1846 at Edson's farm, Edson and other Port Gibson believers readily accepted Sabbath and at the same time forged an alliance with Bates and two other folk from New Hampshire who later became very influential in the Adventist church, James and Ellen G. White. Between April 1848, and December 1850 twenty-two "Sabbath conferences" were held in New York and New England. These meetings were often seen as opportunities for leaders such as James White, Joseph Bates, Stephen Pierce and Hiram Edson to discuss and reach conclusions about doctrinal issues. While initially it was believed that Sabbath started at 6 pm, by 1855 it was generally accepted that Sabbath begins at Friday sunset. The Present Truth (see below) was largely devoted to Sabbath at first. J. N. Andrews was the first Adventist to write a book-length defense of Sabbath, first published in 1861. Trinitarianism At the formation of the church in the 19th century, many of the Adventist leaders held to an antitrinitarian view, thanks to many antitrinitarian Christian Connexion ministers entering the former Millerite fold. Ellen G. White never entered into debate on this issue, but made some very trinitarian statements in her book the Desire of Ages and transcripts of her sermons in the early 1900s showed her identifying the Holy Spirit as a "Person" and one of the "three holiest beings". Modern Seventh-day Adventists that hold to an antitrinitarian view are in the minority, but they argue that these transcripts are inaccurate stenographer reports that do not reflect her true teaching. Pro-trinitarian scholars in the Church point out that these transcripts were in her possession and she could have modified them at any time had they reflected an inaccurate version of what she said, given the perceived doctrinal importance of the topic. In 1855, James White stated in a clear way his view on the subject: "Here we might mention the Trinity which does away the personality of God, and his Son Jesus Christ..." In 1856, he again makes his stance clear by saying: "The greatest fault we can find in the Reformation is, the Reformers stopped reforming. Had they gone on, and onward, till they had left the last vestige of Papacy behind, such as natural immortality, sprinkling, the trinity, and Sunday-keeping, the church would now be free from her scriptural errors." Lemuel Sapian writes "...by the dawn of the 20th century it was evident to many