Early life
Stephen Nelson Haskell was born in Oakham, Massachusetts. He gave his birth date as April 22, 1833, although town records list 1834. He joined a Congregational church in his youth and became a Sabbath keeper in 1853 after reading a tract. He was ordained in 1870.
Conference leader
- President of the California Conference in 1879–1887, 1891–1894 and 1908–1911.
- President of the Maine Conference in 1884–1886.
Tract societies and education
With his wife Mary he helped found the first Tract and Missionary Society, and from 1870 to 1889 he promoted its work to the General Conference. In November 1883 the General Conference authorized the monthly Bible Reading Gazette. In 1882 he founded South Lancaster Academy in Massachusetts, which later became Atlantic Union College.
Mission to Australia and New Zealand
In 1885 Haskell led the first Adventist missionary group to Australia. He helped start the Echo Publishing Company in North Fitzroy, Melbourne, later called Signs Publishing, and the same year he visited Auckland, New Zealand. In 1889–1890 he traveled widely on mission work.
Writings and lifestyle
Haskell wrote on Bible prophecy. His books include The Story of Daniel the Prophet, The Story of the Seer of Patmos and The Cross and Its Shadow. He was a vegetarian and abstained from alcohol and tobacco, arguing that God intended fruits, grains and nuts as food.
Death
Haskell died on October 9, 1922, in National City, California. Gerald Wheeler’s S. N. Haskell: Adventist Pioneer, Evangelist, Missionary, and Editor is a recent full-length biography.
