George M. Randall (bishop)

George Maxwell Randall (November 23, 1810 – September 28, 1873)[nb 1] was the Episcopal bishop of Missionary District of Colorado and Parts Adjacent.

The Right Reverend

George Maxwell Randall

S.T.D.
Missionary Bishop of Colorado and Parts Adjacent
ChurchEpiscopal Church
DioceseColorado
ElectedOctober 1865
In office1865–1873
SuccessorJohn Franklin Spalding
Orders
OrdinationNovember 2, 1839
by Alexander Viets Griswold
ConsecrationDecember 28, 1865
by John Henry Hopkins
Personal details
Born(1810-11-23)November 23, 1810
Warren, Rhode Island, United States
DiedSeptember 28, 1873(1873-09-28) (aged 62)
Denver, Colorado, United States
BuriedSouth Burial Ground, Warren, Rhode Island
NationalityAmerican
DenominationAnglican
ParentsSamuel Randall & Martha Maxwell
Spouse
Elizabeth Hoar
​
(m. 1839)​
EducationGeneral Theological Seminary
Alma materBrown University

Early life and studies

George Randall was born in Warren, Rhode Island, on November 23, 1810,[1][3] the son of Samuel and Martha (née Maxwell) Randall.[4] He attended Brown University, where he graduated in 1835. He then undertook theological studies at the General Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1838.[1][5] George A. Jarvis, who was a long-time friend that became a benefactor for a number of Randall's programs, donated monies to fund Randall's education.[6] During seminary Randall helped start a Sunday school program.[5]

Religious career

Ordaination

In his hometown of Warren, Randall was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Church on July 17, 1838, and became a priest on November 2, 1839.[3]

Early ministry

Randall began his ordained ministry by serving as the rector of the Church of the Ascension in Fall River, Massachusetts. He moved from there to become the rector of the Church of the Messiah in Boston in 1844. He remained in this position until he was elevated to the episcopate.[1][3][5]

While serving in Massachusetts, he was a diocesan deputy to the General Convention from 1850 until 1865. In 1862 and 1865 he was elected the Secretary to the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, to which he had previously served as Assistant Secretary.[7]

In 1856 he received his Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from Brown University.[3] For many years he was the editor of The Christian Witness and Church Advocate and published many tracts including Why I Am a Churchman.[8]

Episcopate
Calvary Church, Golden, Colorado

Randall was consecrated as Missionary Bishop of the Missionary District of Colorado and Parts Adjacent in Trinity Church, Boston, on December 28, 1865, by Presiding Bishop John Henry Hopkins, assisted by Bishops Benjamin Smith and Manton Eastburn, among others.[5] His jurisdiction originally contained the territories of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. In 1866, Montana and Idaho were removed, while New Mexico was added to the district.[9] Upon arriving in Colorado, he helped establish Calvary Church in Golden.[10]

Jarvis Hall (on the left) and Matthews Hall in Golden, Colorado, before 1874
Wolfe Hall, an Episcopalian academy for girls in Denver, Colorado, 1871

Noting the lack of higher education in the territory, he also helped established the Colorado University Schools which included a school of mines (which later became the state-run Colorado School of Mines), the Jarvis Hall secondary school, and the Matthews Hall school of theology.[10] George A. Jarvis, the largest contributor to the territorial activities of Bishop Randall, donated funds for the development of Wolfe Hall, an Episcopal school for girls in Denver. It was located at Champa and 17th Street.[11] John D. Wolfe of New York, the second largest donor and the namesake for Wolfe Hall, which was built by 1871.[11][12] Bishop Randall lived there with his wife.[11]

Publications
  • George Maxwell Randall (1861). Missions- the Church's Work: Its Mode and Measure. E. P. Dutton & Company.
  • George Maxwell Randall (Bishop.) (1867). The Full Proof of an Apostolic Ministry: A Sermon, in Trinity Chapel, New York, May 1, 1867 ... on the Occasion of the Consecration of Daniel S. Tuttle, as Missionary Bishop of Montana. E.P. Dutton.

Personal life

An active Freemason, Randall was raised in Washington Lodge No. 3 in Warren, was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts from 1852 to 1854, and was Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Colorado in 1872.[1]

Randall died from pneumonia at his residence in Denver in 1873,[2] leaving behind a wife, Elizabeth Hoar.[4] He was buried in Warren, Rhode Island.[5]

Notes
  1. Banyard provided a September 28, 1874, date of death.[1] His death was reported in the New York Times as September 29, 1873.[2]

References
  1. Banyard, 340
  2. New York Times obituary
  3. Batterson, 217
  4. Hugg, 375
  5. Batterson, 218
  6. Bancroft, pp. 279-280.
  7. Batterson, 217-218
  8. Denslow
  9. "Colorado, Diocese of" entry in Armentrout & Slocum
  10. Calvary Church website
  11. Bancroft, p. 279.
  12. George Maxwell Randall (1871). "Report of the Missionary Bishop of Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming". Anglican History: Project Canterbury. Retrieved October 6, 2016.

Sources

Further reading
Memoir and personal papers
Church history about Maxwell
Freemasons
Other
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