Francis Huger Rutledge (April 11, 1799 – November 6, 1866) was the first

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Early life

Rutledge was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, the son of Hugh Rutledge and Mary (Golightly) Rutledge.Batterson, 164 Francis spent his formative years either at his family's townhouse in Charleston or on their plantation in

Stateburg, South Carolina Stateburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in the High Hills of Santee in Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,380 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Sumter, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

. He graduated from

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in 1820, and from the

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in 1823.Batterson, 163 Rutledge was ordained deacon on May 9, 1823, by the Bishop of South Carolina Nathaniel Bowen, and began officiating at Christ Church the same year. He was ordained priest in St Paul's Church, Radcliffe, South Carolina, on November 20, 1825, by Bishop Bowen. He then moved to become rector of

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, Sullivan's Island, in 1827. In 1840, Francis moved from South Carolina and took charge of Trinity Parish in Saint Augustine. In 1845, he moved to

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

and became rector of St. John's Church.

Bishop of Florida

Rutledge was elected Bishop of the new diocese of Florida in 1851. He was the

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bishop in the ECUSA, and was consecrated by Bishops Christopher E. Gadsden,

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, and

Nicholas Hamner Cobbs Nicholas Hamner Cobbs (February 5, 1796 – January 11, 1861) was a minister and evangelist of the Episcopal church who served as the first bishop of Alabama from 1844 to 1861. Early and family life Nicholas Cobbs was born on February 5, 179 ...

. When the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

started, Rutledge was an advocate for secession, even agreeing to pay $500 to the state treasury as soon as the secession ordinance had passed. He died in 1866 and is buried in his native South Carolina.

Family

His family on both sides was wealthy and well established. His father, Hugh, was a lawyer and eventually served as Chancellor on the Court of Vice Admiralty in Charleston. Francis also had two uncles,

John Rutledge John Rutledge Jr. (September 17, 1739 – June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ...

, who was governor of South Carolina as well as a chief justice of the United States, and

Edward Rutledge Edward Rutledge (November 23, 1749 – January 23, 1800) was an American Founding Father and politician who signed the Continental Association and was the youngest signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He later served as the 39th govern ...

, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and also a governor of South Carolina. Both his father and his uncle, Edward, would end up captured by the British during the American Revolution and were held as political prisoners in

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, in Saint Augustine in 1780, a city that Francis would call home several decades later. His grandfather on his mother's side was Benjamin Huger, a major during the American Revolution. And finally, his uncle on his mother's side was

Francis Kinloch Huger Francis Kinloch Huger (September 17, 1773 – February 14, 1855), a trained physician and artillery officer, was a scion of the Huger family of South Carolina. A member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and South Carolina Senate, h ...

, a physician and artillery officer who was most well known for his failed attempt to rescue

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

from captivity in Austria during the French Revolution. He returned to America in 1798, only months before his sister Mary gave birth. While there is no written record to corroborate, many believe that Francis Rutledge was named after his daring uncle.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutledge, Francis 1799 births 1866 deaths Clergy from Charleston, South Carolina 19th-century Anglican bishops in the United States Yale University alumni General Theological Seminary alumni People from Sullivan's Island, South Carolina Episcopal bishops of Florida American slave owners