Preble, Thomas Motherwell (1810–1907)

Thomas Preble was the first American Adventist preacher to accept the seventh-day Sabbath. His writings about the seventh-day Sabbath played a crucial role in the acceptance of the Sabbath doctrine by Joseph Bates, J. B. Cook, J. N. Andrews, and other early Sabbatarians. He subsequently abandoned his belief in the seventh-day Sabbath but remained an adherent to the Second Advent message. He became an Advent Christian minister, although he was antagonistic toward Seventh-day Adventism.

Early Life

Thomas was born on July 13, 1810, in Anson, Maine to Motherwell (1781-1864) and Susannah (1766-1871) Preble.¹ At the age of 10 he and his parents lived in Norridgewock, Maine.² As a youth, he worked as a farm hand. At 26, he entered Parsonsfield Academy where he studied for two years.³ While a student there, he began preaching and entered the ministry. He was ordained as a Calvinist Baptist and later became a Free Will Baptist. Thomas married Helen Mair Eaton (1812-1864) on November 14, 1837, in Weare, New Hampshire. They had one daughter, Susan Jennie Preble George (1838-1908) who was born in West Lebanon, Maine.⁴

Second Advent Preacher

While at Nashua, New Hampshire, working in one of his earliest pastorates, Preble accepted the belief that Christ would soon return. A travel report by Richard W. Reed noted that Preble, of Newbury, shared “feeling remarks” about the Second Advent and afterward traveled with him to East Ware, New Hampshire, where Preble’s wife’s relatives lived.⁵ Preble was a successful revivalist leading many people to convert. “I bless God,” he wrote, “that I have been willing to give the ‘midnight cry.’”⁶ After only six weeks, on February 15, 1842, his congregation excommunicated him.⁷

Preble participated in a Second Advent Conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, from February 25-27, 1842. William Miller, among others, attended Preble’s meetings, but the ministers of the town barred them, forcing them to close their meeting early. Joshua V. Himes asked his readers to pray for Preble “who is in the front of the battle” in this community.⁸ Preble participated in camp meetings at Atkinson, and then Exeter, Maine, in the fall of 1842.⁹ At this latter camp meeting, Preble baptized nine people and reported an attendance of four to six thousand people on the Sabbath [Sunday]. “All things considered,” he wrote, “I think it was the best meeting I ever attended.¹⁰ Preble was remembered by J. O. Corliss, who heard him speak, as being an “eloquent speaker” who had a “dignified carriage.”¹¹

Preble went on to hold meetings in Norridgewock, Maine, before participating in (and being part of the planning committee for) a Second Advent Camp Meeting at Leominster, Massachusetts (commencing November 22, 1842).¹² In early 1843 he returned to Nashua where he held meetings. This time he baptized 35.¹³ It was reported (presumably by Sylvester Bliss):

Brother Preble has just returned from a long tour in Maine. He has been laboring amid opposition with more success than he could reasonably expect. Many glorious reformations have followed his labors, God has blessed his truth, and many souls have been converted to God. There are also a goodly number living in constant expectation of Christ’s glorious appearing. Brother Preble is now in Lowell, and will attend to calls for lectures on the Second Advent.¹⁴

In June 1843 Preble spoke for a camp meeting at Athol with a congregation of 2,000 who were “very attentive to listen to the truth.” He expected “a great amount of good” from these meetings:

I wish to say to my brethren and sisters who are daily looking for their Savior, and also to an unbelieving world, that though my enemies according to their reports—have had me in the grave—in in the prison, &c, &c, yet I am alive, glory to God, and expect to be, to give the Midnight Cry, till Christ shall come, with all the holy angels with him, to call his people home.¹⁵

Preble was asked to speak at the Exeter, New Hampshire, camp meeting in August 1843.¹⁶ On the way, he held meetings in New Salem where he baptized eleven. At the close they partook of the Lord’s Supper. He noted that his faith in Christ’s coming had increased although in his travels he described “a decrease of numbers in the Second Advent ranks.”¹⁷ By the time of the Exeter camp meeting, Preble was exuberant. There was an attendance of some four thousand on Sabbath [Sunday], with three baptisms and many more “baptized with the Holy Ghost.” “Those who had thought that ‘Millerism,’ as they call it, was dead, were greatly disappointed.” One person offered to sell his only cow to pay for Preble’s cost to come to his town to share about Christ’s return. “Such was the feeling in the congregation, but few could refrain from weeping.”¹⁸

