John Adams Paddock

Background

John Adams Paddock was born on January 19, 1825 in Norwich, Connecticut, United States. He was the eldest son of Reverend Seth Birdsey and Emily (Flagg) Paddock, and a brother of Bishop Benjamin H. Paddock.

Education

At the age of twenty John Adams Paddock graduated from Trinity College, Hartford, and in 1849 from the General Theological Seminary, New York. On July 22, 1849 he was ordained deacon at Christ Church, Norwich.

Career

Paddock served as assistant to Reverend Lot Jones at the Church of the Epiphany, New York. In 1850 he was ordained priest at Christ Church, Stratford, Connecticut, of which church he was rector until 1855. For the next twenty-five years he was in charge of St. Peter's Church, Brooklyn, and active in the administrative work of the diocese of Long Island. In 1880 he was made missionary bishop of Washington Territory and on December 15, was consecrated at St. Peter's.

In the spring of the following year he began more than a decade of strenuous activity in the Northwest. On the way out his wife contracted pneumonia and died soon after their arrival on the field. Before leaving the East she had collected money to take with her as the nucleus of a fund for establishing a much-needed hospital. More was added, and on the first anniversary of her death, Bishop Paddock dedicated at Tacoma the Fannie C. Paddock Memorial Hospital (later the Tacoma General Hospital).

With good sense and unflagging devotion, never sparing himself, he sought to further the religious and educational interests of the Territory. His efforts in this cause impaired his health, and he was never entirely well thereafter. By 1892 the comparatively few missions and parishes of which he had taken charge when he was made bishop had so increased in numbers that the field was divided into two jurisdictions, and he became missionary bishop of Olympia, with some fifty-seven missions and parishes in his care. While returning from the General Convention of 1892, he suffered a stroke and later went to Southern California in the interest of his health. Here, near Santa Barbara, he died on March 4, 1894. Among his published writings are: An Historical Discourse, Delivered in Christ Church, Stratford, Connecticut, March 28th, 1855 (1855), and The Modern Manifestations of Superstition and Skepticism (1870).

Achievements

• John Adams Paddock was a distinguished clergyman. He was the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, serving from 1880 to 1894. He raised $50, 000 in the East to insure a conditional gift of land and money for the establishment at Tacoma of the Anna Wright Seminary and Washington College.

Works

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• book

  • An historical discourse delivered in Christ Church, Stratford, Conn: On the fifth Sunday in Lent, March 28th, 1855
  • The modern manifestations of superstition and skepticism: An address pronounced before the House of Convocation of Trinity College, Hartford, Ct., July 13, 1870

Connections

On June 1850 Paddock married Ellen M. Jones, the rector's daughter, who died shortly after their marriage. On April 23, 1856, he married Frances Chester, daughter of Patrick and Susan Alada (Thurston) Fanning. Soon his wife contracted pneumonia and died.

Father:

Seth Birdsey Paddock

Mother:

Emily (Flagg) Paddock

Spouse:

Ellen M.Jones

Spouse:

Frances Chester Paddock

Daughter :

Florence Hubbard Paddock

Daughter:

Lillie Bedell Paddock

Daughter:

Fannie Paddock Hinsdale

Daughter:

Alada Thurston Paddock Miller

Daughter:

Edith Flagg Paddock

Daughter:

Eleanor Paddock Hutchinson

Son:

John Benjamin Paddock

Son :

Robert Lewis Paddock

References

• Tacoma, its history and its builders; a half century of activity