Samuel Cook Edsall was a bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

 and Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 in the Episcopal Church

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...

.

He was the son of James K. Edsall, Illinois Attorney General

Illinois Attorney General

The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by election through universal suffrage...

. After graduating from Racine College

Racine College

Racine College was an Episcopal college in Racine, Wisconsin, founded in 1852. The collegiate department closed in 1887, but the college continued to be used as a grammar school and a military school until it closed in 1933....

, he initially followed his father's career, working as a lawyer in Chicago. However, he became increasingly involved in religious work. He attended Western Theological Seminary

Seabury-Western Theological Seminary

Seabury-Western Theological Seminary is a seminary of The Episcopal Church, located in Evanston, Illinois. It was formed in 1933 by a merger of Western Theological Seminary of Evanston , and Seabury Divinity School of Faribault, Minnesota...

, was ordained deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 in 1888, and priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

in 1889. He was consecrated Missionary Bishop of North Dakota on January 25, 1899. In 1901, he became bishop of Minnesota.

Edsall wrote Prayer Book Preparation for Confirmation.