Charles Minnigerode Beckwith


Charles Minnigerode Beckwith was fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama from 1902 till 1928.

Early life and Education

Beckwith was born on June 2, 1851 in Petersburg, Virginia, son of Thomas Stanley Beckwith and Agnes Ruffin. He was educated at the University of Georgia from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1873. He was also a member of Phi Delta Theta. After graduation, he served as assistant professor of mathematics at the University of the South between 1874 and 1876 and later served as master of Sewanee Grammar School at the University of the South from 1876 till 1879. In 1879, he enrolled at the Berkeley Divinity School in Middletown, Connecticut and graduated in 1881. He earned a Doctor of Divinity from in 1902 and a Doctor of Sacred Theology from Berkeley in 1903.

Ordained Ministry

He was ordained to the diaconate and priest in 1881 by his uncle Bishop John W. Beckwith of Georgia. He served as rector of St Luke's Church in Atlanta, Georgia from 1881 till 1886. While rector of this church he was elected Assistant Bishop of Texas, but declined the appointment. Later, in 1886, he became rector of Christ Church in Houston, Texas, and in 1892 became rector of Trinity Church in Galveston, Texas, where he remained till 1902.

Bishop

Beckwith was elected Bishop of Alabama on October 8, 1902 during a special council which took place in St John's Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was then consecrated in St Paul's Church in Selma, Alabama on December 17, 1902 by Bishop Thomas Underwood Dudley of Kentucky. He died in office on April 18, 1928 in Montgomery, Alabama.