Thomas John Claggett (1743–1816)
In 1813 or 1814 Bushrod Washington and others asked Claggett to ordain a priest for the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.
Thomas John Claggett was born on 2 or 3 October 1743 in Nottingham, Prince George’s County, Maryland. A graduate of what is now Princeton University, he studied theology under his uncle, was ordained in the Episcopal Church, and served as a priest in Prince George’s County and Calvert County. In 1792 Claggett became the first Bishop of Maryland and the first Episcopal bishop consecrated on American soil. He also founded Trinity Episcopal Church in Upper Marlboro and served as the first chaplain of the U.S. Senate after the federal government relocated to Washington, D.C.
George B. Utley, The Life and Times of Thomas John Claggett, First Bishop of Maryland and the First Bishop Consecrated in America (Chicago: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 1913).
"Claggett, Thomas John," in Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, eds., An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church: A User-Friendly Reference for Episcopalians (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 1999).
"Abigail Adams to Thomas Boylston Adams, 25 December 1800," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-14-02-0225. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Adams Family Correspondence, vol. 14, October 1799 – February 1801, ed. Hobson Woodward, Sara Martin, Christopher F. Minty, Amanda M. Norton, Neal E. Millikan, Gwen Fries, and Sara Georgini. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019, pp. 498–501.]
Lancaster Intelligencer (PA), 24 August 1816, page 3, column 3 (Newspapers.com).
Thomas John Claggett in "Prince George's County: Over 300 Years of History," Prince George's County Historical Society.
Thomas John Claggett, D.D. at HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database.
Thomas John Claggett at Find a Grave.
Bishop Thomas John Claggett at FamilySearch.