The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

HARMON, Sarah B. See BELDEN, Stephen T. and Sarah B.

HARRIS, William (c. 1803-1873) and Lydia (c. 1808-after 1873)

A carpenter from the hamlet of Centreport, near Port Byron, New York, William Harris became a Millerite about 1842 and a Sabbathkeeper in 1847. There are indications that he did some lay preaching in the 1850s. The first recorded meeting of the Harris family with Ellen and James White was in August 1848. In response to prayer Lydia Harris was “greatly relieved” of her chronic catarrh and left off the use of snuff as treatment. Two years later, in 1850, the Whites lived at the Harris home during August and September while James published the first four issues of the Advent Review in nearby Auburn. Dramatic healings of 1-year-old Edson and of James took place in their home during this period. 1EGWLM 840.1

See: Obituary: “William Harris,” Review, Apr. 22, 1873, p. 151; 1850 U.S. Federal Census, “William Harris,” New York, Cayuga County, Mentz, p. 97; Wm. Harris, “From Bro. Harris,” Review, Feb. 5, 1857, p. 110; William Harris, “From Bro. Harris,” Review, Sept. 10, 1857, p. 151; “Conferences,” Advent Review, November 1850, p. 72; Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 99-100, 136-143; Ellen G. White, Lt 8, 1850 (Aug. 4). 1EGWLM 840.2