Philander Chase

Philander Chase Denomination Episcopal Church in the United States of AmericaSenior posting See IllinoisTitle Episcopal bishop of Illinois, Presiding Bishopof the national Episcopal Church. Period in office 1843 — 1852 Predecessor Alexander Viets GriswoldSuccessor Thomas Church BrownellReligious career Priestly ordination 1799Previous bishoprics Bishop of Ohio, Bishop of IllinoisPrevious post Bishop Personal Date of birth 14 December 1775Place 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.[1]

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.[2]

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.