In the spring of 1844 Preble considered going west to share the news about Christ’s return, but then new opportunities opened in Lowell, Nashua, and Manchester. Preble along with the other Advent believers had an intense sense of urgency.¹⁹ By late April, Preble preached for Advent believers in Albany, New York.²⁰

As October 1844 drew near, Preble accepted the message of the “MIDNIGHT CRY” promulgated by Samuel S. Snow that Jesus Christ would return “on the tenth day of the seventh month.” Preble felt it his “duty” to go east through Maine, visiting Portland, Gardiner, Hollowell, Chesterville, Wilton, Farmington, New Sharon, and Norridgewock proclaiming the news: “Behold he cometh.”²¹ No extant records exist that document his deep sense of disappointment when Jesus did not come, but Preble persisted in his conviction that Christ would return.

Sabbatarian Writings

About August 1844²² Preble came to believe that the seventh-day Sabbath was a topic of “great importance” for which he had a “duty” to share his views.²³ Various theories have been postulated about whether Preble adopted this belief spontaneously or through the influence of others.²⁴ The most plausible theory is that Preble’s proximity to Sabbatarian Millerite believers at Washington, New Hampshire, and their minister, Frederick Wheeler, served as a catalyst for Preble’s adoption of the seventh-day Sabbath. While some have cast doubt on this theory, due to Preble’s distance from Wheeler and the Washington, NH congregation, such distance may not have been such a great barrier. Preble’s frequent forays as an Advent preacher traveling hundreds of miles across New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine, indicate that frequent travel between the two places was feasible. This connection is supported by the testimony of J. N. Andrews (1829-1883) who in 1862 stated that Preble “was led to embrace the Sabbath from an acquaintance with Sabbath-keepers in N.H., and he faithfully adhered to it for a season.”²⁵

There were a few debates amongst Millerites about the seventh-day Sabbath, due to the influence of Seventh Day Baptists and James A. Begg (1800-1868) in Scotland. Preble in early 1845 set off a new round of debate when he wrote a letter (dated February 13, 1845) to John Pearson, published in Joseph Turner’s (1807-1862) Hope of Israel on February 28, 1845. This set off a flurry of new debate on the topic. In March, Preble expanded his article into A Tract, Showing that the Seventh Day Should be Observed as the Sabbath, Instead of the First Day; “According to the Commandment.” These publications occurred at the same time as there were debates about the Shut Door (the belief that those that had not accepted Miller’s message prior to October 22, 1844, would be lost) and the legitimacy of their Second Advent faith, in the wake of the Great Disappointment. Historian Merlin D. Burt states that “Preble’s article and subsequent tract were the single most important influence during 1845 in promoting the seventh-day Sabbath to Adventists.”²⁶

A close analysis of Preble’s longest tract shows that Preble drew his newfound belief from studying William Miller’s writings. He quoted from Miller’s “Lecture on the Great Sabbath” (pg. 3-5 of his tract) arguing that Sabbath was “a sign forever, and a perpetual covenant” and therefore remained still “binding upon the Christian church as upon the Jewish.” Adventists were the “true Israel” and could not change God’s law. Preble wrote that “All the difficulties on the Sabbath question among Christians have arisen from the foolish, judaizing [sic] notion, that Israel meant only the literal Jew.”²⁷ The Sabbath was part of the decalogue, so he reasoned it could not simply be dismissed. “Only one kind of Sabbath was given to Adam,” he argued, “and only one remains for us.”²⁸

