William Leopold Essex (February 8, 1886 – February 26, 1959) was fourth bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Quincy The Diocese of Quincy was a diocese of the Episcopal Church in western Illinois from 1877 to 2013. The cathedral seat (home of the diocese) was originally in Quincy, Illinois but was moved to St. Paul's Cathedral in Peoria in 1963. In order t ...

Early life and education

Essex was born in

Piermont, New York Piermont is a village incorporated in 1847 in Rockland County, New York, United States. Piermont is in the town of Orangetown, located north of the hamlet of Palisades, east of Sparkill, and south of Grand View-on-Hudson, on the west bank of t ...

to William Essex and Elizabeth Looser Essex. He was educated at the high school of

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a Village (New York), village located primarily in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, it retai ...

, before studying at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

from where he earned 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 1906. Following education at

, he studied at the

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 ...

, 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 1911. He was awarded a number of honorary doctorates; a

Doctor of Sacred Theology The Doctor of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Doctor, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Catholic Church, ...

from

in 1937 and from the

in 1938, respectively, and 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 ...

from

Nashotah House Nashotah House is an Anglicanism, Anglican seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. The seminary opened in 1842 and received its official charter in 1847. The institution is independent and generally regarded as one of the more theologically Conservatism, ...

in 1936.

Ordained ministry

Essex was ordained deacon in May 1910 by Bishop

Sidney Catlin Partridge Sidney Catlin Partridge (September 1, 1857 – June 22, 1930) was the first Bishop of Kyoto (1900–1911) and the second Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri (1911–1930). Early life and education Partridge was born in New York Ci ...

and priest on June 11, 1911, by Bishop David H. Greer of New York. Essex married Charlotte Josephine Nason on June 11, 1914. He was curate at Trinity Church,

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

from 1910 till 1913, and then rector of St Peter's Church in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

from 1913 till 1917. In 1918 he became rector of Trinity Church in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...

, while in 1925 became rector of St Paul's Church in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

, where he remained till 1936.

Episcopate

On June 5, 1936, Essex was elected as the forth Bishop of Quincy and was consecrated bishop on September 29, 1936, by Presiding Bishop

James De Wolf Perry James DeWolf Perry (October 3, 1871 – March 20, 1947) was an American Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal clergyman and prelate. He was the 7th Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, Bishop of Rhode Island (1911–1946) and the 18th Presid ...

served as diocesan bishop until 1958. He died a few months later, on February 26, 1959, at the St Francis Hospital in

References

*Article in

The Living Church ''The Living Church'' is a magazine based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, providing commentary and news on the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion. In continuous publication since 1878, it has generally been identified with the Anglo-Catho ...

, May 16, 1936, pp. 631, 637. 1886 births 1959 deaths Columbia University alumni People from Piermont, New York General Theological Seminary alumni 20th-century American Episcopalians Episcopal bishops of Quincy {{US-Anglican-bishop-stub