The Potato Patch Preachers
New Ipswich Historical Society
October 22, 1844
Leonard Hastings, Potato Farmer
They were convinced that Jesus was coming!! They were sure they even knew the date! On October 22, 1844, Jesus would appear to take His believing people back to Heaven with Him! O! the excitement! One could hardly think of anything else! The Millerites, as they were called, were doing their best to tell as many as possible the good news! Jesus was coming very soon!! But, most people thought they were ignorant and deceived, so they paid little attention. After all, it was harvest time, there were apples to pick, corn to gather, and potatoes to dig. But, the Millerites tried to show by their lives that they not only were preaching that Jesus was coming, but that they really believed it.
One of those who faithfully gave the good news and warning was Leonard Hastings, a farmer in New Hampshire. His business was pasturing and caring for cattle and he grew enough produce to supply his family’s needs. They also relied heavily on a potato crop for their use and to sell for some income. The Hastings family lived near the town of New Ipswich, where there was a Millerite Adventist community, but there were neighbors living around them who were not Adventists.
In the spring of 1844, Hastings had put in a large field of potatoes. They grew well, and were ready for harvest in the fall, but Hastings decided not to dig them for he felt it would be a denial of his faith. After all, Jesus was coming in a few more weeks, he would have no need of them. A few of his neighbors, thinking he was crazy, offered to dig them for him, and store them in his barn, and he thanked them but said, “No, I’m going to let that field of potatoes preach my faith in the Lord’s soon coming.”
“He’s foolish” the neighbors told each other. “He’ll be sorry,” others declared behind his back. “Those potatoes will rot in the ground!”
But, the neighbors’ unbelief did not affect Leonard Hastings’ decision at all, and along with some other Millerites, they left their crops unharvested, and waited for Jesus to come. We all know that although all through the day of October 22nd they watched and waited; midnight came, and He had not returned. When the dawn of October 23 finally streaked the eastern skies, and Jesus had not come, they were devastated.
So, what happened to the Millerite believers after the Disappointment? Some continued to search the scriptures to understand why Jesus had not come, and learned about the beginning of Jesus’ Most Holy Place ministry in Heaven. Some fell away from believing. Did those who had not harvested their crops face starvation? What about Mr. Hastings’ potato patch? Did his potatoes rot in the ground?
No—None of the Millerites starved to death, and as it turned out, Hastings’ potatoes did a better job of preaching than he could have ever done. The fall of 1844 was mild, and the potatoes were left in the ground until November. When he finally dug them, he found that they were some of the best he’d ever grown. But—his neighbors who had dug theirs
earlier, had a problem. A potato blight came to New England that year, rotting nearly all the potatoes that had been dug at the proper time. But, the ones left in the ground didn’t rot! So, Mr. Hastings had a big supply of potatoes for his family—as well as for those same neighbors who had called him foolish.
He really got a bonus the next spring when it was time to plant potatoes again. Many of Hastings’ neighbors came to him to buy seed potatoes to plant in their gardens and fields. Because of the scarce supply, seed potatoes sold for as much as $5 a bushel—an enormous price! What the people thought was going to cause Mr. Hastings some real problems turned out to be a blessing to him—and also to his neighbors.
There was another potato crop that preached a sermon, too. Silas Guilford, William Miller’s brother-in-law, had planted a 12 acre field of potatoes in the spring of 1844. Silas left his potatoes in the ground as a testimony of his faith in the Lord’s coming. This was in Oswego, New York, and the snows came early that year and covered the acres of potatoes. They stayed in the ground all winter.
When spring came and the snow melted, Silas mentioned to his wife that he was “going up to the potato field and see if any of the potatoes survived the winter.” She begged him not to go, saying they had already been the joke of the town, and if people saw him digging in that potato field they would laugh again. “Besides,” she said, “You know they froze and are all rotten.” “Well, Irving and I’ll just go take a look,” he told her.
