Farnsworth, William (1807–1888)

William Farnsworth was a farmer from Washington, New Hampshire who was an early Sabbatarian Adventist.

Background

William was born on February 8, 1807, the oldest child of Daniel (1782-1864) and Martha “Patty” neé Proctor (1785-1875) Farnsworth.¹ As a baby it was reported that he weighed only two and a half pounds and his fathered bundled him up in a coffee pot to help keep him warm. Everyone thought he would die, but eventually the diminutive child grew up to a towering 6 feet and 240 pounds as an adult. He was remembered for having “converted to God quite early in life.”²

William Farnsworth had a total of twenty-two children, eleven children with each of his two wives. He married his first wife, Sarah (“Sally”) Mead (1812-1855), on December 2, 1830. After Sarah’s death, he married Cynthia Stowell (1829-1917) on September 19, 1855. Such large families were more common in the nineteenth century. Six of William’s children would not reach the age of 25, and his children each had much smaller families.

The Farnsworths were modestly prosperous farmers who owned 216 acres near the Ashuelot River and built a home called “Happy Hollow.” They remained active supporters of James and Ellen White and the fledgling Seventh-day Adventist Church as it emerged. In 1850 he was listed as a farmer with a farm worth $1,000.³ By 1870 their property had appreciated to $2,000 in value with an additional $600 of personal property.⁴

On one occasion, according to a descendant, William woke up his son Eugene (1847-1935) to have him go to Marlowe to get the doctor because “Mother is having a baby.” Eugene told his father he didn’t want to go because “There are already too many children in this family.” William responded with Genesis 1:28, “increase and multiply and replenish the earth.” Eugene retorted: “Yes, but he did not tell you to do it all by yourself.”⁵ Of the fifteen children born after 1843, all but one remained faithful Seventh-day Adventists. His son, Eugene, reflected later on in life that he pitied the boy who did not have any siblings. “I tell you,” he added, “you let a boy be brought up in a family with twenty-one brothers and sisters, and he will get a lot of selfish corners knocked off him before he gets to be twenty-one years old.”⁶

Spiritual Leader

William was the leader of the Christian Society of Washington when thirty-two families covenanted together to construct a church. In 1842 he heard Joshua Goodwin preach that Christ would return about 1843-1844. Rachel Oakes Preston (1809-1868) stayed at his brother Cyrus’ home so that she could be close to her daughter, Rachel (1825-1858), who was teaching at the rural school. Rachel Oakes (1809-1868) shared her convictions with Frederick Wheeler (1811-1910) about the seventh-day Sabbath in the spring of 1844. William and Sarah, along with his brother Cyrus, as well as his oldest son, John (1834-1918), accepted the seventh-day Sabbath.⁷ While some debates exist on the precise dating, it is plausible that this first Sabbath that William Farnsworth joined Wheeler may have been March 16, 1844, and his younger brother, Cyrus, joined him a week later.⁸ The following Sunday, William worked on what had previously been a day of rest for him. More believers joined them after the Great Disappointment. Partially as a result of their acceptance of the seventh-day Sabbath, he parted ways with the Washington, New Hampshire, Church that he had founded. They began to take turns worshipping in one another’s homes. Some neighbors on their way to church threatened him, but he refused to back down.⁹

According to several accounts, Joseph Bates during the height of the Millerite movement had shared with the Washington believers about Christ’s soon return. He returned to Washington, New Hampshire, to share his newfound conviction about the seventh-day Sabbath. When he arrived at the home of William Farnsworth:

[H]e remarked, “Brother William, I’ve come to bring you some new light.” Brother Farnsworth said, “Is it the Sabbath?” “Why, yes,” said Elder Bates, “have you heard about the Sabbath?” “’The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament,’” replied Brother Farnsworth, “and don’t you know,” said he, “that in that ark is the ten commandments, the fourth precept of which we have not been obeying?” The two men then compared notes, and both had begun the observance of the Sabbath on the same day, both having had their attention called to its observance by the Holy Spirit’s impressing their minds with the identical words of Scripture.¹⁰

Cyrus and William were co-leaders of the fledgling Sabbatarian Adventist group that continued to rotate between different homes in the area. In 1845, William subscribed to The Day-Star, a periodical in which Millerites encouraged one another to remain faithful to their belief in Christ’s soon return.¹¹ He wrote to the editor, Enoch Jacobs (1809-1894):

This [Second Advent] hope brings joy inexpressible, truly. Yet, the hope of soon seeing Jesus, visibly and personally too, is what cheers me. The truth that the “Day Star” contains, is what I love. So I send the enclosed mite to pay my subscription, and also for a new subscriber.

