Th e Dash in our life

Garry Leonard Harding

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Good afternoon and welcome to our family dinner. I would like to take a moment and share with you about a man.

Samuel Sturdevant

NOTES of Richard Skinner (biography of Rev. Samuel Sturdevant):

"Rev. Samuel Sturdevant was born in Danbury, Connecticut August 30, 1741 where he stayed until he was 48 years old. A Ridgefield Vital records Deed states that Samuel Sturdevant and his wife Phebe sold land to Jesse Benedict of Ridgefield. He served as a Private in the 2nd Connecticut Regiment, of Danbury, under Captain Noble Benedict's Company in the American Revolution, (the Archives list him as deserting that regiment; he may be confused with two other Samuels who served). Some sources have this as the 6th Co., 5th Reg. Conn. Militia in 1775 and as regimental clergy at Valley Forge under General Washington. He was discharged on December 6, 1775. He may have re-enlisted in the 2nd Connecticut regiment commanded by Col. Herman Swift on February 5, 1777. He seems to have enlisted for the duration of the war and it appears that he (or at least a Samuel Sturdevant) deserted in March or on June 3, 1782. At this time Rev. Samuel and his wife Phebe lived in Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut and in May 1780 he sold his farm on Huckleberry Hill and went to Kentown [Litchfield County], Connecticut which is where is wife Phebe died and is buried. This all happened during his time of enlistment. Phebe eventually took ill at the end of 1781 and was still ill into 1782. This tale of desertion may be true since he had 8 small children and if she was ill, he would have had to be home to care for them. Phebe finally died in May of 1783 and he quickly married Sarah Morris. The New Preston Church, Litchfield County, Connecticut records lists Samuel Sturtevant's marriage to Sarah Morris on September 9, 1783. According to family tradition part of Samuel's pay for soldiering was a [partial] grant of land at Black Walnut Bottom, Pennsylvania. After the war he moved to this land in Luzerne County (later Wyoming County) Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River near Braintrim, Braintrim Township, about two miles southeast of the present Laceyville. Mr. Sturdevant, his wife and their family, which numbered eleven children, lived simple, busy lives in a log home on the property near what is now owned by his great, great, great granddaughter, Mrs. Anne Sturdevant Jennings and her husband Bob.

and her husband Bob.

Samuel Sturdevant, Jr., built the first sawmill as early as 1797 near the mouth of Tuscarora Creek. Two others were constructed a few years later. The first gristmill was also erected by Sturdevant about 1819. His son, Peter Sturdevant, built a wool carding and cloth-dressing establishment on Tuscarora Creek about 1830, operating it for several years.

