Philander Chase

infobox bishopbiog
name = Philander Chase


religion=Episcopal Church in the United States of America
See = Illinois
Title = Episcopal bishop of Illinois, Presiding Bishop of the national Episcopal Church.
Period = 1843 — 1852
Predecessor = Alexander Viets Griswold
Successor = Thomas Church Brownell
ordination = 1799
bishops = Bishop of Ohio, Bishop of Illinois
post = Bishop | date of birth = 14 December 1775
place of birth = 20 September 1852

Philander Chase (December 14, 1775 - September 20, 1852) was an Episcopal Church bishop, educator, and pioneer of the United States western frontier in Ohio and Illinois.

in 1795 while still a student at Dartmouth College, Chase was instrumental in establishing Trinity Church in his hometown of Cornish, New Hampshire. [ [http://www.crjc.org/heritage/N08-2.htm Trinity Church ] ]

In 1805 he was appointed as the founding Rector of what is now Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans. He became the first Episcopal Bishop of Ohio in 1819, and later the first Episcopal bishop of Illinois, simultaneously serving as Presiding Bishop of the national church.

Upset by the lack of institutions of higher learning west of the Appalachian Mountains, Chase undertook a difficult fund-raising campaign both in the United States and in England to raise money for such a school to be located in Ohio.

He became the founder and first president of Kenyon College and Bexley Hall seminary in Gambier, Ohio in 1824. Originally the college existed in Worthington, Ohio, but Chase chose to relocate the school on the remote hill of Gambier to protect his students from the immorality (such as drinking and dancing) that could be found in cities.

As Kenyon College grew, Chase came into conflict with the teachers and the trustees of the college, as he desired to more control over the direction of the college. After a quarrel with the Board of Trustees, Chase resigned his position as President of the college in 1831. He was succeeded by the Bishop Charles McIlvane. [ [http://www.kenyon.edu/x7397.xml "The Last Page"] – Kenyon alumni bulletin has a succession of early college presidents. Retrieved on November 21, 2006]

After removing himself and his family to the Valley of Peace in central Ohio, Chase spent the final years of his life founding Jubilee College and the surrounding frontier community near present-day Peoria, Illinois, financed by arduous fund-raising journeys overseas.

Philander Chase was the uncle and caretaker of Salmon P. Chase, former Chief Justice of the United States.

He was the 18th bishop consecrated in The Episcopal Church.

References

External links

* [http://www2.kenyon.edu/Khistory/chase/biography/ Who was Philander Chase?] Biography at Kenyon College
* [http://www2.kenyon.edu/Khistory/chase/documents/ Papers of Philander Chase] Kenyon College project to put documents online