A brief history of Adventist pioneers would not be complete without mentioning the names of Hiram Edson and John Byington. Hiram Edson is remembered in Adventist history because he was the first person to offer a biblical explanation of The Great Disappointment. John Byington is best known as the first General Conference president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Hiram Edson, a Methodist layman from Port Gibson, New York, joined the Millerites in 1839 and waited with the believers for Jesus to come on October 22, 1844. Hiram said, "We looked for our coming Lord until the clock tolled twelve at midnight. The day had then passed, and our disappointment became a certainty. Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted."

While many Advent believers waited and wept until dawn, Hiram suggested they go to the barn and pray. They prayed until convicted God had heard their prayers and He would give them light to understand where they had misinterpreted Scripture.

Later, Hiram suggested to his friend that they go visit and encourage other Advent believers. To prevent being mocked, they avoided the road and crossed through Hiram’s fields, where corn was still on the stalks and pumpkins still on the vines. The Advent believers didn’t harvest their crops since they didn’t expect to need them.

As they walked through the cornfield, Hiram stopped as an overwhelming conviction came over him that the "cleansing of the sanctuary" (Daniel 8:14) was not a reference to Christ’s second coming, but that Christ had started His final phase of judgment in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary.

As early Adventists prayerfully studied the Scriptures, they became convinced God had raised up the Millerites to call attention to a special gospel message—the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14—to be delivered at the end of time. Hiram sold his farms and donated the profits to help spread this end-time message.

John Byington, affectionately known as "Father Byington," was the oldest of the early Adventist pioneers. The son of a prominent Methodist preacher, he read a copy of the Review and Herald in 1852 and began keeping the Sabbath. He conducted Sabbath meetings in his own home for three years, then donated the land and erected the first Adventist church building. His daughter, Martha, taught the first Adventist elementary school (1853). One of the first Sabbath schools was conducted in Byington’s home.

John was a friend to the friendless, a man who cared for the poor. He regularly entertained Native Americans and Blacks in his home and operated a station of the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves at Buck’s Bridge, New York, where he lived on a farm. He was a man of integrity who stood for principle, even when it called for personal risk or civil disobedience.

Ellen White reminds us we have nothing to fear for the future unless we forget how God led us in our past history. Early Adventists were bound together by a common experience, guided by the Holy Spirit. Out of that experience, our pioneers developed character traits we would do well to emulate today. They were honest, independent, humble, Spirit-filled, youthful, multi-cultural, faithful, reform-minded, self-sacrificing, and mission-oriented. These roots of your new family tree, grounded in the Word of God, have sustained the branches that have grown and now extend to all parts of the world, bearing fruit for God’s kingdom.

Portions of this article were adapted by Ann Fisher from Welcome to the Family, an out-of-print book published jointly by Home Study International and the North American Division, and used with permission. Ann writes from Walla Walla, Washington.