In 1790 he gave the land for the cemetery in Black Walnut Bottom which is called the Sturdevant Cemetery still today, and the land for the Church there. Samuel was a tall and muscular man, handsome and out going. Samuel married Widow Lucy Brown Cooley within a year of the death of his second wife. He took her and her five children into his home where they joined him and at least several of his children by Phebe Benedict. Rev. Sturdevant and Lucy Cooley had five children also. All together the Reverend Sturdevant had fourteen children who lived past infancy. "Rev. Samuel Sturdevant first preached in Connecticut and was also a pioneer preacher in Pennsylvania. Mr. Sturdevant was a man of devout Piety and of uniform faithfulness and finding the people of this sparsely settled region comparatively destitute of religious privileges, his heart was stifled and he immediately commenced holding meetings in the family home. Although unlicensed and unordained, the word he spoke was in demonstration of the Spirit. At the various meetings he held he generally occupied the greater part of the time himself although he was aided by the exhortations and prayer of a few faithful ones whom he found in the place. For two years or more he continued to press the claim and invitation of the Gospel upon the people, both publicly and privately, whenever he had the opportunity. He was emphatically "instant in season and out of season" and under his faithful and persistent labors considerable religious interest was awakened and it was deemed advisable to proceed in the formation of a church. He continued to preach to all of the settlers in Thornbottom, and Tunkhannock among others on the circuit, as well as in Black Walnut Bottom. Rev. Sturdevant also made friends with the Indians and preached to them as well. while traveling on horseback all over northern Pennsylvania. He carried his Bible in his saddlebag. Rev. Samuel served as Justice of the Peace as well as this note from Luzerne County Federalist Newspaper dated August 25th, 1809 shows: "Orphan Court Sale" To be held Sept. 19th at the house of Samuel Sturdevant, Inn keeper in Braintrim Twp., the real estate of Daniel TRUESDALE, late of Braintrim Twp., deceased. Land held under an application issued in the name of Rudolph HOPE, dated 3 April 1769, situated at or near the mouth of Tuscarora Creek, as it lies outside the township of Braintrim, containing two hundred acres. Daniel Sterling, Admin." *~*." With Mr. Sturdevant as the human agency, the little church of eleven members gathered and organized as the Usher Baptist Church of Braintrim, May 24, 1794. The members were: Samuel Sturdevant, Sarah Sturdevant, Joseph Wescot, Hannah Wescot, Jedediah Coon, Olive Coon, Azor Sturdevant, Fear Sturdevant, Noah Sturdevant, Molly Sturdevant, and Samuel Sturdevant, Jr (aged 21 years). They and those who followed them have maintained throughout the past two centuries their testimony to the world that the Gospel of our blessed Lord is able to save to the uttermost, all them who come unto God by Him." Rev. Samuel and his son Rev. Elijah, built and 'gave' 5 churches in the northern part of Pennsylvania. The one in Laceyville, Pennsylvania is still in use today. It is a matter of church record in that he preached the first sermon, in Franklin Township, in the home of a Deacon. Rev. Samuel's Bible is at the Black Walnut church today. Rev. Samuel Sturdevant died in Black Walnut, Pennsylvania and is buried there in the Cemetery named for him. The home built by Rev. Samuel was rather elaborate one for those times. It had long cabineted halls. The early members of the family were buried in coffins of rosewood in the old burying place. The children were always sent away to school 'to finish'. "Early ministers of the Braintrim church were Rev. Samuel Sturdevant, Davis D. Gray, his grandson, with Deacons Wait S. Skinner, David Lake, Ira Keeney, George Smith, David Lacey, and Elijah Sturdevant. " * * The covenant they adopted reads as follows: "A covenant of the Baptist Church meeting in Braintrim Township, Wyoming County, State of Pennsylvania, agree to a constitution of the church the twenty-fourth day of May, 1794." "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we whose names are here unto-subscribed do solemnly covenant and agree to and with each other in the following manner, Viz: First: That we will with diligence and perseverance attend to the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the only certain rules of our faith and practice. Secondly: We will endeavor strictly to observe and maintain the discipline contained in the "Confession of the Faith": adopted by the Baptist Association held at Philadelphia in the year of our Lord Christ 1792, as far as we can see it agreeable to the Word of God. Thirdly: We will to the utmost of our abilities cultivate and maintain brotherly love and Christian fellowship, both in our own hearts and in our brethren, and faithfully improve all the gifts and graces God has given us for His glory and for the edification of his church, and that in an orderly manner- Fourthly: We will carefully and constantly endeavor to fill up our places in all appointed meetings of the church in public conferences, meetings of business, and especially at Communion Season, Fifthly: We will carefully and tenderly regard the persons and characters of all brethren and especially our minister. Sixthly: We will freely and cheerfully communicate our worldly substance for the support of our minister, for the supply of the poor and for all other uses as the body of the church shall think duty requires, and that in some measure of equality, so that some shall not be eased and others burdened. Seventh: We will, in case of failure in any of the above-mentioned articles, carefully give an account to our brethren when required, of the reason of our neglect and joyfully receive council, instruction, reproof or admonition of the church in these and all cases, according to discipline or Christ's house. And now, feeling ourselves in the presence of the great God, can honestly say, everyone for himself, this is the very language of my heart, and being sensible of the depravity of human nature, I feel my own insufficiency to perform these things; but believing the Lord Jesus hath enjoined them on me, I look to Him for strength with full confidence that He of His free grace will present me un blamable before His Heavenly Father in love. And now as I have solemnly given myself to God, soul and body, to be at His disposal, for time and eternity; and viewing to the church as the body of Christ, governed by word and Spirit of God: I, therefore, do this day in the presence of God, angels and men, fully give myself, a member, to this church, with full determination, by the grace of God, in all ways and at all times to conduct myself as becomes a follower of Christ and a member of this church in particular." In June 1794, the new organization licensed Samuel Sturdevant to preach and on October 25 of the same year, ordained him to the work of the Gospel ministry at a Council convened to take into consideration "setting him apart by solemn ordination to the work of the Gospel Ministry." "Rev. Sturdevant was in the fifty-fourth year of his age and had on his hands a numerous family, for whom he must necessarily provide. Nevertheless, he went to work for the Master with commendable zeal and energy. He labored during the week with his hands, but every Sabbath he could be found holding forth