Editing General Theological Seminary (section)

===Founding===
In May 1817 [[General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America|General Convention]], the governing body of the Episcopal Church, met in New York City and passed two resolutions:  first, to found a general Episcopal seminary to be supported by the whole church; second, that it be located in New York City.<ref name=gts/> This was emended in 1820 to remove the school to [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]], [[Connecticut]],<ref>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 57–8]}}.</ref> but in 1821 the will of [[Trinity Church (Manhattan)|Trinity Church]] [[vestry]] member Jacob Sherred unexpectedly heeded the words of his friend [[John Pintard]]<ref>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 72]}}.</ref> and directed that his entire fortune of around [[US dollar|$]]60,000 should be paid when:

<blockquote>... there shall be established within the state of New-York, under the direction or by the authority of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, or of the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New-York, a College, Academy, School, or Seminary, for the education of young men designed for holy orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church.<ref name=dst>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA73 73]}}.</ref></blockquote>

The newly established diocesan school in New York expected to be the beneficiary and [[John Henry Hobart|Bishop Hobart]] published his thanks for the gift in the April 4 ''New York Evening Post'',<ref name=dst/> since the General Seminary had already begun its 1820 term in Connecticut.<ref>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64 64]}}.</ref> A special convocation of the bishops was hastily arranged, however,<ref>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 74–5]}}.</ref> and it was agreed to return the school to New York City in order to claim Sherred's grant,<ref>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 76]}}.</ref> although the Virginia deputies continued to bemoan that the seminary should be "placed under more favorable auspices for the promotion of what we [believe] to be sound views of the Gospel and the Church than it would be in New York".<ref>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 77]}}.</ref> Duncan Cameron mollified them and convinced one to note that "the evil of the undue influence of New York in the General Seminary ... would be chiefly at the beginning, and would be decreasing every year".<ref>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 77–8]}}.</ref> With some stipulations concerning its governance, Bishop Hobart consented to the union of the diocesan school with the General Seminary rather than contesting the inheritance.<ref>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 76–7]}}.</ref>  The unified school opened for the spring term of 1822.<ref>{{harvp|Dawley|1969|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4BKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA80 80]}}.</ref>

Other parishioners of [[Trinity Church (Manhattan)|Trinity Church]] went on to support the once more local institution. [[Clement Clarke Moore]], famous for penning ''[[A Visit from St. Nicholas]]'', owned the estate "Chelsea", which included most of what would become the Manhattan neighborhood by that name.  Also a member of Trinity Church, he donated 66 tracts of land—which was his apple orchard—to become the site of the new seminary.  It was not, however, until 1827 that the seminary occupied that land.<ref name=gts>[http://gts.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1030%3Agts-detailed-history&catid=35&Itemid=52 "A Detailed History of General Seminary"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216042655/http://gts.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1030%3Agts-detailed-history&catid=35&Itemid=52 |date=2010-12-16 }} General Theological Seminary. Retrieved July 23, 2011.</ref>

Other figures influential in the founding of the seminary include [[Theodore Dehon]], [[William White (Bishop of Pennsylvania)|William White]], and [[John Henry Hobart]].  Bishop Hobart served as the seminary's first dean, after which the [[Episcopal Diocese of New York|Bishop of New York]] served in this capacity until the 1850s.{{clear left}}

[[File:GTS Vintage Postcard.jpg|thumb|Eastern quad of Hoffman's Grand Design at The General Theological Seminary]]