Samuel L. Straughan was ordained to the ministry on this day in 1806. He was raised on a Virginia farm and had only two or three years of formal education. But it is said that “during his childhood, he exhibited a sobriety and manliness of character much beyond his years; and so fond was he of reading and hearing upon religious subjects, that his father used to playfully call him his preacher.”
Samuel was nineteen when he was born again. After his baptism and union with the local Baptist church he began preaching once-in-a-while. His pastor and the church recognized God’s call upon his life, and he was ordained. Immediately he received a unanimous call to lead the small Wicomico Baptist Church, near the Chesapeake Bay. It didn’t remain small for long, quickly increasing to nearly three hundred members. Soon he was called to minister at the Morattico Baptist Church as well. Then he was encouraged to help evangelize parts of Maryland. And the Lord blessed every aspect of his work.
But then, as has happened so many times, the Lord of the work, chose to take His Enoch home. At the age of 38, heart problems ended the earthly life of Brother Samuel Straughan.
