The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

IRVING, Agnes. See IRVING, William and Catherine.

IRVING, William (c. 1813-1859) and Catherine (c. 1818-?) and (daughter) Agnes (c. 1842-1891)

William Irving, a farmer from Ross, Michigan, became a Sabbathkeeper about 1857. In 1859 Ellen White described the family as “poor. … Their crops have failed. They have breadstuff to buy and nothing to buy with.” William Irving died in 1859 at age 46 of tuberculosis, leaving Catherine and several children. 1EGWLM 852.1

James and Ellen White helped the Irving family with gifts of clothing and money. They also employed Agnes (Agnes Nye), one of the Irving daughters, in their home for some months in 1859 and launched an appeal on behalf of the bereaved family through the newly founded paper, The Good Samaritan, in December 1859. 1EGWLM 852.2

See: Obituary, “William Irving,” Review, June 9, 1859, p. 23; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, “Catherine Irving,” Michigan, Kalamazoo County, Ross, p. 25; Ellen G. White, Ms 5, 1859 (Jan. 6 entry); Ellen G. White, “From My Diary,” The Good Samaritan, December 1859, pp. 5, 6; Harriet N. Smith et al., “Widow Cranson,” The Good Samaritan, February 1860, p. 12; Washington Gardner, History of Calhoun County, Michigan; a Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People, and Its Principal Interests (New York: Lewis Pub. Co., 1913), vol. 2, p. 1151. 1EGWLM 852.3