1797–1884

Summary

Henry Dana Ward was a Harvard-educated Episcopalian clergyman, prophetic-prophecy author, and one of the senior leaders of the Millerite movement. Born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, on January 13, 1797, he was elected chairman of the first Millerite General Conference in October 1840 in Boston, was the principal author of the published Address of that conference, and signed the 1842 Albany Conference call alongside William Miller and Joseph Bates. He was the author of History and Doctrine of the True Millennium and Israel and the Holy Land: The Promised Land. He died in 1884 at the age of eighty-seven.

Family Background and Harvard Education (1797–1819)

Per the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists (Jonathan Gomide), Henry Dana Ward was born January 13, 1797, in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, the seventh of nine children of Thomas and Elizabeth Ward. His grandfather Artemas Ward (1727–1800) had been appointed major general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War — second only to George Washington in command — and had served two terms in the United States Congress (1791–1795).

Ward entered Harvard at seventeen, graduating with a B.A. in 1816 and an M.A. in 1819. He became a minister of the Episcopal Church.

The 1833 Falling-of-the-Stars Account

Per the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, Ward’s first major contribution to the prophetic-interpretation literature was his eyewitness account of the spectacular Leonid meteor shower of November 13, 1833 — what the Millerites would later interpret as the literal fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy of “the stars shall fall from heaven” (Matt. 24:29). Joseph Bates’s Autobiography records Ward’s New York Journal of Commerce article: “I will here give a few extracts.” (The Autobiography of Elder Joseph Bates, p. 239, par. 1; refcode AJB 239.1). The same paragraph cites Ward’s article as describing the meteor shower as “this thrilling scene (which has been so often republished)” (The Autobiography of Elder Joseph Bates, p. 239, par. 1; refcode AJB 239.1).

Ellen White’s Great Controversy records Ward’s reaction to the meteor shower the day after: “On the day following its appearance, Henry Dana Ward wrote thus of the wonderful phenomenon” (The Great Controversy, 1888 ed., p. 334, par. 1; refcode GC88 334.1). The same paragraph preserves Ward’s words about the event as the literal fulfillment of biblical prophecy: “A prophet eighteen hundred years ago foretold it exactly, if we will be at the trouble of understanding stars falling to mean falling stars, in the only sense in which it is possible to be literally true.” (The Great Controversy, 1888 ed., p. 334, par. 1; refcode GC88 334.1).

The First Millerite General Conference (October 1840)

When the first Millerite General Conference met in Boston in October 1840, Ward was elected chairman. The November 1, 1840 Signs of the Times records the conference’s organization: “Conference opened with religious exercises. A Committee of Foreign Correspondence was chosen, consisting of J. V. Himes, Wm. Miller, H. D. Ward, J. Litch, Henry Jones” (Signs of the Times, November 1, 1840, page 115.20; refcode HST November 1, 1840, page 115.20). The same record names Ward to the Committee of Publication: “And a Committee of Publication consisting of H. D. Ward, J. V. Himes, Wm. Clark” (Signs of the Times, November 1, 1840, page 115.21; refcode HST November 1, 1840, page 115.21).

Per ESDA, Ward authored the major Address issued by that conference — a document that defined the Millerite movement’s public theological self-presentation for the next several years.

Books and Tracts (1840–1844)

Apollos Hale’s Time of the Second Advent of the Messiah lists Ward’s works among the standard Millerite literature: “On the question of the Jews’ return,—Israel and the Holy Land, by H. D. Ward; Judaism overthrown, by J. Litch; Return of the Jews, by G. Storrs” (The Second Advent Manual, p. 102, par. 6; refcode TSAM 102.6). The same work continues, on the millennium: “On the Millennium,—History and Doctrine of the True Millennium, by H. D. Ward; Spaulding’s Lectures” (The Second Advent Manual, p. 102, par. 7; refcode TSAM 102.7).

The February 14, 1844 Signs of the Times lists his book on the Promised Land at ten cents: “Israel and the Holy Land,—The Promised Land. By H. D. Ward. Price 10 cts.” (Signs of the Times, February 14, 1844, page 16.29; refcode HST February 14, 1844, page 16.29).

Death (1884)

Per the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, Ward died in 1884 at the age of eighty-seven, having outlived nearly all the senior Millerites of the 1840 conference by four decades.