Letters (Written May 10, 12, 16, and 17, 1876)
In 1973 a collection of approximately 2,000 letters, written be-
tween 1860 and 1899, was acquired by the Ellen G. White Estate. Orig-
inally addressed to Lucinda Hall, one of Ellen White’s closest friends,
the letters were written by such well-known Adventists as James and
Ellen White, Kellogg, Loughborough, Amadon, and Haskell. The
story of how the collection came to the White Estate was told by Elder
Arthur White in the
Review and Herald, August 16, 1973
.
Among the collection were 48 previously unknown Ellen White
letters. Most are the newsy-type letters that one friend would write to
another. But Ellen considered Lucinda more than just a casual friend.
On July 14, 1875, she wrote:
“I wish I could see you, Lucinda.... How I have missed you on
this journey. Not but that I have friends, but you are nearest and
dearest, next to my own family, and I feel no differences than that
you belonged to me and my blood flowed in your veins.”—
Letter 48,
1875
(
Manuscript Releases 10:33
).
Because of her special closeness to Lucinda, Ellen White poured
out her heart to her friend about some family matters in a series of
four letters written between May 10 and 17, 1876. Considering the
circumstances she was trying to cope with at the time, that was a very
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human thing for Ellen White to do. But only a day after writing the
third letter, she had second thoughts about what she had done. In the
last of the series, dated May 17, 1876, Ellen White began by saying:
“I am sorry I wrote you the letters I have. Whatever may have
been my feelings, I need not have troubled you with them. Burn all my
letters, and I will relate no matters that perplex me to you.... I will not
be guilty of uttering a word again, whatever may be the circumstances.
Silence in all things of a disagreeable or perplexing character has ever
been a blessing to me. When I have departed from this, I have regretted
it so much.”—
Letter 67, 1876
.
But Lucinda did not destroy the letters as requested. Thus they
came into the possession of the White Estate in 1973. The Estate,
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