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Clergymen whose election or nomination was not confirmed:
1783. The Rev. William Smith, D.D. Elected Bishop of Maryland. He went to England for consecration [disputed], but his election having been pronounced defective, consecration was refused. He was charged with intoxication [at a previous General Convention] by the General Convention of 1785, and censured by the House of Deputies in 1786.
1795. The Rev. Samuel Peters. Elected Bishop of Vermont. General Convention refused to accept testimonials on the ground that Vermont had not acceded to the constitution of the national church. There were questions as to the character of Peters, who was resident in England at the time.
1798/1801. The Rev. Uzal Ogden. Elected twice as Bishop of New Jersey. General Convention of 1799 refused to accept testimonials on the grounds that an insufficient number of canonical clergy participated in the election. Testimonials were referred back to the diocese. Ogden was re-elected and General Convention 1801 again refused to confirm his election because of questions as to his "loyalty to the teachings of this Church." He was known as an extreme Evangelical and eventually became a Presbyterian.
1841. The Rev. N. H. Cobbs. Nominated Missionary Bishop of Texas by the House of Bishops. The House of Deputies declared by resolution that it was “inexpedient to go into an election at that time,” and no further action was taken.
1844. The Rev. Francis Lister Hawks. Elected Bishop of Mississippi. After debate in the House of Deputies, it was unanimously voted to “suspend all proceedings until a future Convention of Mississippi should declare their sense on the subject.” He had been charged with financial misconduct, but was exonerated. Dr. Hawks refused to allow his name before the convention again.
1847. The Rev. James Britton. Elected assistant bishop of Illinois. General Convention 1847 refused confirmation on the grounds that his testimonials did not conform to the canonical requirements.
1856. The Rev. Jacob L. Clark. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Nebraska and Kansas. The House of Deputies declined to act upon the nomination.
1865. The Rev. Milton C. Lightner. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Colorado. His election was not confirmed by the Deputies.
1865. The Rev. Robert J. Parvin. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Nevada. His election was not confirmed by the Deputies.
1871. The Rev. William H. Hare. Nominated Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas with jurisdiction in West Africa. Nomination was withdrawn at the request of the Board of Foreign Missions.
1874/1875. The Rev. James De Koven. Elected Bishop of Wisconsin, then Illinois. Rejected twice by the Standing Committees, not by General Convention. In 1874 he was elected Bishop of Wisconsin, and in 1875 Bishop of Illinois, but because he was "controversial" (DeKoven was a “ritualist” or Anglo-Catholic) he failed both times to have his election ratified by a majority of Bishops and a majority of Standing Committees of Dioceses, as required by canon law. See http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/03/22.html.
1874. The Rev. George Franklin Seymour. Elected Bishop of Illinois. Not confirmed because of his "high" (Anglo-Catholic) theological views. The diocese was later divided and he was elected, confirmed and consecrated Bishop of the new Diocese of Springfield in 1878.
1875. The Rev. J. H. Eccleston. Elected Bishop of Iowa. Doubts as to validity of election. Declined.
1892. The Rev. Frederick R. Graves. Nominated for Shanghai but rejected by the House of Deputies. The record is unclear why, but in June 1893 he was nevertheless consecrated Bishop of Shanghai.
1898. The Rev. George Calvin Hall. Nominated for Kyoto but rejected.
1912. The Rev. H. Percy Silver. Elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Kansas. Not confirmed because he was divorced. Later elected Bishop Coadjutor of Texas, then Wyoming, but declined both.
1932. The Very Rev. John Williamson. Elected Bishop of Arkansas. House of Bishops declined to confirm due to racism in the election process.
1934. The Rev. John Torok. Nominated for Bishop Suffragan of Eau Claire. Rejected by General Convention. Torok, who was Hungarian, was consecrated bishop in Vienna in the Eastern Rite Catholic tradition and received as an Episcopal priest by the Bishop of Maryland. In 1934, the Bishop of Eau Claire asked General Convention to make him suffragan, which was done. He appears to have been rejected by General Convention the next year. Apparently, the House of Bishops said that he could serve, but without performing episcopal rites. Bishop Wilson received Torok at his cathedral in November 1935, but the House of Bishops declared this improper in its meeting in Evanston in December 1936. (See http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848273,00.html and http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788599,00.html.) Both the Diocese of Eau Claire and the Episcopal Church Archives have volumes of materials on Torok.
Clergymen who declined their own election to the episcopate:
1783. The Rev. Jeremiah Leaming and the Rev. Samuel Seabury were both chosen by a Committee of the Clergy of the Diocese, to the Episcopate of Connecticut. Leaming declined.
1785. The Rev. Thomas B. Chandler. Elected Bishop of Nova Scotia. Declined.
1786. The Rev. David Griffith. Elected Bishop of Virginia. Declined. [In dispute: “He did not decline. Instead he tried for nearly 2 years to raise the funds necessary to go to England for consecration. Very discouraged and ill, he notified the Virginia convention in 1789 that he was resigning. Griffith died in Philadelphia where had had gone to attend the General Convention.” JRG]
1787. The Rev. Jeremiah Leaming, D.D. Elected Bishop-Coadjutor of Connecticut. Declined.
1794. The Rev. Charles Pettigrew. Elected Bishop of North Carolina. Accepted, but never consecrated due to health issues.
