Vail, Thomas H. (Thomas Hubbard), 1812-1889

Vail was Episcopal bishop of the diocese of Kansas.

From the guide to the Letters, 1872-1874, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)

Thomas Hubbard Vail was the first Episcopal Bishop of Kansas, and founded Topeka's first hospital, Christ Hospital, in 1882, as well as the College of the Sisters of Bethany in Topeka. Vail was born in Richmond, Virginia on October 21, 1812. His parents were from New England, and on the death of his father in 1817 his mother returned north. He graduated Washington (now Trinity) College in 1831. At the General Theological Seminary in New York in 1835, Vail was ordered deacon by Bishop Brownell in St. Mark's Church, New Canaan, Connecticut on June 29, 1835, and priest in Grace Church, Boston, by Bishop Griswold on January 6, 1837. The degree of S. T. D. was given him by Brown in 1858, and that of LL.D. by the University of Kansas in 1875. He was consecrated First Episcopal Bishop of Kansas on December 15, 1864, in Trinity Church, Muscatine, Iowa. Vail died on October 6, 1889. [Find a Grave. "Thomas Vail." http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=6532536&PIpi=2456882 (accessed November 9, 2009).] [Virtual American Biographies. "Thomas Hubbard Vail." http://famousamericans.net/thomashubbardvail/ (accessed November 9, 2009).]

From the description of Bishop Thomas Hubbard Vail correspondence, 1881-1883 (Kansas State Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 731183988

Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Kansas.

From the description of Thomas Hubbard Vail papers, 1838-1880. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 664360056