USA > Michigan > Gratiot County > Portrait and biographical album of Gratiot county, Mich. > Part 83
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
The view we take of the prophecy, consequently, is that the termination of the 2300 days in 1844 brought us to the commencement of this last portion of Christ's work as priest in the true tabernacle above,
GRATIOT COUNTY.
787
called the cleansing of the sanctuary; not a cleans- ing from physical impurities, but from the presence ot our sins, imparted to it through the blood of Christ there ministered in our behalf. This explains at once the mistake in 1844, and shows our present position. We are now in the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary,-a period of brief but indefinite duration, reaching to Christ's coming.
While, therefore, we do not throw away the pro- phetic periods, but believe they are to be understood, we believe also that they have been correctly inter- preted, and have all terminated ; so that now we have no data from which to reason respecting a definite time for the Lord to come.
THE SEVENTH DAY.
Two causes have operated to introduce the observ- ance of the seventh-day Sabbath among Adventists, and thus to develop that class known as Seventh-Day Adventists.
First, a Seventh-Day Baptist sister, Mrs. Rachel D. Preston, from the State of New York, moved to Wash- ington, N. H., where there was a Church of Advent- ists. From them she received the doctrine of the soon-coming of Christ, and in return instructed them in reference to the claims of the fourth command- ment of the decalogue. This was in 1844. Nearly that whole Church immediately commenced the ob- servance of the seventh day, and thus have the honor of being the first Seventh-Day Adventists Church in America. The ravages of death, and re- movals from the place, have considerably diminished their numbers; but the Church there still lives to bear witness to the truth thus introduced among them.
The Sabbath question began immediately to be agitated among Adventists, and within a few months many from their ranks commenced its observance. Among the earliest permanent converts to this doc- trine, three deserve especial mention : 1. Eld. Joseph Bates, who with great zeal, devotion, and self-sacrifice gave himself to its advocacy, and brought many to its observance. He fell asleep March 19, 1872, in the Soth year of his age. 2. Eld. James White, the founder, and manager to his decease, of the S. D. Adventist publishing work. Ile was for many years President of their five leading organizations ; namely, The General Conference, The Publishing Associa- tion, The Health Reform Institute, The General Tract and Missionary Society, and the Educational Society. Ile died in Battle Creek, Mich., Aug. 6. 1881, aged 60 years. 3. Eld. J. N. Andrews, author of the " History of the Sabbath," the "Sanctuary," the "Three Messages," and other important works, and for many years a missionary to Switzerland in Europe. He died Oct. 21, 1883, in his 55th year.
Secondly, another cause which has tended to strengthen them in the observance of the seventh-
day Sabbath, is the subject of the sanctuary, to which we have already alluded. It was seen at once that the central object in the sanctuary, in whichever dispensation we view it, is the ark of God, which is enshrined in the most holy place of that heavenly bukling. This ark was prepared expressly as a re- ceptacle for the tables of stone on which were written the great moral precepts of God's govern- ment, the ten commandments. Thus, attention was called to the law of God. It was also seen that if the law in the ark of the heavenly sanctuary ( Rev. 11:19) is the great original, and that deposited in the typical sanctuary was only a copy, or transcript, that law must read the same now as it read then, and the idea of any change is placed beyond the range of possibilities ; that heaven and earth, as Christ in his first sermon declared, would sooner pass than one jot or tittle would pass from the law ; and that the fourth commandment requires of the second house of Israel (spiritual Israel, or Christians) what it required of the first house (the literal descendants of Abra- ham), and has required from Eden down, the ob- servance of the seventh day of the week as the grand and glorious memorial of our creation at the hands of God.
THEIR PUBLISHING WORK.
This, as already stated, originated through the in- strumentality of Eld. James White. Eld. W. was born in Palmyra, Me., in 1821. Commencing at the age of 20, he labored with much success as a public speaker in the great Advent movement of 1840-44; and when the claims of the Sabbath were brought to his notice, he entered as heartily into the work of its defense and promulgation. He began the work of publishing in 1849. In November, 1850, he com- menced the publication of the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, the organ of the S. D. Adventists.
To accommodate his publishing work to the field of his operations as a traveling evangelist, the paper was issued first at Paris, Me., till June, 1851, then at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., till March, 1852. It was then removed to Rochester, N. Y., where it continued nearly four years. Then, the cause of Sabbath re- form rapidly advancing westward, its present location, Battle Creek, Mich., was selected as a more central position, and the paper was moved to this place in November, 1855. UD to this time, Eld. White was publisher and sole editor. Some of the time after this, others were associated with him on the editorial board.
