Charles Sanford Olmsted (February 8, 1853 – October 21, 1918) was a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado from 1902 to 1918. He was the first bishop elected by the Diocese of Colorado after it became an independent diocese.
Olmstead or Olmsted? The surname has been spelled “both as ‘Olmsted’ and ‘Olmstead.’” “Genealogy of the Olmsted family in America.” Retrieved December 17, 2016. The Genealogy of the Olmsted Family in America, which includes information about the subject of this article, recognizes that some members of the family prefer “Olmstead” over “Olmsted.” However, the author of the book chose to use “Olmsted.”
To add to the confusion about spelling, a 1918 newspaper story about the death of the “Colorado Prelate” spelled his name as Olmstead in the headline and as Olmsted in the story.Evening Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, October 23, 1918, page 3.
In spite of the confusion, this article uses the “Olmsted” because of the reasons that include the following: According to a 1902 newspaper about his accepting his election as “bishop coadjutor of the Colorado diocese,” he signed his letter using the “Olmsted” spelling.Herald Democrat, Leadville, CO, January 29, 1902. When the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany recorded their giving consent to the election of “the Bishop Coadjutor of Colorado” they spelled his name “Olmsted.”Journal of the Thirty-third Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Albany (Weeds Parsons, 1901), 81. When the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts recorded their giving consent to the election of “the Bishop Coadjutor of Colorado” they spelled his name “Olmsted.”Journal of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Annual Meeting Convention Diocese of Massachusetts: May 1900 (Damrell and Upham, 1900, 17. In the listing of the House of Bishops for 1916, the “Olmsted” spelling is used.Journal of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America: 1916 (Printed for the Convention, 1917), 2.
Early life Charles Sanford Olmsted was born on February 8, 1853, in Olmstedville, New York, a hamlet in the town of Minerva, Essex County, N.Y., where his parents then resided.George Kemp Ward, Genealogy of the Olmsted Family in America (A.T. De La Mare, 1912), 346. His parents were Levi and Maria "Beach" Olmsted. He was a grandson of Zahnon and Rebecca "Barlow" Olmsted, and a great-grandson of Lemuel and Silence "Weed" Olmsted. He was a descendant of Richard Olmsted, first of Hartford, and afterward of Norwalk, Connecticut.Rossiter Johnson, editor-in-chief and John Howard Brown, managing editor, The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Volume 8 (Boston: The Biographical Society, 1904), 1648.
Education In 1873, Olmstead graduated from St. Stephen's College (now Bard's College) in Annandale, New York.George Kemp Ward, Genealogy of the Olmsted Family in America (A.T. De La Mare, 1912), 346, 445-446. He studied theology at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, graduating in 1875.George Kemp Ward, Genealogy of the Olmsted Family in America (A.T. De La Mare, 1912), 346. `
Ministry as a priest Olmsted was ordained as a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1876 by Bishop Horatio Potter. He was ordained as a priest by Bishop William Croswell Doane in 1877.Rossiter Johnson, editor-in-chief and John Howard Brown, managing editor, The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Volume 8 (Boston: The Biographical Society, 1904), 1648.
As a priest, Olmsted served in three Parishes: eight years in Morley, N.Y., twelve years in Cooperstown, N.Y., and six years in Bala, Pa. An article in St, Andrew’s Magazine summed up his ministry in three words: “Study, Administration, and Preaching.”St. Andrew’s Cross, Vol. XVII - No. 12, September 1903 (Brotherhood of St. Andrew, 1902), 374.
Served in Morley, N.Y. From 1876 to 1884, Olmsted was the rector of Trinity Episcopal Chapel (Morley, New York), St. Lawrence County, N.Y.”George Kemp Ward, Genealogy of the Olmsted Family in America: Embracing the Descendants of James and Richard Olmsted and Covering a Period of Nearly Three Centuries, 1632–1912 (A.T. De La Mare, 1912), 346, 446. Morley was “a village of fewer than four hundred people.” Olmstead did much missionary work in the village and in the surrounding rural area. At the same time, he found time for reading in the fields of Theology, History, Literature and Philosophy.St. Andrew’s Cross, Vol. XVII - No. 12, September 1903 (Brotherhood of St. Andrew, 1902), 374.
On May 24, 1877, Olmsted married Mary Melva Deuel. They had the following children:George Kemp Ward, Genealogy of the Olmsted Family in America (A.T. De La Mare, 1912), 346. James Frederick Rogers, born June 24, 1878. William Arthur, born August 13, 1879. Charles Maurice DeVere, born May 29, 1884. Ruth, born March 27, 1887. Richard, born March 19, 1892.
Served in Cooperstown, N.Y. From 1884 to 1896, Olmsted served as rector of [http://www.christchurchcooperstown.org/index.html Christ Episcopal Church in Cooperstown, N. Y.Evening Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, October 23, 1918, page 3. Cooperstown was a “charming village,” which lay in “the center of a vast missionary field.” Olmsted was “known as an able Parish Priest.” He traveled the area, “preaching in school houses and founding Sunday schools.”St. Andrew’s Cross, Vol. XVII - No. 12, September 1903 (Brotherhood of St. Andrew, 1902), 374.
Regarding the parish's buildings, he increased the size of the Church and built an Elizabethan Rectory.St. Andrew’s Cross, Vol XVII - No12, September 1903 (Brotherhood of St. Andrew, 1902), 374.
During ten years of his rectorship he was one of the archdeacons of the Diocese of Albany.St. Andrew’s Cross, Vol. XVII - No. 12, September 1903 (Brotherhood of St. Andrew, 1902), 374.
