Thomas Fielding Scott (March 12, 1807July 14, 1867) was the first

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

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 State ...

Bishop of Washington and Oregon territories.

Early life

Scott was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, the son of James Scott and Rebekkah Worke Scott. He attended Franklin College (later the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

), graduating in 1829.Perry, 129 Scott was ordained deacon in 1843, and ordained priest the following year. After his ordination to the priesthood, he became rector of St. James' Church in

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

.Batterson, 178 He later moved to

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

to become rector of Trinity Church in that town, remaining there until his ordination as bishop. While there, Scott received a doctorate in divinity from his alma mater.

Bishop of Washington and Oregon

Scott was consecrated the first missionary Bishop of Washington and Oregon territories in 1854. He was the 60th bishop in the ECUSA, and was consecrated in Christ Church in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

by Bishops Stephen Elliott,

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, 1796, ...

, and Thomas F. Davis. On arriving in Oregon on April 22, 1854, Scott took possession of an acre of land in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

given to him for a church building by the town's founder,

Eugene Skinner Eugene Franklin Skinner (September 13, 1809 – December 15, 1864) was an early American settler in Oregon and the founder of the city of Eugene, Oregon, which is named after him. Skinner was born in Essex, New York. His father was Major John Jo ...

. The following Sunday he held services at Trinity Church in Portland, Oregon. Given the large spand of territory he only had two clergy to help, Fackler and McCarty. There were only three organized congregations and all were in Oregon. For the first six years of Bishop Scott's Episcopate Fr. McCarty was the only clergy in Washington. In October 1854 Fr. McCarty was directed to Fort Steilacoom on Puget Sound. He held regular services at Nisqually and Olympia. Later he would found the first church in Washington upon settling in Vancouver with his new wife. St. Luke's parish, Vancouver, was consecrated by Bishop Scott on May 27, 1860.(Jessett 17–18). In 1856, Scott founded a

boys school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

in Portland, which was reorganized and renamed after him after his death. In the summer of 1857, Bishop Scott visited

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

in Canada and confirmed twenty candidates as the first British Columbian bishop would not be appointed for another two years. He died in 1867 while visiting New York City of a fever contracted while crossing the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

. Scott was buried in the

Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Fa ...

in New York.

Notes

* * *Jessett, Thomas E (1967). Pioneering God's Country: The History of the Diocese of Olympia 1853–1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Thomas Fielding 1807 births 1867 deaths Clergy from Portland, Oregon People from Iredell County, North Carolina Bishops in Oregon Burials at Trinity Church Cemetery Episcopal Church in Oregon 19th-century American Episcopalians Episcopal bishops of Olympia Episcopal bishops of Oregon 19th-century American clergy