The cause in this place has suffered much from those that have turned aside from the truth—in believing that the second coming of Jesus has taken place. I think this to be an extreme error. The only lovely band in Washington, has been divided by this influence. Warn your brethren faithfully, against this last device of the enemy, to destroy souls. I believe the conflict will soon be over, Praise the Lord!¹²

Church Organization and Final Years

On January 12, 1862, William was one of the eleven initial members of the Washington Seventh-day Adventist Church, which by this point had taken over the original Christian Connexion church building.¹³ Cynthia, his wife, joined on June 6, 1862.¹⁴ William often led out in the singing during early worship services and sometimes read a chapter or sermon when there was not a visiting minister.¹⁵

At one point, Ellen White admonished him that he was in spiritual darkness. She warned him he had increased the size of his family without recognizing “the responsibility” he had brought upon his companions. “Your first wife ought not to have died, but you brought upon her cares and burdens which ended in the sacrifice of her life.” She added that by “increasing your family so rapidly, you have been kept in a state of poverty.”¹⁶

Final Days and Legacy

William died of “old age and paralysis” on December 17, 1888. His children became farmers, ministers, and missionaries. Many of them traveled the world and spread the church that he helped found. William himself never moved or traveled far from where he was born.¹⁷ He is buried in the church cemetery near the Washington Meetinghouse.

Children of William Farnsworth

Sources

[Campbell, Michael W.] “Farnsworth, William.” In The Ellen G. White Encyclopedia, rev. ed., edited by Denis Fortin and Jerry Moon, 375. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2014.

Farnsworth, E. W. “William Farnsworth obituary.” ARH, February 19, 1889.

Farnsworth, E. W. “Symposium of Pioneers: Sabbath Afternoon, May 29.” ARH, June 4, 1926.

Ford, Mark. The Church at Washington, New Hampshire: Discovering the Roots of Adventism. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2002. Note also the accompanying 35-minute video recording and musical CD feature early hymns.

Miller, Mabel Robinson. William and His Twenty-Two. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1959.

Robinson, D. E. “Joint Senior-Junior Topic, May 20: William Farnsworth.” Church Officers’ Gazette, May 1944.

Spicer, W. A. “The First Church.” ARH, February 8, 1940.

United States Federal Census, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880. Digital Images. Courtesy of Ancestry.com.

White, Ellen G. Testimonies for the Church. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1948.

Notes

1. For basic genealogical information, see: https://www.ancestry.com/invite-ui/accept?token=8Ko9gOslBiDymRLIQlupe5WZOE4tZyozUr9czbh_6aE=, accessed February 18, 2024, ancestry.com.↩

2. E. W. Farnsworth, “William Farnsworth obituary,” ARH, February 19, 1889, 126.↩

3. U.S. Federal Census, 1850.↩

4. 1870 United States Federal Census.↩

5. Harold Farnsworth to Br. Nix, February 2, 1988, Ellen G. White Estate Document File 188.↩

6. E. W. Farnsworth, “Symposium of Pioneers: Sabbath Afternoon, May 29,” ARH, June 4, 1926, 1.↩

7. Farnsworth, “William Farnsworth obituary,” 126.↩

8. E. W. Farnsworth, “Symposium of Pioneers: Sabbath Afternoon, May 29,” ARH, June 4, 1926, 1; Farnsworth, “William Farnsworth obituary,” 126; F. Wheeler, “Sarah Farnsworth obituary,” ARH, August 7, 1855, 23.↩

9. D. E. Robinson, “Joint Senior-Junior Topic, May 20: William Farnsworth,” Church Officers’ Gazette, May 1944, 7.↩

10. As related by A. T. Robinson according to what William Farnsworth, recounted to him before his death. “An Interesting Bit of History,” Atlantic Union Gleaner, March 25, 1908, 2-3; PUR, October 22, 1908, 3.↩

11. See donation of 50 cents under “Letters and Receipts,” in The Day-Star, November 8, 1845, 20.↩

12. “Letter from Bro. Farnsworth,” The Day-Star, November 8, 1845, 24.↩

13. “Seventh-day Adventist Church Book, Washington, N.H., 1862,” bound record book, Document File 188, Ellen G. White Estate, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.↩

14. Ibid.↩

15. W. A. Spicer, “The First Church,” ARH, February 8, 1940, 10.↩

16. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1948), 2:93, 94.↩

17. Farnsworth, “William Farnsworth obituary,” ARH, February 19, 1889, 126.↩

18. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85390636/albert-farnsworth, accessed February 18, 2024, ancestry.com.↩

19. C. R. Kite, “Melbourn A. Farnsworth obituary,” ARH, October 29, 1914, 22.↩