Charles Wesley Leffingwell (December 5, 1840 – October 10, 1928) was an American author, educator, and Episcopal priest.

Biography

Charles Wesley Leffingwell was born in

Ellington, Connecticut Ellington is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. Ellington was incorporated in May 1786, from East Windsor. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 16,426. History Originally the area in what is now Ellington was named ...

. He was a descendant of Thomas Leffingwell, known as one of the founders of Norwich, Connecticut. He studied at

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

in Schenectady, New York, and Knox College in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi. He later studied at

Nashotah House Nashotah House is an Anglican seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. The seminary opened in 1842 and received its official charter in 1847. The institution is independent and generally regarded as one of the more theologically conservative seminaries i ...

Theological Seminary before ordination to the diaconate (1867) and priesthood (1868). In 1868, he founded St. Mary's School in Knoxville at the invitation of Henry John Whitehouse, and in 1890 he founded St Alban's School for Boys in the same city. Leffingwell was editor of ''

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 ...

'' magazine from 1880 to 1900. From 1906 he was President of the Leffingwell Rancho in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...

, the land for which he had acquired earlier. His son Charles Warring Leffingwell (sometimes written as Charles W. Leffingwell Jr.) was responsible for the active management of the ranch, which produced fruits and nuts. His other son,

Ernest de Koven Leffingwell Ernest de Koven Leffingwell (January 13, 1875January 27, 1971) was an arctic explorer, geologist and Spanish–American War veteran. During the period from 1906 to 1914, Leffingwell spent nine summers and six winters on the Arctic coast of Alaska ...

was an arctic explorer and geologist. Leffingwell provided partial financial support for his son's explorations. Leffingwell moved to Pasadena, California (of which Herringshaw's lists him as a founder) in 1908. He died there on October 10, 1928. Leffingwell Road, which goes through South Whittier, East Whittier, and Whittier, was named after him. Another small segment of Leffingwell goes through the city of Norwalk.

Published works

''Reading Book of English Classics for Young Pupils''
(New York: Putnam, 1888)
''Lyrics of The Living Church''
(Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1891) * ''The Laughing and Sorrowful Rain, and Other Poems'' (Privately printed, 1899) * ''A Book of Prayers, together with Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Ancient and Modern'' (Milwaukee: 1922) *
Early Days at St. Mary’s, Knoxville, Illinois
' (Milwaukee: Morehouse Publishing, 1926) * '' The Leffingwell Record: A genealogy of the descendants of Lieut. Thomas Leffingwell Pequot Press, Chester, Connecticut 1897

References

*Perry, Albert James. ''History of Knox County, Illinois: Its Cities, Towns and People'', S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912. Volume 2 p 1133 *Brown, John Howard. ''The Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Comprising the Men and Women of the United States Who Have Been Identified with the Growth of the Nation'' Republished by Kessinger Publishing 2006 without identification of the original. Volume 5 p31. (Worldcat shows only one edition under this title with volume 5 published 1903) *Herringshaw, Thomas William. ''Herringshaw's American blue-book of biography.'' American Publishers' Association, 1914, p602

References

External links

history and further development of the Leffingwell Ranch.

Greene & Greene virtual Archives.

* 1840 births 1928 deaths 19th-century American Episcopalians Knox College (Illinois) alumni People from Ellington, Connecticut People from Knoxville, Illinois Nashotah House alumni Union College (New York) alumni {{Anglican-stub