Parents of pioneer Michigan preacher Joseph B. Frisbie, Elihu and Esther Frisbie moved from New York in 1837 or 1838 to the newly established township of Sylvan, in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Elihu, a merchant, opened the first store in Sylvan Center. At 72 years of age, in 1857, he became a Sabbathkeeping Adventist, following his son J. B. Frisbie, who had begun preaching for the young movement in 1853. Whether Esther Frisbie also joined the Sabbatarians is not known. Ellen White notes Elihu's accidental death in her 1859 diary. 1EGWLM 830.1
See: Obituary: “E. Frisbie,” Review, June 9, 1859, p. 23; 1850 U.S. Federal Census, “Elihu Frisbe [sic],” Michigan, Washtenaw County, Sylvan, p. 292; History of Washtenaw County, Michigan, pp. 754, 756, 778; E. Frisbie, “From Bro. Frisbie,” Review, Aug. 27, 1857, p. 135; Ellen G. White, Ms 6, 1859 (May 18 entry). 1EGWLM 830.2