the best primary resource is: john bates, "autobiography" (battle creek: battle creek steam press, 1868) and republished and annotated in 2004 by andrews university press. other helpful treatments include g. t. anderson, "outrider of the apocalypse: life and times of joseph bates" (review and herald, 1972) and george r. knight, "joseph bates: the real founder of seventh-day adventism" (review and herald, 2004).