Seventh-day Adventist Benevolent Association

Battle Creek church members joined the delegates at the General Conference session on Wednesday evening, May 13, and were invited to participate in the deliberations. The subject before them was:2BIO 241.1

What we may do for the Lord in the persons of His worthy poor, and in this, not so much to learn what our duty is, as to devise means whereby it may be discharged in a manner acceptable to God.—Ibid.2BIO 241.2

This was a matter that had been of deep concern to Ellen White for several months, particularly after the distressing experience involving Hannah More. As an unmarried missionary in Africa, Hannah had been dropped from her supporting organization when she accepted the seventh-day Sabbath. She came to Battle Creek to gain the fellowship of those of like faith, but they overlooked her. She was forced by circumstances to join a family she knew, isolated in a northern region and deprived of the company of Seventh-day Adventists, and there she had died. [For more on the story, see Testimonies for the Church, 1:666-680; Testimonies for the Church, 2:140-145, 332; Ibid., 3:407, 408.]2BIO 241.3

“In the case of Sister Hannah More,” wrote Ellen White, “I was shown that the neglect of her was the neglect of Jesus in her person.”—Ibid., 2:140. A little later she noted:2BIO 241.4

Sister Hannah More is dead, and died a martyr to the selfishness of a people who profess to be seeking for glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life. Exiled from believers during the past cold winter, this self-sacrificing missionary died because no heart was bountiful enough to receive her. I blame no one. I am not judge.—Ibid., 2:332.2BIO 241.5

Hannah More was not the only one known to the believers to be in need, but her case brought the situation into focus. There was first a General Conference session action, followed by a definitive statement signed by the General Conference Committee, opening with the following words:2BIO 241.6

An association was formed during the session of the General Conference, having for its object the relief of widows and orphans, and of such other persons who may be worthy of assistance.... To raise ...means, it is decided to fix the payment of the sum of $10 as a condition of membership, and besides this, to ask donations from all who approve the object of the society.—The Review and Herald, May 26, 1868.2BIO 241.7

One hundred and fifty persons pledged $10 each; many paid their pledges at once, leading to the declaration that “the society is therefore already under way.”—Ibid. Further organization was quickly effected.2BIO 242.1