Dr. Brian Strayer, Professor of History at Andrews University, is currently working on the first biography ever written on the life of John Byington, the first president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists who was also a radical abolitionist who actively assisted fugitive slaves fleeing to Canada and who contributed to the development of many social, political, and religious institutions in Antebellum and Victorian America. The article is drawn from material in his forthcoming book.)
Probably the image most Adventists have of Elder John Byington is based on the only photograph they’ve ever seen which portrays the aged patriarch as a silver-haired, balding, bearded, wrinkled, scowling preacher in a black frockcoat and white shirt buttoned tightly around the neck. Consequently, they might be surprised to learn that he was a … Continue reading –>