Silas pushed the fork firmly into the first potato hill, turning up the dirt, and with it, nice, firm potatoes, not frozen at all, and no rot on any of them. The next hill was the same, and the next!
In great excitement Silas Guilford sent Irving back to the house to get the other boys, also more forks, spades and baskets. That 12 acres yielded an awesome number of wonderful potatoes. They got $4.50 a bushel for them. The sale of the potatoes made enough money for Silas Guilford to pay off his mortgage and have a good nest egg left over. Surely God honored the faith of His followers.
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
But—that Day the Millerites were looking for is soon coming, and it is closer than we may think. We, too, need our faith planted in Jesus to be prepared for the time of trouble. Psalm 91 tells us where we find our Refuge. And, Isaiah 33:16 “bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.”
compiled from Adventists Pioneers by Dorothy Dunbar
Chapter 7—The Potato Patch Preaches
excerpt from Footprints of the Pioneers - Ellen G. White
Leonard Hastings
NEAR the southern border of New Hampshire is the village of New Ipswich. Did you ever hear of New Ipswich, It was once an important town, business center of towns and cities which have now outstripped it, in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. And it was a center of Seventh-day Adventist influence, there being within a radius of ten miles as many towns holding believers of this faith. Leonard Hastings, farmer and preacher, was the leader. The Webber family lived ill town (this very house where we stayed overnight), Father Webber being a tailor; and their house was the common stopping place of workers and pilgrims, sometimes holding overnight as many as twenty or thirty persons. Up an ascending street were several houses, one still remaining, which the citizens called Advent Row, where Seventh-day Adventists lived. But now Mrs. Genevieve Webber Hastings and her (laughter Mildred are our only representatives there. Union Hall, in the town, is reputedly the place where Elder S. N. Haskell organized the first conference-wide Tract Society. FOPI 67.2
If you will go to Ellen G. White’s Life Sketches, you will find a story of early New Ipswich. “We found Brother Leonard Hastings’ family in deep affliction.” Mrs. Hastings had a baby boy, eight weeks old, who cried continually, wearing away the strength of the mother, who was already weak. They prayed and anointed the babe. His cries ceased, and James and Ellen White left the parents deeply grateful. “Our interview with that dear family was very precious. Our hearts were knit together. Especially was the heart of Sister Hastings knit with mine, as were those of David and Jonathan. Our union was not marred while she lived”-which was not long, for a year later word reached them in Oswego that Sister Hastings had died suddenly-of what was then called bilious fever, appendicitis. “This news fell upon me with crushing weight. It was difficult to be reconciled to it. She was capable of doing much good in the cause of God. She was a pillar in the cause of truth.” 36 That infant was Fred Hastings. And it was his widow in whose home we were now visiting. FOPI 68.1
Miss Mildred went with us on a drive three miles, up and up, to the site of the old Hastings home, where Brother and Sister White found them. The view from that high rolling land is beautiful, away out over the valleys in three directions, with the mountain behind. The house is gone, and only the crumbling cellar remains. But the potato patch is there, and when we visited, there were potatoes growing in it! FOPI 69.1
The potato patch figures in more than one case of Adventists in 1844. It appears that an infectious disease, causing rot, attacked the crop in the fall or the winter of 1844-1845; and so devastating was it that in the spring seed potatoes sold for as much as $5 a bushel. But, of course, in the early autumn of 1844 no one knew it was going to be that way. FOPI 70.1
Leonard Hastings was a believer in the message that the Lord was coming on October 22, 1844. His main business was pasturing and caring for cattle which were driven up from Massachusetts for the summer. But he grew enough produce to supply his family, and a potato crop for sale. FOPI 70.2
