William Blair Roberts (December 10, 1881 - April 25, 1964) was a bishop in

The Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioces ...

, serving in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

Early life and education

Roberts was born on December 10, 1881, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, the son of William Jackson Roberts and Jane Eliza Fisher. He was educated at the public school of

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, and then studied at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1905, and being awarded a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

in 1923. He also enrolled at

Berkeley Divinity School Berkeley Divinity School, founded in 1854, is a seminary of The Episcopal Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Along with Andover Newton Theological School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Berkeley is one of the three "Partners on the Quad," ...

, from where he graduated with 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 1908, and a

in 1923.

Ordained ministry

Roberts was ordained deacon on June 3, 1908, by Bishop

Chauncey B. Brewster The Rt. Rev. Dr. Chauncey Bunce Brewster (September 5, 1848 – April 9, 1941) was the fifth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. Early life and education Brewster was born in Windham, Connecticut, to the Rev. Joseph Brewster and S ...

of Connecticut, and priest on June 20, 1909, by Bishop

Frederick Foote Johnson Frederick Foote Johnson (April 23, 1866 – May 9, 1943) was fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. Early life and education Johnson was born in Newtown, Connecticut on April 23, 1866, a son of Ezra Levan Johnson and Jane Eliza Camp. ...

. He served as a missionary in

Rosebud, South Dakota Rosebud also Sicanġu ( Lakhota ''Sicanġu''; "Scorched Thigh") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Todd County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,455 at the 2020 census. Rosebud is located on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. I ...

between 1908 and 1922. He also served as a chaplain in the American Expeditionary Forces between August 1918 and June 1919. In 1917, he also became Dean of Rosebud.

Bishop

On December 6, 1922, he was consecrated

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

of South Dakota, in Calvary Cathedral,

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

. On September 29, 1931, he was elected Bishop of South Dakota, remained so until his retirement on January 1, 1954.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, William Blair 1881 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American Episcopalians Episcopal bishops of South Dakota Clergy from Detroit Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni Berkeley Divinity School alumni