William Montgomery Brown

William Montgomery Brown (1855 – 1937), sometimes called "Bad Bishop" Brown, was an Episcopal clergyman and author. Brown, of Galion, Ohio was consecrated a bishop of the Episcopal Church, but is best remembered as the first Episcopal bishop to be tried for heresy since the Reformation, and the first of any creed in America to be deposed for heretical teachings. He later became a bishop in the Old Catholic Church.

William Montgomery Brown was born on September 4, 1855, on a farm west of Orrville, Ohio, the son of a Joseph Morrison and Lucina Elzina Cary Brown. His father was a tenant farmer who moved the family to Michigan in 1858, and later enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. Joseph Brown served in Tennessee before becoming ill, and was sent home to recuperate. He died on August 1, 1862. His mother moved the family back to Ohio, and "Willy" was "hired out" to a farmer who did not treat the boy well and neglected to provide for his education.

When Willy was 15, the county placed him with a farmer named Jacob Gardner, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Gardner's piety greatly influenced young Brown. During this time he became seriously ill with typhoid fever. Years later Brown recalled making a bargain with God to devote his life to the ministry if his life would be spared. His health improved and he saved enough from the money his foster parents paid him to leave Ohio just after his 21st birthday. In 1876, Brown traveled to Omaha, Nebraska and got a job driving a carriage for a judge, who arranged for Brown to enter public school. After graduating, Brown returned to Ohio and worked in a tannery.

Philanthropist Mary Scranton Bradford agreed to underwrite his education at the Episcopal Seminary, Bexley Hall, at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Mrs. Bradford sent him to Seabury Divinity School in Minnesota from 1879 to 1880 so he could prepare for the seminary course. He finished his studies in 1883, but because he did not take all of his courses at Kenyon, he never received a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Bexley. Brown was ordained and in 1883, became vicar of Grace Church in Galion, Ohio. In 1891, he became the archbishop for missionary work in the Diocese of Ohio and wrote his popular The Church for Americans, which explained the beliefs of the Episcopal Church. This placed him in the national spotlight. He was consecrated assistant bishop of Arkansas in 1898 and succeeded to the bishopric after the death of Henry Niles Pierce. Also in 1898, he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Kenyon College.

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