Edward Robert Atwill (February 18, 1840 – January 24, 1911) was first bishop of the

Diocese of Kansas City In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

, serving from 1890 to 1911.

Early life and education

Atwill was born on February 18, 1840, in

Red Hook, New York Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 9,953 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 11,319 in 2010. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the Hu ...

, the only son of Robert Edward and Margaret E. Atwill. He was home schooled until he attended Columbia College from where he graduated in 1862. He also studied at the General Theological Seminary, earning a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

in 1864. He was awarded a Doctor of Sacred Theology from the University of Vermont in 1882.

Ordained ministry

Atwill was ordained deacon on July 3, 1864, by Bishop Horatio Potter of New York, and priest by the same prelate on April 1, 1865. He served his diaconate year as curate at St Luke's Church in New York, and then in 1865 became rector of St Paul's Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was also for a time curate to the Bishop of Vermont, stationed at St Paul's Church in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

, while in 1867 he was appointed rector of that church. From 1882 until 1890 he was rector of Trinity Church in Toledo, Ohio.

Bishop

In 1890 Atwill was elected as the first Bishop of West Missouri and was consecrated bishop on October 14, 1890, by Presiding Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle. He remained in office until his death on January 24, 1911. He was buried at

Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery is a cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri. History The Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery was established in 1888. George Kessler served as the landscape architect when the cemetery was established. The cemetery is approxi ...

in Kansas City.

References

1840 births 1911 deaths 19th-century American Episcopalians Episcopal bishops of West Missouri Columbia College (New York) alumni General Theological Seminary alumni {{US-Anglican-bishop-stub