Joseph C. Talbot

Joseph Talbot was born to Quaker parents in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1816, where he attended the Pierpont Academy in his childhood.[4] In 1835 he moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and was baptized in Christ Church there in 1837 and soon confirmed in the Episcopal Church.[5] On February 23, 1838 he married Anna Matilda Wares, daughter of Samuel Waris, a captain of the United States Army.[5]

Talbot studied for ordination under Benjamin B. Smith and became a candidate for holy orders in 1843.[4] He was ordained deacon on September 5, 1846, and priest on September 6, 1848, both by Smith.[4] While in deacon’s orders he organized a third church in Louisville, St. John’s Church, and became the rector there upon his ordination to the priesthood.[5] In January, 1853 he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, and became the rector of Christ Church where he served seven years.[5] He received the degree of D.D. from the Western University of Pennsylvania in 1854.[6] In 1867 while at the Lambeth Conference, he was conferred with the degree of LL.D. by the University of Cambridge.[5]

Talbot was elected by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of the Northwest (or North-West) in 1859 and consecrated on February 15, 1860, by Jackson Kemper, assisted by Benjamin B. Smith, Cicero S. Hawks, George Upfold, and Gregory T. Bedell.[6] The Missionary District of the Northwest included New Mexico, Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Montana, and Idaho, covering nearly nine hundred thousand square miles.[6] Talbot referred to himself as “Bishop of All Outdoors.”[3] He served in this position for five years.

On August 23, 1865,[3] Talbot was elected Assistant Bishop of Indiana, where he began his duties that October.[6] Due to diocesan bishop George Upfold’s feeble health, he acted as the virtual executive head of the diocese until Upfold’s death in 1872.[5] He took over as diocesan bishop on August 26, 1872.[3] He served in this capacity until his death in 1883.

• Armentrout, Don S. & Robert Boak Slocum (2000). An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church: A User-Friendly Reference for Episcopalians. New York: Church Publishing Incorporated. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
• Batterson, Hermon Griswold (1891). A Sketch-book of the American Episcopate Philadelphia: J. B. Lippencott & Co. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
• Bishop Joseph C. Talbott obituary in the New York Times, January 16, 1883. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
• Bishops of the Diocese of the Rio Grande at The Institute of Historical Survey Foundation. Retrieved 2013-02-11.