Also, during time in Cooperstown, Olmsted served as secretary of the board of trustees of the Orphan House of the Holy Saviour.Journal of the Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Albany, 1892. Volume 24 (Weed, Parsons & Co., 1892), 246.
Served in Bala, Pa. In 1896, Olmsted became the Rector of St. Asaph’s Episcopal Church, Bala. Bala was a suburb of Philadelphia, Pa. Because the parish was made up of “a few rich families,” it had few activities and no Sunday evening service. This left Olmsted time for extra-parochial activities. He adopted the nearby Union Sunday School, made it a part of St. Asaph's, and left it with two hundred and fifty scholars. Because there was no Sunday evening service, Olmsted preached almost every Sunday evening in the Philadelphia area, thereby, earning “the foremost place among the preachers” in Pennsylvania.St. Andrew’s Cross, Vol. XVII - No. 12, September 1903 (Brotherhood of St. Andrew, 1902), 374.
In 1901, Olmsted was a Deputy from the Diocese of Pennsylvania to the Episcopal Church's General Convention.Rossiter Johnson, editor-in-chief and John Howard Brown, managing editor, The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Volume 8 (Boston: The Biographical Society, 1904), 1648.
While at St. Asaph's, Olmsted was elected bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Colorado.Evening Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, October 23, 1918, page 3.
Ministry as bishop: 1902–1918 John Franklin Spalding, the diocesan bishop of Colorado, called for the Special Council because he said that his health made it impossible to perform his duties “acceptably.” Therefore, “to seek relief,” he asked for a bishop coadjutor. On January 8, 1902, the election was held at a Special Council of the diocese convened at the “Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine” in Denver. Olmsted was elected on the twenty-sixth ballot. Afterward, a motion to make the election unanimous was passed.Herald Democrat, Leadville, CO, January 29, 1902. and Journal of the Special Council of the Diocese of Colorado Held in S. John’s Cathedral, Denver, January 8, 1902 (Ledger Publishing, 1902), 9-10. and Journal of the Special Council of the Diocese of Colorado Held in S. John’s Cathedral, Denver, January 8, 1902 (Ledger Publishing, 1902), 18.
After Olmstead's election, he wrote the Diocese of Colorado a letter of acceptance. The letter was prefaced with “in the fear of God and with deep love for his faithful in the diocese of Colorado” and concluded with “may the great head of the church sustain me in this trust and grant me a merciful judgment at the latter day.”Herald Democrat, Leadville, CO, January 29, 1902.
Before Olmsted could be consecrated, Bishop Spalding died on March 8, 1902, leaving the diocese with only a “diocesan designate” until Olmsted was consecrated on May 1, 1902.Winfred Douglas, “The Diocese of Colorado and Its First Bishop and Dean,” Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Vol. 5, No. 4 (December 1936): 334.
On May 1, 1902, Olmsted was consecrated the first bishop elected by the Diocese of Colorado. The service was held in the Cathedral of St. John in the Wilderness in Denver, Colorado. The chief consecrator was Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle of Missouri, who was also the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Sixteen bishops and more than one hundred priests were present with a congregation which filled the church. Bishop Leighton Coleman of Delaware preached.El Paso Herald, El Paso, Texas, Thursday, May 1, 1902 – Page 1. and Rossiter Johnson, editor-in-chief and John Howard Brown, managing editor, The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Volume 8 (Boston: The Biographical Society, 1904), 1648.
First, second, third or fourth bishop? Olmsted has been called the first, second, third, and fourth bishop of Colorado.
1. Olmsted has sometimes been called “the first bishop of the Diocese of Colorado.”El Paso Herald, El Paso, Texas, Thursday, May 1, 1902 – Page 1. He can properly be called the “first” bishop from this perspective. He was the first bishop elected after the Missionary District of Colorado became the independent Diocese of Colorado in 1887. Bishops with jurisdiction over Colorado previous to Olmsted had been Missionary Bishops elected by the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church.Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors, "An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians," (Church Publishing Incorporated, 2000), s. v. Western Colorado, Missionary District of.
2. Olmsted has sometimes been called the “second bishop of Colorado.”“Charles Sanford Olmsted.” Retrieved December 24, 2016. He can properly be called the “second” bishop from this perspective. In 1887, when the Missionary District of Colorado became the independent Diocese of Colorado, the previous Missionary Bishop Franklin Spencer Spalding continued as the bishop of the new diocese.Franklin Spencer Spalding. Olmsted was elected by the independent Diocese as Bishop Coadjutor in 1902.
3. Olmsted has sometimes been called the “third bishop of Colorado.”“Charles Sanford Olmsted, 3rd Bishop of Colorado.” Retrieved December 24, 2016.
4. Olmsted is also listed as the fourth bishop of Colorado. Beginning in 1860, three Missionary Bishops had jurisdiction over Colorado: Joseph Cruikshank Talbot (1860–1865), George M. Randall (1865–1873), and John Franklin Spalding (1878–1902). Olmsted was elected by the independent Diocese as Bishop Coadjutor in 1902.BISHOPS OF COLORADO. Retrieved December 26, 2016. and The Living Church, Volume 179 September 2, 1979 issue, p.10 (Morehouse-Gorham Company, 1979).
Activities as bishop In 1903, a newspaper story about Olmstead's preaching characterized him as “one of the foremost preacher’s in the Episcopal Church.”Fort Morgan Times, Volume 19, Number 47, June 19, 1903.