Elisha Smith Thomas
Elisha Smith Thomas (March 2, 1834 – March 9, 1895) was second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas from 1889 to 1895. Early life and education. Thomas was born on March 2, 1834 in Wickford, Rhode Island, the son of Allen Mason Thomas and Charlotte Smith. He was educated at Yale University, graduating in 1858. In 1859 he taught in a 'Deaf and Dumb Asylum' in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while in 1869 he spent time travelling around Europe. He then enrolled to study theology at Berkeley Divinity School and graduated in 1861. In 1887, Yale awarded him  with an honorary Doctor of Divinity. Ordained Ministry. Thomas was ordained deacon on May 17, 1861 by Bishop Thomas M. Clark at St Paul's Church in Wickford, Rhode Island, and then priest on April 5, 1862 at St Paul's Church in New Haven, Connecticut by Bishop John Williams. On October 2, 1861, he married Georgine M. Brown. Between 1861 and 1864, he served as rector of St Paul's Church in New Haven, Connecticut and then in 1864, he was elected rector of Seabury Divinity School in Faribault, Minnesota, and in 1865 he became Professor of Biblical Exegesis  and Hebrew. In 1869 he spent time abroad studying the Semitic languages. In 1870 he became rector of St Mark's Church in Minnesota and in 1876 he transferred to Saint Paul, Minnesota to become the rector of St Paul's Church. Bishop. Thomas was elected Assistant Bishop of Kansas on the first ballot on February 2, 1887. He was consecrated on May 4, 1887 in St Paul's Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota by Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple of Minnesota. He succeeded as diocesan bishop on October 6, 1889. He died in office in 1895.