BELDEN, Albert (1800-1893) and Hannah (c. 1800-1886)

Early church members from Connecticut. Their son, Stephen T. Belden, married Sarah B. Harmon, a sister of Ellen G. White's. According to History of Berlin, Connecticut, Albert Belden, “in the belief that the world was coming to an end in 1843, had disposed of his property, almost giving it away.” However, later research by Spalding suggests that the Beldens retained their farm together with one or more houses through the crisis of 1843-1844.1EGWLM 790.4

Albert and Hannah Belden are remembered in Adventist history mainly on two accounts. It was in their home in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, that the first of the seminal series of “Sabbath and Sanctuary Conferences” was held in April 1848, a conference attended by James and Ellen White and other leading Sabbatarians. Second, the Beldens invited the Whites to stay in their home during the summer of 1849. While the Whites lived there, their second son, James Edson, was born, and James White embarked on the publication of Present Truth. There is no extant correspondence between Ellen White and Albert or Hannah Belden.1EGWLM 790.5

See: Obituary: “Albert Belden,” Review, Nov. 14, 1893, p. 723; obituary: “Hannah Belden,” Review, Aug. 24, 1886, p. 542; Catharine M. North, Adolph Burnett Benson, eds., History of Berlin, Connecticut (New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co., 1916), p. 142; Arthur Whitefield Spalding, Footprints of the Pioneers (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1947), pp. 99-108; Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 91-93, 113-116.1EGWLM 790.6