FLANDERS, Samuel W. (c. 1822-1888) and Elizabeth M. (c. 1826-after 1888)

According to his obituary, Samuel W. Flanders, a farmer and brick mason from Canaan, Maine, became a Sabbathkeeper as early as 1845, while his wife “embraced the truth shortly after her husband did.” Flanders appears to have played a leading role in the Canaan congregation, arranging conferences and acting as local agent for the Review.1EGWLM 827.4

Apart from writing of being invited to a meal at the Flanders home in 1855, Ellen White mentioned them only incidentally. The two families would, however, probably have met on a number of occasions, since the Flanderses lived only a few miles from James White's parental home in Palmyra, Maine.1EGWLM 827.5

See: Obituary: “Samuel W. Flanders,” Review, Aug. 28, 1888, p. 559; 1880 U.S. Federal Census, “Samuel W. Flanders,” Maine, Somerset County, Pittsfield, p. 26; Ellen G. White, Lt 2, 1855 (Aug.); search term “S. W. Flanders” in Words of the Pioneers.1EGWLM 828.1