Andrus, Joseph Raphael
(Apr. 3, 1791-July 28, 1821). The first Episcopal clergyman to serve as an overseas missionary. He was born in Cornwall, Vermont, and studied for the ministry under Bishop Alexander Viets Griswold of the Eastern Diocese. He was ordained deacon on June 19, 1816, and priest on Aug. 22, 1817. Andrus was rector for a time of St. Paul's Church, King County, Virginia, but decided that he wanted to do missionary work. In 1821, he and three other members of the American Colonization Society sailed for Liberia. He did not survive the year and died of yellow fever in Liberia.
Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.