William Ingraham Kip

William Ingraham Kip (October 3, 1811 – April 7, 1893) was an American Episcopal bishop.

Early life Kip was born in New York City, of Breton ancestry, the son of Leonard Kip and Maria (Ingraham) Kip. He graduated at Yale in 1831. After briefly studying law, Kip turned to a clerical calling and graduated from the General Theological Seminary in 1835. He was the 59th bishop in the ECUSA, and was consecrated by Bishops Jackson Kemper, Alfred Lee, and William Jones Boone. Kip's brother, Leonard, had already moved to California during the Gold Rush, but returned to New York by the time Kip arrived in San Francisco. On arriving in San Francisco, Kip had only two congregations under his charge, but the Episcopal population soon began to grow as immigrants from the East streamed into California. When California became a diocese in its own right in 1856, Kip was elected as its first bishop. He continued to serve as Bishop of California until his death in 1893. His last act in office was the ordination of his grandson, William Ingraham Kip, III. Kip was noted for his Episcopalian Catholicism, which he considered as a means of raising the spiritual sights of California's urban centers. He also promoted the idea of "Grace Cathedral" for San Francisco, which was also advanced by his successor, William F. Nichols.

Among his works are: The Lenten Fast (1843) Early Jesuit Missions in North America (1846) The Catacombs of Rome (1854) The Olden Time in New York (1872) The Church and the Apostles (1877) Double Witness of the Church (twenty-second edition, 1904)

Personal life

Kip was married to Maria Elizabeth Lawrence, the daughter of merchant banker Isaac Lawrence and Cornelia Beach (the daughter of a minister of Trinity Church). They had two children: three of whom survived to adulthood: Elizabeth Clementine Kip (married Guy L. Eddie of the U.S. Army); Lawrence Kip; and Mary Burnet Kip (married to Dr. Ernest Franklin Robertson of Kansas City, KS).

His great-great-grandsons are businesspeople Frederick R. Koch, Charles Koch, David Koch, and Bill Koch.

William Ingraham Kip died in San Francisco on April 7, 1893, and was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma.