Thomas F. Scott (bishop)

Thomas Fielding Scott (March 12, 1807 – July 14, 1867) was the first missionary Episcopal Bishop of Washington and Oregon territories.

Scott was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, the son of James Scott and Rebekkah Worke Scott. He attended Franklin College (later the University of Georgia), graduating in 1829. Scott was ordained deacon in 1843, and ordained priest the following year. After his ordination to the priesthood, he became rector of St. James' Church in Marietta, Georgia. He later moved to Columbus, Georgia to become rector of Trinity Church in that town, remaining there until his ordination as bishop. While there, Scott received a doctorate in divinity from his alma mater.

Scott was consecrated the first missionary Bishop of Washington and Oregon territories in 1854. He was the 60th bishop in the ECUSA, and was consecrated in Christ Church, Savannah, Georgia by Bishops Stephen Elliott, Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, and Thomas F. Davis. On arriving in Oregon in April 22, 1854, Scott took possession of an acre of land in Eugene, Oregon given to him for a church building by the town’s founder, Eugene Skinner. The following Sunday he held services at Trinity Church in Portland, Oregon. Given the large spand of territory he only had two clergy to help, Fackler and McCarty. There were only three organized congregations and all were in Oregon. For the first six years of Bishop Scott's Episcopate Fr. McCarty was the only clergy in Washington. In October 1854 Fr. McCarty was directed to Fort Steilacoom on Puget Sound. He held regular services at Nisqually and Olympia. Later he would found the first church in Washington upon settling in Vancouver with his new wife. St. Luke's parish, Vancouver, was consecrated by Bishop Scott on May 27, 1860.(Jessett 17-18).

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