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Commemoration of Blessed Charles Chapman Grafton
Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle, Fond du Lac
Monday, August 30th, 2010
DioFDL@DioFDL.org
Contact person: Diocesan Office
 The Rt. Rev. Charles Chapman Grafton (April 12, 1830-August 30, 1912) was Second Bishop of Fond du Lac (encompassing the northeastern part of Wisconsin). He was an ardent supporter of the Oxford Movement which developed Anglo-Catholicism in the Episcopal Church.
He was born in Boston where he came under the influence of William Croswell, founder of Church of the Advent, a leading Anglo-catholic parish. In 1853 he graduated from Harvard with a degree in law but found himself drawn toward the ordained ministry. Grafton studied theology under Bishop William Whittingham of Maryland and was ordained deacon on Dec. 23, 1855. He began his ordained ministry as assistant at Reisterstown, Maryland and on May 30, 1858, he was ordained priest and served as curate at St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, and chaplain of the deaconesses of the Diocese of Maryland.
At the close of the Civil War he went to England and with Richard Meux Benson and Simeon Wilberforce O'Neill he co-founded the Society of St. John the Evangelist, also known as the Cowley Fathers. Grafton returned to the United States, and in 1872 became fourth Rector of Church of the Advent. A jurisdictional dispute concerning Grafton's overseas religious superior led to his withdrawal from SSJE.
Bishop Grafton also helped establish the American Congregation of Saint Benedict (now known as The Benedictine Order of St John the Beloved) and in 1888 he was a founder of the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity, along with Mother Ruth Margaret. On Apr. 25, 1889, Grafton was consecrated Bishop of Fond du Lac, where he served until his death and left behind a legacy of printed works, sermons and essays.
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The Consecration of the Rt. Rev. R. H. Weller as the Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Fond du Lac, 1900
Seated (l to r): The Rt. Rev. Isaac Lea Nicholson, Episcopal Bishop of Milwaukee; the Rt. Rev. Charles Chapman Grafton, Episcopal Bishop of Fond du Lac; and the Rt. Rev. Charles P. Anderson, Episcopal Bishop Coadjutor of Chicago.
Standing (l to r) are: the Rt. Rev. Anthony Kozlowski of the Polish National Catholic Church ; the Rt. Rev. G. M. Williams, Episcopal Bishop of Marquette (now Northern Michigan); Bishop Reginald Weller, the Rt. Rev. Joseph M. Francis, Episcopal Bishop of Indianapolis, the Rt. Rev. William E. McLaren, Episcopal Bishop of Chicago; the Rt. Rev. Arthur L. Williams, Episcopal Bishop Coadjutor of Nebraska; St. John (Kochurov) of Chicago, protomartyr of the Bolshevik Revolution, Fr. Sebastian Dabovich, chaplains to the Russian Bishop--St. Tikhon, then Orthodox Bishop of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. |
The Famous 'Circus' Photo
In 1900, Bishop Grafton found himself at the center of controversy when he presided at the consecration of R.H. Weller as Bishop Coadjutor of Fond du Lac. A number of bishops from neighboring dioceses took part in the service. Also in attendance, at Grafton’s invitation, was Tikhon, the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. After the service, the bishops went outside to pose for a picture. For the first time ever, bishops of the Episcopal Church were photographed wearing copes and mitres. The picture, which became known as "the Fond du Lac Circus," and was widely published in church publications and became a heated controversy.
There were a number of controversies associated with this photo. First, the Episcopal Church had always had high, low, and broad factions that emphasized different aspects of the faith. The low church faction typically identifiea itself as Protestant. Contrast this with the high church faction which has identified itself with other "catholic" churches, such as the Roman, Old Catholic and Orthodox Churches. This photo was the first public photo, showing Episcopal bishops dressed in catholic vestments (as opposed to the more Protestant rochet, chimere, and tippet) and was an outrage to low church members of the Episcopal Church.
Bishop Grafton had invited St. Tikhon and his Orthodox entourage and Bishop Kozlowski of the Polish National Catholic Church to come to the service, not merely to observe, but to participate. Ultimately, they did not, but they did vest and sit with the other bishops present. Even this was scandalous to the low church members of the Episcopal Church who held that Episcopalians had more in common with the other Protestant denominations than with the Old Catholics or "Greek Catholics" (i.e., Orthodox).
Links to other Grafton information and documents:
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