Advanced +

Mountain, Arthur, Sr. (1861–1924)

By Ross Goldstone

×

Ross Goldstone, M.A. (Avondale College, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia) retired in 1998 as Senior Pastor, Avondale Memorial Church, Cooranbong, NSW, Australia. New Zealand born, Goldstone has served the Church as a pastor, Conference Youth Director, teacher, and Sessional Lecturer at Avondale College. He has authored nine books relating to Adventist history, including The Angel Said Australia. He is also co-author of four other books on Adventist history in Australasia. In retirement Ross Goldstone continues to research and write Adventist Church history.

 

First Published: January 29, 2020

Audio

Arthur Mountain Sr. held a number of positions, primarily in financial management, in the fledgling Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia and New Zealand.

Early Years and Marriage

Arthur Mountain was born in London in 1861 and with his wife, Ellen, immigrated to New Zealand in 1885. Shortly after moving to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city, they became Seventh-day Adventists. Mountain became a literature evangelist, first in New Zealand and then in South Australia. Arthur and Ellen had three children: Arthur, a missionary to China; Edgar, treasurer of the North New Zealand Conference at the time of his father’s death; and Nellie, who married Pastor Harold. M. Blunden.

Years of Service

In March 1893, Mountain was appointed as the Secretary of the New Zealand Conference.1 In November 1893, Mountain was elected as vice-president of the New Zealand Tract Society, a position held in addition to his responsibilities as conference secretary.2 Then, at the end of 1894, he was elected as the Treasurer of the New Zealand Conference.3 At the end of 1896, he was reelected as treasurer of the conference.4 He was the treasurer of the Tract Society as well.5

In 1898, Mountain’s address was given as 57 Tory Street, Wellington, which was the headquarters of the New Zealand Tract Society.6 By 1900, records show him successfully selling Adventist literature in Eketahuna and Woodville in the North Island of New Zealand and in Invercargill in the South Island.7 With a major evangelistic outreach planned for Dunedin in 1902, Mountain spent time in that city in 1901, instructing prospective colporteurs in the art of salesmanship.8 Not only was he the New Zealand Conference general agent at this time, but he continued to hold the position of conference treasurer as well.9

Mountain held the position of general agent in New Zealand until he was transferred at the beginning of 1906 to the same position in the South Australian Conference on account of his wife’s health.10 She was suffering from tuberculosis and had been living for a time in Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia. She died on June 13, 1906.11 In October 1906 Mountain was appointed as Treasurer of the Australasian Union Conference.12

On June 24, 1907, Mountain married the sister of Mrs. Semmens, Mary Pallant, who was a trained nurse and had been assisting Dr. and Mrs. Semmens at the Adelaide Electro-Hydropathic Institute.13 She was also a sister of Pastor Jesse Pallant.14 Then in 1908, Mountain was appointed to Perth and the West Australian Conference as secretary/treasurer as well as treasurer and accountant of the Tract Society.15

On April 7, 1909, Emma Giblett, together with a number of other students at the Darling Range School, took sick with typhoid fever. The parents down south at Manjimup were notified, and the mother began the long night journey by train to be with her daughter. Arthur Mountain drove through rough mountain bush tracks in a horse and gig to the Kelmscott Station to meet the train. They arrived back at the school at midnight only to be told that Emma had died just hours earlier. It was sad day for all involved, but his actions show that Arthur Mountain had a practical and sympathetic side to his personality.16

After a time as principal of the Darling Range School, in early 1914 Mountain was appointed as an auditor of the Australasian Union Conference, an appointment that was confirmed at the Union Conference Session held in Sydney in September of that year.17 He held this position until the 1918 Union Session, at which time he was appointed as a member of the Australasian College Board.18

Declining health led to Mountain’s death on December 16, 1924, at his home in Normanhurst, New South Wales. Since accepting the Adventist faith, he had devoted his life to the furtherance of the gospel, serving largely in the field of finance.19 Mary Mountain lived on for another 23 years, at one time serving as matron of the New Zealand Missionary College.20

Sources

“Brother A. Mountain has been spending some time in Dunedin. . . .” Union Conference Record, November 1, 1901.

“Brother A. Mountain, Treasurer of the Union. . . .” Union Conference Record, July 15, 1907.

“Brother A. Mountain, who has been connected with the Darling Range School. . . .” Australasian Record, May 4, 1914.

“Brother Mountain leaves Sydney. . . .” Union Conference Record, October 26, 1908.

