William Miller (1782–1849) was an American Baptist preacher usually credited with the beginnings of the Adventist movement. His followers are still called Millerites. In 1833 Miller announced that the second coming (Advent) of Jesus Christ would take place between 21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844. From 1840 onwards, Millerism was transformed from an ‘obscure, regional movement into a national campaign’. The pastor of Chardon Street Chapel in Boston, Joshua Vaughan Himes, established a fortnightly paper called Signs of the Times in which he publicised Miller’s teachings.
On 25 March 1844 Miller wrote to Himes, ‘I am still looking for the Dear Savior…. The time, as I have calculated it, is now filled up; and I expect every moment to see the Savior descend from heaven. I have now nothing to look for but this glorious hope.’ As April passed, the Millerites believed that they had entered a ‘tarrying time’:
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