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7 Chapter 1 Early Years The Beech Hill farm was a frenzy of activity. Richard and Sarah Bartlett were expecting a very important guest. William Miller and his followers had selected the next day—October 22, 1844—as the time that Jesus would return to Earth in his glory.1 The Bartletts were not sure that the Millerites were correct, but they were taking no chances that the advent would catch them unprepared. At the same time, they wanted all their worldly affairs in order when the new era began. Richard directed their foster child, Henry Blair, to round up the livestock from the lower pastures and herd them into the barn. The Bartletts had many of the merino sheep so favored by New Hampshire farmers in this period and an old milk cow. The animals did not seem to understand the importance of haste, and young Henry struggled to make them obey. In the house, Sarah was busy stitching “glory robes” out of sheets so that they would be properly attired when the Lord appeared. The final chores were completed as the autumn sun rapidly set in the foothills of the White Mountains. Henry sensed that it would be a cold night’s wait as he crunched his way back to the house through the crimson and gold leaves that had recently decorated the landscape. After a fervent grace and a hasty meal, the Bartletts made final preparations. They were going to nearby Chandler Hill to await the Second Coming, with nine-year-old Henry staying behind to watch the animals, just in case William Miller was wrong. Midnight, dawn, and dusk came in slow procession as Henry watched across the valley. Concluding that all their concern was unwarranted, the Bartletts finally came home. Supper that evening was eaten in a somber atmosphere as all members of the family were lost in their own thoughts.2 When Uncle Henry told this story to his nieces and nephews and their children more than seventy years later, he related it with great humor and with an emphasis on the “practical” Christianity of his guardians. 8 Henry W. Blair’s caMpaiGn to reforM aMerica This episode was more than a funny story, however. It highlighted two of the most important facts about Henry Blair’s childhood. First, this dramatic encounter emphasized the deeply religious nature of the society in which Blair lived. Out of this pious background came the reform tradition that dominated his political life. Second, he was without any of his birth family at a time of crisis in his youth. Equally important, this episode tells a great deal about the cultural milieu in which Blair was raised. The United States was experiencing a religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. Reacting against the unemotional worship services in established churches, many Americans were searching for religious experiences that would be more personally fulfilling. In northern New England, that need was first met by the itinerant preachers of the Methodist Church. Membership in this denomination expanded rapidly and changed many Yankees’ religious expectations.3 By the 1830s, religious experimentation had become an important part of northern New England culture. Among the new groups were the Shakers. These pacifist communitarians segregated the sexes, prohibited private ownership of land, and followed nontraditional worship practices.4 Vermont natives Joseph Smith and Brigham Young founded Mormonism and proselytized in New Hampshire with considerable success before being forced to migrate west. Preaching from a new set of scriptures and offering a broader hope of redemption than the other sects, Mormons were most often associated with polygamy.5 John Humphrey Noyes and the Perfectionists introduced an even more extreme religion. First organized in Putney, Vermont, this community was known for its outstanding craftspeople. However, the Perfectionists’ claims of universal salvation and their institution of complex marriage alienated their neighbors. Complex marriage required every man in the community to be married to every woman and vice versa. Like the Mormons, the Noyes community was forced to relocate.6 William Miller and his followers were another part of the great religious leavening taking place in rural northern New England. Miller became a Baptist clergyman in the early 1830s, and like many of his contemporaries he was a millennialist. Convinced that the end times were rapidly approaching, he prophesied that Judgment Day would be October 22, 1844. In Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, a township north of Blair’s home, a group of Miller’s followers went to extremes. They...

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