Hazen Foss	Hazen Foss - Tombstone	Hazen Foss (1885)

Info from www.WhiteEstate.org:

Near the time of the expected advent in the fall of 1844, there was also given to Hazen Foss, a young Adventist of talent, a revelation of the experience of the advent people. Shortly after the passing of the time, he was bidden to relate the vision to others, but this he was disinclined to do. He was warned of God as to the consequences of failing to relate to others what had been revealed to him, and was told that if he refused, the light would be given to someone else. But he felt very keenly the disappointment of 1844, and “said that he had been deceived.” After a severe mental conflict, he “decided he would not relate the visions.” Then, “very strange feelings came to him, and a voice said, ‘You have grieved away the Spirit of the Lord.’”—E. G. White Letter 37, 1890.

“Horrified at his stubbornness and rebellion,” he “told the Lord that he would relate the vision,” but when he attempted to do so before a company of believers, he could not call it to mind. In vain were his attempts to call up the scenes as they had been shown to him; and then in deep despair he exclaimed, “It is gone from me; I can say nothing, and the Spirit of the Lord has left me.” Eyewitnesses described it as “the most terrible meeting they were ever in.”—Ibid.

Early in 1845, Foss overheard Ellen Harmon relate her first vision to the company of believers at Portland, Maine. He recognized her account as a description of what was shown to him. Upon meeting her the next morning, he recounted his experience, of which she had not before known, and encouraged her to faithfully perform her work, stating: “I believe the visions are taken from me and given to you. Do not refuse to obey God, for it will be at the peril of your soul. I am a lost man. You are chosen of God; be faithful in doing your work, and the crown I might have had, you will receive.”—Ibid. On comparing dates, they discovered that it was not until after he had been told that the visions were taken from him, that Ellen Harmon was given her first revelation. Although Hazen Foss lived till 1893, he never again manifested interest in matters religious. (Arthur L. White in Ellen G. White, Messenger to the Remnant, pages 29, 30.)

Here is Ellen White's description of Foss's experience:

“Washington, D.C.

“December 22, 1890.

“Dear Sister Mary Foss:

“I wrote to you a few days ago, and now another matter comes up. Elder Loughborough is writing me, asking if I know of any one now alive who was present at the meeting I have mentioned held at MacGuire's Hill, where I related the first visions I had.

“You know Hazen Foss had visions once. He was firm in the faith that Christ would come in 1844. He interpreted the visions given him in harmony with his belief that time would close in 1844. After the time passed, he was told by the Lord to relate the visions to others. But he was too proud spirited to do this. He had a severe conflict, and then decided he would not relate the visions. The people had assembled to hear him, but he refused.

“The first vision given to me while in Portland, Maine, was right after this decision. I had three visions, and was then bidden to relate these to others. At this time your husband, Mr. Foss, came to our house in Portland in a sleigh, and said that Mary was anxious that Ellen should visit her.

“I thought that this was an opening from the Lord. I was in feeble health; my lungs were diseased; I was spitting blood. But I decided to go with your husband. As I could not bear the cold air, I sat in the bottom of the sleigh, with the buffalo robe over my head.

“I had not spoken in a loud voice for some time. After I arrived at Poland, you said that there was to be a meeting at MacGuire's Hill, and asked me to go.

“I went with you and your husband. There, that night, I stood upon my feet to relate the testimony given me of God. For above five minutes I labored to speak, and then everything broke away, and my voice was as clear as a bell, I talked for about two hours. I knew nothing of the experience Hazen Foss had been passing through. In this meeting the power of the Lord came upon me and upon the people.

“The next day I had related to me the exercises of Hazen Foss. I was told by one, in the presence of a room full, that they had urged Hazen Foss to tell them the things which the Lord had shown him. He had been greatly disappointed that the Lord did not come in '44. He said that he had been deceived, and he refused to obey the promptings of the Spirit of God. After having plainly declared that he would not go from place to place and relate the visions God had given him, very strange feelings came to him, and a voice said, ‘You have grieved away the Spirit of the Lord.’

“He was horrified at his stubbornness and rebellion, and told the Lord that he would relate the vision. The Lord had told him that if he refused, He would give the light to someone else, and when he attempted to relate the vision, his mind could not grasp it. He tried and tried to relate it, but he said, ‘It is gone from me; I can say nothing, and the Spirit of the Lord has left me.’ Those who gave a description of that meeting said it was the most terrible meeting they were ever in.

