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The Diocese of Quincy, until 2008, was a single Anglican diocese in western Illinois that was part of the Episcopal Church. The majority of its territory is between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. It was formed by geographic division from the Diocese of Illinois in 1877. Since November 2008, Anglican realignment has resulted in two dioceses using the name: the Diocese of Quincy (Southern Cone) and the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy.

The diocese was named after Quincy, Illinois, its original episcopal see; the see was moved to Peoria in 1963, but the Quincy name was kept to lessen confusion with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria.

At the diocese's 131st Synod in 2008, the counties in the diocese were Adams, Brown, Bureau, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Knox, McDonough, Mercer, Peoria, Pike, Schuyler, Stark, Warren, and Woodford. Woodford was transferred from the Diocese of Chicago after the Diocese of Quincy was created.

Illinois (1834-1877)


Illinois was settled primarily from the south northward. The first Anglican parishes in Illinois were Trinity in Jacksonville, formed in 1832 with Rev. John Batchelder as Rector in 1833; then a congregation comprised of Rushville and Beardstown, lead by Rev. James C. Richmond, in 1833. In 1834, St. Jude's Church was founded in what became downtown Peoria, with Rev. Palmer Dyer as Rector. In Chicago, Rev. Issac N. Hallem had become Rector of St. James Church, a newly formed congregation of 12.

On March 9, 1835, Batchelder, Dyer, Richmond, and 6 laymen from Beardstown, Peoria, and Rushville gathered in Peoria and organized the Diocese of Illinois. The diocese had 28 communicants in six towns: Beardstown, Chicago, Galena, Jacksonville, and Peoria. Dyer knew Philander Chase, who had retired as first Bishop of Ohio in 1832. Chase became the first Bishop of Illinois, took up residence in the wildnerness about 15 mi northwest of Peoria, then travelled extensively, establishing churches throughout the state, as well as travelling to England to raise funds for a new college. On his Peoria County wilderness plot, at 40.81694°N, -89.78111°W, Jubilee College was built in 1839. While Bishop of Illinois, Chase became Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church by seniority in 1843.

On Chase's request, Henry J. Whitehouse was elected coadjutor bishop in 1851, becoming second Bishop of Illinois on Chase's death in 1852. Whitehouse died in 1874 and was succeeded by Edward M. McLaren in 1875.

Quincy (1877-2008)
As early as 1872 there had been talk of diving the Diocese of Illinois. A convention in 1876 had set the procedure to split the Diocese of Illinois in three. St. John's Church in Quincy was given to the new diocese, yet to be officially created, on September 15, 1877.

On October 11, 1877, the Episcopal General Convention approved dividing the Diocese of Illinois into three. The Diocese of Quincy and Diocese of Springfield were created, with the Diocese of Illinois continuing with the remainder of the state. The remaining Diocese of Illinois became the Diocese of Chicago on May 28, 1884.

St. Paul's
In 1848, St. Jude's Church in downtown Peoria, one of the founding parishes in Illinois, changed its name to St. Paul's. According to the St. Paul's website, the newer St. Paul's at 40.73111°N, -89.59972°W, near U.S. Route 150, was completed in 1959, consecrated in 1963, and took over the position of cathedral later in 1963 from St. John's in Quincy. An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church gives the cathedral transfer date as May 7, 1962.

St. Paul's had a primary school in the 1950s and 1960s.

Bishops
Bishops of Quincy are numbered from the diocese's 1877 creation:

Ackerman resigned on November 1, 2008, prior to realignment.