Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana Archives

Rev. Bryan Bernard Killikelly

The Rev. Bryan B. Killikelly was born on 18 January 1804 in Bridgetown on the island of Barbados, the son of Bryan Bernard and Elizabeth Dennes (Parven) Killikelly. The father was an officer in the British navy. Killikelly came to America in 1826. He married Maria Meech Brown. He was ordained to the diaconate on 19 July 1834 and to the priesthood at Trinity Church, Freeport, Pennsylvania, on 25 April 1836, both times by Bishop Onderdonk. He spent most of his ministry serving parishes in Pennsylvania. However, in 1839, Bishop Kemper recruited him to come to Vincennes, Indiana, to help organize St. James Church and to erect a church. He traveled to England in 1840 to raise money for the venture and reportedly received 10 pounds from Queen Adelaide, widow of King William IV. Killikelly also assumed the presidency of Vincennes University, but the administrative tasks proved too great and he resigned both charges. He was the only Episcopal clergyman in Indiana to serve as an officer of the Indiana Colonization Society, which advocated for the resettlement of African Americans to Liberia.

Killikelly went briefly to Mississippi but by 1845 was back in Indiana, taking charge of St. Mary's Church in Delphi, which at the time was a prosperous parish near the Wabash and Erie Canal. He left there in 1848 and returned to Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of his ministry. His last charge was at Grace Church, Mount Washington, Pennsylvania. He died at Kittanning, Pennsylvania, on 11 April 1877 and was buried in Kittanning Cemetery. At the time of his death it was reported, "As a man, Dr. Killikelly was irreproachable. He was courteous, gentle, sympathetic. As a priest he lived above the world' self-denying, ever ready to spend and be spent in God's service."

     

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