WHIPPLE, John G. (1817-1902) and Sarah B. (1822-1905)

Sarah Butler, older sister of George I. Butler, twice General Conference president, married John G. Whipple in 1849. They were comfortably situated in Perry's Mills, Clinton County, New York, with a farm and other property worth $3,700 according to the 1860 census. In the 1860s they moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, where J. G. Whipple operated a grocery business for many years. Both Sarah and John Whipple came from Millerite backgrounds, began to observe the Sabbath about 1852, and were active lay members in their area. Tent meetings were held on their farm in 1855. In the 1860s and 1870s J. G. Whipple's name appears on various conference and publishing committees.1EGWLM 903.4

Both James and Ellen White commended the Whipples—by all indications quite well off—for their generosity toward the poverty-stricken preacher M. B. Czechowski in the period 1858-1861. However, some years later, in an 1868 testimony, Ellen White pointed out that “love of the world has … eaten out true godliness” and she appealed to the Whipples to “divest yourselves of selfishness and make thorough work for eternity.”1EGWLM 903.5

See: Obituary: “John G. Whipple,” Review, Sept. 30, 1902, p. 23; obituary: “Sarah B. Whipple,” Review, June 22, 1905, p. 23; George W. Davis, John Grow of Ipswich: John Groo (Grow) of Oxford (Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1913), p. 76; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, “John G. Whipple,” New York, Clinton County, Champlain, p. 59; 1870 U.S. Federal Census, “J. G. Whipple,” Michigan, Calhoun County, Battle Creek, p. 14; 1880 U.S. Federal Census, “J. G. Whipple,” Michigan, Calhoun County, Battle Creek, p. 61; C. W. Sperry, “From Bro. Sperry,” Review, Mar. 19, 1857, p. 158; search term “Whipple” in Words of the Pioneers; James White, “Bro. M. B. Czechowski,” Review, Dec. 30, 1858, p. 48; Ellen G. White, Lt 31, 1861 (c. 1861); Lt 16, 1868 (June 20).1EGWLM 904.1