The remainder of the tract consisted of two parts: answers to objections and a brief history of the Sabbath. In the first section, Preble contended that it was vital to draw a clear distinction between the moral and ceremonial laws. He noted that some kept the Sabbath based on the resurrection, which he did not dispute, but hardly found this sufficient evidence for not observing the seventh-day when Jesus Christ kept the seventh-day Sabbath. He then examined the evidence for worship on the first day of the week and the practice of the apostles. Only once is there evidence of the disciples meeting on the first day (Acts 20:7). A plain reading of texts, such as 1 Corinthians 16:2 and Revelation 1:10, could just as easily support the Sabbath. In fact, Christ’s warning in Matthew 24:20 about Sabbath observance in conjunction with the destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70) meant that Christ directed them “to observe the Sabbath to a much later period.”²⁹ Preble utilized the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge as an authority to support his assertation that the Sabbath was appointed at Creation and had never been repealed. He wrote, “We see that the fourth commandment is acknowledged to be now binding upon us. Oh! that men were consistent. Reader, will you be? God grant that you may.”³⁰ In the next section, Preble noted that “toward the close of the first century” a controversy arose over “whether both days should be kept, or only one,” and therefore, which “one should be given up.”³¹ This controversy continued until Pope Gregory abolished the seventh-day Sabbath and established the first day. He cited Caesare Baronius’ Councils, Eusebeius, Francis Bampfield, and Francis White for support, showing that he had a larger grasp of debates going back to Puritan controversies on the topic centuries earlier, and suggesting a strong Seventh Day Baptist influence. Seventh Day Baptists widely utilized these publications, too. He also noted John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (perhaps showing his earlier Calvinist background) in which Calvin attributed the change of the Sabbath to the early church fathers. “Mark this!” wrote Preble, “The Old Fathers did it! Not the God of heaven!! Whom will we obey?”³²

In concluding his tract, Preble wrote in memorable lines:

Thus we see Dan. Vii. 25 fulfilled, the ‘little horn’ changing ‘times and laws.’ Therefore it appears to me that all who keep the first day of the week for ‘the Sabbath,’ are Pope’s Sunday Keepers!! And GOD’s SABBATH BREAKERS!!!

TRUTH is what I am after, and if I had but one day on this earth to spend, I would give up error for truth, as soon as I could see it. May the Lord give us wisdom, and help us to keep all “his commandments that we may have right to the tree of life” Rev. xxii. 14.³³

Finally, Preble added a short two-page supplement in which he answered some further objections. The word “Sunday” never appears in the Bible. The Sabbath signifies rest and always refers to the seventh-day. One objection that he encountered was the shape of the globe—with the different degrees of latitude and longitude. This objection “amounts to nothing in my mind” since the “sun must rise on this continent at the same time as at the creation of the world.”³⁴ He also urged those who kept the seventh-day Sabbath to observe it from Friday evening to Saturday evening. Ultimately, Preble believed that a “plain reading” of Scripture, with a careful study of the context of Scripture and Christian history, revealed that the seventh-day Sabbath was just as important as adherence to Christ’s promise to return.³⁵

This careful reasoning and appeal to follow truth would resonate with a number of other Adventists in the wake of the Great Disappointment. “Many persons have their minds deeply exercised respecting a supposed obligation to observe the seventh day,” opined Himes in an editorial.³⁶ Both the sea captain Joseph Bates (1792-1872), and later, the young John Nevins Andrews attributed their awakening their appreciation and adherence of the seventh-day Sabbath to Preble’s tract.³⁷ Bates and Andrews were foundational to the development of the Sabbatarian Adventist theology despite Preble renouncing his adherence to Sabbatarianism about three years later.³⁸ Preble shifted then to arguing that the entire Ten Commandments were done away with at the cross, the observance of Sunday was based upon Christian tradition, and Christians should focus on the millennium or “seventh thousand year” as the great prophetic jubilee and “great Sabbath” instead.³⁹ His writings, although he subsequently repudiated them, became a catalyst for others to accept the seventh-day as the Sabbath.

Preble remained an active Adventist minister staying closely aligned with Joshua V. Himes, publishing literature from his printshop in Buchanan, Michigan. When Himes was ostracized, Preble stayed with Miles Grant and remained active in the Advent Christian denomination the rest of his life.

Conflict with Seventh-day Adventists

By 1861 T. M. Preble was writing articles against the seventh-day Sabbath. This prompted Jotham M. Aldrich (1827-1870) to respond to Miles Grant (1819-1911), the editor of The World’s Crisis, who refused to publish his response to Preble. Uriah Smith (1832-1903) printed the two-article series noting that Aldrich had since become a Seventh-day Adventist.⁴⁰ In 1864 Preble again wrote a series of articles about the Sabbath and the law in The World’s Crisis. Uriah Smith responded with the 228-page booklet, Both Sides on the Sabbath and Law. This was a difficult time for Preble, whose first wife Helen, died that year. This tragedy prevented him from publishing a response. On August 24, 1865, he was remarried to Sophia Rose Smith (1824-1892) in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.⁴¹

