Another recent dissertation on Adventist history, defended just over a year ago by newly appointed Adventist Review editor, Bill Knott, highlights the amazing life and ministry of Hannah More (1808-1868). This dissertation can also be obtained digitally as a large PDF file by downloading it for $30 from University of Michigan microfilms. (when searching the title is: "Foot Solider of the Empire: Hannah More and the Politics of Service"; it was done through George Washington University). Up until Knott painstakingly worked through obscure sources and transcribed illegible letters, most Adventists (if they had her name at all) knew that she was the missionary woman who visited Battle Creek during the summer of 1867 and who was not welcomed thus bringing on strong reproofs by Ellen White for their uncharitable and unfriendly attitude. Dejected, Hannah More left Battle Creek for nothern Michigan and died that following winter.
It is important not to confuse this Hannah More with another antebellum Hannah More (1745-1833) who is much better known. While Adventists have known for a number of years about Hannah More's conversion to Adventism, her earlier years of service as a missionary in Africa (1850-1856; 1862-1866), and before that, as a missionary to native Americans in what is now Oklahoma (1841-1847) have not generally been known. Knott made a significant discovery while doing research with Tim Poirier at the Ellen G. White Estate, Inc., main office that clued him in about additional sources. Knott gradually began to piece the puzzle together which included additional sources from other archives and relatives of More that has finally culminated in such a masterful and revealing portrait of her life. She was a zealous reformer who spent her life in a variety of reforms (i.e. her connection to Oberlin) that finally culminated in Sabbatarian Adventism during the 1860s.
An interesting side note is that Knott was also able to locate an original photograph through the family that he believes is that of Hannah More. A couple of years ago I went to try and find Hannah More's grave. It is located in Leelanau County, Michigan, in a small cemetery. Her gravestone reads: "In Memory of Hannah More, Missionary to Africa 59 Years and 3 Months, To be with Christ is far better. Phil. 1:23"
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