Albert Sturges

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
Born1819 (1819)
Granville, Ohio
Died1887 (aged 67–68)
Oakland, California
NationalityWabash College
Yale Divinity School
Spouse(s)Susan Sturges

Biography

Albert 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 came 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 returned 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
  1. Gerald H. Anderson (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 650. ISBN 978-0-8028-4680-8.
  2. Wuerch, William L.; Ballendorf, Dirk Anthony (1994). Historical Dictionary of Guam and Micronesia. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. pp. 111–2. ISBN 0810828588.
  3. Hanlon, David (1988). Upon a Stone Altar: A History of the Island of Pohnpei to 1890. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824811242.
  4. 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
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