Shortly thereafter in 1867, Preble’ published his most extensive writings against the seventh-day Sabbath. He sought to refute the Seventh-day Adventist writings of Aldrich, Smith, and Andrews. In this 471-page magnum opus, Preble contended with all of his own earlier arguments in his 1845 tract and argue[d] that the seventh-day Sabbath was abolished at the cross. He devoted an extensive section to critiquing the work of J. N. Andrews. The personal copy of Andrews, extant in the Center for Adventist Research, has Andrews’ handwritten notes including an appeal in the title page to Job. 31:35, 36.⁴²

Preble worked as an Advent Christian minister during the 1870s and 1880s. In 1871 Preble was in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, continuing to preach at the Second Advent Hall.⁴³ He preached in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Massachusetts, at least until the late 1880s when he retired from active ministry.⁴⁴ In 1892 he became a widower again when his second wife, Sophia, died on December 7, 1892.⁴⁵ As late as 1907 Preble, now age 97, led out in “an old-fashioned testimony meeting” and rode in an automobile for the first time.⁴⁶ In his retirement, he was “working on a revision of the scriptures,”⁴⁷ titled “The “God Like Narrative of the Bible.”⁴⁸ Preble wrote copiously throughout his lifetime, although this manuscript does not appear to have survived. Preble died from heart failure on December 13, 1907, in Somerville, Massachusetts.⁴⁹ He was buried next to his second wife Sophia in Cedar Grove Cemetery in nearby Dorchester.⁵⁰

Sources

“Aged Clergyman Buried.” The Boston Globe, December 16, 1907.

Aldrich, Jotham M. “The Sabbath.” ARH, June 25, 1861, 33-34; July 2, 1861.

A[ndrews], J. N. “History of the Sabbath. (Concluded.) The Sabbath and First-Day Since the Reformation.” ARH, May 27, 1862.

Bates, Joseph. “Meetings in Michigan.” ARH, February 8, 1870.

Burt, Merlin D. “The Historical Background, Interconnected Development and Integration of the Doctrines of the Sanctuary, the Sabbath, and Ellen G. White’s Roel in Sabbatarian Adventism from 1844 to 1849.” Ph.D. diss., Andrews University, 2002.

Corliss, J. O. “Early Experiences—No. 3, The Second Prophecy.” ARH, January 30, 1919.

[Himes, Joshua V.]. “’The Lord’s Day.’” The Midnight Cry!, September 5, 1844.

“Nonagenarian Found Dead: Rev Thomas M. Preble of West Somerville. He Was in His 98^th Year—Was Up and About Yesterday. Death Due to Old Age and Heart Failure.” The Boston Globe, December 13, 1907.

Obituary. The Lewiston Daily Sun, December 19, 1907.

Obituary. The New York Times, December 14, 1907.

Preble, T. M. “Campmeeting at Athol.” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, June 14, 1843.

Preble, T. M. The Devil Destroyed!: The Saints Victorious Over Death: The Lord Jesus Saves the World. Boston, MA: R. B. Graham, 1897.

Preble, T. M. The First-day Sabbath: Clearly Proved by Showing that the Old Covenant, or Ten Commandments, Have Been Changed, or Made Complete, in the Christian Dispensation: In Two Parts. Buchanan, MI: W.A.C.P. Association, 1867.

Preble, T. M. “From Bro. Preble.” The Midnight Cry! October 3, 1844.

Preble, T. M. Let Us Make Man: or, How God the Father, and God the Son, are Associated in Creating, and Fitting Man for the Dominion Over All the Earth. Hyde Park, MA: Norfolk County Gazette Office, 1874.

Preble, T. M. “Letter from T. M. Preble.” Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, September 28, 1842.

Preble, T. M. “Letter from T. M. Preble [October 4, 1842].” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, November 9, 1842.

Preble, T. M. “Letter from T. M. Preble.” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, September 20, 1843.

Preble, T. M. “Letter from Brother Preble [October 4, 1843].” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, October 18, 1843.

Preble, T. M. “Letter from Brother T. M. Preble [December 21, 1843].” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, January 3, 1844.

Preble, T. M. “Letter from T. M. Preble.” Advent Herald, July 3, 1852.

Preble, T. M. “Results of the Second Advent in Atkinson, Me.” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, October 12, 1842.