the Word of Life with all the ability be had. It is believed he was the first to preach in Abington and Mehoopany. In the early history of Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wyoming Counties, the following mention is made: Elder Sturdevant of Black Walnut preached often in Tunkhannock and baptized several persons, among them Sarah Marcy and McCord Whitemore in 1800." The history of the Mehoopany Baptist Church prepared by the Reverends Phillips and Dair says: "Sometime during the autumn of 1803, Elder Sturdevant visited a sparse settlement near the mouth of the Mehoopany Creek. In the spring of 1805, the Braintrim pastor was invited to visit at the forks of Mehoopany Creek near where Forkston now is, and break the Bread of Life. First 2, then 12, afterwards in 1809, 60 were baptized - a glorious harvest." This is evidence that the first pastor of Braintrim Baptist Church who labored far and near was blessedly used of God in other fields as well as at home. Many persons were brought to a saving knowledge of the Truth under his faithful labors. During the first two years of the church's life at Braintrim, twenty-three new members were added at sundry times, mostly by baptism. During four years of its organization, the angels of peace and prosperity hovered over the newborn church. Its spiritual health, growth and activity marked is as born from above. The first one to follow the Savior in the ordinance of baptism was Sarah Sturdevant, daughter of the pastor. Miss Sturdevant later became the wife of Jacob Gray and mother of Elder Davis D. Gray and H. H. Gray. In the year 1796 the church appointed delegates to meet at a conference of churches at Chemung, NY. They attended and the Braintrim church became a constituent member of the Chemung Association. In December of that year, the church licensed Thomas Smiley to preach the Gospel and on March 26, 1797, Samuel Agard, a licentiate previously admitted to membership by letter, was ordained. It is believed that these two men became faithful laborers in the Master's vineyards. The church continued to enjoy a good degree of prosperity and with slight exceptions, the members walked together in unbroken harmony until 1798 when a dispute arose between two prominent members in regards to a worldly matter concerning a land dispute, which involved the church in lasting strife and difficulty. From 1798 to 1815 was one continual scene of darkness and trial but the church did not fall for it was founded on The Rock. Church meetings were held and councils called but all to no purpose. In 1800 some half dozen members, seeing no prospect of returning peace, left and joined Elder Drake's church at Exeter. The same year at a meeting of the Chemung Association, Braintrim Baptist Church was reported "dissolved and consequently dropped from the minutes." The church was not actually disbanded but still struggled for its existence. Through this long period of perplexity and discouragement, the church never lost its vision nor failed for any length of time to maintain the regular worship of God. When regular services were not held, prayer meetings of pastor and deacons were carried on. On November 30, 1815 five former members returned confessed and were restored to fellowship. From that time on the church enjoyed a good degree of prosperity. Late in 1815, Braintrim joined with Mehoopany Baptist Church to become one church. This act was soon reconsidered and the two churches separated and stood as before, by mutual consent. It may be well to remark here that in some quarters; the original church was known by the name of "Usher" and that here the Braintrim Church by reorganization begins. But this is wholly erroneous. There was no reorganization or any change of name. It appears quite plain that the pastor from the start preferred the name "Usher" and when speaking of it, called it the "Usher Church", but the church never acknowledged the name. The church on the day of its organization took the name of Braintrim and after two years it was united with the Association as "the Braintrim Church". This is a small matter and would not be mentioned here, were it not that the church has in two or three instances, found its way into history under the name of "Usher". In 1816 Rev. Sturdevant, who had now held his standing in the Abington Church seven years, took a letter of dismissal from that church with the intention of reuniting with Braintrim, but after obtaining the letter, he came to the conclusion that the old difficulty might some day be revived, and consequently retained his letter several years. Nevertheless, he labored steadily and faithfully for the church, as far as his health and failing strength would permit it and he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all its members. Among other descendants of Elder Samuel Sturdevant were: Isaac B Lake, Byron D. Sturdevant (ME), Davis D. Gray, Harvey H Gray, Ira Jones Sturdevant and Davis G. Sturdevant, eight preachers including himself and son Elijah from that family. To this number may be added: George Wakely, Protestant-Methodist and Rev. James? Sturdevant. Rev. Davis Dimock, then pastor at Montrose, made the Braintrim Church several visits in 1817, 1818, and 1819 and preached with great power. The Lord blessed his labors and the church was revived and sinners converted. There were a goodly number of accessions, so that in 1820 there were seventy-one members in good and regular standing. During the year 1818 several members withdrew from the church and constituted an "Independent Church of Jesus Christ". This is what we call Mehoopany Baptist Church, then it was known by the name of "Windham". September 6, 1823 Rev John Wilson and 12 members were dismissed from Windham for the purpose of constituting the Eaton Baptist Church. Thus, Eaton became a granddaughter off Braintrim. From 1820 to 1826, the church experienced no remarkable changes. The Rev. Sturdevant had become quite infirm with age and was assisted in the pastoral work, for two or three years, by Rev. John Wilson who preached stately, for a part of the time. On the ninth day of April, 1828 the Rev. Samuel Sturdevant, the organizer and first pastor of Braintrim Baptist Church, passed to his heavenly rest, after arduous and fruitful labors, receiving without doubt that "well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord". He was 87 years old and had served the Lord and his church for over thirty-three years. Rev. Samuel's original Gravestone read: IN MEMORY OF ELDER SAMUEL STURDEVANT WHO DIED APR. 9TH 1828 IN THE 87TH YEAR OF HIS AGE. My flesh shall slumber in the ground till the last trumpets joyful sound Then burst the chains in sweet surprise and in my Saviours image rise. The Reverend Samuel Sturdivant’s will gave his son Elijah 1/3 of his land, Lucy $70, furniture that Elijah had gotten for her, and the rest of the 470 in cattle or cash. Samuel Jr., Jesse, Phebe each got $2.00. Anna, Olive, and Elizabeth and Sarah each received a 'good cow'. "Elijah gets the remaining property and shall support Lucy Cooley till death.... with Lucy Cooley having the right to dispose of her personal clothing before or after her death." He also revoked all other wills previous. "April 18, 1827. Witnesses Ambrose Geary and Jasper Fasett." In 1970 "the Bible that had belonged to the founder of the church, Rev. Samuel Sturdevant, was presented to the church by the family of Mrs. Marion Whipple, one of his descendants. It is displayed in the church. " * * *"

