The Rt. Rev. Dr. Chauncey Bunce Brewster (September 5, 1848 – April 9, 1941) was the fifth Bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut (also known as The Episcopal Church in Connecticut) is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the entire state of Connecticut. It is one of the nine original dioceses ...

Early life and education

Brewster was born in

Windham, Connecticut Windham ( ) is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. It contains the former city of Willimantic, Connecticut, Willimantic as well as the communities of Windham Center, Connecticut, Windham Center, North Windham, and South Windha ...

, to the Rev. Joseph Brewster and Sarah Jane Bunce. His father was rector of St Paul's Church in

Windham, New York Windham is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Greene County, New York, Greene County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,708 at the 2020 census. The town was probably named for the Windham, Connectic ...

, and later became rector of Christ Church in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. His younger brother was Benjamin Brewster, later Bishop of Western Colorado. The family were descendants of the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

'' passenger William Brewster. Brewster attended

Hopkins Grammar School Hopkins School is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational, day school for grades 7–12 located in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1660, Edward Hopkins, seven-time governor of the Connecticut Colony, bequeathed a portion of his estate to found ...

before studying at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, where he was elected

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

and was a member of the

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...

society. He graduated from Yale in 1868 and attended

Berkeley Divinity School Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, founded in 1854, is a seminaries, seminary of Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Episcopal Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Along with Andover Newton Theological School and the Yale Institute ...

the following year, graduating from there in 1872. He was later awarded a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

(DD) degree by

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

(1897), Yale (1898) and

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

(1903).

Career

Brewster was a tutor in Latin and Greek at Yale from 1870 to 1871 before being ordained deacon in 1872 and priest in 1873. He then served as curate of St Andrew's Church in Meriden, Connecticut (1872−1873), rector of Christ's Church in

Rye, New York Rye is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, within the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area. It received its charter as a city in 1942, making it the most recent such charter in the state. Its area of ...

(1873−1882), rector of Christ Church in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan (1882−1885), rector of Grace Church in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland (1885−1888) and rector of Grace Church in

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south ...

, New York (1888−1897). Brewster was consecrated as a bishop on October 28, 1897, and was a coadjutor bishop before serving as diocesan bishop from 1899 to 1928. He was the author of ''The Key of Life'' (1894), ''Aspects of Revelation'' (1901), ''The Catholic Ideal of the Church'' (1905) and ''The Kingdom of God and American Life'' (1912). Brewster Hall at Berkeley Divinity School was named in his honor in 1940. He died the following year and is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut.

Family

Brewster married his first wife, Susan Huntington Whitney, daughter of

Eli Whitney Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin in 1793, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Whitney's ...

, in 1873 and had one son. Both his wife and his son died in May 1885, and in 1893 he married Alice Tucker Stephenson, with whom he had one daughter.

References

External links

Documents by and about Brewster
from

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brewster, Chauncey Bunce 1848 births 1941 deaths Hopkins School alumni Yale College alumni Berkeley Divinity School alumni Episcopal Church in Connecticut Episcopal bishops of Connecticut Members of Skull and Bones