Background
Vail was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Israel E. Vail and Maria Rogers Vail, who had emigrated there from New England.
Vail was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Israel E. Vail and Maria Rogers Vail, who had emigrated there from New England.
He attended Washington College (now Trinity College), graduating in 1831. He next attended the General Theological Seminary, graduating in 1835.
Vail was ordained deacon that year, and ordained priest in 1837. After his ordination to the priesthood, he became rector of Christ Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1837. While rector of Christ Church, Vail wrote "Hannah," a sacred drama, which he published anonymously in 1839.
Two years later, Vail moved to Essex, Connecticut to become rector of Saint John"s Church in that town.
In 1844, he moved again, to Christ Church of Westerly, Rhode Island, where he remained for thirteen years. While there, Vail received a doctorate of sacred theology from Brown University.
In 1857, Vail returned to Massachusetts to become rector of Saint Thomas Church in Taunton. He moved once more, in 1863, to Muscatine, Iowa, to serve as rector of Trinity Church.
Vail was consecrated the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas in 1864.
He was the 73rd bishop in the ECUSA, and was consecrated in Christ Church, Savannah, Georgia by Bishops Jackson Kemper, Henry John Whitehouse, and Henry Washington Lee. As bishop, Vail founded the College of the Sisters of Bethany (now a part of Washburn University) and earned a doctorate of laws from the University of Kansas. He died in 1889 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
He is buried in the Topeka Cemetery, Topeka, Kansas.