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Title
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Memoir of Susannah (Susanna) David (1775-1843)
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Publisher
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Bethlehem Digital History Project
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Date
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1843
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Type
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Text
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Format
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image/jpeg
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Description
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A four page account of Susannah David's life highlighting her faith and spiritual growth, the loss and resilience that she experienced, her family relationships, her trust in God, and her life in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Written in calligraphy.
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Subject
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David, Susannah, 1775-1843
Women--Biography
Religious life--History--18th century
Religious life--History--19th century
Bethlehem (Pa.)--History--18th century
Bethlehem (Pa.)--History--19th century
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Identifier
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MemBeth 0934
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Language
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English
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Extent
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4 sheets
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Rights Holder
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Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
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transcript of
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Our dearly beloved Sister Susannah David, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Bartow, was born on the 10th of January 1775 in Philadelphia, and soon after her birth was dedicated to the Lord in Holy Baptism. On account of the commencement of the Revolutionary War, her Father, being a merchant in Philadelphia, found that he could not safely remain there, and therefore he moved in the year 1776 with his whole family to Bethlehem as a place of safety, where they remained 7 years till the conclusion of the War, when they again returned to Philadelphia. In the year 1793 when she was 18 years old, her dear Father, to whom she was particularly attached, died in Philadelphia; and in the same year the first yellow fever making terrible havoc among the inhabitants of the city, all who had the means and opportunity fled into the country, when she with her widowed Mother and the rest of the family again took refuge in Bethlehem. From that time the family were so attached this place, and found so many kind friends among its inhabitants, that they every years spent several months in Bethlehem; and our dear Sister, even in her latter years, would often delight in relating the many acts of kindness which she experienced at these visits.
In 1795 she was married in Philadelphia with Mr. John David, and the following year she was blessed with a son, of whom, according to her own expression, she was excessively fond, wherefore the Lord in mercy took him again unto...Himself, when he was but 10 months old. Deeply as this stroke affected her, she could in later years refer to it only as a kind and merciful dealing of her Saviour, who knew better than herself, what was for her temporal and spiritual welfare. A few years after this event she was confirmed in the Brethren's Church at Philadelphia; the solemnity of this transaction made a deep and lasting impression upon her heart.
With her husband she lived 14 years, when he also was taken from her side by death. This was another hard stroke for her. After her husband's decease, her Mother kindly took her into her house, comforted her in her distressed situation with a Mother's feeling, and with the family she yearly continued her visits to Bethlehem, where she always met with a kind reception by her Uncle and Aunt Horsfield. This connexion was the cause of a particular attachment to her Aunt's children, particularly to the youngest, the present Sister Kummer, whom she loved as her own child. When in 1813 this her adopted daughter was married and moved with her husband to North Carolina, our dear Sister resolved for the present to remain her, hard as the parting was to her affectionate and loving heart; but when they again visited Bethlehem in 1817, she embraced the opportunity of going with them to North Carolina. During her stay at Bethabara, she received the mournful intelligence of her dear Mother's departure.
In 1819 she returned with Br. And Sir. Kummer to Bethlehem, and has from that time till now been a kind, affectionate, and dear Mother in their family. In early life she had the happiness not only to hear of the love of a Saviour, but also to experience His love in her hear; and when in later years she found that the small degree of pleasure which this world affords was always intermixed with abundance of trouble and distress, she perceived that all true pleasure and delight proceeds only from the love of a Saviour, and a childlike confidence in His ways. In her manifold trouble she could always confidently pray for divine support, and she never prayed in vain. Among her papers are a number of Scripture texts and verses; which in peculiar trials she found comforting, and which she often read and repeated; she therefore possessed a particular gift of applying such texts to others who were in similar trouble. The evening before her departure, having been already confined to her bed for several weeks, she said: "Oh yes, said she, He has helped me through all my many troubles, and He will not forsake me now;" and a favorite expression of hers was,
"He who has helped me hitherto,
Will help me all my journey through."
In her last sickness, when she expected that she could not long survive, she requested that the Hymn No. 21 in the Hymnbook might be read to her: "In thing image, Lord, though mad'st me, gav'st me being out of love; etc.: and when the whole hymn was finished, she desired the 6th Verse to be repeated, saying, it was so comforting to her:
"Love! Who interced'st in heaven
For my soul, when I'm oppress'd
Bear'st my worthless name engraven
Upon they high-priestly breast.
Then she, with a loud voice, and a peculiar emphasis added the two last lines:
"Love Almightly, and divine!
I would be for ever thine."
On the 25th of October in the morning she appeared to fall asleep, and so she continued without a struggle, her breathing by degrees becoming weaker, till 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when after having had a solemn prayer offered up in her behalf, and having received the last blessing, her Spirit gently exchanged the tenement of clay, for the celestial mansions prepared for her from all eternity by the Saviour of her soul, who she so dearly loved.
Her age was 68 years 9 months and 5 days.
The friends and relatives of the dear deceased, take this opportunity to express their thanks to all those who kindly offered their assistance during her last illness; and especially for the faithful and untiring exertions of her Physicians.
