Davis Sessums (July 7, 1858 - December 24, 1929) was a

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Biography

Sessums was born on July 7, 1858, in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, the son of Alexander Sessums and Mary Runnels. He was educated at Sewanee: The University of the South and graduated with first honors in 1878. He studied law at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. He was ordained deacon on February 5, 1882, and priest on August 13 of the same year by Alexander Gregg, Bishop of Texas. He served as rector of Grace Church in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

and later in 1883 he became rector of Calvary Church in

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. In 1883 he transferred to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and became rector of Christ Church, the present day cathedral. He remained in this post until 1891, when on April 10, he was unanimously elected Coadjutor Bishop of Louisiana. He was consecrated on June 24. That same year he was elected and succeeded as diocesan bishop after the death Bishop Galleher on December 7. During his episcopacy he was instrumental in establishing New Orleans oldest parish church into the Cathedral church of Louisiana, it being the church he served as rector between 1883 and 1891. In 1892, he conducted services at the General Convention in Baltimore.

References

1858 births 1929 deaths Bishops in Louisiana Episcopal bishops of Louisiana {{US-Anglican-bishop-stub