Walter Mitchell (September 13, 1876 – May 27, 1971) was the Bishop of Arizona 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 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from 1926 until 1946.

Early life and education

Mitchell was born on September 13, 1876, in Hartville, Missouri, United States, the son of Ewing Young Mitchell and Amanda Corinne Medley. He was educated at the Missouri public school and later at the

Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy Missouri University of Science and Technology, or Missouri S&T, is a public research university in Rolla, Missouri. It is a member institution of the University of Missouri System. Most of its 7,645 students (fall 2020) study engineering, busi ...

. He received his

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 ...

from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

and later enrolled to study theology at

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Communi ...

and at Sewanee: The University of the South 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 1902. In 1914, the University of the South awarded him with 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 ...

while in 1926 he was awarded a Doctor of Sacred Theology by

Ordained ministry

Mitchell was ordained deacon on June 24, 1902, by Thomas F. Gailor, Bishop of Tennessee and served as Deacon-in-charge of St Jude's Church in Monroe City, Missouri. He was ordained priest on June 28, 1903, by the Bishop of Missouri, and as from 1903 Presiding Bishop,

Daniel S. Tuttle Daniel Sylvester Tuttle (January 26, 1837 – April 17, 1923) was consecrated a bishop of the Episcopal Church in 1866. His first assignment was as Bishop of Montana, a missionary field that included Montana, Utah, and Idaho. Early and family lif ...

, in the chapel of the University of the South. Between 1903 and 1904 he served as Acting Chaplain and Assistant Headmaster of the Sewanee Grammar School. He was rector of the Church of St John the Baptist in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

between 1904 till 1906. In 1908 he became the director of Fairmount School in

Monteagle, Tennessee Monteagle is a town in Franklin, Grundy, and Marion counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Cumberland Plateau region of the southeastern part of the state. The population was 1,238 at the 2000 census – 804 of the town's 1,238 resi ...

. He also subsequently served as rector of the Porter Military Academy in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. In 1924 he became Executive secretary of the field department work of the Diocese of New Jersey.

Episcopacy

In 1925 Mitchell was elected Missionary Bishop of Arizona and was consecrated in Christ Church Pro-Cathedral in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.John Gardner Murray John Gardner Murray (August 31, 1857 – October 3, 1929) was the sixteenth presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church. He was the first person elected to the position rather than succeeding to it automatically ...

. On August 18, 1931, Bishop Mitchell bought the Arizona Church Conference Center. He retained the post till 1945 after which he resigned. He died on May 27, 1971, in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Family

Mitchell married Susan Glass Baker on June 3, 1902, and together had two children. After Susan's death in 1935 he married Elsie R. Carver on June 28. 1938. His brother was

Richard Bland Mitchell Richard Bland Mitchell (July 26, 1887 - March 7, 1961) was the eighth bishop of Arkansas in The Episcopal Church and the thirteenth chancellor of Sewanee: The University of the South. An Episcopal camp and retreat center in central Arkansas is ...

who was Bishop of Arkansas from 1938 till 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Walter 1876 births 1971 deaths People from Wright County, Missouri General Theological Seminary alumni Missouri University of Science and Technology alumni Sewanee: The University of the South alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni Episcopal bishops of Arizona