The wants of the cause demanding an enlarge- ment of operations, and the employment of more capital in the publishing business, an Act of the Leg- islature of Michigan for the Incorporation of Asso- ciations for Publishing Purposes, was secured and approved March 7, 1861. Urder this act, a legally incorporated association, under the name of The Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association, was
-88
GR.ITIOT COUNTY.
organized in Battle Creek, May 3, 1861. They im- mediately erected a two-story brick building in the form of a Greek cross, the main portion 26 x 66, the transverse section 26 x 44, for the publishing work. in 1871 a second building of the same size and form was erected to meet the necessities of the increasing business. And in 1873 a third building of the same kind was built for the same purpose. In 1878 the first and third buildings were united by a four-story central structure, filling the whole space between them, making a large four-story building, with two three-story wings. In 1881 a large press-room, 46 × 66, was added to the right and rear. In these buildings we have an aggregate of thirty thousand square feet of floor space, which is occupied in the various branches of editing, printing, folding, book- binding, electrotyping, stereotyping, mailing, ship- ping, etc., furnished with the most modern machinery in all branches. Including all departments, it is the best equipped printing office in the State of Michi- gan.
The different periodicals issued by the Association, the titles of which follow, have an aggregate monthly circulation of about 160,000 copies.
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 16 pages, weekly.
Signs of the Times, 16 pages, weekly. Youth's Instructor, an illustrated weekly.
Sabbath Sentinel, monthly.
Bible Reading Gasette, monthly.
Sandhedens Tidende, Danish-Norwegian, semi- monthly.
Sanningens Harold, Swedish, monthly.
Stimme der Wahrheit, German, monthly.
Books on the prophecies and other Bible subjects have been issued largely from the beginning, and have now reached an aggregate of two hundred and fifty millions of pages.
Neatly one hundred hands are regularly employed in the work, and the capital invested is over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
These results, wrought out in so short a time, are the only compliment that need be paid to him under whose management this degree of prosperity has been attained. Those acquainted with the business career of the late Eld. White, observed in him two strongly developed traits of character,-zeal to push forward in the formation and execution of plans for the advancement of the work, and caution to avoid injudicious and reckless ventures. The union of these two qualities made him master of the situation in the publishing line, and gave to the enterprise, though moving forward rapidly, a healthy and perma- nent growth.
THEIR ORGANIZATION.
This is exceedingly simple. A body of believers associate together, taking the name of Seventh-Day Adventists, and attaching their names to a covenant
simply to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The Bible is their only creed. A clerk is chosen to keep the records of the Church, and an elder, elected by vote of the Church, is or- dained to look after its spiritual interests. If the Church is large, its temporal affairs are assigned to one or more deacons, chosen by vote of the Church for this purpose. They hold that the terms, elder, bishop and pastor (Greek, presbuteros, episcopos and poimen), signifying the same officer, which is a local officer, confined to a particular Church. These need not be ordained ministers. Evangelists (euangelistai) are ordained ministers, who travel from place to place to preach the gospel, and are the only ones competent to ordain local elders and deacons.
NUMBERS.
They now number 680 Churches, with an enroll- ment of 17,436 members, according to the returns made to the General Conference of Nov. 8, 1883. But, owing to the scattered condition of this people, a large proportion of them are not situated as to belong to any of the Church organizations, single families be- ing scattered all the way from Maine to California and Oregon, in all the Northern States, and in many of the Southern. The whole number is estimated at from twenty to twenty-five thousand. The number of ordained ministers is 165; licentiates, 135. None of the churches have pastors stationed with them. They maintain their worship without the aid of a preacher, only as one may occasionally visit them, leaving the ministers free to devote almost their whole time to carrying these views to those who have never before heard them. During the summer months, they carry forward their work by means of large tents 40 to 60 feet in diameter. About eighty of these were in use during the summer of 1883.
CONFERENCES.
The next advance in organization from single Churches, is the State Conference. The Churches in a State combine to form a State Conference, adopt- ing a constitution to regulate their action. All the ministers in the State are, by virtue of their office, members of the State Conference, and each Church is entitled to delegates according to its membership. At each annual meeting an executive committee of three is elected by vote of the delegates, of whom the president of the Conference is chairman. The com- mittee have supervision of all the ministerial and re- ligious work of the Conference between the yearly meetings, and appoint the delegates to the General Conference.
