| Thomas John Claggett | |
|---|---|
Thomas John Claggett |
|
| Born | October 2, 1743 White's Landing Nottingham, Maryland |
| Died | August 2, 1816 (aged 72) Croom Upper Marlboro, Maryland |
| Occupation | Bishop |
| Known for | First Episcopal Bishop consecrated on American soil |
| Signature | |
Thomas John Claggett (October 2, 1743 – August 2, 1816) was the first bishop of the newly-formed American Episcopal Church to be consecrated on American soil and the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.
Contents |
Thomas Claggett, born October 2, 1743, was the son of the Reverend Samuel Clagett of Charles Co., Maryland, and Elizabeth Gantt. He was descended from Captain Thomas Clagett who emigrated from England and settled on St. Leonard's Creek, Calvert County, Maryland, in 1671.[1] Captain Claggett at one time owned more than 3,700 acres (15 km2) in Calvert, Prince George's, Baltimore and Kent Counties. He was a Justice and Coroner of Calvert County and an opponent of John Coode's second rebellion of 1689. Thomas John Claggett was the first to use the double "g" in spelling his family's name.[2]
After Claggett's father died in 1756, he was placed in the care of his uncle, the Rev. Dr. John Eversfield, the rector of St. Paul's, St. George's County. Three years later he began public school and attended the Lower Marlboro Academy.
In 1762, at age 17, he entered the College of New Jersey, Princeton University. On 25 September 1764, he graduated and for three years he received theological training from his maternal uncle, the Rev. Dr. John Eversfield.[3] In recognition of his studies, in 1787 his alma mater Princeton conferred on him an M.A. degree, and in 1792 he received the degree of doctor in divinity from Washington College.[1]
On 20 September 1767, he was made a deacon in the chapel of Fulham Palace, by the bishop of London, Dr. Richard Terrick, Lord Bishop of Peterborough. Less than a month later, at the same place and by the same prelate, Thomas was made a priest on 11 October 1767. He remained in England for about three more months, studying and visiting family. In the spring of 1768, he returned home, and was appointed as the Rector of All Saints' Church, Calvert County, Maryland.[4]
The American Revolutionary War created tremendous conflicts within the Episcopal Church in the colonies. The clergy, who had been ordained in England, had taken an oath of allegiance to the king. This conflicted with their Oath of Fidelity required by the local assembly. Some clergy returned to England, but Claggett avoided the conflict, retiring as rector and living on his estate in Prince George County for two years. Following the war, the Rev. William Smith was elected bishop of the Maryland diocese, but the Bishop of London refused to consecrate Smith. Unable to obtain consecration of their clergy from the Church of England, representatives from nine dioceses met in Philadelphia in 1789 to form an independent Episcopal church in America and ratify a constitution. The Anglican congregations in nine states adopted The Protestant Episcopal Church as their name in 1783 and was formally separated from the Church of England. The church was incorporated as “the first Anglican Province outside the British Isles.”[5]
In 1792 at Trinity Church in New York City, Claggett was consecrated by the American congregation as the bishop of Maryland, making him the first bishop of the Episocopal Church consecrated in America. "Being a man of excellent fitness for the office, as well as possessed of large private means, he was elected the first bishop of Maryland, and was consecrated" at the triennial convention of the Episcopal Church at Trinity Church in New York City on 17 September 1792, "Bishop Seabury joining in the consecration."[2] Thomas J. Claggett was the fifth bishop consecrated for the Episcopal Church in the United States.
Claggett was consecrated by four men who had been the presiding bishops consecrated by the Bishop of London. They were:
At the first session of the United States Congress held in the new Capital, Washington, D.C. on 27 November 1800, Bishop Claggett was appointed the third Chaplain of the United States Senate and gave the opening prayer.
In 1810, local members of the Anglican church in the town of Upper Marlborough founded Trinity Episcopal Church so they could worship near their homes. The nearest existing Anglican churches were St. Thomas and St. Barnabas, a long carriage ride in that day away over rough and often impassible roads. On August 13, 1810, the newly formed vestry elected the Right Rev. Thomas John Claggett as the first rector of Trinity Church. He organized the congregation in an abandoned wooden Presbyterian building built 106 years earlier in 1704. During the War of 1812, notes from the vestry minutes of May, 1814, describe British troops camping in the church and preventing the vestry from meeting. Rev. Clagget served as rector of the congregation until his death on August 3, 1816.[6][7]
On October 16, 1811, he consecrated Christ Church. That building is now known as Old Brick Church in Queen Caroline Parish, Anne Arundel (now Howard) County, Maryland. On January 9, 1814, he consecrated Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia.[8] An assistant bishop was appointed in 1814. He published a few sermons, pastoral letters, and addresses to his convention.[2]
He was among the first to envision the need for an Episcopal Church in the nation's new capital Washington D.C., in 1793. While presiding over his Diocesan convention that year, he appointed a committee to study the idea. He had an ally in Joseph Nourse, the country's First Registrar of the Treasury. However, Nourse did not want the cathedral in downtown Washington, but on Mt. Alban overlooking the city. After years of controversy about its location, construction of the Washington National Cathedral on Mt. Alban was begun in 1897.
Epitaph Maryland Episcopus Primus
Natus Sexto Nonis Octobris
Anno Salutis
1743
Ordinatus Diaconus et Presbyter
Londini
1767
Et Episcopus Consecratus
1792
Decessit in place Christi
Quarto Nonis Agusti
1816
Fidelitate et Mansuetudine
Ecclesiam Rexit
Moribusque
Ornavit
Uxori, Liberis, Sociisque
memoriam Clarissimam
Et Patraiae et Ecclesiae
nomen Honoratum Dedit
Claggett died August 4, 1816 at Croom; his remains were moved in 1898 to Washington National Cathedral, where a wood carving of his consecration was added to the bishop's stall. There is a marker and memorial bell tower at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Croom, Prince George's County, Maryland.[9] Many of his papers are housed at the Diocese of Maryland's archives.[10]
The unincorporated area of Prince George's County known as 'Croom' was part of Thomas John Claggett's estate. "Croom, the name of Claggett's estate, comes from the Old English by way of Latin and means 'crooked'. Locals are quick to note that the name refers to the meandering, deep-cut roads, some of them built during colonial times, and not to their ethics."[11]
Claggett's epitaph, which gives the dates of his ordinations, was penned by his friend and fellow churchman, Francis Scott Key, the author of the "Star Spangled Banner".[2]
| Episcopal Church (USA) titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by (none) |
1st Bishop of Maryland 1792 – 1816 |
Succeeded by James Kemp |
| Preceded by William White |
3rd US Senate Chaplain November 27, 1800 – December 8, 1801 |
Succeeded by Edward Gantt |