also helped establish the American Congregation of Saint Benedict; and in 1888 he was a founder of the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity, along with Mother Ruth Margaret.

Episcopate

Grafton was consecrated bishop on April 25, 1889, at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin by William E. McLaren, Bishop of Chicago; Alexander Burgess, Bishop of Quincy; and George F. Seymour, Bishop of Springfield. During his tenure as bishop, Grafton spearheaded a great expansion the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac, much of it driven by contributing much of his own personal wealth and soliciting contributions from many of his wealthy friends back east. He also left behind a legacy of printed works, sermons and essays. In 1900 Grafton was chief consecrator of Reginald Heber Weller as bishop coadjutor of Fond Du Lac. The liturgy of the consecration was controversial. The Russian Orthodox bishop of Alaska, Saint Tikhon was present as well as of the Polish National Catholic Church. Grafton was photographed with these other bishops wearing copes and miters (which was not widely accepted in the Episcopal Church at that time). The photo became known as the " Fond du Lac Circus".

Bibliography

* C. C. Grafton, ''The Works of the Rt Rev Charles C. Grafton'', ed. B. T. Rogers (8 vols., 1914)

References

Sources

* ''A Sketch-book of the American Episcopate'', by Hermon Griswold Batterson (Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott Company, 1891) * ''The Episcopate in America'', by William Stevens Perry (New York: The Christian Literature Company, 1895) * ''The Catholic Movement in the American Episcopal Church'' (2nd Ed) by George DeMille (Philadelphia: Church Historical Society, 1950) * '' A History of the Episcopal Church'' by Robert Prichard (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Pub., 1999) * E. C. Miller, 'Bishop Grafton of Fond du Lac and the Orthodox Church', in ''Sobornost''; 4:1 (1982), p. 38-48

External links

*
Documents by and about Grafton
from Project Canterbury
Fond Du Lac Circus
from the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac
Bishop Grafton Institute

Charles Chapman Grafton, Second Bishop of Fond du Lac
from

The Living Church ''The Living Church'' is a magazine based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, providing commentary and news on the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion. In continuous publication since 1878, it has generally been identified with the Anglo-Catho ...

, by Richard Mammana {{DEFAULTSORT:Grafton, Charles Chapman 1830 births 1912 deaths Clergy from Boston People from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Anglo-Catholic bishops Religious leaders from Wisconsin 19th-century Anglican bishops in the United States 20th-century Anglican bishops in the United States Harvard University alumni American Anglo-Catholics Phillips Academy alumni Episcopal bishops of Fond du Lac