S. 1). Adventists now have 28 State Conferences, as follows: Maine, New England (including in this di- vision only New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut), Vermont, New York, Penn- sylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wiscon- sin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, Missouri,
- -
GRATIOT COUNTY.
789
Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, Cal- ifornia, Oregon, Virginia, Upper Columbia, Province of Quebec, Denmark, Suisse and Sweden.
The next outward sweep from the State Conference is the General Conference. This is composed of del- egates, ministers or laymen, from all the State Con- ferences. This Conference also annually elects its executive committee of five, to have charge of the doings of the denomination in all parts of the field. The president of the General Conference is the high- est officer in the body. The object of the General Conference is to unify the work in all localities, equal- ize labor, and supply destitute fields with help. The meeting of the General Conference held in Battle Creek, Mich., Nov. 8-20, 1883, was its 22d annual session.
FUNDS.
Means to sustain the work is raised by a plan de- nominated the tithing system, founded on the instruc- tions of Paul in i Cor. 16: 2. By this system it is designed that every one shall, upon each first day of the week, lay by a sum equal, as near as may be, to one-tenth of his income from whatever source. There is nothing compulsory in this matter, yet all this peo- ple, with few exceptions, have adopted, and are act- ing upon, this plan. According to this system, con- tributions being proportioned to the amount of prop- erty one possesses, or the strength and ability with which he is blessed for acquiring, none are burdened. It treats the rich and poor alike, in proportion to their ability, while a steady stream is thus poured into the treasury. For the year 1883, the amount raised in this manner in all the Conferences was over $96,000.
Each church, appoints its collector and treasurer, who once a month, or in rural districts once a quar- ter, gather up these contributions. With the excep- tion of a small percentage retained by some of the Churches for their own use, these funds are sent by the Church treasurers to the State Conference Treas- urer. At each yearly meeting of the Conference, an auditing committee is appointed, which examines the accounts of the ministers in the employ of the Conference, and settles with each one according to the amount of labor performed. One-tenth of all the funds coming into the State Treasury is voted to the General Conference, which is then put into the hands of the General Conference Treasurer, to be expended under the direction of the General Conference Com- mittee.
It is also the plan that all the different institutions connected with this cause pay a tenth of their income into the General Conference Treasury.
THE HEALTH AND TEMPERANCE REFORM.
The attention of S. D). Adventists was called to the subject of Christian temperance chiefly through the labors of Eld. and Mrs. White. At the outset of their public labors they took a strong stand against the
common use of tobacco and other narcotics, as well as against the use of alcoholic liquors. Eld. Joseph Bates, who was one of the earliest temperance reform- ers in the country, having assisted in the organiza- tion of the first temperance society in America, was associated with them in this work.
In 1862, chiefly through the writings of Eld. and Mrs. White, a more thoroughgoing reform was inaug- urated. It was urged that a person's moral nature is largely affected by his physical condition. It was therefore that success in appealing to man's higher and spiritual nature is much more certain if he can be turned from wrong habits of life, which undermine the physical and benumb the moral powers.
At the present time the whole body of S. D. Ad- ventists are abstainers from the use of alcoholic drinks of all kinds. Tobacco, in all its forms, is also dis- carded, none addicted to its use being received into the Churches except upon the promise and expecta- tion of its immediate abandonment. The result is, that, as a denomination, the sight and scent of tobacco are not found among this people. Pork, tea and coffee are also discarded. Rich and highly seasoned food is little used. Grease and spices are seldom employed in cookery. Flesh food is used much less freely than by the people generally. Two meals only a day are considered preferable for most people, and those to be composed chiefly of grains, fruits and veg- etables, served, however, in a great variety of pala- table and wholesome forms.
These reformatory ideas, with the exception of those respecting alcohol and tobacco, are not made tests of fellowship, but a strong effort is made to impress them upon the people in such a manner as to secure atten- tion to them. For the purpose of keeping them con- stantly before the members of the denomination, a society was organized Jan. 1, 1880, known as the " American Health and Temperance Association," which requires its members to sign one of the follow- ing pledges :
T'ERTOTAL. PLEDGE .- 1 do hereby solemnly affirm that with the help of God I will wholly abstain from the voluntary use, as a beverage or in any equivalent manner, of alcohol, tea and coffee, and from the use of tobacco, opium, and all other narcotics and stiumlants.