1796. The Rev. John Bowden, D.D. Elected Bishop of Connecticut. Declined.
1804. The Rev. Edward Jenkins, D.D. Elected Bishop of South Carolina. Declined.
1812. The Rev. John Bracken, D.D. Elected Bishop of Virginia. Declined. [In dispute: “Accepted election as bishop in 1812, but he soon found out that group of young clergy and laity (notably Edmund Lee, and the Revs. William Wilmer and William Meade) opposed his election. They brow beat him into resigning in 1813 so they could arrange for the election of a younger evangelical, Richard Channing Moore.” JRG]
1815. The Rev. John Croes. Elected Bishop of Connecticut. Declined.
1835. The Rev. Francis L. Hawks. Elected Missionary Bishop in the State of Louisiana, and in the Territories of Arkansas and Florida. Declined.
1838. The Rev. Alonzo Potter. Elected Assistant Bishop of Massachusetts. Declined.
1838. The Rev. Manton Eastburn. Elected Bishop of Maryland. Declined.
1838. The Rt. Rev. Jackson Kemper, Missionary Bishop of the Northwest. Elected Bishop of Maryland. Declined.
1839. The Rev. Benjamin Dorr. Elected Bishop of Maryland. Declined.
1841. The Rev. John A. Vaughan. Elected Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas. Declined.
1843. The Rev. Thomas Atkinson. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.
1844. The Rev. Alexander Glennie. Elected Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas. Declined.
1847. The Rev. Thomas Atkinson. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.
1847. The Rev. Samuel Bowman. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.
1849. The Rev. Francis Vinton. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.
1852. The Rev. Francis L. Hawks. Elected Bishop of Rhode Island. Declined.
1854. The Rev. William Creighton. Elected Provisional Bishop of New York. Declined.
1855. The Rev. Arthur Cleveland Coxe. Elected Bishop of Texas. Declined.
1856. The Rev. Sullivan H. Weston. Elected Bishop of Texas. Declined.
1859. The Rev. Jacob L. Clark. Elected Missionary Bishop of the Northwest. Declined.
1860. The Rev. Heman Dyer. Elected Bishop of Kansas. Declined.
1865. The Rev. M.A. DeWolfe Howe. Elected Missionary Bishop of Nevada. Declined.
1866. The Rev. F. D. Huntington. Elected Bishop of Maine. Declined.
1868. The Rev. B. H. Paddock. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Oregon and Washington Territory. Declined.
1869. The Rev. A.N. Littlejohn. Elected Bishop of Central New York. Declined.
1873. The Rev. Benjamin I. Haight. Elected Bishop of Massachusetts. Declined.
1874. The Rev. Leighton Coleman. Elected Bishop of Fond du Lac. Declined.
1875. The Rev. W. R. Huntington. Elected Bishop of Iowa. Declined.
1875. The Rev. Henry C. Potter. Elected Bishop of Iowa. Declined.
1875. The Rev. W.H. Clarke. Nominated Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas, with jurisdiction in West Africa. Declined.
1875/76/77. The Rev. Samuel I.J. Schereschewsky. Elected Missionary Bishop of Shanghai, with jurisdiction in China. Declined, November 1875. Reelected October 1876; declined election, then withdrew withdrawal and was consecrated October 1877. (Source: James Arthur Muller, “Apostle of China, Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereskewsky, 1831-1906.” New York: Morehouse, 1937)
1875. The Rev. John T. Magrath. Nominated Missionary Bishop of Cape Palmas, with jurisdiction in West Africa. Declined.
1875. The Rev. J.S. Shipman. Elected Bishop of Fond du Lac. Declined.
1877. The Rev. D. B. Knickerbacker. Elected Missionary Bishop of New Mexico and Arizona. Declined.
1877. The Rev. S. S. Harris. Elected Bishop of Quincy. Declined.
1877. The Rev. J.H. Eccleston. Elected Bishop of West Virginia. Declined.
1878. The Rev. George F. Seymour. Elected Bishop of Springfield, Illinois. Declined.
1880. The Rev. William A. Leonard. Nominated by the House of Bishops as Missionary Bishop of Montana. Declined.
1883. The Rev. Isaac L. Nicholson. Elected Bishop of Indiana. Declined.
1883. The Rev. George Worthington. Elected Missionary Bishop to China. Declined.
1908/1911. The Rev. Berryman Green. Elected Bishop Coadjutor of Virginia. Declined both times.
1911. The Rev. Robert Saunders Coupland. Elected Bishop Coadjutor of Virginia. Declined.
1913. The Rev. H. Percy Silver. Elected Bishop Coadjutor of Texas. Declined.
1927. The Rev. H. Percy Silver. Elected Bishop of Wyoming. Declined.
1938. The Very Rev. Claude W. Sprouse. Elected Bishop of Arkansas. Declined.
1950. The Rev. David E. Richards. Elected Bishop Suffragan of Albany. Declined (withdrew). Elected again in 1951, confirmed and consecrated.
1957. The Rev. Charles Norman Middleton. Elected Bishop Suffragan of Colorado. Declined.
In Question:
DATE. The Rev. John Coburn. Elected Bishop of DIOCESE. Declined.