Preble, T. M. A Review of the Argument Adduced to Prove that the 1260, 1290 and 1335 Days, as Given by Daniel and John, Bean in A.D. 519. Boston: n.p., 1854.

Preble, T. M. “The Sabbath.” ARH, August 23, 1870, reprinted from the Hope of Israel, February 28, 1845.

Preble, T. M. “The Ten Virgins”: or, Wisdom and Folly Contrasted. N.p., ca. 1860.

Preble, T. M. “Thoughts on the Second Coming of Christ and the End of the World.” Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, July 20, 1842.

Preble, T. M. The Three Kingdoms: or, The Kingdom of God the Father, the Kingdom of Satan, and the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ; or, a View of This World as it Was, As It is, and As It is to Be. Boston: T. M. Preble, 1857.

Preble, T. M. A Tract: Showing that the Seventh Day Should be Observed as the Sabbath Instead of the First Day; “According to the Commandment.” Nashua, NH: Murray & Kimball, 1845.

https://archive.org/details/ThomasM.PrebleTractShowingThatSeventhDayShouldBeObservedAsA.

Preble, T. M. The Two Adams: or, The First Man of the Earth, Earthy, the Second Man the Lord from Heaven. N.p., circa. 1864.

Preble, T. M., compiler. Two Hundred Stories for Children. Salem, MA: D. B. Brooks & Brothers, ca. 1848.

Preble, T. M. The Voice of God, or, An Account of the Unparalleled Fires, Floods and Earthquakes Commencing with 1845: Also, Some Account of Pestilence, Famine and Incrase of Crime. Albany, [New York]: Joel Munsell, 1847.

Smith, Uriah. Both Sides on the Sabbath and Law: Review of T. M. Preble. Battle Creek, MI: Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, 1864.

Waggoner, J. H. T. M. Preble on the True Sabbath. Battle Creek, MI: [James White], 1869. From ARH, December 21, 1869.

Wellcome, Isaac C. History of the Second Advent Message and Mission: Doctrine and People. Yarmouth, ME: I. C. Wellcome, 1874.

Young, David M. “When Adventists Became Sabbath-Keepers,” Adventist Heritage 2, no. 2 (Winter 1975): 5-10.

Notes

1. Most sources state that Preble was born July 13, 1810, but his marriage certificate to his first wife states July 14, 1810. This article sides with the majority of primary sources that adhere to this earlier date. For a comparison of sources, see: http://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tools/tree/187073165/invitees/accept?inviteId=0b4236ce-7714-43dd-ac5f-d0b24e9b51f5 [accessed 1/1/23].↩

2. 1820 United States Federal Census, 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Norridgewock, Somerset, Maine; Page: 205; NARA Roll: M33_38; Image: 209 [accessed from Ancestry.com 1/1/23].↩

3. Obituary, The Lewiston Daily Sun, December 19, 1907, 2.↩

4. http://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tools/tree/187073165/invitees/accept?inviteId=0b4236ce-7714-43dd-ac5f-d0b24e9b51f5 [accessed 1/1/23].↩

5. “Letter from Richard W. Reed,” Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, October 15, 1841, 109.↩

6. See note in Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, February 15, 1842, 173.↩

7. Isaac C. Wellcome, History of the Second Advent Message and Mission: Doctrine and People (Yarmouth, ME: I. C. Wellcome, 1874), 222.↩

8. “Conference in Nashua, N.H.,” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, March 15, 1842, 189.↩

9. T. M. Preble, “Results of the Second Advent in Atkinson, Me.,” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, October 12, 1842, 8.↩

10. T. M. Preble, “Letter from T. M. Preble [Oct. 4, 1842],” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, November 9, 1842, 3.↩

11. J. O. Corliss, “Early Experiences—No. 3, The Second Prophecy,” ARH, January 30, 1919, 9-10.↩

12. “Second Advent Camp Meeting: At Leominster, Mass., Nov. 22,” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, November 16, 1842, 3.↩

13. “The Case in Nashua,” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, February 22, 1843, 6.↩

14. See announcement, The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, June 7, 143, 2.↩

15. T. M. Preble, “Campmeeting at Athol,” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, June 14, 1843, 8.↩

16. “Second Advent Campmeeting,” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, August 9, 1843, 8.↩

17. T. M. Preble, “Letter from T. M. Preble,” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, September 20, 1843, 39.↩