ANTI-RUM AND TOBACCO PLEDGE .- I do hereby solemnly affirm that with the help of God I will wholly abstain from the voluntary use of al- cohol in any form, as a beverage or in any equivalent manner, and from smoking, chewing or snuffing tohacco, or using it in any other form, and from in any way encouraging the use of these poisons.
ANTI-WHISKY PLEDGE. - I do hereby solemnly affirm that with the help of God I will totally abstain from the voluntary use, as .I beverage or in any equivalent manner, of all liquids or substances containing al- cohol.
It is expected that every member of the denomi- nation will sign the teetotal pledge. Those who do not at first, are soon willing to do so. The Associa- tion has subsidiary State societies and local clubs in nearly all parts of the ¡United States, with a total membership of about 20,000.
This reform ends not with diet alone, but extends to all other habits of life; and as the health of the
$00 :: 00
7.90
GRATIOT COUNTY.
body is affected, to a great extent, by the manner in which it is clothed, that subject occupies a prominent place in this reforin. The fashionable female attire of the present day is held to be chargeable with at least three leading evils as related to health : First, hanging burdens upon the body in an unnatural man- ner : secondly, hindering the full play of the vital organs; thirdly, insufficiently protecting the extremi- ties, his therefore recommended to shorten the skirt till it fully clears the filth and obstructions of the street, fit the garments loosely around the waist, sus- pend them from the shoulders, and thoroughly pro- tect the limbs. Special attention is paid to personal cleanliness, the sanitary condition of dwellings, and to all matters relating to health.
CAMP-MEETINGS.
The first camp-meeting of S. D. Adventists was held, under the management of Elds. White and An- drews, in the town of Wright, Mich., Sept. 1-7, 1868. The results of this meeting were so encouraging that the plan of hokling meetings of this kind during the summer months was soon generally adopted among this people.
The past season (1883), five camp-meetings were held in Michigan, four in Kansas, three in lowa, two in Wisconsin, two in Indiana, one in Alabama, and one each in nineteen other conferences, making thirty- six in all.
These meetings, as conducted by S. D. Adventists, are designed to be occasions of great spiritual profit to all who attend, promoting a revival spirit, and deep and vital piety. Complete order is maintained, proper hours for rest are secured, and everything pass- es off with as much order and decorum as would be observed in a house of worship.
At ithaca, the above denomination has quite a pleasant church edifice ; although the membership is not large in the village, yet the organization re- mains intact and numbers within its ranks some very influential people, principally from the surrounding country. Rev. Francis Nelson, formerly of Ithaca, Franklin Squire, Mis. A. M. Stevens, Mrs. Sidney Pipheny, Francis Hl. Howes and wife, Willett Rey- nolds and Mrs. Henry Crawford, are all active mem- bers of this Church, and from its organization, Jan. 1, 1865, have been foremost in the ranks. Their first church was created in 1865, but was burned in 1867. Being well insured, the society suffered but small loss, and a better house than the former structure occupies the site. The Adventists have no regular minister, but continue their meetings with reasonable regularity, being ministered to by itinerant missionaries who are earnest workers in the cause they advocate. Frank-
lin Squire is still acting Elder, and has done more to forward the work than any other member of the Church.
The tenets of the Adventists are to follow the teachings of the Bible exclusively ; consequently they require no salaried minister, some one of the men- bers always officiating at divine service. Those who were first members are mentioned in this connection : Rev. Francis Nelson, Franklin Squire, Whitman Hall, William Barnes, Philip P. Allen, Zenas An- drews, Wesley Greenlee, William S. Hall, Knowles Gibbs, W. S. Lane, Eliza A. Squire, Deborah Nelson, Elizabeth Hall, Susannah Barnes, Finneta Jeffrey, Lorinda M. Ogden, Elzina Lake, Nancy Lake, Almi- ra M. Potter, Elizabeth L. Mellinger, Mary Harp- ham, Rosine M. Phipeny, Julia A. Burgess, Mary A. Allen, Esther M. Hall, Sarah Gibbs, Elizabeth Gibbs, Sarah Greenlee, Elizabeth Barnes, Mary Mellinger, Charlotte Webster, Sybil A. Nelson, Mary A. March- ouse, Sarah A. Lake.
