Samuel Park Burdick 1779-1860
Categories: 1850's Settlers, Albion, Wisconsin, Deacon / Deaconess, Janesville Gazette Obituary
"The Janesville Daily Gazette", Janesville, Wisconsin, Monday, June 11, 1860, p 2.
Died - In Albion, Dane county, Wisconsin, June 6th, Mr. Samuel P. Burdick, aged 81 years, 1 month and 6 days.
Mr. Burdick was father of R. S. Burdick, of this city.

"The Sabbath Recorder", Vol 17, No 22, p 86, Nov. 29, 1860.
Deacon Samuel P. Burdick
When good men die, their characters and virtues do not come under the control of those laws that govern the disposition of their material estates; but under the sanction of a "higher law," they become the common inheritance of their survivors, and all who come after them. And though the world has had too few, far too few, good men in it, happy and rich will he be, who accurately estimates the value of what they thus leave when they are gone, and skillfully appropriates it to his own elevation above the shadows, the mists, and the fogs, that ever hang about the abiding-place of the selfish.
Dea. Samuel P. Burdick, after enjoying and exemplifying the religion of Jesus Christ for more than sixty years, died on the 6th of June, 1860, at the ripe age of 81. His life and character, than which few that cover a period so long exhibit less blemishes, have thus become as properly the subjects of public record as they are worthy of it.
From an early period in life, far on beyond its meridian, he was a resident of Brookfield, N. Y. There, it is believed, he first experienced the grace of God in the forgiveness of sins, and publicly professed faith in Christ as his Saviour. This must have been when there was but a single S. D. B. church in all that portion of the State of New York. His membership with the third church of Brookfield (now West Edmeston) was, probably, from the time of its organization in 1823; and there, perhaps, at or near the same time, he was chosen to the office of Deacon. During the long period of his connection with that church, he was one of its principal pillars. In the purity of his life, the wisdom of his counsels, the stability of his character, and the constancy of his interests in the welfare of the church, he gave evidence of his fitness for the official trust committed to his charge. But his interest and influence were not confined to the church of which he was a member, not the community in which he lived. He was among the first to respond to the wants of the denomination; approving and encouraging those enterprises which looked to its enlargement and elevation. Our missionary and publishing movements, while passing through the struggles of infancy, ever found in him a friend and supporter. So with our early efforts to elevate the standard of education, and furnish within our own borders the means necessary for its attainment. It was his interest in the success of the school at De Ruyter, N. Y., our first, and at that time, only Academic Institution, together with a desire to give his own children more ready access to its advantages, that first drew him from his quiet home in Brookfield, where he had so long lived, and enjoyed the fruits of his industry, both in religious and secular concerns.
Conscientiousness marked his actions with a distinctness too rarely exhibited in the lives of men. He was no less conscientious in business than in religion. The rare sense of security, with which he impressed honest men in his business intercourse with them, was really refreshing. He seemed to know nothing of that restless and craving desire for advantage, which marks the character of those who would "make haste to be rich." His freedom from it turned his feet away from the snares and pitfalls in which the covetous are taken.
He was as prudent and economical as he was honest. He had no reckless and prodigal schemes upon which to expend his substance, to whet his appetite for acquisition, and put out the lights that shine along the path of honest business intercourse. These combinations secured for him competence, without riches. This gave him security against embarrassment, which, to many, is like an arterial puncture, through which Satan infuses the poison of dishonesty into the soul.
His freedom from unholy ambition helped to make him the good man that he was. He cherished no towering purpose of self-aggrandizement; hence his better and kinder feelings towards his fellow-men were never charred by the fires of suspicion and envy towards those who are supposed to stand in the way of their consummation. Having no bitter hates, thus engendered, to be preserved by the salt of retaliation, he was left free to the cultivation of good-will.
But all the excellencies of his character were the outgrowth of his unwavering faith in God, and his confidence in the Bible as His Word. Upon these, his feet were firmly planted, and they did not fail him in the hour of death. May his example live among us, while he enjoys the reward of faithfulness among the redeemed. T. E. B.

"The Sabbath Recorder", Vol 13, No 29, p 115, Dec. 25, 1856.
In Albion, Dane Co., Wis., Dec. 12, 1856, of congestion of the lungs, Polly Burdick, wife of Dea. Samuel P. Burdick, in the 69th year of her age. She died as she had long lived, firmly trusting in God.