Born: 1798,
Died: 1844/5

Learn more about the life of John Stott

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March / 44
Our late Br. Jo. Stott jur. was
born at Lane-end or Bankhouse hill
Jan. 26th. 1798 & baptised a few days
afterwards in our Chapel, his parents
being then, as they still are (for they
are both living) members of our ch.
From his childhood it would ap
pear the H. Spt. operated graciously
in his heart, for he was always
seriously disposed, a pleasant son
& maintained, in youth & maturity
a sturdy character. After his marriage
24 or 25 yrs. ago, he became a comt.
member of the church in which he
was born & brot. up. About 4 yrs
ago his mind was a good deal harassed
& depressed by a circumstance, for
which neither he nor any one, here was
to blame, but which involved him to
an amount very large for our
us his circumstances of life; in debt
??? Lord blessed & his wife partner’s
honest endeavours to discharge all
claims upon them; yet the fear
of bringing disgrace upon his fami
ly & his Christian profession so affected
his mind, that it is not improba
ble, the epileptic fits to which he
was thenceforward subject, were the

brought on. From that time his
life was very precarious & he was
well aware of it & he appeared to have
sought, with increasing earnestness,
to make his calling & election ???
he loved the house of God & would fre
quently say to his friends & rela
tives, how much good the saviour had
been the means of doing his soul
& he would doubtless have been a
more frequent attendant in the
Lords courts, had he not been de
terred by the fear of causing alarm
or disturbance, if he should be seized
in the Chapel, as actually was the
case on one occasion; as it was,
however, he was frequently seen
among those who went up to the
house of the Lord.
He was frequently known to retire
for the purpose of prayer, &, we hope,
was habitually watching for that
coming of his Lord, which he knew
must & would be sudden. The evening
before his death, being asked by a
friend, how he was in health, he re
plied, “I am very well; but I have
not a minunte to call my own;”
meaning, doubtless, that he might

be taken at a moment’s warning.
Of late the fits seem to have been
more frequent, & he always fell down
in a moment utterly unconscious.
Last Saturday morng. he went, un
known to his wife, between 7 & 8
a.m. to the well called Bank-house
well to fetch water, where he was
no doubt seized with one of the
fits while standing by the winch
of this well, fell into it, & was
very soon drowned. tho’ the well is
not 3 feet deep, & he had not been
above 1/4 of an hour absent from
his house. All means were tried
in vain to restore animation; his
spirit had fled to God who gave
it, & who saw fit to call him
home in this mysterious & striking
way. That well, then, was a well
of death to him; but we trust there
was in him a well of living water,
the flowing of which was not stopped
by the cold waters of that fountains,
but which rather, at that moment
sprang up with eternal life; for
our late Br. believed & put his whole
trust in that Savr, whom to know is
life eternal & who giveth living
water to all that ask of Him. Our

late Br. was 46 years old, & has left
a widow & 6 children to deplar his
loss. May the Lord be their Provider
and Comforter & lead them all to walk
with unwavering diligence the heart of great
price- the good part that shall not
be taken from them– that so they
may be prepared for length of days
or fit for early death.