Viewing page 51 of 208

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

94 MARGARET ANN CRUTCHFIELD.

practices of the world; which is one of the most necessary, and, at the same time, one of the severest duties of a state of trial.

MARGARET ANN CRUTCHFIELD,
A CHEROKEE CONVERT.

Written by the late Mrs. Gambold, wife of the Moravian Missionary at Spring Place in the Cherokee nation.

OUR late beloved sister, Margaret Ann, was born August 20, 1783. Her father, Walter Scott, was agent in the nation under the British government; and her mother, Sarah Wilburn, was a sister of brother Charles Renatus Hicks.
2. Her first husband was the celebrated Cherokee chief, James Vann; during whose lifetime, she evinced an affection for the missionaries in her neighborhood at Spring Place; and as often as it was in her power, she attended our meetings--not without evident concern for her soul.
3. In 1808, a negro woman belonging to her, departed this life in the faith of our crucified Saviour; which made a deep and lasting impression on her mistress. February 19th, 1809, she had the great grief to lose her husband by means of a violent death. The three years of her widowhood

MARGARET ANN CRUTCHFIELD. 95

proved the most important period of her life. By the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit on her heart, she learned to know her natural sinfulness.
4. The opinion she had harbored of herself, as being superior to others of her countrywomen, now presented itself to her in a most hideous form, so that she shuddered at the sight of her wicked heart, and felt and acknowledged herself the greatest sinner among them. She cried incessantly for mercy and pardon; and, amid floods of tears, she sought and found her Saviour.
5. In July, 1812, she again entered the marriage state, with our now widowed brother, Joseph Crutchfield, a cousin of her former husband. His becoming, after some time, a member of our church, and walking by our Saviour's grace, hand in hand with her in the narrow way which leads to life and bliss, rendered the days of their union a truly blessed period.
6. Four years since, she was frequently ailing, and her husband, with us, feared greatly that we should have to part with her; we therefore moved here from her farm on Mount Joy to this place, where she abode during the winter months. By the blessing of our Lord upon the simple means used toward her recovery, she was enabled, in the following spring, to return home; and thinking herself perfectly recovered, she undertook, as before, the management of her extensive domestic concerns.