God Bless the Missionaries and Colporteurs

Related Link: God Bless the Missionaries and the Colporteurs - Video (Not up yet; will circle back around shortly.)

The only thing separating Mary from John is the kitchen table. “You will not join that church!” John lunges to his right. Mary edges away, eyeing the butcher knife in his hand.

“Rotten religion.” His voice slurs as he lunges again. Tomorrow he won't remember this incident, but that doesn't help her much today. He lunges one more time, and loses his footing. As he falls, Mary fleas out the kitchen door, yanks it shut behind her, and makes a beeline for the barn.

John and Mary McGuffin were my mother's mother's parents. John's drunken rage on this particular day stemmed from Mary's decision to join the Seventh-day Adventist church. At one point he also got her best dress out of the closet, dragged it out to the yard, and set it on fire. I guess he thought if she didn't have the dress, she couldn't go to church.

I've heard this story from several branches of the family, and while I can't confirm exact details, I can confirm that Mary did join the church. There were no 12-step programs back then, so it's reasonable to believe that Mary reacted to John's drinking by seeking solace in the arms of a church community where nobody drank alcohol.

Mary raised her younger children in the church, and in doing so, she ensured a lasting legacy. When you join the church, you become a member of a tribe. You have your own dialect, your own rules, your own unique shared history. Even if you leave the church, you never really leave the tribe. And the tribe will reinforce your life values through weekly church services, daily church school, church scout groups, church periodicals. It will teach you to help the sick, the poor, the elderly, to take care of your own health. And it will keep doing this from generation to generation.

Here’s a photo of Mary from 1876. She's 23. She married John when she was 18. I don’t know how long it took her to figure out that life with him might be dangerous, but at some point her father helped her leave.

Mary Esther McMillan (McGuffin, Houser) 1876, age 23

Eventually she took a homestead in South Dakota. This mid-life photo doesn't have a date written on it anywhere.

Mary Esther McMillan (McGuffin, Houser) - Date Unknown 

Here’s a photo from later in life, with son Ewen and grandson Jack. Jack was born in 1914, so this is probably around 1922?

Mary Esther McMillan (McGuffin, Houser) with son Ewen and grandson Jack, est 1922

When I was a kid, we would often end our prayers with "God bless the missionaries and the colporteurs." A colporteur is a person who sells religious books door to door, and this is what Mary did for many years. She did it to supplement her income, but she also did it because every book she sold introduced the Lord’s word to another person.


The Adventist church has an online archive of old periodicals, and when I search them, I can track her progress.

In 1912, she says she is making an average of one dollar per hour.

With permission from adventistarchives.org. Northern Union Reaper, March 5, 1912

In 1916,  she still loves the work, and Lord willing she will continue it. You can see here that she worked 28 hours last week and made 52 dollars.

With permission from adventistarchives.org. Nortnern Union Reaper, July 25, 1916

In 1920, she is 60 years old and still strong and healthy. This is a small excerpt from a larger article.

With permission from adventistarchives.org. Northern Union Reaper, April 6, 1920

Eventually she remarried to a man named David Houser. Here is her obituary in 1932. She was a faithful believer in the advent hope for 45 years.

With permission from adventistarchives.com, North Pacific Union Gleaner, Nov 29, 1932

Did future generations find Mary’s religion to be a blessing or a curse? I think it depends on who you ask. The church was a great comfort to some, and a source of unrelenting guild for others. And I remember times when I was young where social interactions with nonbelievers felt awkward, because we were used to interacting mostly with other church members, in a little Adventist bubble. But we did have a shared vision and a clear purpose, and many family members are still part of this church, six and seven generations after Mary and John. That is a lasting legacy.

The other day I watched a TEDx video called "Building a 7-Generation World." In this video, Susan Bosak encourages us to view our life stories in the context of the three generations that come before us, and the three generations that come after us, making a "me" story a "we" story.

As I look back at my great grandmother's life, I wonder what I can do to touch the future the way she did. I’m not going to join a radical new religion, but I hope to tell my great grandchildren about hers. I would like for them to live lives of service and purpose.

If I could choose just one thing that really stands out about Great Grandma Mary, it was the way she just stuck to things. She chose her spiritual path and stuck to it. She chose to sell books, and she went to door after door, year after year. She believed in that advent hope for 45 years.

For my friends and family with Adventist roots, you can find all sorts of interesting things at adventistarchives.org. Click on "Historical Archives" and then select "Magazines and Journals".

If your family came from a different tribe, go hunting. Other church organizations must have historical records as well. Find those legacies. Carry them forward. Transform your life experience from a "me" story to a "we" story.