Back in the early 1800’s, the local Universalist Associations, like the North Branch Association, had the power to ordain ministers. The first ordination in Sheshequin, as far as I have found, took place 180 years ago. The new minister was the Rev. Gustavus S. Ames. He served the Sheshequin congregation for six years.

I have not been able to find out much about the Rev. G. S. Ames before his time in Sheshequin, beyond the fact that he was living in Tully, N. Y. (near Syracuse), in May, 1835. He moved to Sheshequin in May, 1836.

Ames’ ordination ceremony was held in Sheshequin on October 20, 1836. The Rev. George Sanderson, a son-in-law of the “redoubtable” Joseph Kingsbury of Sheshequin, preached the sermon. Three days later, Sanderson officiated at the marriage of Ames and Mary Park, daughter of the Rev. Moses Park, the Baptist minister who had been converted by the Rev. Noah Murray.

Ames was active in the Susquehanna Association, to which the Sheshequin Universalist Society belonged at that time, as well as several others. He attended meetings of the Pennsylvania Universalist Convention and the General Convention. Several of his sermons and short essays can be found online in Universalist periodicals of that time.

Ames’s wife Mary died in February, 1843, at the age of 29. She is buried in the Sheshequin cemetery. About six months later, Ames moved to Prompton, Pa. (near Honesdale, in the northeast corner of the state). There the trail goes cold. His sixteen-year-old daughter Emma died in 1853 and was buried in Sheshequin – perhaps because her mother is buried there. What became of the Rev. Ames after 1843 remains a mystery for now.

Ames’s ordination was a significant event for the society in Sheshequin, which had been without a regular minister for four years. His tenure there was also remarkable for its length. I hope to learn more about him as I dig through the archives!