SMITH, William (c. 1808-after 1872) and Laura (1810-1872)

The Smiths were farmers and church members from Convis, Michigan. Laura Smith became a Sabbathkeeper about 1857, but her husband, William, struggled for some time before taking that step. While on a visit to Convis in 1859, Ellen White noted in her diary that “Brother Smith is convinced that the seventh day is the Sabbath, but the cross stands in his way. He fears his children.” Nevertheless, when the Convis Seventh-day Adventist church was organized in 1861, William Smith was listed among the charter members, and there are several notices in the Review of monthly district meetings held in his home during the 1860s. About 1865 Ellen White admonished Smith over his continued use of tobacco while also appealing to Convis church members to “exercise a kind forbearance to Brother Smith” in his struggle.1EGWLM 891.4

See: 1870 U.S. Federal Census, “William Smith,” Michigan, Calhoun County, Convis, p. 8; James White, An Appeal to the Working Men and Women in the Ranks of Seventh-day Adventists, p. 36; obituary: “Laura Smith,” Review, June 25, 1872, p. 15; Ellen G. White, Ms 6, 1859 (Apr. 10 entry); Ms 4, 1865 (c. 1865); H. B. Peirce, History of Calhoun County, Michigan, vol. 1, p. 154; J. N. Loughborough, “Appointments,” Review, Nov. 20, 1866, p. 200; John Sisley, “Monthly Meeting in Convis, Mich.,” Review, June 25, 1867, p. 28; J. H. Waggoner, “Monthly Meeting at Convis,” Review, June 23, 1868, p. 13.1EGWLM 891.5