Right next to his house he had a large field of potatoes. It came time to dig them, in September or October, but he did not dig them. His neighbors-they were not very close neighbors, but they got around, especially to the “Advent’s”-they came and said, “Aren’t you going to dig your potatoes?” FOPI 70.3
“No,” said Leonard Hastings, “I’ll not want them. The Lord is coming.” FOPI 70.4
“We’ll dig them for you,” they offered. FOPI 70.5
“No,” he answered. “I’m going to let that field of potatoes preach my faith in the Lord’s soon coming.” FOPI 70.6
“Old fool!” they said behind his back, “He’ll find out he needs his potatoes.” FOPI 70.7
Well, of course the day passed, and the Lord did not come. But the potatoes were saved, and so they preached a sermon of the reward of faith, even if the larger faith was disappointed. Loughborough says, “As the fall ‘Was mild, and Mr. Hastings’ potatoes were left in the ground until November ... he had an abundant supply for himself and his unfortunate neighbors.” 37 Mrs. Genevieve Hastings says this is true; so it seems that the rot attacked the early dug potatoes but not those dug later. FOPI 70.8
In another case, however, the potatoes stayed in the ground until spring. Elder James Shultz told us this story of Silas Guilford, William Miller’s brother-in-law, who had moved from Dresden to near Oswego, New York. There he and his boys, on their farm, planted a twelve-acre field of potatoes in the spring of 1844. It will be recalled that Adventists had their first disappointment over the Lord’s not coming in April of 1844. Then came, the “tarrying time.” At first they set no other date; and so, seeing nothing certainly in the future, they planted their spring crops. But during the summer came the “‘ ‘midnight’ cry,” with October 22 set as the day of the Advent, Thus it occurred that Adventists, without denying their faith, planted their crops, but some of them at least would not harvest them. FOPI 71.1
Guilford and his family put every dollar they could get into the cause of the Second Advent, and he mortgaged his farm, and put in that money too. He also left his potatoes in the ground that fall, that they might preach his faith in the Lord’s coming. The snows came early in his section, and covered them up, so they stayed over the winter. When it came spring, and the snow was gone, Silas Guilford said to his wife, “I’m going up to the potato field and see if there are any potatoes that are good.” FOPI 71.2
“Oh, don’t, Silas,” said his wife. “You’ve been ridiculed so much. And now if they see you up there trying to dig potatoes, it will be just too much.” FOPI 71.3
“Well,” he said, “the boys and I are going up anyway.” Irving, the oldest boy, told this to Shultz when the latter was a lad. FOPI 71.4
“I went up with father,” he said. “The ground was thawed out nicely. Father put his fork in. The very first hill he dug up-wonderfully nice potatoes! He felt of them; they were solid, not frozen at all, and not a bit of rot. The next hill too! And then he sent me racing back for the other boys, and we dug those whole twelve acres-a fine yield. We got $4.50 a bushel for them, enough to pay off the mortgage and leave a tidy sum. FOPI 71.5
J. O. Corliss relates a similar story concerning Joseph Bates and his potatoes. 38 I suppose there were other potato patches that preached in 1844, but these are all I have heard of.
James Roger diary entries
24th October 1912 (Thursday)
Rainy, clearing in afternoon. Wind variable, mostly east. David helping Daniel to sort and barrel apples at the Jenny Fox house and they took them to depot in the afternoon. I lit fires in church for ladies sewing circle and fixed hall for Grange tonight. Got letter from Hamish who leaves Albany at 2 10 today and will be here by first train tomorrow.
Mildred Hastings was a neighbor and my mothers friend as well as a retired educator, I think, who earned a few dollars in retirement as a piano teacher. Mildred didn’t have an easy life as she cared for her invalid mother. She would walk, along with a friend named Miss Folsom, to our house for lunch sometimes. One winter day as a preteen I was walking to town and saw Miss Hastings trying to shovel her front walk with a tiny spade-like tool. Impossible. I offered to help and she accepted. After about five futile minutes she said, “Never mind this. Let’s go play some duets!” She knew I had been studying piano with Dot Preston. We went inside and played classical duets for about an hour or more. It was great fun. But I don’t remember if her walkway ever got shoveled that day or not.