Historical Society of the Episcopal Church - "Episcopalian" Attendees of the U.S. Constitutional Convention

Historical Society of the
Episcopal Church

"Episcopalians" Who Attended the U.S. Constitutional Convention*

1. William Samuel Johnson — Connecticut
2. Richard Bassett — Delaware (originally Episcopalian, later in life a Methodist)
3. Jacob Broom — Delaware
4. John Dickinson — Delaware (originally a Quaker, later life inclined toward the Episcopal Church)
5. George Read — Delaware
6. William Few — Georgia
7. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer — Maryland
8. Rufus King — Massachusetts
9. David Brearly — New Jersey

10. Jonathan Dayton — New Jersey
11. Alexander Hamilton — New York
12. William Blount — North Carolina
13. Richard D. Spaight — North Carolina
14. George Clymer — Pennsylvania
15. Benjamin Franklin — Pennsylvania
16. Jared Ingersoll — Pennsylvania (probably)
17. Thomas Mifflin — Pennsylvania

18. Gouverneur Morris — Pennsylvania
19. Robert Morris — Pennsylvania
20. James Wilson — Pennsylvania
21. Pierce Butler — South Carolina
22. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney — South Carolina
23. Charles Pinckney — South Carolina
24. John Rutledge — South Carolina
25. James Blair — Virginia
26. James Madison, Jr. — Virginia
27. George Washington — Virginia

55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention of the United States of America. Of these, 27 were connected with what would become the Episcopal Church in some way. While a number of Episcopalians take some amount of pride in this fact, it may be noted that some of these persons were only nominally connected.

* This list must be taken with a grain of salt. The Constitution of the United States, ratified June 21, 1788, came into force March 4, 1789. The Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons were ratified October 1789. Those listed had connection to the Episcopal Church, or its predecessor (the Church if England), none were members as there was technically no Episcopal Church at that point in time. It may be argued that there was an informal or unofficial Episcopal Church with some structures in place and bishops who were consecrated.

This list is based on the work of the Rev. Donald Smith Armentrout, retired professor of church history and historical theology, the Charles Quintard professor of dogmatic theology, and director of the Advanced Degrees Program at the University of the South’s School of Theology in Sewanee, Tennessee. It had been supplement by Matthew P. Payne, Director of Operations of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church.

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