The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

EVANS, D. T. (c. 1826-after 1910) and (first wife) Lucinda (c. 1823-1871) and (second wife) Lucia (c. 1826-1881) and (third wife) Caroline (c. 1835-after 1920)

D. T. Evans (his first name given in various sources as “Derrick” or “Dimick”) was a minister from Vermont who became a Sabbatarian Adventist about 1851, his wife, Lucia (née Horr), following some years later. Evans started preaching in Vermont and Canada East about 1858. He was ordained to the ministry in 1860, the first Seventh-day Adventist minister to be ordained in Canada. Although recognizing his talents, Ellen White was shown in vision in 1859 that for a variety of reasons, Evans could best serve the church by preaching only on a part-time basis while continuing to work at his trade (shoemaker), thus supporting his family without depleting scarce church financial resources. It appears that Evans did not follow this counsel fully, since Ellen White pointed out the same problems five years later, in 1864. Subsequently the Review contains occasional reports of D. T. Evans’ preaching activity up to 1879. He appears to have moved from Vermont in the late 1870s and spent the remainder of his life in Nebraska and Wisconsin. 1EGWLM 824.3

See: Denis Fortin, Adventism in Quebec, pp. 75, 76 (see under “Daniel T. Evans”); Walton's Vermont Register and Farmers’ Almanac for 1871 ([Claremont, N.H.]: Claremont Manufacturing Co., 1871), p. 63; obituary: “Lucinda Evans,” Review, July 4, 1871, p. 23; obituary: “Lucia Evans,” Review, Feb. 7, 1882, p. 94; A. S. Hutchins, “Our Visit to Canada,” Review, Nov. 13, 1860, p. 205; search term “D. T. Evans” in Review and Herald online collection, www.adventistarchives.org; Ellen G. White, Lt 21, 1859 (Sept.); Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, pp. 448, 449 (“Brother C”). 1EGWLM 824.4