George Ashton Oldham (August 15, 1877 – April 7, 1963David Walsh, "Independence Day", Blog at DA Words, se

Retrieved January 8, 2009.) was the third bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Albany The Episcopal Diocese of Albany is a diocese of the Episcopal Church covering 19 counties in northeastern New York state. It was created in 1868 from a division of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. History The Church of England arrived in ...

in the United States from 1929 to 1950, during the turbulent times of the Great Depression and World War II. He was also notable as the primary author of the

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

used in the Episcopal Church (United States) for decades until 1979. Now largely forgotten, Oldham was a major religious leader for several decades in the middle of the 20th and a serious candidate for presiding bishop.

Early life

Oldham grew up in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, and attended Cornell University, where he was an active debater, and graduated with an A.B. in 1902."Dedication Plans Made", Cornell News, May 14, 1931, found a
Cornell University website Library commons archives link to pdf document
Retrieved January 8, 2009."Catalogue of Officers and Graduates of Columbia University from the Foundation of King's College in 1754", p. 54 (Columbia University 1906), found a
Google Books search on Columbia U.
/ref>One source claims he graduated in 1905, but this can ''not'' be confirmed, and is refuted by other, more reliable sources. He served as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

at Columbia University while in seminary in 1906. In 1908, he graduated from the General Theological Seminary with his bachelor's degree in divinity.

Marriage

Oldham was married to Emily Pierrepont Gould (born March 24, 1884 — died October 31, 1969), from a very old and wealthy family. She was noted in the Social Register of New York of 1914, among other years. She was the daughter of Mary Pierrepont Perry and James Henry Gould (1844-1896), and a direct descendant of James Pierpont, the founder of Yale University. Their society wedding was announced in the ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'', which was set for January 14, 1915, to be celebrated by Bishop Greer at the

Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhood ...

."Numerous Entertainments for the Debutantes", ''New-York Tribune'', December 20, 1914, pg. 8. Found a
Library of Congress website
Retrieved July 31, 2012. Emily Pierrepont Gould was a distant cousin of

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...

through James Pierpont. At the time of his marriage, Oldham was rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church at Convent Avenue and West 141st Street in Manhattan, which was next to

Hamilton Grange Hamilton Grange National Memorial, also known as The Grange or the Hamilton Grange Mansion, is a National Park Service site in St. Nicholas Park, Manhattan, New York City, that preserves the relocated home of U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamil ...

, the home of

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

Work as bishop

Oldham was elected

Bishop Coadjutor A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co- ...

of Albany in 1922, to prepare for replacing Richard Henry Nelson. Albany Episcopal Diocese website History page
. Retrieved January 8, 2009. In 1924, Oldham made a major sermon, entitled "America First", at the Washington National Cathedral. However, it was not necessarily made in support of the controversial " America First" movement: His sermon on "The church's responsibility for world peace" was also widely published. He was a keynote speaker at the 1931 dedication of the War Memorial in Ithaca, New York, place of his alma mater, Cornell. Oldham was an organizer of a conference on Anglo-Catholicism in Albany. He was also active in

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

with the Roman Catholic Church, long before that became popular. He was installed in 1929 in the

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

in the choir at the Cathedral of All Saints, as the 3rd Bishop of Albany. That would be a terribly unlucky year to begin any ministry, as the Great Depression was to start with the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Oldham wrote the ''Catechism Today: Instructions on the Church'', the

used in the Episcopal Church (United States) for decades until 1979. He also wrote a book entitled ''The Fighting Church''. He was very active in Episcopal Church activities, from at least 1932. In 1937, he was a serious candidate for election as presiding bishop."Episcopalians in Cincinnati"
'' Time'', October 18, 1937. By the end of the war in 1945, he was acknowledged as a church leader. In 1947, Bishop and Mrs. Oldham attended a conference in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

, and on their way home from New Zealand, the seaplane pilot, in order "to avoid disaster was orcedto jettison cargo and passengers' luggage to lighten the load."James Gwynn, "A Narrow Escape", ''The Swan & Elk'' (

Newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of int ...

of the Cathedral of All Saints) January 2009. Lost in "the Oldham luggage asnbsp;... the cope the bishop had worn at his consecration". In 1949, he received an honorary degree from

Hobart College Hobart College may refer to: * Hobart and William Smith Colleges Hobart and William Smith Colleges are Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to G ...

.Hobart and William Smith Colleges archives
. Retrieved January 8, 2009. The

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

of the Cathedral of All Saints is named Oldham House in his honor. He retired as bishop in 1950 and died in 1963. He was replaced by Bishop Frederick L. Barry, whose death he announced to a diocesan convention in 1960.George E. DeMille, Project Canterbury: The Episcopate of Frederick Barry (Albany: Diocesan Book Store, 1962), found a
Anglican History website page on DeMille, 1962
Retrieved January 9, 2009.

References

Notes

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 ho ...

Cathedral of All Saints web site

Episcopal Diocese of Albany official web site