Elliott, Stephen

(Aug. 31, 1806-Dec. 21, 1866). Bishop and educator. He was born in Beaufort, South Carolina. In the fall of 1822 he entered the sophomore class at Harvard, and the next year he transferred to Carolina College in Charleston. After studying law for two years, he was admitted to the bar in 1827. In 1830 he assumed the editorship of The Southern Review , but after a few months he moved to Beaufort to practice law. In Beaufort he was converted to evangelical Christianity and became a “new creature in Christ.” He studied for the ordained ministry on his own. Elliott was ordained deacon on Nov. 8, 1835. He served a church in Wilton, South Carolina, for about a month and then became the professor of the evidences of Christianity and sacred literature at Carolina College. He was ordained priest on June 22, 1838. On Feb. 28, 1841, he was consecrated the first Bishop of Georgia and served in that position until his death. From 1845 until 1852 he was the head of the Montpelier Institute, and from 1852 until 1866 he was the rector of Christ Church, Savannah. Elliott presided at three of the General Councils of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America. He was a founder of the University of the South and served as its third Chancellor from June 14, 1864, until his death. He died in Savannah.