Adventism

Apocalyptic Abolitionism & The End of Slavery

May 7, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In March 1844, Melissa Botsford of Meriden, Connecticut, defiantly left her local Methodist church because it supported slavery and other “sins” that permeated America.

Botsford was among one hundred thousand other abolitionists who abandoned their evangelical churches throughout the decade. These protesters came out with a stern apocalyptic warning: God would soon judge America ― and its churches ― for the sins of slavery and race prejudice. [Read more…] about Apocalyptic Abolitionism & The End of Slavery

Burned-Over District Documentary Being Produced

March 5, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

A new trailer for an in-production feature-length documentary film about the Burned-Over District of 19th-century New York State has just been released. Burned Over focuses on Spiritualism, the belief that the living can communicate with the dead, and the Oneida Community, a free love commune.

Both began in 1848 in the Burned-Over District, an area famous as an incubator of radical religious practice and progressive politics, inspired in part by the Second Great Awakening. [Read more…] about Burned-Over District Documentary Being Produced

Granola Inventor James Caleb Jackson on the Abolition Road

September 8, 2024 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

A firsthand account of the October 21, 1835 canal boat ride from Utica to Canastota – followed by a nine mile walk up the hill to Peterboro for an abolition meeting – was provided by James Caleb Jackson (1811 – 1895) from Oswego, NY.

On that day in October, 600 black and white abolitionists met in Utica, NY to the inaugural meeting of the New York State Antislavery Society. [Read more…] about Granola Inventor James Caleb Jackson on the Abolition Road

Peterboro’s Dominie: Early Black Adventist John West

November 3, 2023 by Milton Sernett 2 Comments

At least 147 African Americans are buried in the small Peterboro Cemetery in rural Madison County, New York. Among them is John West, whose headstone was toppled by a falling tree during a storm in August 2023. [Read more…] about Peterboro’s Dominie: Early Black Adventist John West

“Strange things about Mrs. Simeon Hays,” The Woman That Lived Without Eating

December 27, 2022 by John Warren 2 Comments

Night and day for three full weeks six well-dressed men would take shifts standing watch over Betsey Hays in her bed. They planned to stay with her two at a time in her one room cabin and make careful scientific notes. For Betsey, who spent most of her time tormented by uncontrollable bodily contortions and seizures, it was something she was used to.

Over the past two years, thousands of people had come to Chestertown in Northern Warren County to stand over her as she suffered. [Read more…] about “Strange things about Mrs. Simeon Hays,” The Woman That Lived Without Eating

Adventism

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