Introduction

Biography

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.

Works

• The Book of Psalms, Trans­lat­ed in­to Eng­lish Verse, 1840
• Strife of Bro­thers, a po­em, 1844
• Pages from the Ec­cle­si­as­ti­cal His­to­ry of New Eng­land Be­tween 1740 and 1840, 1847
• The Last Ene­my, 1850
• Sermon on the Chris­tian Life, 1854
• A post­hu­mous vol­ume of po­ems, with an in­tro­duc­tion by Ar­thur Coxe, 1868