Phineas Adelbert Burdick 1847-1893  
Categories: Alfred, New York, The Sabbath Recorder Obituary
"The Sabbath Recorder", Vol 49, No 28, p 433, July 13, 1893.
  Phineas Adelbert Burdick, son of Albert and Eunetia Burdick, deceased, was born in DeRuyter, Madison County, N. Y., September 7, 1847, and died in Alfred Centre, July 3, 1893, in the 46th year of his age.   He was brought up on a farm which is now owned by his youngest brother, and which has been in that family for ninety-nine years.
  His early life was passed in the usual round of home duties and common school opportunities such as most farmers' boys experience in that beautiful and fertile valley.   The DeRuyter Institute was in the days of its prosperity and wholesome influence in all that vicinity as Mr. Burdick was verging from childhood to early manhood.
    He had a strong desire for knowledge and had planned to enter Hamilton College, before his elder brother, now Prof. F. M. Burdick, of Columbia College, New York, had completed his course.   But a serious illness caused a delay in carrying out his plans and he never realized his cherished hopes of a college education.   However, he continued his studies in DeRuyter Institute until he completed the classic course, graduating with honors in June 1869.
  After this he taught school a term or two, and finally studied law and was admitted to the Bar in this state, in 1872.   He continued in that profession four or five years.   While thus engaged he fell in with the social customs of his companions to such an extent that he became alarmed for his own safety and that of his loved family; for in 1872 he was married to Ella, the second daughter of Rev. Joshua Clarke.   In the providence of God he became interested in the great temperance revival, which swept through DeRuyter in 1876-7, and resolved to make an effort to reform.
  Very many who will read this brief sketch have heard the account of his reformation from his own lips, and will never forget with what pathetic power his story was told.   For the past sixteen years he has devoted himself exclusively to the work of saving men from this great rum curse.
  Soon after entering the field as a temperance lecturer it was discovered that he was a man of remarkable powers as a public speaker.   His command of language, his keen insight into human nature, his impassioned eloquence, and greater than all else, his own deep Christian experience and love for perishing souls, at once placed him foremost in the ranks of reformers.
  He was sought after by temperance organizations and individuals interested in the suppression of the rum traffic, far and near.   He became identified with the Prohibition movement and was fearless of his advocacy of the principles of the third party, and yet people of all shades of political belief united in calling him to villages and cities, and heartily maintained him in his unselfish and extremely efficient work.
  In 1887 he removed his family to Alfred Centre, where he could have the advantages offered by the University for the education of his children.   Here he built a beautiful home and endeared himself to the people who admired his manliness, generosity and genuine worth as a citizen, friend and neighbor; a large share of his time, however, was spent away from home in his chosen work.   For several years he has suffered much inconvenience and an untold amount of pain from a severe sore resulting from an accident in 1882.
  His courage and fortitude in pursuing his life work so continuously, were marvelous.   He was often advised to take time for rest, but the calls were so numerous and pressing that he could not heed the warning.   His great energy and endurance were the wonder and admiration of all who knew him.   He seemed to realize that the work to be done was great and that he must be about his Master's business, for the time with him was short and uncertain.   His ability to go into any city and lecture to the same audience for thirty, sixty, or even ninety consecutive nights with constantly increasing interest was unequaled in the history of the temperance reformation.
  He was a terror to evil doers and many times has he been "shadowed" by those whose craft was in danger.   Threatening letters have been received, and even men have started for him with the full intention of doing him bodily harm.   But he never feared them.   His courage, tact, and great loving heart always conquered.   He was in the highest sense an evangelist.   He preached Christ Jesus as the only power to save.   Indeed he was licensed to preach by the First Alfred Church, of which he was a faithful and beloved member.
  His funeral services took place in his own beautiful home at 3 P. M. on Friday, July 7th, attended by a large number of sorrowing friends.   His heart-broken wife, his two affectionate sons, his sister, two brothers, and other relatives sat around the beautiful casket literally covered with roses and other choice flowers.

Ella Francetta (Clarke) Burdick 1850-1920
Categories: Albion, Wisconsin, Alfred, New York, The Sabbath Recorder Obituary
"The Sabbath Recorder", Vol 89, No 2, p 60, July 12, 1920.
  Ella Clarke Burdick, youngest daughter of Rev. Joshua and Esther Lanphere Clarke, was born June 8, 1850, at Sangerfield, N. Y., while her father was pastor of the First Brookfield Seventh Day Baptist Church.
  During her father's pastorate of the First Hopkinton Church she was baptized and joined that church, at the age of twelve years.   In 1864 the family moved to Albion, Wis., where her father became pastor of the Albion Church.   While living in Albion she attended school at Albion Academy, which was at that time a large flourishing school.
  In 1870 her father became pastor of the DeRuyter Seventh Day Baptist Church and her membership was moved with the family to the DeRuyter Church.
  On January 25, 1872, when in her twenty-second year, she was married to Phineas Adelbert Burdick, of DeRuyter, familiarly known for many years as "P. A. Burdick."   Mr. Burdick was a young lawyer and practiced his profession in DeRuyter for a few years, and then entered upon his great life career as a temperance lecturer.   His unusual ability in this field gave him a national reputation and made him one of the most widely known and useful men of his generation.
  In the midst of his extended travels and temperance campaigns he removed in 1887 with his family to Alfred, in order to give his children the educational advantages of Alfred University.   Mr. and Mrs. Burdick brought their church membership to the First Alfred Church at that time.   During all the remaining thirty years of her life Mrs. Burdick has continued a faithful and beloved member, though in recent years she has been absent much of the time, living with her sons in New Jersey and Massachusetts.
  Mr. Burdick closed his celebrated and useful career amidst his ardent labors as temperance evangelist.   He died at his home in Alfred, and was buried in the Alfred Rural Cemetery.
  No one could have been a more faithful and devoted helpmate during her married life, or could have cherished with greater affection and pride, the memory of her loving companion than did Mrs. Burdick.   She sustained and encouraged him in his great work; and in his death she found comfort in the memory, which she cherished to the last, of the nobility with which her loved husband served a great cause, so efficiently and so whole heartedly.
  Her early training in Christian faith, and trust in God, strengthened and inspired her in the life work which she helped her husband to perform, and soothed and sustained her in the sorrows and losses in life.   Her beautiful spirit and example remain a benediction to her children who have loved and tenderly cared for her in these later years, as well as to all who have known her throughout her varied and useful life.
  She passed peacefully to rest at the home of her younger son, Starr A. Burdick, in Boston, Mass., on June 27, 1920, just a few days past her seventieth birthday.
  She is survived by two sons, Albert C. Burdick, of Carney's Point, N. J., and Starr A. Burdick, of Boston, Mass., and one sister, Mrs. Mary C. Greene, Redwood Falls, Minn.
  Funeral at Alfred, N. Y., July 1, 1920, and interment at the Alfred Rural Cemetery.     Boothe C. Davis