Charles Minnigerode Beckwith (June 2, 1851 – April 18, 1928) was fourth bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Alabama The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama is located in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and serves the state of Alabama with the exception of the extreme southern region, including Mobile, which forms part of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast ...

from 1902 till 1928.

Early life and education

Beckwith was born on June 2, 1851, in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

, son of Thomas Stanley Beckwith and Agnes Ruffin. He was educated at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1873. He was also a member of Phi Delta Theta. After graduation, he served as assistant professor of mathematics at the University of the South between 1874 and 1876 and later served as master of Sewanee Grammar School at the University of the South from 1876 till 1879. In 1879, he enrolled at the Berkeley Divinity School in Middletown, Connecticut and graduated in 1881. He earned a Doctor of Divinity from Sewanee: The University of the South in 1902 and a Doctor of Sacred Theology from Berkeley in 1903.

Ordained ministry

He was ordained to the diaconate and priesthood in 1881 by his uncle, Bishop John W. Beckwith of Georgia. He served as rector of St. Luke's Church in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1884 to 1886. While rector he was elected Assistant Bishop of Texas but declined the appointment. Later, in 1886, he became rector of Christ Church Cathedral (Houston), Christ Church in Houston, Texas, and in 1892 became rector of Trinity Church in Galveston, Texas, where he remained until 1902.

Bishop

Beckwith was elected Bishop of Alabama on October 8, 1902, during a special council which took place in St. John's Episcopal Church (Montgomery, Alabama), St John's Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was then consecrated in St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Selma, Alabama), St Paul's Church in Selma, Alabama on December 17, 1902, by Bishop Thomas Underwood Dudley of Kentucky. Alabama Historical Records Survey (1939). ''Inventory of the Church Archives of Alabama, Volume 1'', p. 18. Alabama Historical records survey. He died in office on April 18, 1928, in Montgomery, Alabama.

References

Works

* ‘’The Trinity Course of Church Instruction’’ (New York, 1898) * ‘’The Teacher's Companion to the Trinity Course’’ (New York, 1901) * ‘’What Is the Matter with the Church?’’ (Montgomery: Paragon Press, 1926)

External links

* 1851 births 1928 deaths People from Petersburg, Virginia Episcopal bishops of Alabama Phi Delta Theta members {{US-Anglican-bishop-stub