The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

WHEELER, Frederick (1811-1910) and Lydia (1814-1886)

Although available sources are somewhat contradictory, according to several accounts Frederick Wheeler, a Millerite Adventist preacher from New Hampshire, began to keep the seventh-day Sabbath in the spring of 1844 through his contact with Rachel Oakes, a Seventh Day Baptist. If so, Wheeler was the first Millerite preacher to adopt the Sabbath, earlier than T. M. Preble, another Millerite minister who became a Sabbatarian some months later, in August 1844. 1EGWLM 902.4

Frederick Wheeler was born in Acton, Massachusetts, and married Lydia Proctor in 1832. From about 1838 to 1857 they lived in Washington, New Hampshire, or nearby Hillsborough. About 1840 Frederick Wheeler was ordained as a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 1842 he accepted the Second Advent teachings of William Miller. Whether or not he was excluded from the Methodist Church for his Millerite beliefs is not known, but by 1844 he was ministering to a group of Millerites in Washington when Rachel Oakes convinced him to become a Sabbatarian. His wife, Lydia, did not take that step until 1850. 1EGWLM 902.5

From about 1851 Frederick Wheeler preached widely throughout the New England States. In 1857 the family moved to Brookfield, New York, and he continued itinerant preaching in New York State for the next three or four years. In 1861 the Wheelers left Brookfield, probably because of strained relationships with Ira Abbey (see below), and moved to a farm in West Monroe, New York. From then on Frederick Wheeler preached mostly locally in Oswego County. 1EGWLM 903.1

In 1890, when Frederick Wheeler was approaching 80 years of age, Ellen White respectfully classed him among the “aged standard-bearers.” The only known rough patch in the relationship between the Whites and Wheeler occurred during the early 1860s. In 1861 Wheeler refused for a while to support James White in his drive for church organization. Also in 1861 Frederick and Lydia Wheeler received a testimony of reproof from Ellen White, focusing on their hypercritical attitude toward fellow church member and neighbor Ira Abbey, while failing to notice more serious problems in their own family. For a year or so Frederick Wheeler refused to acknowledge the rebuke and began to spread his doubts about the visions to others. He subsequently changed his mind and published a “Confession” in the Review, in which he reaffirmed his belief that the visions “are from the Lord.” Another letter from Wheeler to the Review published in 1867 suggests that problems had continued to fester for several years. 1EGWLM 903.2

See: Obituary: “Frederick Wheeler,” Review, Nov. 24, 1910, p. 15; obituary: “L. P. Wheeler,” Review, Mar. 30, 1886, p. 206; William Lawrence Proctor and Dolly Pauline Howard Proctor, A Genealogy of Descendants of Robert Proctor of Concord and Chelmsford, Mass. (Ogdensburg, N.Y.: Republican & Journal Print, 1898), p. 69; Merlin Burt, “… Sabbatarian Adventism From 1844 to 1849,” pp. 53, 54; search terms “Frederick Wheeler,” “F. Wheeler,” Review and Herald online collection, www.adventistarchives.org; “Organization,” Review, Aug. 27, 1861, p. 100; F. Wheeler, “From Bro. Wheeler,” Review, Aug. 27, 1861, p. 103; F. Wheeler, “Confession,” Review, Dec. 3, 1861, p. 7; F. Wheeler, “Note from Bro. Wheeler,” Review, Nov. 19, 1867, p. 360; Ellen G. White, Ms 33, 1890 (Oct. 11); Lt 20, 1861 (Aug.); Lt 13, 1862 (Jan. 13). For a discussion of sources dealing with the date when Frederick Wheeler and the Millerite group in Washington, New Hampshire, began Sabbathkeeping, see Arthur Whitefield Spalding, Origin and History of Seventh-day Adventists, vol. 1, pp. 399, 400. 1EGWLM 903.3