Albert A. Sturges (1819–1887) was an American Protestant missionary and minister. He was among the first group of American missionaries stationed in Micronesia and helped set up the Congregational church on Pohnpei.
Albert A. Sturges | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1819 |
| Died | 1887 (aged 67–68) |
| Nationality | Wabash College Yale Divinity School |
| Spouse | Susan Sturges |
Biography
editAlbert Sturges was born in Granville, Ohio in 1819.[1] Sturges graduated from Wabash College and Yale Divinity School.[2] He married Susan Thompson in 1851 and was ordained in 1852. He traveled to Micronesia with his wife and served in Ohwa, Pohnpei where he learned the local language and translated some church materials.[1] He helped control a smallpox outbreak in 1854.[3]: 109–112 He lost a daughter named Ella in 1861.[3]: 139 Sturges had baptized 154 people by 1864.[4]: 146
As Albert suffered from illness, Albert and his wife returned to the United States in 1869.[3]: 139 Albert returned to Pohnpei in 1871, extending the mission to Mokil and Pingelap,[2] and his wife joined him there in 1874.[3]: 139 They continued expanding the mission to include the Nomoi Islands in 1874 and Chuuk in 1879.[1] The Sturgeses left Pohnpei again in 1879 to visit the States. Albert returned to Pohnpei in 1881 though his wife stayed behind.[3]: 139 Sturges retired from missionary work in 1885 after suffering from a stroke.[2] He died in 1887 at Oakland, California.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Gerald H. Anderson (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 650. ISBN 978-0-8028-4680-8.
- ^ a b c Wuerch, William L.; Ballendorf, Dirk Anthony (1994). Historical Dictionary of Guam and Micronesia. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. pp. 111–2. ISBN 0810828588.
- ^ a b c d e Hanlon, David (1988). Upon a Stone Altar: A History of the Island of Pohnpei to 1890. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824811242.
- ^ Hanlon, David L. (January 1998). Remaking Micronesia: Discourses Over Development in a Pacific Territory, 1944-1982. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2011-4.
Further reading
edit- Crawford, Leona; Crawford, David (10 June 1967). Missionary Adventures in the South Pacific. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4629-1274-2.