Farnsworth, Cyrus Kingsbury (1823–1899)

Cyrus Kingsbury Farnsworth was a farmer from Washington, New Hampshire, who became an early and stalwart Sabbatarian Adventist.

Early Life

Cyrus Kingsbury Farnsworth arrived on February 4, 1823, as the fourth of six children, born to Daniel (1782-1864) and Martha (1785-1875) Farnsworth.¹

Pioneer Sabbatarian Adventist

In 1844, Rachel Oakes² (later Preston) (1809-1868), a Seventh Day Baptist, visited her schoolteacher daughter, Rachel Delight Oakes (1825-1858) in New Hampshire. While there, she stayed with Cyrus Farnsworth³ and accepted the Second Advent message. Shortly thereafter, she confronted Frederick Wheeler (1811-1910), the pastor of the Christian Connexion congregation in Washington, New Hampshire. After a communion service, she pointed out that he was failing to keep all of God’s commandments, particularly the fourth one.⁴ Wheeler studied the subject and accepted the seventh-day Sabbath. Cyrus, and his older brother (who was sixteen years older) William (1807-1888), were among the first to make their stand to join Wheeler in their newfound conviction. Later, in May 1845, Joseph Bates (1792-1872) visited Wheeler, stopping at the Cyrus Farnsworth home (presumably with his brother William as well). This visit cemented Bates’ conviction about the seventh-day Sabbath.

Subsequent Life

Cyrus married the daughter of Rachel Oakes, Rachel Delight (1825-1858) on June 14, 1847.⁵ They had four children: Emory (1848-1920), Solon (1850-19197), Edgar (1854-1926), and Webster (1856-1858). The youngest, Webster, and Rachel died from typhoid in August 1858. They are buried next to one another in the Washington, New Hampshire, Church cemetery. Cyrus next married Lydia A. Knight (1833-1861) on October 20, 1859.⁶ Lydia was the daughter of Nathaniel (1813-1889) and Zlipha (1807-1889) Knight. In 1851, at the age of 17, she had “embraced the present truth, the third angel’s message” and became “a steady and firm believer.”⁷ She died from an unspecified illness on April 18, 1861.⁸ Cyrus married once more, this time to Harriet (“Hattie”) Camp (1836-1921) on September 3, 1861. She was one of the first members of the company of Adventists in Washington and had accepted the seventh-day Sabbath and Christ’s soon return. She remained committed to these beliefs for the rest of her life. They had two daughters together: Ida Delight (1862-1925) and Addie R. (b. 1868).

On January 12, 1862, Cyrus and Harriet were two of the first eleven members when the Washington, New Hampshire, Church officially organized as a Seventh-day Adventist congregation. On the next day, January 13, Cyrus was chosen as a deacon and ordained.⁹ In 1862, Harriet and Cyrus each gave $2.50 as a donation for the nascent Publishing Association.¹⁰ In later years, when a minister was not available, Cyrus was remembered as the one who often led worship services.¹¹ On April 23, 1864, he was chosen as church elder.¹² Cyrus was a prosperous farmer.¹³

Cyrus and Harriet were faithful church members. In 1871, Harriet and Cyrus purchased an additional $10 worth of shares each of stock in the S.D.A. Publishing Association.¹⁴ Later that year, Cyrus purchased an additional $10 worth of shares.¹⁵ In 1874, Cyrus donated $25 to assist with the Swedish Mission.¹⁶

Cyrus died on April 6, 1899. He was buried adjacent to other family members, including his wives, in the small cemetery next to the Washington, New Hampshire, Church. When Harriet passed away in 1921, she was buried next to Cyrus. She was described as the last one of the charter members to pass away.¹⁷

Sources

Andrews, J. N. History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week. 2^nd ed. Battle Creek, MI: Steam Press of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, 1873.

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.

Kaiser, Denis. “Preston, Rachel Harris Oaks (1809-1868), in Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventism, January 12, 2023. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AIQ1&highlight=Preston.

Robinson, A. T. “Another Link in Early Advent History Severed.” ARH, September 22, 1921.

Spalding, Arthur W. Footprints of the Pioneers. Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1947.

S[picer], W. A. “Notes on Early Times in This Advent Movement: No. 5: The Coming of the Sabbath Truth in 1844.” ARH, November 16, 1939.

Wheeler, Gerald. James White: Innovator and Overcomer. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2003.

Notes

1. Note the 1976 edition of the SDA Encyclopedia incorrectly lists his birth year (pg. 453).↩

2. There are various spellings of the surname including Oaks, Oak, and Oaker in genealogical records. Oakes appears to be the most common in genealogical records, so I have retained this spelling.↩

3. A. T. Robinson, “Early New England Experiences,” ARH, September 18, 1924, 7, 10-11.↩

4. Denis Kaiser, “Preston, Rachel Harris Oaks,” in Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventism, January 12, 2023, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AIQ1&highlight=Preston.↩

5. New Hampshire, U.S., Marriage Records Index, 1637-1947, accessed February 17, 2024, ancestry.com. Several historians fail to note that Rachel Oakes did not marry Cyrus Farnsworth until three years after the whole exchange between her mother and Frederick Wheeler. Cf. M. Ellsworth Olsen, A History of the Origin and Progress of Seventh-day Adventists (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1925), 183.↩

6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33738649/lydia-a.-farnsworth, accessed February 17, 2024, ancestry.com.↩

7. Joshua Philbrick, “Obituary,” ARH, May 28, 1861, 15.↩

8. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33738649/lydia-a.-farnsworth, accessed February 17, 2024, ancestry.com.↩

9. See: “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.↩

10. See Receipts in ARH, December 16, 1862, 24.↩

11. W. A. S[picer], “Notes on Early Times in This Advent Movement: No. 5: The Coming of the Sabbath Truth in 1844,” ARH, November 16, 1939, 7.↩

12. See memory statement of E. W. Farnsworth, quoted in ARH, February 8, 1940, 10.↩

13. 1870 United States Federal Census, Census Place: Washington, Sullivan, New Hampshire; Roll: M593_850; Page: 631A, accessed February 17, 2024, ancestry.com.↩

14. “Shares in the Publishing Association,” ARH, June 13, 1871, 207.↩

15. “Shares in the Publishing Association,” ARH, December 19, 1871, 8. This list appears to be a different one from the earlier list that appeared in June. There is no reference to Harriet’s earlier $10 contribution, so this appears to be in addition to the earlier contribution.↩

16. See under “Money Receipted,” in The True Missionary, April 1874, 32.↩

17. A. T. Robinson, “Another Link in Early Advent History Severed,” ARH, September 22, 1921, 26.↩