The following is from a memorial piece we have that was written in the year following the death of Nathaniel in 1834. It has always hung in our house and is printed in black ink on ivory colored silk. Most of the wording is of the serious religious tone of the time but there is some good information there as well, for other descendants who might be interested. Nathaniel is my gt-gt-great grandfather through his daughter Rosetta Sackett Chellborg. MEMOIR OF REV. NATHANIEL SACKETT Who was Born July 3, 1787, in the Town of Cornwall, Orange County, N.Y., and Died in the Town of Benton, Yates Co., N.Y., Nov.8, 1834 No chilling winds nor pois'nous breath Can reach that healthful shore Sickness and sorrow, pain and death Are felt and fear'd no more. He was converted at the age of twenty-one years. His conviction for sin was eminently of a Scriptural character. He felt the force of that command, "Rend your hearts, and not your garments." He had sleepless nights and days of penitential sorrow. His language was, "My sin is ever before me." He was passionately fond of dancing,--at that time a very fashionable amusement in the place; but such were his convictions, even in the ballroom, that he resolved to dance no more. It was the last time. He soon after obtained a clear sense of pardon, the Spirit witnessing with his that he was a child of God. He did not, could not doubt. With him conversion was not only a "change of purpose," but a change of heart. He was truly "a new creature." The whole of his after life bore evidence that it was a genuine work of God in the soul. He immediately joined the M.E. Church, and all his subsequent actions told how strong was his attachment to that church. He embraced her doctrines with an unwavering faith, as those of the Gospel of Christ. He received her discipline cordially, and loved to be governed by it. Brother Sackett believed that there was something distinctive in the Christian character, something more than a mere profession, or maintaining a decent exterior. He understood that to be a disciple of Christ he "must take up his cross and follow him;" to be a Christian he must "come out from the world, and be separate;" that he must "show his faith by his works." In short, he was singularly pious. If he erred, the universal suffrage in and out of the Church was, that it was an error of judgement, not of heart. I was intimately acquainted with Brother Sackett, and knew "his manner of life." Ever since I was a little boy I can recollect him. We were neighbors, belonged to the same class for years, though I was much his junior. He was my friend, and in the early years of my religious experience my spiritual guide. His presence, even in youth, was an effectual check to the outbreaking of folly. His father died, and left him to bring up his younger brothers and sisters. In this ardous task he acquitted himself to universal admiration. Soon after his conversion he began to warn sinners "to flee from the wrath to come." For more than twenty years he was a Local Preacher, and much of that time an ordained Deacon. As a man, he was industrious, sociable, kind, and obliging to his neighbors, and universally respected. As a Christian, he was humble, devout,and circumspect above all men with whom I have been so long and so intimately acquainted. I have seen him in his business on the farm, in his family, in his dealings with men, on Church trials, and in controversy with men of opposing religious sentiments; but I never saw the least appearance of anger, nor heard him speak a harsh word. He was benevolent. His house was long a preaching house; and many no doubt remember how kindly he received, how cheerfully he entertained, and how reluctantly he parted with them. He gave all that he could afford to the cause of Christ, and he was emphatically "a cheerful giver." This is about half of the Memoir, as he called it, written by a man by the name of Paul R. Brown. I am rather slow at typing but this gives one the gist of it. If anyone is interested, let me know and I will post the rest of it. Barbara Bell