Memoirs of Mrs. Rebecca Steward, Containing: A Full Sketch of Her Life: With Various Selections from Her Writings and Letters

In Short

This collection serves as a memorial to the life and spiritual legacy of Rebecca Steward, a nineteenth-century African American woman from Gouldtown, New Jersey. Compiled by her son after her death in 1877, the volume weaves together a biographical sketch, personal correspondence, and the subject’s own original religious essays and poetry. It is a portrait of a devout, intellectual, and deeply resilient woman whose life was centered on the practices and promises of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, preserved here to serve as a model of piety for future generations.

The Story

The narrative begins with a look at the modest, rural community of Gouldtown, New Jersey, where Rebecca Steward was born and raised. Her family lineage is grounded in the local history of the settlement, and her upbringing is marked by the industrious, conservative values of her parents. Early in her life, she undergoes a profound spiritual transformation, committing herself to the A.M.E. Church. This faith becomes the cornerstone of her identity, sustaining her through a life often punctuated by persistent physical illness and personal loss. She marries, raises a family, and becomes a central figure in her community, known for her sharp intellect, her extensive knowledge of the Bible, and her role as a patient, effective teacher in the Sabbath school.

As the years progress, the narrative shifts from external biography to the internal landscape of her final years. Her son chronicles her struggles with health, noting her tendency to find comfort in her religious writing even when her physical strength fails. She manages her household with a firm, loving hand, maintaining a correspondence with her children and relatives that reveals her unwavering devotion. Her letters provide a glimpse into her daily concerns—the heat of the summer, the trials of her kin, and the solace she finds in the gospel. She is a woman who views her life through the lens of divine purpose, constantly preparing for the "Better Land."

The closing chapters detail the final, painful decline of her health. She faces death not with fear, but with a serene expectation of a heavenly reunion. Her last days are spent in a state of prayerful resignation, surrounded by family members who witness her transition from earthly suffering to what she describes as the glory of heaven. Following her passing, the book transitions into a series of tributes from church leaders, family members, and colleagues, all of whom testify to her influence as a moral guide. The final portion of the book preserves her own writings on sanctification and her poetry, which reflect her thoughts on the nature of grace, the necessity of patience, and the triumph of the soul over the body. The story ends with a final, posthumous look back at her life—a celebration of her sincerity, her scriptural fluency, and the enduring light she left for those who follow her path.

How It Unfolds

The heritage of a community The account opens in the tight-knit settlement of Gouldtown, tracing the family lineage and the moral education Rebecca received from her parents. This foundational period highlights how her early environment shaped her later commitment to domestic and religious duty.

A life of quiet devotion The middle sections move through her adulthood, focusing on her role as a mother, teacher, and pillar of her church. Her correspondence reveals a woman who balanced mundane household realities with a sophisticated, constant preoccupation with spiritual matters.

The journey to the end The final chapters focus on her declining health and her persistent focus on death as a release from earthly sorrow. Her son describes her deathbed experience in detail, capturing the specific, scriptural language she used to find comfort in her final hours.

The legacy in reflection The concluding portions offer a collective remembrance of her character through the voices of others, including church elders and nieces. The book finishes by collecting her own essays and poems, framing her personal writings as a testament to her faith.

The People

Rebecca Steward stands at the center of the book as a woman of profound intellectual and moral discipline. Her desire is for a life of perfect adherence to God’s will, and her primary obstacles—a fragile physical constitution and the inevitable grief of human existence—are met with a patient, unwavering faith. She evolves from a dedicated daughter into a spiritual guide for her entire community. T. G. Steward, her son, acts as the primary chronicler and curator of her memory. His goal is to preserve the integrity of her character for posterity, and he approaches the task with the reverence of a son and the professional duty of a minister. He stands in awe of his mother’s resilience and her ability to remain steadfast through illness, ultimately presenting her as an example of grace. The supporting figures, such as Bishop A. W. Wayman and her niece Elizabeth Lloyd, serve as witnesses to her life, consistently identifying her as a woman who transcended the ordinary through her patience and her capacity to teach.

In Its Own Voice

"I have often heard it questioned: Can we live in a sanctified state? I ask first, is not Christ able to keep us in a sanctified state?"

This question appears in the author’s essay on sanctification, establishing the central theological inquiry of her personal belief system.

"I have been sick so much--and in that land no one says 'I am sick,' I have thought with 'Aunt Tamson' and 'Grandmother' that it was hard to open the gates, but then there's glory on the other side."

This reflection captures the essence of her perspective on death, expressed to her family in her final days.

"The motto I taught my boys was 'Aim at the Sun! If you do not bring it down, you will shoot higher than if you had aimed at the earth.'"

This quotation, provided by the author, distills her philosophy on motherhood and the encouragement she gave her children.

What It's Really About

At its heart, this book is an exploration of the intersection between human limitation and divine grace. It addresses the question of how an ordinary person, faced with constant illness and the hardships of the era, can maintain a life of profound purpose and intellectual engagement. It asks whether true sanctification is possible within the constraints of the human body and argues for the power of "perfect charity"—a love that transcends personal suffering and fosters community. Through the lens of 19th-century A.M.E. religious thought, the text suggests that while worldly life is inevitably fleeting and full of "thorns," the cultivation of a mind rooted in scripture and a heart dedicated to duty allows the individual to rise above their environment.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in the history of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the lived experience of 19th-century Black women will find this book a valuable, unfiltered primary source. It feels like an intimate, long-form memorial service—slow-paced, deeply reverent, and often focused on the details of physical decline and theological comfort. Modern readers should be prepared for the dense, Victorian-era prose and the pervasive, heavy religious sentiment that defines every page. The language is archaic, reflecting the rhetorical styles of the period, and the narrative frequently pauses for long, meditative passages of scripture and religious poetry. Because the book was written as an act of filial devotion, it lacks the critical distance of modern biography; it is a hagiography, meant to uplift rather than analyze. However, for those who can navigate its period-specific tone, it provides an honest, touching, and remarkably clear look at a woman who defined her own excellence through the strength of her convictions, long before such lives were commonly recorded in print. It stays with you as a document of genuine endurance, illustrating the quiet, persistent power of a life lived for a higher purpose.