The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

GRAHAM, Bruce (1833-1919) and (first wife) Lavina (c. 1835-1870) and (second wife) Caroline V. (1849-1928)

Originally from Scotland, Bruce Graham became a Sabbatarian Adventist, together with his brothers Andrew and William Henry, while living in Berlin, Connecticut, in the early 1850s. He later lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, before moving sometime during the 1870s to Franklin County, Massachusetts, where he farmed for most of the remainder of his life. An active layperson, he is described in his obituary as a “leader in different companies of believers with which he was connected.” In 1858 he married Lavina Thayer, and in 1884 Caroline Prior. 1EGWLM 834.1

In her 1859 diary Ellen White notes that she and James “took dinner with Brother Bruce Graham” while on a visit to Berlin, Connecticut. She also mentions the death of Graham's first wife, Lavina, in 1870. James White spoke at her funeral in Battle Creek. Ellen White admonished the Graham brothers for their apparent involvement in fanaticism in Berlin during the 1850s. 1EGWLM 834.2

See: Obituary: “Bruce Graham,” Review, Aug. 7, 1919, p. 29; obituary: “Lavina Graham,” Review, Jan. 31, 1871, p. 55; obituary: “Caroline V. Graham,” Review, Mar. 1, 1928, p. 22; Bruce Graham, “Communications,” Review, May 29, 1856, p. 46; 1870 U.S. Federal Census, “Bruce Graham,” Michigan, Calhoun County, Battle Creek, Ward 3, p. 32; 1880 U.S. Federal Census, “Bruce Graham,” Massachusetts, Franklin County, Buckland, p. 2; Ellen G. White, Ms 7, 1859 (Sept. 2 entry); Lt 7, 1859 (Sept. 24); Lt 19, 1859 (Oct. 4); Lt 22, 1870 (Dec. 16). 1EGWLM 834.3