On October 1, 1844 a local newspaper wrote about a brave young man and what he did.
“Today an inspiring scene was enacted at the bridge in Paris, Maine. Young John Nevins Andrews confronted and confounded an angry mob that threatened worshippers crossing the river to attend Advent meetings. Andrews and Advent Brother Davis, approached the bridge, when a man from the mob, brandishing his horsewhip, inflicted several blows on Brother Davis. Andrews, barely fourteen years of age, threw his arms about Davis and declared, ‘We are commanded to bear one another’s burdens. If you whip Brother Davis, you must whip me also!’ Confounded and not wishing to whip a boy, the man drew back with the mob and let them pass. ‘It’s too bad to whip a boy,’ he declared in admiration of the youth’s courage and presence of mind.” This brave act reflects the spirit of John Andrews.
John Nevins Andrews was born July 22, 1829 and spent his childhood and youth quietly with his parents and brother, William, in Paris, Maine. When he was young his parents faithfully took him to the Methodist meetings. He remembers how impressed he was at five years of age when the preacher solemnly read Revelation 20:11, “I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away.” John commented, “I have rarely read the passage without remembering that discourse.” When John learned to read, the Bible was one of his favorite books.
William was crippled, and unable to do much on their New England farm, so John felt a responsibility to help his father all he could; so he quit school at age 11 and from then on taught himself. Does that mean he did not have a good education? He loved to study and read and studied on his own time. When he was older, he was able to speak seven languages and he learned the entire New Testament of the Bible by memory.
He was an intellectual man who loved to study more than to do physical exercise. He spent so much time studying that at one point in time, in 1855, he became sick from overwork, insufficient rest, and poor food. To recover his health he went home to his family, and then, together with his family, moved out to Iowa to a farm where he regained his health by outdoor work and rest.
Andrews became a Millerite in February 1843 and began to observe the seventh-day Sabbath in 1845. He met James White and Ellen G. White in September 1849. Later, the Whites lived with the Andrews family for a while.
His uncle Charles was a rich man. He was a politician; a member of the U.S. Congress. Charles offered to pay for John to go to university to become a lawyer so he could follow a political career. However, early in 1845, at age 15, John accepted the Sabbath from a tract written by T. M. Preble. It completely changed the direction of his life. He no longer wanted to become a politician, but wanted to work for the Lord.
After accepting the Adventist message Andrews gave his life to work for the Lord and had a long and productive career with the church. He was good friends with James and Ellen White.
James White was the editor of the Review and Herald and Andrews began to write articles also. His name first appeared in Adventist literature when he was 20 years old, when he wrote a letter to the editor that was dated October 16, 1849.
When the first Adventist printing press was set up in Rochester, New York, in 1852, he, at age 22, was one of a publishing committee of three with Joseph Bates and James White. The next year, when he was just 23 years old, Andrews was ordained as a minister. By this time, 35 of his articles had been published in the Review.
Since he loved to study so much, Andrews made some important doctrinal discoveries in the Bible. He was the first one who discovered that Sabbath should begin at sunset on Friday; in 1855, at James White’s request and using Bible proofs, he wrote a paper which explained that sunset was the time for beginning the Sabbath. Ellen White then had a vision that confirmed his conclusions. (See Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 116)
Another important doctrinal truth that he discovered in the Bible was identifying the two-horned beast of Revelation as the United States of America.
In 1858 Andrews conducted a study of systematic benevolence, the forerunner of the teaching about tithing. He then, in 1861, published the first of several editions of a book called History of the Sabbath.
Andrews was very helpful in getting the church organized and registered with the government so that they could obtain property in the name of the church. In 1864 he went to the government in Washington, D.C. This was during the American Civil War and he successfully lobbied the government for non-combatant status for Adventist draftees so that they did not need to go to war.
John Andrews was elected as the third president of the General Conference in 1867. When the first camp meeting was held in Wright, Michigan, in 1868, he proved to be a very kind and compassionate person because he went around to the tents at the end of the day, asking: “Are you all comfortable for the night?”
He and Uriah Smith married sisters, Angeline and Harriet Stevens. John and Angeline had 4 children. Two of them died while infants. One was 13 months and the other just 4 days old. The two other children, Charles and Mary, survived. The Andrews family adopted the health message after seeing the results in their son. In 1864, Charles’ crippled leg was healed after about 15 weeks of hydrotherapy treatments and a nutritious diet at “Our Home” in Danville, New York. The Andrews family determined to remove unhealthful foods from their diet and to use whole wheat flour and more fruits and vegetables, and to eat two meals a day. Angeline had a stroke on February 17, 1872. She seemed to be improving for a month, but on March 18, as John helped her into her coat, she fell unconscious to the floor. She died the following morning, at 48 years of age. In her eulogy, John wrote, “. . . no unkind word ever passed between us, and no vexed feeling ever existed in our hearts.”
After Angeline died, John dedicated his life to guiding his children, (who were just 14 and 11 years old) towards heaven, and to preaching Christ more urgently to those who were ready to perish. When a call came for a missionary to help the growing cause in Europe, he willingly agreed to go. He departed for Europe on September 15, 1874, taking with him Charles, almost 17, and Mary, almost 13.
Sister White strongly encouraged Andrews to remarry before starting for Europe. He needed someone to make a home for his family; someone to fill his emotional and physical needs, as well as help with the work when she was able. He did not take her advice.
Andrews was a firm believer of the importance of the publishing ministry and so he established the Adventist press in Basel, Switzerland when he was there. His children were his emotional support and helpers in the printing and publishing work.
He wrote of Charles in 1876, “He is perfectly steady and quiet and gives me no trouble. He is my companion by day and by night, and seems to prefer my company to that of any young person. I should not know [how] to live without him!” Their diet was deficient in many ways, and with the poor sanitation and overwork, John developed pneumonia, and Mary, tuberculosis. In the fall of 1878, John went to the General Conference, taking Mary with him, in the hopes she could be healed at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. But even under Dr. J. H. Kellogg’s able care, Mary passed away on November 27, 1878. Charles wrote from Switzerland that he was confident they would see her again, if they remained faithful.
After Mary’s death, Andrews returned to Switzerland, but could not regain his health. “I seem to be having hold upon God with a numb hand,” he said. Andrews died of tuberculosis in 1883 at the age of 54. He was buried in Basel, Switzerland. Soon after this, Charles married Maria Anne Dietschyand returned to Battle Creek. He worked in the Review and Herald Publishing House all his life.
John Nevins Andrews is remembered for his valuable doctrinal contributions in the early history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and his courage to go out and be the first foreign missionary sent out from the United States of America for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.