R. G. LeTourneau (1888 to 1969)
Protestant
He moved heaven--and earth.
R. G. LeTourneau was born at Richford, Vermont. The world knows he was famous for the monster earth-movers he designed and built; but believers remember him for his Christian witness, backed up by a life lived wholly for the Lord. After the death of his first-born son, LeTourneau inverted the tithing principle, giving 9/10ths of his income to the Lord's work instead of the usual 1/10th. He was involved in many well-known evangelical projects, promoting the Gospel. He died in Longview, Texas.
Samuel Seabury (1729 to 1796)
Episcopal Church
Active loyalist headed post-revolution church.
Samuel Seabury, first bishop of the American Protestant Episcopal Church, was born on this day in Connecticut. Following the American Revolution, in which he took Great Britain's side, Seabury sailed to England to obtain ordination since the American Episcopalians had no bishops. Rejected in England, he went to the Scottish Church and was ordained. Because he had been a Loyalist, Seabury was not always well-accepted in the United States.