PIONEER PROFILES: Joshua V. Himes

JOSHUA V. HIMES (1805-1895)

     Massachusetts was assailed by a series of snowstorms beginning on December 15, 1839. High winds and deep snow brought monetary losses of at least $1 million, the destruction of 50 ships in the Gloucester harbor, and the loss of many human lives. While the New England states were freezing physically, the Millerite movement was heating up and about to set the region on fire spiritually.

   Joshua Himes had arranged for William Miller to preach to packed-out churches in Boston from December 8-16. At the conclusion of the meetings, Miller was stung by more than Northeasterly winds—he had a life changing interview with one of God’s gadflies.  

     “Do you really believe what you have been preaching to us?” Himes asked William Miller.

     “I most certainly do, Brother Himes, or I would not be preaching it,” Miller replied in his earnest, yet composed manner of speaking.

     “Then what are you doing to spread it through the world?!” questioned the tightly wound Himes, in an almost accusatory tone.   

     Defensively, Miller argued that he had been preaching in every little town and village that invited him. This answer was unacceptable to Himes. Miller was passively waiting for others to offer him opportunities, but Himes was an agitator and instigator.

     He was already making waves in the community as an abolitionist and education reformer. He was not content to wait for people to seek him out when he believed he had something others needed to hear. Therefore, he appointed himself as Miller’s publicist, booking him for numerous preaching appointments in the big cities.

     Although Miller was now preaching to larger audiences, Himes wasn’t satisfied. On February 28, 1840, Himes launched The Signs of the Times. It was the first of many newspapers to publish Miller’s teachings and arouse the public’s interest in the Second Advent. The Midnight Cry was a popular Adventist paper to spin off of the Signs.

     In 1842, Millerites printed and distributed 10,000 copies of The Midnight Cry a day in New York City for four weeks. That’s about 280,000 pieces of literature distributed in a city whose population was just over 300,000 at the time. Quite a feat for people without word processing programs, elevators, laser printing, automobiles, or gel insoles!

     It seems those early Adventists were intent on reaching the whole city. That’s when people believed Jesus was SOON to return. What if we gave ourselves a one month deadline to give the entire populace of the cities we live in one of our publications? What if we still believed Jesus was coming soon?

     In addition to newspapers, Himes leadership also led to the establishment of reading rooms; the production of colorful prophecy charts; a hymnal called The Millennial Harp; and the “Second Advent Library,” which was an ongoing series of tracts and books by Miller and others. This ambitious publishing ministry was a critical component in the Great Advent Awakening.

     Miller became so well known that even a false announcement that he was coming to Washington, DC prompted a gathering of 5,000 people. As attendance at Millerite meetings increased, Himes pushed for building the “Great Tent.”

     Also known as “Father Miller’s Tent,” it was the largest in the country. Measuring 120 feet in diameter and 55 feet tall in the center, the Great Tent seated 4,000 comfortably—but could (and often did) crowd 2,000 more into the aisles.

     In March 1844, William Miller wrote that he had given, “since 1832, three thousand two hundred lectures.” That’s 266 a year, twice as many sermons many pastors preach today. Much of Miller’s busy-ness was directly related to the stinging interview with Joshua V. Himes. If it were not for Himes’ leadership, there might not be a multi-million member Seventh-day Adventist Church today. Like Miller, Himes came short of accepting the seventh-day Sabbath, but he was indeed one of God’s gadflies.