Leaming, Jeremiah

(1717-Sept. 15, 1804). The first person elected Bishop in Connecticut, Leaming declined to be consecrated because of age and infirmities. Born in Middletown, Connecticut, Leaming was baptized on May 12, 1717, at Durham, Connecticut, as a Congregationalist. He graduated from Yale College in 1745. While at Yale, Leaming left Congregationalism and joined the Church of England under the influence of Samuel Johnson of Stratford, Connecticut. He was sent to England at the expense of Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island, to be ordained. He was ordained deacon and priest in England in 1748. He returned to Newport to be the head of the parochial school and assistant to the rector. From 1758 until 1779, Leaming was rector of St. Paul's Church, Norwalk, Connecticut. During the Revolution he was a Loyalist. He was once imprisoned for his views. In 1779 he went with the British troops to New York, where he remained until 1784. In Mar. 1783 the Connecticut clergy met at Woodbury to elect a bishop. They chose Leaming, but he declined the election, and Samuel Seabury was then elected. From 1784 until 1790 Leaming was rector of the church in Stratford, Connecticut. He spent his retirement in New York and New Haven. He died in New Haven.