The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

MC PHERSON, Samuel A. (c. 1823-1898) and (first wife) Polly M. (c. 1824-1863) and (second wife) Sarah (c. 1842-after 1898)

Samuel and Polly McPherson, well-to-do farmers from Wright, Michigan, probably both became Sabbatarian Adventists in 1858. The McPhersons were generous donors to church projects, and for a time, in the early 1870s, Samuel McPherson was a director of the Western Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek, Michigan. 1EGWLM 869.3

Samuel McPherson and a fellow church member, Brother Cramer, were somewhat of a rarity among fellow Adventists in that they held pro-slavery views, and moreover they defended them vigorously among church members, causing division. Ellen White upbraided both of them in an 1867 testimony. “Your political views are at fault. They are not in harmony with God's Word and are not in union with the body of Sabbathkeeping believers. … These brethren cannot receive the approval of heaven while they lack sympathy for the oppressed slave.” 1EGWLM 869.4

See: Obituary: “Samuel A. McPherson,” Review, Feb. 28, 1899, p. 142; obituary: “P. M. McPherson,” Review, Mar. 17, 1863, p. 127; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, “Polly McFerson,” Michigan, Ottawa County, Wright, p. 121; 1870 U.S. Federal Census, “McPherson, Sarah,” Michigan, Ottawa County, Polkton, p. 14; search term “McPherson” in Review and Herald online collection, www.adventistarchives.org; Ellen G. White, Ms 8, 1867 (c. 1867). 1EGWLM 869.5