18. T. M. Preble, “Letter from Brother Preble [October 4, 1843],” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, October 18, 1843, 72.↩

19. T. M. Preble, “Letter from Brother T. M. Preble [December 21, 1843],” The Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, January 3, 1844, 163.↩

20. See announcement, The Midnight Cry!, May 2, 1844, 5.↩

21. T. M. Preble, “From Bro. Preble,” The Midnight Cry!, October 3, 1844, 104.↩

22. In Preble’s earliest recollection of events he states in his February 13, 1845, article that about six months earlier he accepted the seventh-day Sabbath. He also wrote later that he adopted the seventh-day Sabbath “From the summer of 1844 to that of 1847.” See T. M. Preble, “Letter from T. M. Preble,” Advent Herald, July 3, 1852, 214. These corroborating statements lend credence to the belief that probably in late summer, likely in August 1844, he became a Sabbatarian.↩

23. T. M. Preble, A Tract: Showing that the Seventh Day Should be Observed as the Sabbath Instead of the First Day; “According to the Commandment” (Nashua, NH: Murray & Kimball, 1845), 2.↩

24. David M. Young, “When Adventists Became Sabbath-Keepers,” Adventist Heritage, vol. 2, no. 2 (Winter 1975): 5-10.↩

25. J. N. A[ndrews], “History of the Sabbath. (Concluded.) The Sabbath and First-Day Since the Reformation,” ARH, May 27, 1862, 202.↩

26. Merlin D. Burt, “The Historical Background, Interconnected Development and Integration of the Doctrines of the Sanctuary, the Sabbath, and Ellen G. White’s Roel in Sabbatarian Adventism from 1844 to 1849,” (Ph.D. diss., Andrews University, 2002), 119.↩

27. Preble, A Tract, 4, 5.↩

28. Preble, A Tract, 5.↩

29. Preble, A Tract, 8.↩

30. Preble, A Tract, 9.↩

31. Preble, A Tract, 10.↩

32. Preble, A Tract, 10.↩

33. Preble, A Tract, 10.↩

34. Preble, A Tract, 11.↩

35. Preble, A Tract, 12.↩

36. [Joshua V. Himes], “’The Lord’s Day,’” The Midnight Cry!, September 5, 1844, 68.↩

37. Joseph Bates recollected: “I well remember when I read Eld. T. M. Preble’s short article on the Sabbath of the Lord, (afterward in a small tract,) some twenty-six years-ago: how I said, ‘THIS IS TRUTH!’ and decided from henceforth to keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.” See Joseph Bates, “Meetings in Michigan,” ARH, February 8, 1870, 54; J. N. A[ndrews], “History of the Sabbath. (Concluded.) The Sabbath and First-Day Since the Reformation,” ARH, May 27, 1862, 202.↩

38. He dates his giving up the Sabbath to about the summer of 1847. See T. M. Preble, “Letter from T. M. Preble,” Advent Herald, July 3, 1852, 214.↩

39. T. M. Preble, “Letter from T. M. Preble,” Advent Herald, July 3, 1852, 214.↩

40. J. M. Aldrich, “The Sabbath,” ARH, June 25, 1861, 33-34; July 2, 1861, 41-42.↩

41. Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 Database, accessed from Ancestry.com 12/31/22].↩

42. https://adventistdigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/adl%3A22250030?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=cbf236269b0443660aab&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=0 [accessed 1/1/23].↩

43. See note, Vermont Chronicle, June 10, 1871, 5.↩

44. Obituary, The Lewiston Daily Sun, December 19, 1907, 2.↩

45. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68734791/sophia-rose-preble/photo [accessed 12/31/22].↩

46. See News Note, The Tacoma Daily Ledger, August 4, 1907, 35.↩

47. “Devote Lifetime to Church Work,” The Tacoma Daily Ledger, October 27, 1907, 34.↩

48. “Long Lives Given to Religious Work,” The Minneapolis Journal, October 20, 1907, 30.↩

49. “Nonagenarian Found Dead: Rev Thomas M. Preble of West Somerville. He Was in His 98^th Year—Was Up and About Yesterday. Death Due to Old Age and Heart Failure,” The Boston Globe, December 13, 1907, 2.↩

50. “Aged Clergyman Buried,” The Boston Globe, December 16, 1907, 11. See also: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67890595/thomas-motherwell-preble [accessed 12/31/22].↩