“The next morning, I met Hazen Foss. Said he, ‘Ellen, I want to speak with you. The Lord gave me a message to bear to His people, and I refused after being told the consequences. I was proud; I was unreconciled to the disappointment. I murmured against God, and wished myself dead. Then I felt a strange feeling come over me. I shall be henceforth as one dead to spiritual things. I heard you talk last night. I believe the visions are taken from me, and given to you. Do not refuse to obey God, for it will be at the peril of your soul. I am a lost man. You are chosen of God; be faithful in doing your work, and the crown I might have had, you will receive.’

“He looked as I never saw him look before, so full of despair. Now, Mary, you were at the meeting, were you not? Your memory is so good. Do you have any remembrance of this? If so, state on paper what you do know in regard to it.

“I have spoken three times in this place, and will return from here to my home in Battle Creek, having been away three months, laboring constantly from place to place. I speak here four times more, then returning home.

“Will you please answer this? My address is Battle Creek, Michigan.

(Signed) “Ellen G. White.

“Please send me Hazen Foss's address.”

—E. G. White Letter 37, 1890

From www.WhiteEstate.org:

What was the relationship of Ellen White's earliest visions to those of William Foy and Hazen Foss?

William Ellis Foy (1818-1893) and Hazen Little Foss (1819-1893) both received visions prior to the Disappointment of 1844. Both men lived to hear Ellen White relate her early visions and acknowledged that what she described, they had seen, too.

Ellen White, as a young woman, had heard Foy lecture in Portland, Maine, sometime between 1842 and 1844. Not much is known concerning him, although recent research confirms that he was a black reared near Augusta, Maine. He is often confused with Foss, but unlike Foss, Foy did tell of his visions and published the first two in a pamphlet. He never felt he had grieved the Spirit of God, and he continued to work as a Free-Will Baptist minister for many years. A brief personal history was published along with the accounts of his first two visions in 1845 in a pamphlet titled The Christian Experience of William E. Foy Together with the Two Visions He Received in the Months of Jan. and Feb. 1842. According to J. N. Loughborough, it was a third vision, in 1844, that Foy could not understand, and which he later heard Ellen White relate. So far as is known, that third vision never was published.

Hazen Foss similarly received a vision prior to the Disappointment, but he refused to relate it. When told that the vision was taken from him, he feared the consequences and called a meeting at which he tried to recall the vision but could not. He heard Ellen White relate the same vision early in 1845, and testified to her of his experience. Although for many years Foss was thought to be a relative of Ellen White's brother-in-law, it was not until about 1960 that the exact relationship became known through genealogical records. Hazen was the younger brother of Samuel Hoyt Foss, who married Ellen White's older sister, Mary, in 1842.

Both Hazen Foss and William Foy recognized the visions given to Ellen White to be the same as those given them, and since the Lord originally intended that one of these men should be His prophetic messenger to the remnant church, there would, of course, be parallels between their visions and those of Ellen White. Although a few such similarities can be seen between Foy's published visions of heaven and those of Ellen White, there are so many marked differences that The White Lie's allegation that her visions were "almost a carbon copy" of Foy's is a substantial exaggeration.

From www.WorldInCrisis.org:

She was later to learn that two others had had a vision remarkably similar to hers. One was William Foy, another was Hazen Foss. Both were nice appearing, tall Christians who were reported to be excellent public speakers. And both had ultimately refused to tell their visions to others. Foy later told Ellen that her earliest visions were just like his, which he received in 1842 and 1844. Foss had one vision—two months before Ellen's first vision, and just after Foy finally determined to no longer discuss his. Foss later said that he dreaded the public opprobrium, and he refused to relate that which he had seen, even though he had been told in vision to do so, and he had been deeply convicted that he must.

Then one day he heard a voice: "You have grieved away the Spirit of God." At this, he immediately assembled an audience. Standing before them he tried to recall the vision but could not do so. After several attempts he cried, "It is gone from me; I can say nothing, the Spirit of the Lord has left me!" The meeting was described by those present as "the most terrible meeting I have ever been in."

Hazen Foss, was described as a man of fine appearance, good education, and excellent speaking ability. When he refused to relate the vision given to him, he was told that the burden would be taken from him and given to "the weakest of the weak." Two months later, when Ellen received her first vision, friends fully expected her to be dead before springtime.

