Thomas Hubbard Vail [SEP] date of death
Thomas Hubbard Vail
Thomas Hubbard Vail (October 21, 1812–October 6, 1889) was the first Episcopal Bishop of Kansas.
Early life.
Vail was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Israel E. Vail and Maria Rogers Vail, who had emigrated there from New England. He attended Washington College (now Trinity College), graduating in 1831. He next attended the General Theological Seminary, graduating in 1835. In 1836, he married Frances Sophia Burling, with whom he had seven children.
Vail
In 1864, 26 delegates from 10 organized parishes gathered at diocesan convention and elected the diocese’s first bishop, Thomas Hubbard Vail. Bishop Vail established a hospital in Topeka, Christ Hospital (the successor to that institution, Stormont-Vail Regional Medical Center, still bears his name). At the end of his episcopacy, the diocese had expanded to 138 congregations, more than 3,000 communicants and 31 clergy, plus three schools and the hospital.
The Missionary District of Salina was created from the Diocese in 1901.