Francis Huger Rutledge was the first Episcopal

Episcopal Church (United States)

The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...

 bishop of Florida

Episcopal Diocese of Florida

The Episcopal Diocese of Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America . It originally comprised the whole state of Florida, but is now bounded on the west by the Apalachicola River, on the north by the Georgia state line, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the...

.

Early life

Rutledge was born in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, the son of Hugh Rutledge and Mary (Golightly) Rutledge. He graduated from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in 1820, and from the General Theological Seminary

General Theological Seminary

The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church is a seminary of the Episcopal Church in the United States and is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York....

 in 1823. Rutledge was ordained deacon in 1823, and began officiating at Christ Church the same year. He was ordained priest in 1825, and moved to become rector of Grace Church, Sullivan's Island, in 1827. In 1845, he moved to Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...

 and became rector of St. John's Church

St. John's Episcopal Church (Tallahassee, Florida)

St. John's Episcopal Church is an historic church in Tallahassee, Florida. It is located at 211 North Monroe Street. On August 10, 1978, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.-References and external links:* at * ** **...

.

Bishop of Florida

Rutledge was elected Bishop of the new diocese of Florida in 1851. He was the 53rd bishop in the ECUSA, and was consecrated by Bishops Christopher E. Gadsden

Christopher E. Gadsden

Christopher Edwards Gadsden was the fourth Episcopal Bishop of South Carolina.Gadsden was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1785, the son of Phillip Gadsden and his wife, Catherine Edwards. He was a grandson of Christopher Gadsden, the South Carolina Revolutionary leader...

, Stephen Elliott

Stephen Elliott (bishop)

The Right Reverend Stephen Elliott was the 37th bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He was the first Bishop of Georgia and Provisional Bishop of Florida...

, and Nicholas Hamner Cobbs

Nicholas Hamner Cobbs

Bishop Nicholas Hamner Cobbs was minister and evangelist of the Episcopal church. He was born in Bedford County, Virginia, on 5 February, 1796. Cobbs was raised a Presbyterian and educated privately. He was subsequently confirmed an Episcopalian and ordained a deacon on the same day, May 23,...

. When the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

started, Rutledge was an advocate for secession, even agreeing to pay $500 to the state treasury as soon as the secession ordinance had passed. He died in 1866 and is buried in his native South Carolina.