Butz, Edwin S. “Ellen E. Mountain obituary.” Union Conference Record, July 23, 1906.

Crothers, W. M. “New Zealand Notice.” Bible Echo, January 25, 1897.

Graham, E. M. “New Zealand Conference.” Union Conference Record, February 1, 1901.

Hare, R. “Arthur Mountain obituary.” Australasian Record, January 12, 1925.

Israel, M. C. “New Zealand Tract Society.” Bible Echo, January 22, 1894.

“New Zealand Conference Proceedings.” Union Conference Record, January 21, 1896.

“New Zealand Conference Proceedings.” Union Conference Record, March 25, 1895.

“Nominations.” Australasian Record, November 11, 1918.

“Nominations.” Australasian Record, October 12, 1914.

“Nominations.” Union Conference Record, October 1, 1906.

“Our Canvassers.” Union Conference Record, January 1, 1900.

“Our Canvassers.” Union Conference Record, March 1, 1900.

“Owing to the failing health of Sister Mountain. . . .” Union Conference Record, February 1, 1906.

Piper, A. H. “Campaign Work in West Australia.” Union Conference Record, December 21, 1908.

———. “Emma Giblett obituary.” Union Conference Record, June 7, 1909.

Simpson, Andrew. “The New Zealand Conference.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, May 15, 1893.

Stewart, A. G. “Mary Pallant Mountain obituary.” Australasian Record, December 8, 1947.

Wilson, G. T., and A. Mountain. “New Zealand Conference Proceedings.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, March 19, 1894.

“Workers Directory.” Union Conference Record, January/February 1898.

Notes

  1. Andrew Simpson, “The New Zealand Conference,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, May 15, 1893, 156.↩

  2. M. C. Israel, “New Zealand Tract Society,” Bible Echo, January 22, 1894, 23; “New Zealand Conference Proceedings,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, March 19, 1894, 86.↩

  3. “New Zealand Conference Proceedings,” Union Conference Record, March 25, 1895, 94.↩

  4. “New Zealand Conference Proceedings,” Union Conference Record, January 21, 1896, 29.↩

  5. W. M. Crothers, “New Zealand Notice,” Bible Echo, January 25, 1897, 32.↩

  6. “Workers Directory,” Union Conference Record, January/February 1898, 24.↩

  7. “Our Canvassers,” Union Conference Record, January 1, 1900, 10; “Our Canvassers,” Union Conference Record, March 1, 1900, 10.↩

  8. “Brother A. Mountain has been spending some time in Dunedin . . . ,” Union Conference Record, November 1, 1901, 15.↩

  9. E. M. Graham, “New Zealand Conference,” Union Conference Record, February 1, 1901, 13.↩

  10. “Owing to the failing health of Sister Mountain . . . ,” Union Conference Record, February 1, 1906, 7.↩

  11. Ibid.; Edwin S. Butz, “Ellen E. Mountain obituary,” Union Conference Record, July 23, 1906, 12.↩

  12. “Nominations,” Union Conference Record, October 1, 1906, 67.↩

  13. “Brother A. Mountain, Treasurer of the Union . . . ,” Union Conference Record, July 15, 1907, 7.↩

  14. Ibid.↩

  15. “Brother Mountain leaves Sydney . . . ,” Union Conference Record, October 26, 1908, 7; A. H. Piper, “Campaign Work in West Australia,” Union Conference Record, December 21, 1908, 7.↩

  16. A. H. Piper, “Emma Giblett obituary,” Union Conference Record, June 7, 1909, 7.↩

  17. “Brother A. Mountain, who has been connected with the Darling Range School . . . ,” Australasian Record, May 4, 1914, 8; “Nominations,” Australasian Record, October 12, 1914, 17.↩

  18. “Nominations,” Australasian Record, November 11, 1918, 35.↩

  19. R. Hare, “Arthur Mountain obituary,” Australasian Record, January 12, 1925, 7.↩

  20. A. G. Stewart, “Mary Pallant Mountain obituary,” Australasian Record, December 8, 1947, 7.↩

×

Goldstone, Ross. "Mountain, Arthur, Sr. (1861–1924)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=E80M.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Goldstone, Ross. "Mountain, Arthur, Sr. (1861–1924)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Date of access January 22, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=E80M.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Goldstone, Ross (2020, January 29). Mountain, Arthur, Sr. (1861–1924). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved January 22, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=E80M.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File