George Upfold (May 7, 1796August 26, 1872) was the first

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

Bishop of Indiana after the diocese' division from the Missionary Diocese of the Northwest. He is officially styled, though, as II bishop of Indiana since missionary bishop

Jackson Kemper Jackson Kemper (December 24, 1789 – May 24, 1870) in 1835 became the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Especially known for his work with Native American peoples, he also founded parishes in wh ...

is styled I bishop of Indiana.

Early life

Upfold was born in Shenely Green,

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, and emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of six.Lossing, 476 The family settled in

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.Johnson, 246 He earned his bachelor's degree from

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

in 1814. Initially intending to enter the medical profession, he earned a

medical doctorate A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in

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in 1816. Two years later, Upfold abandoned his medical career took up theology. He was assigned to be deacon at Trinity Church in Lansingburg, New York in October 1818. While there, he was ordained a priest on July 13, 1820. He was appointed rector of

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, New York, about 1823. Upfold was then elected rector of St. Thomas's Church, New York, until 1831 when he moved to Pennsylvania to become the rector of Trinity Church in

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. He remained at Trinity until 1849.

Bishop of Indiana

In December 1849, Upfold was elected Bishop of Indiana. He was the 50th bishop in the ECUSA, and was consecrated on December 16, 1849, by Bishops Benjamin Bosworth Smith,

Charles Pettit McIlvaine Charles Pettit McIlvaine (January 18, 1799 – March 13, 1873) was an Episcopal bishop, author, educator and twice Chaplain of the United States Senate. Early life and family McIlvaine was born on January 18, 1799, in Burlington, New Jer ...

, and

. While bishop, Upfold also served as rector for St. John's Church in

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( ) is a city in and is the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Lafayette ...

and Christ Church Cathedral in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. By 1855, the Diocese of Indiana had built is status and stability to the point that it could financially support the office of bishop, allowing Upfold to concentrate only on his duties as bishop. Upfold received a

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degree from the

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in 1856. In 1857 he moved the seat of the Diocese to Indianapolis where he remained in office until 1872. He served as the sole bishop until 1865 when, crippled by

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, he arranged for the election of a

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

. He died in 1872 and is buried at

Crown Hill Cemetery Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high poi ...

, Indianapolis.

Family

Upfold married Sarah Sophia Graves in 1817. They had two daughters, Sophia Bicker Upfold, who later married Joseph J. Bingham, editor of the '' Indiana Daily Sentinel'';Bingham, 451 and Emily L. Upfold, who became the librarian of the Diocese of Indiana.

Notes

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References

External links

Bibliographic directory
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 ...

George Upfold papers
Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Upfold, George 1796 births 1872 deaths Episcopal bishops of Indiana 19th-century Anglican bishops in the United States Clergy from Surrey Union College (New York) alumni Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni People from Lansingburgh, New York English emigrants to the United States Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery