The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

HEWITT, David (1805-1878) and Olive (1809-1876)

Best known as the first converts to Sabbatarian Adventism in Battle Creek, David and Olive Hewitt had settled in Battle Creek, Michigan, in the 1830s. Variously listed as a “peddler” and grocer, David Hewitt, and most probably his wife, connected with the Millerite movement in the 1840s and began keeping the Sabbath in 1852 after being contacted by Joseph Bates. 1EGWLM 844.5

Most earlier historical accounts, following suggestions by J. N. Loughborough, considered David Hewitt noteworthy because he was “one of the earliest non-Millerites to join the movement.” However, a letter from David Hewitt published in the Adventist (Millerite) journal Voice of Truth in 1845 provides unmistakable evidence of his earlier Millerite background. An occasional lay preacher, Hewitt is also well known for being the first to move, during committee deliberations in 1860, that the name “Seventh-day Adventist” be given to the emerging movement. 1EGWLM 844.6

Although little is said of David Hewitt in Ellen White's writings, his wife, Olive, received occasional mention. “Sister Hewitt was a good woman, beloved of God and faithful,” she maintained in an 1872 letter, defending Olive Hewitt against those who had unjustly censured her in a church disciplinary hearing. 1EGWLM 844.7

See: Virginia Hewitt Watterson, Descendants of Captain Thomas Hewitt of Stonington, Connecticut, Compiled by Virginia Hewitt Watterson (Carlsbad, Calif.: 1996), p. 96; “Death of David Hewitt,” Battle Creek Daily Journal, Feb. 6, 1878, p. 4; obituary: “Sister Hewitt,” Review, Nov. 30, 1876, p. 175; 1840 U.S. Federal Census, “David Hewitt,” Michigan, Calhoun County, Battle Creek, p. 186; James M. Thomas, Battle Creek City Directory, for 1871 and 1872, With a Historical Sketch of the City, Past and Present (Battle Creek, Mich.: Review and Herald Steam Book and Job Printing House, 1871), p. 22; J. N. Loughborough, The Great Second Advent Movement, pp. 548, 549; SDAE, s.v. “David Hewitt”; Arthur Whitefield Spalding, Origin and History of Seventh-day Adventists, vol. 1, p. 255; David Hewitt to “Bro. Marsh,” Voice of Truth, Sept. 3, 1845, p. 443; Ellen G. White, Lt 3, 1872 (Feb. 1). For an extensive collection of source documents on David Hewitt, see Glenn Davis and Jean Davis, “Notebook, Vol. 1,” deposited at Historic Adventist Village, Battle Creek, Michigan. 1EGWLM 844.8