Introduction
Born: October 31, 1809, Providence, Rhode Island.
Died: April 23, 1866, at sea, near Port au Prince, Haiti.
Born: October 31, 1809, Providence, Rhode Island.
Died: April 23, 1866, at sea, near Port au Prince, Haiti.
George was the son of Thomas Burgess, a Rhode Island judge, and Mary Mackie, and husband of Sophia Kip (married October 1846).
In 1826, he graduated from Brown University in Providence. From 1831–34, he traveled and studied abroad, visiting Göttingen, Bonn, and Berlin, Germany.
Bishop Alexander Griswold admitted Burgess to deacon’s orders in Providence, June 10, 1834. He was ordained an Episcopal priest November 2, 1834, and became rector of Christ Church in Hartford, Connecticut.
In October 1847, he was elected the first Episcopal bishop of Maine. That same month, he was consecrated in Christ Church, Hartford, by bishops Philander Chase, Thomas Church Brownell, and Manton Eastburn.
On moving to Maine, Burgess became rector of the church in Gardiner, a post he held until his death.
O’er barren hills my soul upsprings,
And looks e’en there on blooming flowers
I see above the golden wings
Of the near dawn’s resplendent hours
Say, who are these like startled doves!
Before the Lord’s right hand they flee!
Yet welcome, Israel, to the groves
Which Jacob’s God shall plant for thee.
I see the fiery pillar blaze
Where sank long since the pillar’d cloud:
God calls His nation, and His praise
All nations echo far and loud;
And morn and eve have greetings sweet,
And north and south no seas can sever
And all is low at Jesus’ feet,
And all is bliss in Him forever.
George Burgess (1809–1866), from
the German of Friedrich Leopold zu
Stolberg-Stolberg (1750-1819)