·Title: MILITARY in Revolution Samuel Sturdevant

Abbrev: MILITARY in Revolution Samuel Sturdevant

Text: NOTES of Mark Jennys:

"Rev. Samuel Sturdevant took an active part in the struggle for American independence, entering the army as an orderly sergeant and being promoted to a captaincy, serving uninterruptedly from the battle of Lexington to the surrender at Yorktown, when he soon emigrated to Braintrim, where, at the place known as Black Walnut Bottom, he bought a large farm and resided there until his death, in 1828."

I have read this brief biography because it is part of your family history not some other family history. We are given a birth certificate at the start of our lives and a death certificate at the end of our life. On our grave stone there be these 2 dates and in between will be a dash.

The Dash

by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak At the funeral of a friend

He referred to the dates on her tombstone From the beginning to the end

He noted that first came her date of her birth And spoke the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time That she spent alive on earth.

And now only those who loved her Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own; The cars, the house, the cash,

What matters is how we live and love And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard. Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left, That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough To consider what’s true and real

And always try to understand The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger, And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect, And more often wear a smile

Remembering that this special dash Might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read With your life’s actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say About how you spent your dash?

We have brought pictures and our family bible for you too look at. Let us take time today to share with one another, enjoy a meal together and remind ourselves of all our great blessings. We may not be perfect but we are family.

Now let us take a moment to ask God’s blessings on this meal and time of fellowship together.

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