[1] Sturtevant worked as a school teacher in locations including Manlius, New York[2] and Lima, Indiana,[3] and moved to Middlebury, Vermont in 1908.

[4] He studied law in Middlebury with Judge Charles I. Button and attorney Ira H. LaFleur,[4][5] and worked as deputy clerk of the Addison County Court.

[5] Sturtevant entered politics as a Republican, and served as Addison County State's Attorney from 1915 to 1921.

[9] Sturtevant had been chief judge of the Superior Court for only a few months when Leighton P. Slack died.

[9] In April 1938, Sturtevant was appointed as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, filling the vacancy caused by Slack's death.