"Miss Harmon was at that time in a very critical condition of health. For a number of weeks she had scarcely been able to speak above a whisper. One physician had decided that her trouble was dropsical consumption [tuberculosis complicated by dropsy]. He said her right lung was decayed and the left one considerably diseased, and that her heart was affected. . He said he did not think she could live but a very short time at most, and was liable to drop away at any time. It was with great difficulty that she could breathe when lying down. At night she obtained rest only by being bolstered up in the bed in an almost sitting posture. Frequent spells of coughing and hemorrhages from the lungs had reduced her physical strength" Statement by J.N. Loughborough.

A week after that first vision, she had a second: "In my second vision, about a week after the first, the Lord gave me a view of the trials through Which I must pass, and told me that I must go and relate to others what He had revealed to me . . After I came out of this vision I was exceedingly troubled, for it pointed out my duty to go out among the people and present the truth. My health was so poor that I was in constant bodily suffering, and to all appearance had but a short time to live. ...

"For several days, and far into the night, I prayed that this burden might be removed from me, and laid upon some" one more capable of bearing it. But the light of duty did not change, and the words of the angel sounded continually in my ears, 'Make known to others what I have revealed to you.' . . How could I, a child in years, go forth from place to place, unfolding to the people the holy truths of God? .. My father. . repeatedly assured me that if God had called me to labor in other places, He would not fail to open the way for me."- Life Sketches, pages 69.70. .

It is interesting that when God wants to find someone that He can use for a special work, He may have to select the humblest, simply because the more capable are too self-sufficient to be used.

Ellen had no idea how she was going to answer this call, and travel from town to, town in her weak ened condition. She had little strength, no money, no traveling companion. And last but not least, she could not talk above a whisper. She spoke with her father about the situation, and he told her that the Lord would give her strength to do whatever He might ask of her. Then Sarah, an older sister, offered to accom pany her at first, if she had to travel and relate what she had been shown to others.

"A day or two after this, Ellen's brother-in-law, from a little town thirty miles to the north drove up in a sleigh. 'Will you come- back with me, Ellen?' he asked. 'Mary wants you to visit her.''

"Ellen felt that God was opening the way for her to give His message and that she must go. It was midwinter in northern New England. Every breath of the icy air pained her lungs. But she dressed warmly, and sitting on the floor of the sleigh, she pulled a heavy buffalo robe over her head. When they arrived, her sister said, 'I'm glad you came; there's to be a meeting to night at MacGuire's Hill. Will you go with us?'

" . . When Ellen reached the meeting place [in a private home], she found a large room filled with people eager to hear her describe the vision. But when she stood up to speak, her voice was so weak and hoarse that she could scarcely be heard. For five minutes she tried, while her listeners leaned forward to catch her whispered words.

"Then suddenly, to the surprise of all, her voice changed. It rang out clear as a bell. She spoke for two hours, describing the travels of God's people to the Holy City, the coming of Jesus, and their heavenly home. Many tears were shed, but they were tears of joy. Every heart was cheered. When Ellen sat down and tried to talk with those near her, her voice was as hoarse as before, and she could only whisper.

"Some people have wondered why God chose one so weak to bring His messages to His people. There was a reason. When that company. . saw Ellen stand up and try in her weakness to make them hear, and then when the power of God came upon her, enabling her to speak clearly, they knew she was not doing it alone–God was helping her.

"That night as the company broke up, there were shouts of joy: 'We are going home! We are going home!' Some who watched Ellen's friends support her as she went back to the sleigh were thinking of the Apostle Paul's words: 'God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; . . that no flesh should glory in His presence.' "—Ella M. Robinson, Stories of My Grandmother, page 25,26.

That evening, unknown to Ellen, Hazen Foss stood outside the door and listened to what she said. The next day he went to the house she was visiting in and introduced himself. She had never met or heard of him before. He told her that he had received the same vision of heaven that she had, but that because he refused to relate it, God told him that He had released him from the work and that He would give it to another.

"Ellen.. the Lord gave me a message to bear to His people. And I refused after being told of the consequences. . I murmured against God and wished myself dead. . I heard you talk last night. I believe the visions are taken from me, and given to you. Do not refuse to obey God, for it will be at the peril of your soul. I am a lost man. You are chosen of God; be faithful in doing your work." Letter 37, 1890.