Education
Born in the New York City, he graduated from Columbia College in 1849 and the General Theological Seminary in 1852.
Born in the New York City, he graduated from Columbia College in 1849 and the General Theological Seminary in 1852.
He was ordained deacon in the Church of the Transfiguration, New York on June 27, 1852 by Bishop Carleton Chase and priest in Saint Mark"s, Augusta, Maine on September 27, 1854 by Bishop George Burgess. Armitage"s first position was as assistant at Saint John"s, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was then called to Saint Mark"s, Augusta, Maine, until called to be rector of Saint John"s, Detroit, Michigan, where he was when elected to the episcopate.
He received his doctorate in divinity from Columbia College in 1866.
Armitage was consecrated as a at Saint John"s Detroit on December 6, 1866, by bishops Kemper, McCoskry, H. West. Lee, Whipple, J. C. Talbot, Coxe, Clarkson, Kerfoot, and Cummins, together with Bishop Cronyn, the Bishop of Huron, Canada. He was coadjutor bishop to Jackson Kemper (1866–1870) and on the death of Kemper served as the second Bishop of Wisconsin (1870–1873).
He died in Saint Luke"s Hospital, New York, on December 7, 1873, and his remains are buried in Detroit, Michigan, at Elmwood Cemetery. Armitage was a scholar, a polished writer, an earnest preacher, a wise administrator.