AMethodist Church .- This Church in Ithaca was organized in March, 1865, the credit of which is mainly due to the efforts of Mrs. E. M. Russell, a worthy lady, who still lives to bless the day that prompted her early in life to devote a part of her time, at least, to the welfare of her friends and ac- quaintances in a theological way. There had been preaching occasionally in Ithaca and elsewhere in the neighborhood, by Methodist ministers, but no organized Class. The Rev. Larman Furgeson came to Mrs. Russell's one evening in March, 1865, and Mrs. Russell prevailed upon him to hold a pro- tracted meeting. At first he demurred, but agreed afterward to do so, providing Mrs. Russell would make announcements for the same. The meetings were continued for four weeks, and a number of con- verts made, among whom were Dr. Chas. W. Marvin and wife, Judge Wm. E. Winton and wife and Judge Elijah Peck and wife, all of whom afterward became members of the Congregational Church, they prefer- ring the Church Government of that denomination.
At the close of these meetings several united with the Church, and a Class was organized, consisting of Abraham and E. M. Russell, David and Amelia Stackhouse, John Kinkerter and his wife, Rachel (grandma) Lane, Rev. Zerostas and Rhoda Moss, and their children-Mary and Berdsey, Eli Heffner and Richard Humphry.
حجـ
791
GRATIOT COUNTY.
Meetings were held in the school-house until the Baptist Church was completed, after which the audience room was obtained for preaching, and the basement was used for Sunday-school and other pur- poses.
Mrs. Russell proposed a plan for building a church, which was adopted, and the result is a good, sub- stantial building. For some time the Church was heavily burdened with debt, but this is almost paid, and another year will probably find the society on a substantial footing and the Church free from incum- brance.
The building was completed and dedicated in 1870; Revs. Bangs, the Presiding Elder of the Cir- cuit, and President Perrine, of Albion College, officiat- ing.
Rev. Stephen Nelson, the present pastor, is an earnest worker and fluent speaker.
Presbyterian Church .- The success of any enter- prise depends upon the earnestness of those who move in the work. Ithaca owes much to Judge William E. Winton for his liberality, in many respects ; but the Presbyterian people are under greater obliga- tions to him than any other gentleman in the com- munity, for his efforts to erect and complete the pleasant building they now occupy. The Church cost $3,800, of which the Judge donated fully one- half. The society was organized with seven mem- bers, consisting of Judge William E. Winton, his wife Marietta, and his son John H. Winton, Prof. J. W. Caldwell, Mrs. Harriet Watson, Mrs. Mary Church and Mrs. Kate Williams.
Their meeting for organization was held Feb. 16, 1870, and the Rev. J. T. Willett officiated thereat. Rev. D. D. Hamilton occupied the pulpit from March, 1871, until February, 1876, after which Rev. Willett was pastor for two years. Since April, 1880, Rev. John F. Long, the present pastor, has officiated.
The Church officials are: Deacon, Wm. E. Win- ton ; Ruling Elders, A. S. Barber, G. L. Lignian, Wm. E. Winton.
This Church is also in a prosperous condition, being out of debt, with a live membership of 50 and a large congregation comprising many of the oldest and wealthiest citizens.
The church edifice was dedicated June 4, 1882, by Rev. H. H. Northrop, of Flint, Mich. The fur- niture is very handsome, being made of white oak and black ash, with walnut trimmings.
The elegant chandelier, in the audience room, was donated by Gen. Nathan Church. The handsome and costly Bible was presented by Mr. Oscar Bills, and the magnificent solid-silver communion service by Mrs. Francis McNeil Potter, widow of Gen. Potter. The utmost harmony prevails in the Presbyterian society, and its future is bright. What greater tribute can be offered than the familiar quotation : "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity !"
Societies.
A. F. & A. M., Ithaca Lodge, No. 123, was or- ganized in January, 1866. The charter was obtained > January 1, of that year, and W. W. Comstock in- stalled W. M .; Nathan Church, S. W .; David Bailey, J. W. W. W. Comstock, at his own expense, fitted up a lodge room, and donated the rent for two years, thus proving his sincerity and zeal in the cause. For nine consecutive years he held the office of W. M., the highest mark of esteem possible for the brethren to bestow.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.