Rev. William Agur Beardsley, who for a quarter of a century has been rector of St. Thomas' Episcopal church at New Haven, was born on the 5th of May, 1865, in Stepney, Connecticut, in the town of Monroe. His parents were Agur and Elizabeth Ann (Lewis) Beardsley. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, was a man of influence in his town, which he represented in the state legislature. He was also actively interested in the schools and was a potent force in moral progress in the community, being a member and one of the vestrymen of St. Peter's Episcopal church of Monroe, where he spent his entire life.
     His son, Rev. William A. Beardsley, attended the district schools in Stepney until he reached the age of fifteen years, when he became a student in the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire in January, 1881. He was graduated with valedictorian honors in June, 1883, and in the fall of that year entered Trinity College, from which he was graduated as salutatorian in 1887, at which time the Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred upon him, while in 1890 he received the Master of Arts degree. He then attended the Berkeley Divinity School and was graduated in 1890. He became a clergyman of the Episcopal church, being ordained deacon by Bishop John Williams on the 4th of June, 1890, and priest by the same bishop on the 18th of May, 1891. He became assistant in St. Thomas' church of New Haven on the 4th of June, 1890, and on the 18th of April, 1892, was made rector of the church, with which he has been continuously connected throughout the entire period of his pastoral service.
     It was in St. Thomas' church, on the 23d of June, 1897, that Rev. Mr. Beardsley was united in marriage to Miss Alletta Hollister Warwick, a daughter of William Barksdale and Phoebe Warren (Douglas) Warwick, the former of Richmond, Virginia. Her father was a major in the Confederate army, serving under General Fitzhugh Lee. To Rev. and Mrs. Beardsley has been born a son, Warwick Beardsley.
     It may well be a matter of pride to Rev. Beardsley that he is descended from one of the oldest families of Connecticut, tracing the ancestral line back to William Beardsley, who was one of the first residents of Stratford and served as a deputy to the general court of Connecticut. He had four sons, John, Joseph, Samuel and Daniel, the second son being the direct ancestor of the branch of the family to which Rev. Mr. Beardsley belongs. His own record is in harmony with that of an honored ancestry. In college he was graduated with honors in mathematics and Greek and became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and of the Psi Upsilon fraternities. His activities have been far-reaching and of marked effect along many lines of progress. For twenty-two years he has been secretary and treasurer of the New Haven archdeaconry and in 1910 was appointed examining chaplain of the diocese, while in 1917 he was made secretary of the board of examiners. He is a trustee of the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, which position he has occupied since 1899, and since 1906 he has been secretary of its board. He was deputy to the general convention of the Episcopal church held in St. Louis in 1916, and was made a trustee of the Berkeley Divinity School in 1915. At the diocesan convention held in June, 1917, he was appointed chairman of the committee on constitution and canons, was elected registrar of the diocese and also a member of the Standing Committee. Since 1913 he has been president of the New Haven Colony Historical Society and in 1916 he edited and published "A General Catalogue of the Officers, Teachers and Alumni of the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut."