Ellen G. White: The Early Elmshaven Years: 1900-1905 (vol. 5)

Arthur L. White

Copyright © 2018, Ellen G. White Estate, Inc.

Table of Contents

Information about this Book

Foreword

Chapter 1—Voyage on the Moana

Chapter 2—Elmshaven

Chapter 3—Face to Face With the Issues

Chapter 4—Through the South to the 1901 General Conference

Chapter 5—The General Conference of 1901

Chapter 6—The Church Responds

Chapter 7—The Last Ten Days

Chapter 8—The Extended Journey Home

Chapter 9—In the Din of the Battle

Chapter 10—The Precarious Winter Trip to New York

Chapter 11—The Battle Creek Sanitarium Fire

Chapter 12—A Perplexing and Difficult Year

Chapter 13—Getting On With the Book Work

Chapter 14—God Reproves His Messenger

Chapter 15—The Crisis Over Financial Policies

Chapter 16—The Review and Herald Fire

Chapter 17—Preparing for the 1903 General Conference

Chapter 18—The 1903 General Conference Session

Chapter 19—In Agony of Soul

Chapter 20—The Move to Washington, D.C.

Chapter 21—The Threat of Pantheism

Chapter 22—“Meet It!”

Chapter 23—The Fall and Winter Work at Elmshaven

Chapter 24—The Extended Visit to Washington

Chapter 25—The Crucial Meeting at Berrien Springs

Chapter 26—A Trip Into the South

Chapter 27—Another Month in Washington, and the Trip Home

Chapter 28—Sanitariums in Southern California

Chapter 29—Glendale, a Sanitarium Near Los Angeles

Chapter 30—With the Lord’s Messenger in Early 1905

Chapter 31—The General Conference of 1905

Chapter 32—Last Days of the 1905 General Conference

Appendix—Solemn Warnings Repeated

Information about this Book

Overview

This eBook is provided by the Ellen G. White Estate. It is included in the larger free Online Books collection on the Ellen G. White Estate Web site.

About the Author

Ellen G. White (1827-1915) is considered the most widely translated American author, her works having been published in more than 160 languages. She wrote more than 100,000 pages on a wide variety of spiritual and practical topics. Guided by the Holy Spirit, she exalted Jesus and pointed to the Scriptures as the basis of one’s faith.

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A Brief Biography of Ellen G. White

About the Ellen G. White Estate

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Foreword

An Explanation the Author Would Like to Have You Read

The development of this biography of Ellen G. White, parts of which are still in preparation, has been to the author a confidence-confirming experience. It is a large task but a pleasurable one. At or near the outset a number of decisions were called for:

What kind of biography would it be?

For whom were we writing?

How many pages would be devoted to treating the more than 25,000 days of Ellen White’s active ministry in the united states, europe, and australia?

Where would we begin the account?

Aside from articles in encyclopedias and works presenting the lives of notable women, the only available published accounts presenting Ellen White’s life are Spiritual Gifts, volume II, published in 1860 and titled “My Christian Experience, Views and Labors in Connection with the Rise and Progress of the Third Angel’s Message”; an introductory “Biographical Sketch of Ellen G. White,” filling the first 112 pages of Testimonies for the Church, volume 1, published in 1885; and Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, issued just after her death in 1915. The first two, of course, could carry her life only up to publication dates, 1860 and 1885, respectively. The latter treats her early life quite fully, but leaves us with years hardly mentioned in her mid-life and relatively little about her later years.

In planning this biography I saw Ellen White’s life divided rather naturally into six eras:

The Early Years—1827-1862 [10]

The Progressive Years—1863-1875

The Lonely Years—1876-1891

The Australian Years—1891-1900

The Early Elmshaven Years—1900-1905

The Later Elmshaven Years—1905-1915

I chose to begin my work with “The Elmshaven Years,” for they are closer in time to us, and there are some persons living who knew Ellen White and who could be interviewed. Further, it seemed that the issues that followed quickly on the turn of the century have a particular relevance to the church at present.

The sources for this period are very full, almost overwhelming. In accordance with the procedures elected for the purpose of this writing “The Elmshaven Years” yields two volumes, of which this is the first. The White estate staff and the board of trustees of the Ellen G. White Estate, in concurrence with the Review and Herald publishing association, have decided that it will be well to release this part of the biography now and not keep the public waiting until the task is completed. Experiences and sources for the preceding years, 1827 to 1900, while profuse, are more limited, and it is the aim of the author to contain that part of the account in four volumes.

The Author’s Aims and Objectives

I have had before me as aims and objectives:

1. To write for the average reader, but in such detail and with such documentation as will meet the expectations of the scholar.

2. To leave the reader with the feeling that he or she is acquainted with Ellen White as a very human person.

3. To portray accurately the life and work of Ellen White as the Lord’s messenger in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, not by a slavish chronicle of each day of her active ministry, but by a selection, from her experience, of events and happenings that illustrate her lifework and make a contribution to the cause.

4. As far as possible, to keep these events in a year-by-year development, picturing her home life, her travels, her weaknesses and strengths, her burden of heart, and her very earnest devotional life.

5. To select and present, in detail, significant events, two or [11]

three in a given year, that best illustrate her prophetic mission, depicting the interplay between the prophet and church leaders, institutions, and individuals, recounting the sending of testimonies and the response to these messages.

6. As a secondary objective, to provide a knowledge of the principal points of the history of the church in a unique way as it is seen especially through the eyes of, or in relation to, the messenger of the Lord.

7. To make the work not only an interesting narrative but a selection of illustrative experiences with which the reader may at times vicariously associate himself.

8. To keep constantly before the reader the major role the visions played in almost every phase of the experiences comprising the narrative.

9. Where convenient to the purposes of the manuscript, to let Ellen White speak in her own words, rather than to call upon the author to provide a paraphrase. This ensures an accurate conveyance of the unique and fine points of the messages in the very expressions of the prophetic messenger herself. Thus, many important statements are provided in a form that will be of value to all readers.

10. To provide a documented running account of the literary work done both by Ellen White and her literary assistants in the production of her articles and books.

11. And in all of this, to present in the narrative, in a natural way, confidence-confirming features.

In dealing with any given era, the pattern of travels and labors is established early by going into detail in narrating certain experiences, but as the account continues, much less such detail is called for. For instance, in describing Ellen White’s early trips to Southern California after taking up residence at Elmshaven, circumstances of the trip by train are elaborated on, but such elaboration is not called for with each of the many later trips. The pattern has been set in the mind of the reader.

The author has encountered some differences of opinion in the minds of different readers as to the value of some of the details presented. It is his opinion that they make a major contribution to reading interest and rather intimate acquaintance with Ellen White, [12] so they have been retained for the sake of the record.

Also, the author, although he takes pride in his relationship to the subject of the biography, in the interests of objectivity has, as in his public ministry, largely disassociated himself from family ties. He has endeavored to relate himself to Ellen White as would any earnest Seventh-day Adventist in possession of a good knowledge of her work. He refers to her, not as grandmother, but as Ellen White, Sister White, the Lord’s messenger, et cetera.

The manuscript for this biography has been prepared in response to the earnest request of the Trustees of the Ellen G. White Estate, the work being done in the offices of the Estate at the headquarters of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, in Washington, D.C. it has been a project of the Ellen G. White Estate, to which I at first gave part time while serving as secretary, and then was released at my request to devote as nearly full time as possible to the work.

A task of such proportion as this could not have been accomplished singlehandedly within a decade. Even before the responsibility of writing fell on my shoulders, there was the painstaking work of Miss Bessie Mount, who, in anticipation on the part of the White Estate of preparing such a work on the life of Ellen White, was assigned the task of assembling biographical materials and preparing a card index to biographical data. This initial contribution to the biography has been most useful. I am deeply grateful for the sincere and tireless labors of Ron Graybill, who was called to the White Estate to serve as my research assistant in this task; to dedicated and efficient secretaries who have faithfully copied and recopied chapters in preparation; and to other members of the White Estate staff, all of whom have from time to time been pressed into service to assist in the preparation of the manuscript.

If Ellen White becomes better known as an individual—a wife and mother, a neighbor and a friend—as well as the messenger of the Lord, laboring tirelessly in the pulpit and on the public platform in declaring God’s messages and in counseling often and writing incessantly, with influence felt the world around, the objectives of the author will have been largely met.

Arthur L. White [13]

Chapter 1—Voyage on the Moana

Ellen G. White’s home in Australia, Sunnyside, was about a mile from the little village of Cooranbong in New South Wales. It was also about a twenty-minute walk from the Avondale school. It provided Ellen White with what she often spoke of as the most pleasant and comfortable living arrangements that she had ever had. She found the climate to be very favorable; she loved the country, and she loved the people. Her home was modest, but it provided a convenient place to live and work, with her women helpers around her. The several towns and villages within a thirty-mile radius provided easy contact with people of all classes, giving her an opportunity for personal ministry. This she cherished. She would have been pleased if she could have spent the rest of her life in Australia.

But through the winter months of 1900—and, in the Southern Hemisphere, that means May, June, and July—Ellen White was becoming more and more certain that she must soon go back to the United States. Conditions developing in connection with the work of the church in America, revealed to her in the visions of the night, led to growing concern.

When she proposed to her son William that she must return to the United States it was hard for him to grasp. How could it be? The Avondale school was just getting well under way. Construction on the Avondale Health Retreat at the front corner of the school land, across the road from the church, was just recently completed, and that enterprise was developing nicely. Land had been purchased for [14] a sanitarium in Wahroonga, a suburb of Sydney, and building plans were under way.

And then there was her book work on which they were pressing hard. Willie, at his request, had been relieved of administrative responsibilities in Australia and from his membership on the General Conference Committee. Both he and his mother felt that he should give unbroken attention to assisting her in publishing her books. How could they pull up stakes and leave all this and reestablish themselves in the United States?

But the burden pressed ever more heavily upon Ellen White. She could not forget that in January she had been shown a rather unusual outbreak of fanaticism at a camp meeting in America. She was deeply concerned over the increasing imbalance coming into the medical work, fostered by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in Chicago. Of her plans to leave Australia, she wrote:

Things have not been moving in right lines, and I must, in the fear of God, bear my testimony personally to those who are in danger of swaying the work disproportionately in the so-called medical missionary lines.—Letter 123, 1900.

Critical situations had developed in Battle Creek, adding to her anxiety. At first she talked of leaving Australia in November. She did not see how she could close up her work before that. But by all means she felt she should attend the General Conference session scheduled for the coming February. She also declared it her plan to spend two years in the United States and then return to Australia. But shortly she moved the time of departure up to August. She felt that it would be unwise to arrive in the United States with the winter already on them, as would be the case if the November plan were followed. The time was finally set for late August.

As W. C. White was devoting much of his time to assisting his mother in her work, it would be necessary for him to return with her. This meant that two homes must be sold, and on short notice. Could it be done? Naturally, they entertained some misgivings.

In mid-August, with the Australian winter days moving toward spring, the acacias, with their fluffy little yellow blossoms, were in bloom. The family orchard was yielding oranges, tangerines, and passion fruit. The vegetable garden had its cauliflower, with [15] promise of other crops soon. The gum trees would soon be blossoming in shades of pink, red, yellow, and blue, which would bring the forests into their full beauty. It was not easy for Ellen White to abandon the prospects of the coming Australian spring and summer to enter into another winter in the Northern Hemisphere. But go she must, and she declared that “the might of my will comes from a deep conviction that the Lord has a work He would be pleased to have me do in His service in America.”—Manuscript 95, 1900.

With surprising rapidity things fell into line. She had an opportunity to sell her home, completely furnished, to the M. E. Minchin family. All she would have to do would be to pack her personal belongings and move out. What is more, she could retain the home until the sailing date. W. C. White, whose home was across Sunnyside Road, negotiated a trade with Metcalf Hare, who was connected with the college. Hare’s home was next to the school, and W.C. found he could sell that to the college. Thus the two big problems were quickly and easily solved.

One question that had troubled Ellen White as she thought of leaving Australia was how she could meet her promise to give substantial financial assistance in the establishment of the Sydney Sanitarium. The sale of her home for cash now provided her with funds for meeting this pledge. So, although it was against her personal wishes to leave Australia, as she freely declared in a letter to her son Edson, she was sure it was in the order of God that she should go. She wrote, “The call comes in so decided and earnest a way that we dare not refuse.”—Letter 123, 1900.

W. C. White began travel negotiations in Sydney with the Union Steamship Company and found that comfortable arrangements for the voyage could be made on the Moana, which would sail from Sydney on Wednesday, August 29. Ellen White would have her four women assistants with her—Sara McEnterfer, Marian Davis, Sarah Peck, and Maggie Hare. The W. C. White family numbered seven—himself; his wife, May; his two older daughters by his first marriage, 18-year-old Ella and 13-year-old Mabel; the twins, 4 years old; and Baby Grace, nearly 3 months old. There were three other friends along also. So it made quite a nice traveling party—fifteen in all.

Packing included not only clothing and personal effects but the [16] Ellen G. White manuscript files. These were particularly valuable and would be taken in trunks as part of the baggage.

On Sunday afternoon, August 26, a farewell service was held in the Avondale church for Ellen White, her helpers, and W. C. White and his family. The auditorium was well filled. Appropriate words were spoken, climaxed by the presentation of two beautiful velvet-bound autograph albums that were to be opened day by day, progressively, as they journeyed across the Pacific. In her farewell speech, Ellen White reminisced a bit about the development of the school and recounted, among other choice items, how the carpenters, when beset with apparently insuperable difficulties, used to kneel down in the shavings and ask God to help them. Her parting admonition was to remember the Sabbath—the seal of the living God (The Bible Echo, September 17, 1900).

Thus closed nine busy, fruitful years in the continent down under. Before them was a 7,200-mile, 23-day journey across the Pacific. Willie had been successful in securing the most comfortable room on the Moana for his mother, the bridal stateroom in the first-class section in the aft of the ship. The tickets had cost $160 each for Ellen White and Sara McEnterfer. The rest of the party traveled second-class. Willie reported that they had been successful in securing the four best rooms in that section, with tickets costing $70 each. With anticipation and a little excitement, they boarded the Moana in Sydney shortly after noon on Wednesday. Ellen White was pleased with her room. “I have a wide bed,” she wrote in her diary, “as I have at home. Sara [McEnterfer] has her berth opposite mine. It is rather narrow. I have a bureau, wardrobe, and every convenience.”—Manuscript 96, 1900.

The First Leg of the Voyage

Of course, friends and fellow workers were at the wharf to see them off. Frederick Sharp, treasurer and business manager of the developing Sydney Sanitarium, came on board to present a final farewell gift to Ellen White. It was a handsome journal book bound in soft black leather. She wrote in it, “Presented on board the steamer by F. W. Sharp, August 29, 1900.” Later that day she was to make the first entry, opening with the words, “We feel very much affected as we leave Sydney.” [17]

The journey would be broken by three stops—New Zealand, Samoa, and the Hawaiian Islands. All augured well. Ellen White was reported to be a good sailor, and she suffered only a touch of seasickness the first night out. Willie reported that they were soon on good terms with the stewards and stewardesses: “We feel as much at home as if we had lived with them for six months.”—15 WCW, p. 861. The first 1,280-mile leg of the journey was almost due east to Auckland, New Zealand. Thursday and Friday were sunny days, and as the sun was setting behind them on Friday evening, they hunted up all the songbooks they could find and gathered for a little sing. They were pleased that about a dozen fellow passengers joined them.

Sabbath morning dawned dark and cloudy, and Ellen White chose to stay in her room most of the day. It was the first Sabbath of the trip, and the noise on the deck above, with the passengers pitching quoits, made it hard for her to realize that it was the Sabbath. Part of the day she spent writing some important instruction given to her in reference to the responsibility resting on medical missionary workers. The newly established medical institutions in Australia were much on her mind, and this was not the only communication she would write that would review important guiding principles.

They found the food on the ship well prepared and appetizing, but to be certain of having a dietary to their liking, they had brought some of their own food on board, particularly oranges and tangerines, zwieback, canned fruit, and canned grape juice. This greatly broadened their selection of menu choices. One favorite dish turned out to be fruit toast, made by pouring fresh hot water and then grape juice over zwieback. For their evening meal, popular items were fresh fruit and crackers.

As the ship sailed eastward at its steady pace of about 340 miles a day, Ellen White thought much of Australia and the nine years she had labored there. “I love the work in Australia,” she wrote. “The cause of God there is a part of me.”—Letter 149, 1900. “For so many years my interest has been bound up with this work that to separate from it seems like tearing me in pieces. I have confidence in those left in charge of the work at Avondale.”—Manuscript 82, 1900. But as the days passed, she began to cast off the burden of the work in [18] Australia, and her thoughts turned to challenges that lay ahead in America.

On Sunday morning, their fourth day out, the Moana was steaming down the east coast of New Zealand, past Great Barrier Island and into Auckland harbor. At ten-thirty the ship dropped anchor opposite the quarantine station. Some of the sailors rowed over in a small boat, leaving the passengers in suspense about the possibility of going ashore. Willie was disappointed because he had hoped to see some of his friends from Auckland. “Here we lie,” he wrote. “We cannot go ashore, and thus far no one has come to speak to us. It is a big lot of humbug, this quarantine business.”—15 WCW, p. 861.

Finally, George Teasdale, with Brethren Mountain and Nash and a few others, came out in a rowboat, but could not go aboard. The White party found that by leaning over the rail they could converse with the folks in the rowboat. Willie Floding, a young man bound for Battle Creek to take the medical course, came on board at Auckland. The travelers were shocked to learn of the death of Mrs. F. L. Sharp, following major surgery. Willie and Ellen White sent messages of consolation back with the workers.

The passengers pleasantly anticipated spending Sunday night on the boat while it was not in motion. But they soon changed their minds, for with the ship filling its coal bunkers it was impossible to sleep. There was a constant, thunderous roar. Monday morning the ship headed north and east, passing between the Tongan Islands en route to Samoa. This would be a long week, for they would cross the dateline just before reaching Samoa, which would give them two Thursdays. Ellen White spent as much time as possible in a steamer chair on deck, writing letters, mostly to friends left behind in Australia. She was fascinated and refreshed by the sea and the fresh salt air. From girlhood days she had loved the ocean. One day she wrote, “We now have a full view of the ever-changing, restless, beautiful sea.”—Letter 164, 1900. And at another time, “I am up on deck writing, and enjoying the fresh air.... This morning my soul is filled with praise and thanksgiving to God.”—Manuscript 96, 1900.

She spent many pleasant hours paging through the autograph album given her during the farewell service at Cooranbong. So did the Willie White family on the deck below, as day by day they read a [19] few pages. These albums, gold embossed and bound in bright, royal-blue velvet with gold-edged leaves, still convey nostalgia and warmth; one cannot read them without feeling drawn to those for whom they were so lovingly and carefully prepared. There was a section for every day of the voyage, and each section was introduced by an exquisite little watercolor painting, the Moana itself often appearing in the picture.

The brown-toned photographs help to tell the story of the work in Australia. There is the electro-hydropathic institute in Adelaide. There are pictures of neat little churches Ellen White had visited and in which she had made investments to help the companies of believers who needed meetinghouses. There are portraits of friends, and scenes from her Sunnyside home. One page was reserved for pictures of their watchdog, Tiglath-Pileser, at Sunnyside. It will be remembered that parts of Australia had been settled by convicts, and as some of their descendants seemed to inherit the proclivities of their forebears, a good watchdog served a very useful purpose at Sunnyside.

The messages are beautiful examples of nineteenth-century script. They reflect the very high regard in which Ellen White was held: “Mrs. E. G. White’s presence in our little village will be sadly missed. The widow and the orphan found in her a helper,” one woman wrote.

A student at Avondale said, “I shall ever remember with gratitude the many kindnesses shown me by you while living in your home.”

G. B. Starr and his wife, Nellie, listed all the times they were with Ellen White from the time she landed in Australia aboard the Alemeda in 1891 until she left. They had journeyed from Honolulu to Sydney with her when she went out nine years earlier.

One wrote how she had been converted while reading the chapter on repentance in Steps to Christ. Another had had the same experience with The Great Controversy. Another thanked her for saving him from spiritual disaster when he had become deeply involved in spiritualism.

There was even a cartoon showing Ellen and Willie busy reading their autograph albums on the deck of the Moana, although the height of the waves pictured by the artist surely would have [20] prohibited such gentle pastime pursuits!

On shipboard she was to write a letter about the album, addressing it “Dear Friends All, in Cooranbong”:

I thank you with much pleasure as I look into my memorial. It is a beautiful reminder of my friends, and it came so unexpectedly to us. I appreciate it more than anything my friends could give me. It is so beautifully gotten up, and it has so great a variety and expresses so much skill and taste and beauty.... I thank you all who have so freely bound up your heart with my heart.—Letter 190, 1900.

She also spent time making friends with some of the passengers. One woman, Mrs. Goward, noticing The Desire of Ages, expressed admiration for it. Ellen White, hoping for just such an opportunity, gave it to her, along with Christian Education.

The Stop in Samoa

The autograph album paged for Sabbath, September 8, shows the Moana lying placidly in the harbor at Apia, largest of the Samoan islands. The artist’s prediction came close to the fact. The ship arrived at 7:00 A.M. on Friday morning. It would have been Sabbath morning if they had not just crossed the dateline, thus adding an extra day.

As the anchor was dropped, the White party soon spotted its welcoming committee—a large green boat manned with singing Samoans (15 WCW, p. 868). They were directed by Prof. D. D. Lake, who supervised the Samoan Mission. One by one, members of the White party were helped down the rope ladder into the boat, and even 72-year-old Ellen White climbed down. One giant Samoan took Baby Grace in his arms and stood straight on the point of the bow, much to the discomfiture of her mother, May, who was afraid of water anyway. She could easily imagine those big, bare feet slipping off the slick wood.

Even the smaller boat could not go all the way in to shore, so two of the men crossed arms to make a chair for Ellen White and carried her to the beach. May White was told to put her arms around the neck of the one who carried Grace, and Ellen had a good laugh over the strange sight of this grown woman in her full skirts clinging to [21] the bronzed, naked back of a Samoan as he carried her and her baby ashore.

Two carriages were waiting to convey members of the party who were not up to walking a mile to the mission headquarters. The rest of the group enjoyed the little jaunt. Oh, how good the home-cooked breakfast tasted! While most of the party went sightseeing, Ellen and Willie White stayed behind with Professor Lake to discuss the possibilities of reopening the sanitarium that had been forced to close when Dr. F. E. Braucht left for New Zealand (Ibid).

The sightseers returned just as the interview was completed. After having prayer together they collected the many baskets of fruit that had been gathered for them. There were bananas in abundance, mangoes, papayas, and oranges. Everybody then headed for the boat, except Mabel. One of the women had wanted to return early, so Mabel had volunteered to drive her to the dock with the horse and buggy. On the drive back to the mission she became lost. She could not ask her way, for the only words in Samoan she knew were “How do you do?” It was nearly time for the boat to leave. Just as the situation seemed almost hopeless, along came Willie Floding. He had worked on the island and knew his way around. Together they quickly found the ship.

Calm seas continued as they plowed their way north and east on the next leg of the journey—2,260 miles to Honolulu. Midway they would cross the equator and be again in the Northern Hemisphere. It was a pleasant week of travel. Ella, unable to restrain the desire to teach, had organized a little school for the twins, and soon other children joined. She even recruited Leonard Paap, one of the party, to teach the older children. The sunrise on Monday morning was outstanding. Ellen White wrote, “The sunrise was glorious. The whole sea was a river of yellow gold. We have on this journey a placid sea.”—Manuscript 96, 1900. Then she reported:

I am now lying or half sitting in my steamboat chair on deck. I have eaten my simple breakfast and read my Bible and now am prepared to write. The Lord is merciful to us and is favoring us with excellent weather.— Ibid.

She particularly appreciated the clouds that at times veiled the [22] bright rays of the sun. This made the journey more pleasant.

On Sunday night, September 9, God gave Ellen White a vision. It was not the only one given to her during the voyage, but this one she reported immediately. It dealt with the management of the Sydney Sanitarium. She was instructed that Dr. D. H. Kress, who had just gone to Australia, should be the man to manage the medical interests of the new institution. There were some others in Australia who thought perhaps they would be called to the position, so Ellen White cautioned Fred Sharp, to whom the letter was addressed, to treat the matter judiciously. “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves,” she advised.—Letter 203, 1900.

Perhaps it was this vision of Sunday night in which she received the instruction she spoke of in Battle Creek some months later. Various and sundry rumors were floating around as to what she was at times supposed to have said. Warning came to her to be on guard against private interviews. There were people who would catch something from her lips that they could interpret in such away as to vindicate themselves. Her Instructor counseled that silence was eloquence, even when she was with her supposed friends. She was counseled to keep her words for public occasions.

“‘Enter into no controversy,’” she was advised in vision. “‘Take no part in any strife or in anything that would divert the mind from God.’” And she was assured, “‘I have a message for you to bear, and as this message is given to the people, it is not for you to try to make them believe it. That is not your work. You are to go straight forward in the work I have given you. I will strengthen you to do this work.’”—Manuscript 29, 1901.

Friday morning, September 14, at eight o’clock, after a very hot night, the Moana reached Honolulu. Elder Baxter Howe, in charge of the work of the church there, welcomed the travelers and took them to Sister Kerr’s, where the whole party enjoyed an early lunch. The Kerrs were an affluent family. Mr. Kerr, a businessman, was not a member of the church, but Mrs. Kerr was generous-hearted and outgoing. Ellen White had been entertained royally at their home on her trip to Australia nine years before.

The hours in Honolulu would be limited, so the party made a brief visit to the church, where both Ellen White and Willie addressed the people. Then they visited the Chinese school [23] operated by W. E. Howell. By six o’clock that evening they were back on the boat, which soon was on its way eastward to San Francisco.

The Third Week on Shipboard

This third week of the voyage was more trying to Ellen White. Tobacco smoke bothered her a great deal. She wrote of it in her letters to Dr. Kellogg. Quoit playing on the deck above her stateroom continued to irritate her. Then at night, when everyone should be sleeping, there was dancing on deck over her head till the wee hours of the morning. Several times while she was on deck she asked the men who were near her steamer chair to refrain from smoking, explaining how it affected her. But they simply said she could go “somewhere else” (Manuscript 29, 1901). When she appealed to one of the ship’s officers, he confessed that he was helpless. A doctor on the second-class deck consoled her by pointing out that the voyage would soon be over, and he asked, “‘Did you ever know a tobacco user who could be reasoned with?’”—Letter 133, 1900.

On the liquor side of the temperance question, one case particularly attracted Ellen White’s attention, and she wrote of it to Dr. Kellogg:

One man, with Reverend attached to his name, who during the voyage, Bible in hand, had given expositions of the Word in the social hall, was on several occasions so drunk that he had to be carried to his stateroom.— Ibid.

The preacher’s wife, full of anxiety and sorrow on his account, confided in Ellen White that before they left Australia her husband had come into a considerable amount of money and now he was drinking so freely he did not know or care where the money went.

As they neared the California arrival time, late Thursday night, Ellen White felt she could hardly endure the expected partying that traditionally marks the final day of a voyage. Willie came to her and said, “‘We are nearing the last night of the trip, when we shall have more noise than ever before; but I am praying for a storm.’”—Manuscript 29, 1901. “‘So am I,’” Ellen White replied.

That Wednesday evening, still dreading the next day’s carousal, she found a little anteroom and lay down. She fell asleep, but soon [24] was awakened by a voice speaking to her. As she gained her senses, she knew what it meant. “The room was filled with a sweet fragrance, as of beautiful flowers.” Then she fell asleep once more and was awakened in the same way. Of it she wrote:

Words were spoken to me, assuring me that the Lord would protect me, that He had a work for me to do. Comfort, encouragement, and direction were given to me, and I was greatly blessed.— Ibid.

Part of the message that came to her at that time was an assurance that put her mind at rest on one particular point. This was the question of where she should make her home in America. In earlier years they had lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, as her husband led the church and managed the Review and Herald Publishing House. Then they lived in Oakland, California, as James White started the Signs of the Times After her husband’s death, Ellen had lived in a home in Healdsburg, California, only a few blocks from the college. This home she still owned. Just before leaving for Australia, she had lived in Battle Creek again. And now where should she settle? The question had concerned them from the time they planned to leave Australia.

Writing of this two weeks before their departure, she noted:

WCW has felt very strongly that under no circumstances should we locate in Battle Creek or east of the Rocky Mountains. Our position must be near the Pacific Press. We have planned to go into the country, in or near Fruitvale, so that we might have no connection with any duties or offices that would demand our attention. Here we hope to complete the book-making we now contemplate.

We had gotten a good hold upon it here, but have not completed the work in hand because of our plan to leave this country the last of August. Willie was very loath to leave so soon, but it was my decided judgment that we must reach America before winter, since the change of climate at that time would be most trying to me at my age.

So you can see that our plans were made not to get anywhere near a school or under the shadow of an office where our time [25] and strength might be consumed as they have been in this new portion of the Lord’s vineyard. We must be within ten or fifteen miles of the Pacific Press.—Letter 121, 1900.

The Pacific Press was then in Oakland. The vision given to her that Wednesday evening during the last week of the journey set her mind at rest. She wrote of this, “The Lord revealed Himself to me ... and comforted me, assuring me that He had a refuge prepared for me, where I would have quiet and rest.”—Letter 163, 1900.

What a comfort it was to know that God already had something in mind for her! How she wished she might know just what or where it was.

Now they came to Thursday, the last full day of the trip. They would enter San Francisco Bay that night. The day was sunny and bright, but the sea was so rough the sailors could hardly keep their balance on deck. Most of the passengers remained in their berths. There was no final party. Ellen White lay in bed all day, not even daring to turn over. And then just before the Moana slipped through the Golden Gate, the sea suddenly quieted. It was ten o’clock. The ship could not dock until daylight, so the anchor was cast. Some weeks later she reported:

I felt very grateful for that storm. It lasted long enough to prevent any carousal. And just before we entered the harbor, it cleared away, and the sea became as smooth as it had been all the way over.—Manuscript 29, 1901.

Through the long night hours the ship swung lazily at anchor in San Francisco Bay. The White party no doubt expected that with the coming of daylight the Moana would move into one of the Union Steamship Company piers, and that soon they would see friends on the wharf, including many workers who had come to welcome them back to the United States. But such was not the case. Immigration officials, very conscious of germs, required the Sydney passengers, even though they had been on the ship for nearly a month, to proceed by tugboat to a quarantine station on Angel Island, where their belongings and trunks could be fumigated. That whole weary Friday was spent going through these formalities.

One of Ellen White’s last impressive glimpses of fellow [26] passengers was of the preacher who couldn’t stay away from the bottle. She saw him being carried by two men from the quarantine station to a restaurant, where he lay sprawled on a settee, while his beleaguered wife bathed his head.

Finally, by early evening, the contents of trunks and suitcases having been properly fumigated and repacked, the party was taken by tugboat to San Francisco. They arrived at eight o’clock and were met by G. A. Irwin, president of the General Conference; C.H. Jones, manager of the Pacific Press; and J. O. Corliss, pastor of the San Francisco church. The traveling party soon dispersed. C. H. Jones, a longtime friend and acquaintance, took Ellen White and some of her helpers to his home in Oakland. Others stayed with friends in San Francisco. W. C. and May White, with the twins and Baby Grace, were entertained by the Corlisses at their home in Fruitvale, an Oakland suburb. That night Elder Irwin sent a telegram to Battle Creek, which carried the good news of the arrival of the party. It was published on the back page of the next issue of the Review It read, “San Francisco, Cal., September 21, 1900.—Sister White and party arrived this morning in good condition.” The editor commented that this would be “good news to thousands.” And it was. [27]

Chapter 2—Elmshaven

On arriving in California, Ellen White was eager to get to her work. In just nine weeks she would celebrate her seventy-third birthday, and there was a great deal she felt she must do, especially in getting her books out. She hoped that she could quickly find a home, move in, establish herself, and get on with the many tasks awaiting her attention. Not wanting to have to undertake the building of a house, she hoped to find a place she could rent.

At her age it seemed to her that the climate of California would be preferable to that of Michigan, with its long, cold winters. Then, too, she did not wish to place herself so close to the headquarters of the work that she would become deeply involved in helping to solve the everyday problems.

The Pacific Press was located in Oakland; considering the many books she would want published, some place within the vicinity of that city would seem to be ideal.

On the Sabbath after their Friday-evening arrival, W. C. White spoke in San Francisco to a good-sized congregation comprised of several nationalities. On Sabbath afternoon Ellen White addressed the believers in the Oakland church. General Conference president G. A. Irwin was the morning speaker. Sunday was spent in resting, in interviews with some leading workers, and visiting with friends. But on Monday morning, September 24, house hunting began. She and Willie discovered that Oakland had grown considerably in the nine years they had been away. Census for the city in 1890 was 66,619 persons. Now, just a decade later, it was a bustling 150,000, [28] and property values had kept pace with the city’s growth.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were exhausting days, spent driving from place to place as they searched for suitable housing. They soon decided that they would have to purchase, for rents were just too high. Rent on a house large enough to accommodate Ellen White and her assistants would come to $25 or $30 a month. At that time the monthly salary of her most trusted and faithful helpers was $30, and she herself received $50 a month. To pay from one half to two thirds of her total salary income for the rental of a home was out of the question.

They did find a house in Fruitvale, now a part of Oakland, that could be bought for $6,000. It was located on a two-and-one-half-acre tract of land. But Oakland seemed cold and foggy, and Ellen White declared that she would just stop looking. She said, “The Lord knows what our work is and where we should be located; and we shall wait the Lord’s time.”—Letter 132, 1900.

At this point Willie suggested that she and some of her helpers go up to the health retreat at St. Helena, some sixty miles to the north. This institution had just changed its name to St. Helena Sanitarium, or simply the San. There she could rest a bit and also attend some of the meetings to be held in connection with the nearby Napa camp meeting. He agreed that he would continue to look for a house—or houses, for, of course, he had his own family of seven to care for.

He found he could rent a little house owned by Dr. E. J. Waggoner, who for a number of years had been an associate editor of the Signs of the Times but who was now working in England. In rather amusing terms W. C. White wrote to his close friend Arthur Daniells:

For several days we have been trying to fit a number seven family into a number five house, with a number three purse to purchase furnishings.—15 WCW, p. 871.

He would have to pay $15 a month rent out of the “number three purse.”

On Thursday morning, September 27, following her son’s counsel, Ellen White, with Sara McEnterfer and some of her other helpers, started for St. Helena. They would cross the Bay by ferry, [29] then complete the journey by steam train. The ferry was the little steamer El Capitan. One of the first things Ellen White observed was that no smoking was allowed on the deck of the boat. Delighted, she said, “What a privilege to be able to breathe freely, inhaling full inspirations of the pure, free air, unpoisoned.”—Manuscript 96, 1900.

At a junction near Vallejo the women boarded a steam train for the thirty-five mile trip to St. Helena. What memories came back to Ellen White’s mind as she journeyed up through the Napa Valley, making stops at Napa, Yountville, Rutherford, and Oakville. She thought of the meetings held twenty-five years earlier in Napa and the challenge of Miles Grant so successfully met by Elder Canright. At Yountville her mind turned back to the camp meetings held a mile east of the station, under the oaks by Napa Creek, for three summers in the mid-1870s. The railroad tracks ran between the main graveled road on one side and prune orchards and vineyards on the other. Both the prune trees and the grapevines were heavy with fruit, for it was harvesttime.

Two vehicles were waiting for them at the St. Helena station: A comfortable two-seated phaeton, [A light, four-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage, with or without a top.] and the regular horse-drawn stage from the Sanitarium, used to transport guests the three miles from the railway station to the institution. As the horses slowed to a walk at the foot of the long, half-mile climb to the Sanitarium, more memories crowded the mind of Ellen White. She was journeying over the same road she and her husband had traveled in 1878, just after the institution was begun by Dr. M. G. Kellogg. She had been there in the years following her husband’s death. She had purchased eight and one-half acres from William Pratt to preserve the land for the future use of the Sanitarium. On the property she had erected a home, Eliel, which easily could be turned into an expanded facility for the care of guests of the institution.—DF 14.

At the Sanitarium she met old friends—Mrs. J. L. Ings, Mary Thorpe, and others. The first topic of conversation was the frustration of house hunting in Oakland, and Sister Ings volunteered: “‘Well, below the hill there is a place that is just the thing for you. It is Robert Pratt’s place.’”—Letter 158, 1900. Ellen White was definitely interested. [30]

At the Sanitarium there were about forty guests. That night she spoke in the chapel. Writing of it, she said, “The room was well filled, and there were some standing at the entrance.” She reported freedom in speaking and she hoped, as she said, that “the Lord will give me a hold upon the people” (Letter 132, 1900). The significance of the phrase is understood by the fact that Ellen White in vision was often given insights into situations that others did not grasp. The institution was in rather precarious days, and its welfare was to become one of her concerns for several years.

Was This the Promised Refuge?

The next morning, Friday, September 28, she went down to see the “place under the hill” (Letter 132, 1900). To her surprise, it was not the William Pratt place that she had envisioned (a home in which she and James White had stayed), but a large Victorian home built by his brother Robert. She had often admired it in driving by.

Robert Pratt, a railroad executive, was a member of a family of three who had come to California in search of gold. William had purchased the entire little valley and mountainside where the Sanitarium was now nestled. Later Robert purchased a strip of some seventy-four acres, which stretched through rich farmland up onto the hillside.

William Pratt, with his wife and family, had responded to the preaching of J. N. Loughborough and I. D. Van Horn at St. Helena in 1873 and had become charter members of the St. Helena church. Three years later he gave land on the side of the mountain near Crystal Spring for a medical institution, the Rural Health Retreat. The spring, which yielded a bountiful supply of pure, soft water, was shared with his brother Robert and was just above and to the east of the institution. William Pratt’s gift of land had also included his half share of the spring. At the time the Sanitarium was opened, this seemed an adequate water supply.

Robert, not a Seventh-day Adventist, owned the land to the south and held the other half interest in the spring. He and his wife, facing advancing age, with their children grown and gone, accepted the invitation of their youngest daughter to make their home with her in the Bay Area (Letter 146, 1900). So the Robert Pratt property was up for sale. [31]

Elder J. A. Burden, manager of the St. Helena Sanitarium, knew that growing demands for water would soon embarrass the institution. This would be true particularly if the spring were shared by a family not friendly to it. He knew, too, that they must have land for a food factory and also for sewage disposal. What could fill these needs better than a few acres of valley land at the foot of the hill? But the institution was in no financial position to buy the Pratt property. Burden, a man of deep faith and some daring, had personally contracted for the Robert Pratt property, making the initial payment of $1,000. He expected to dispose of the home and the farm, retaining what was necessary for the institution and its growth (Letter 158, 1900).

Delighted with what she found, Ellen White with difficulty restrained her excitement. She wrote:

This is a most beautiful location. The surroundings are lovely. Ornamental trees from various parts of the world, flowers, mostly roses of a large variety, an orchard containing a thousand prune trees which are bearing, another orchard nearer the house, and still another orchard of olive trees, are growing on the place.— (Letter 158, 1900)

The home was situated on a knoll in the center of thirty-five acres of level or nearly level land. The family orchard of about three acres lay to the north, with trees bearing peaches, apples, nectarines, figs, cherries, apricots, and pears. Back of this was about a half acre of olive trees. On the south side of the home was a vineyard of more than five acres of table and wine grapes, mostly the latter. The land to the west was divided between prune orchards—which they soon discovered had two thousand trees in prime bearing condition—a garden, and hayfield. The house itself was a well-constructed, seven-room, two-story frame building, completely furnished, including carpets, drapes, linens, and dishes. Ellen White continued her description:

Well, to go back to my story, the Lord planned for me, and I found that I could buy this place here for less than I received for my house in Cooranbong and all its belongings. This includes two horses, one rather old, four carriages and a platform wagon, [32] much better than the one I gave away, and a house furnished throughout. It was like stepping out of my home in Cooranbong into a beautiful roomy one here. It has surprised me much that we should be thus favored.—Letter 132, 1900.

As for the fruit crops, there was little left except some grapes in the vineyard, which had already been sold, and the olives in the olive orchard. There were a ton of these, which they soon sold on the trees for $50.

Back of the house to the east was “the farmer’s cottage,” which with a little adaptation could be turned into an office building. Beyond this was a barn and stable with four horse stalls and room for storing four carriages. The hayloft could store twenty or thirty tons of hay. The cow barn had space for twenty-two cows; to the one cow now occupying it, it must have seemed a bit lonely. A few chickens completed the farm population. Ellen White was delighted with the carriages and wagons that were included with the place: two farm wagons, one two-seated express wagon, one double-seated covered buggy, two phaetons, an old road cart, and one hand cart. In addition, there were plows, harrows, and other farm tools (15 WCW, p. 903).

To the east there were about twenty acres of rolling hill land, covered with evergreen forests of yellow pine, fir, live oak, manzanita, and madrono. Some of it was on a hillside so steep that it couldn’t even serve as pasture. Several springs at the foot of the mountain would supply water in place of the crystal spring that now was in possession of the Sanitarium.

Blackmon Canyon Creek ran through the full length of the property, first down the mountainside and then meandering through the very heart of the valley. It passed perhaps a hundred yards from the home, finally becoming the southern border of the property, along Glass Mountain Road. During winter the creek at times ran full to overflowing, draining the farm and adding to its attractiveness.

That Friday, with its discovery, seemed all too short. Ellen White confided in the black, leather-covered journal that was given to her as she left Australia:

Here was a house all furnished, and we could, as soon as the [33] decision was made and terms accepted, go into this house, and find everything ready in excellent order to begin my home life without the perplexities of purchasing goods and furnishings for housekeeping. Here were horses, carriages, and nearly everything far superior to that which I had left, and the same price for which my home was sold will bring this beautiful, healthful residence, in good order for us to possess, and as soon as the settlement is accomplished [we will] come into possession and begin our work.

This manifestation in our behalf was so marked and the desirability of location so decided that I knew the Lord was granting me His rich blessing....I never anticipated so much in a home that meets my taste and my desires so perfectly. Next week we shall live in our new home, and we will seek to make it a home after the symbol of heaven.—Manuscript 96, 1900.

And all of this within a week from the time they had set foot on American soil!

But the Sabbath drew on and with it the challenges of public ministry. There was a meeting at the Sanitarium on Friday evening, and again Ellen White spoke to the institutional family and to the guests (Letter 132, 1900). At five-thirty Sabbath morning she and Sisters Gotzian and Ings were on their way to the railway station in St. Helena to take the train to Napa, where the district camp meeting was being held. Ellen White was the speaker at the worship hour that Sabbath morning.

She carried the service through well. The General Conference president, Elder Irwin, who had come to California to greet the party from Australia and to confer with Sister White, followed, leading the congregation into a revival service. Many came forward in new dedication of heart and life.

Returning to St. Helena and the Sanitarium late Sabbath afternoon, Ellen White was delighted to meet her older son, Edson, who also had come West to greet her and confer with her. It had been nine years since she had seen him. She felt he looked a little worn. Her son Willie had also come up from Oakland to be present for important council meetings to be held early in the next week. [34]

Ellen White Purchases the Property

While some of these council meetings were being held, on Sunday morning Ellen White could not resist the temptation to slip away and take another look at what she felt would surely be her future home. And she pondered, as she wrote later:

This place was none of my seeking. It has come to me without a thought or purpose of mine. The Lord is so kind and gracious to me. I can trust my interests with Him who is too wise to err and too good to do me harm.— Ibid.

The property represented an investment on the part of Robert Pratt of $12,000. It was sold to Elder Burden for $8,000, and in securing it Burden had arranged for long-term, easy payments. So Ellen White and Elder Burden sat down to work out a settlement that was finally consummated on Tuesday, October 16, when she and her family moved in.

Burden transferred to her the entire property—73.71 acres of land—and a half interest in the spring. Then, as agreed, the Sanitarium bought back 8.7 acres for a sewage-disposal area at the far west corner of the property, and 5.5 acres for a food factory across Blackmon Canyon Creek to the east and south. For these two pieces of land and for the half interest in the spring, $3,000 was subtracted from the $8,000. Ellen White paid Burden $1,000 in cash and assumed a $4,000 mortgage with interest at 6 1/4 percent. “It is like stepping out of our home in Cooranbong,” she wrote to her old friends the Farnsworths, “into one already prepared for us, without any time or care on our part.”—Letter 146, 1900.

On the day of the purchase they moved in, rather jubilantly, and she reported to Elder Irwin, “We are now located in our pleasant and much-appreciated home.”—Letter 127, 1900. She outlined the living arrangements. They were crowded, and would be until other buildings could be erected, particularly a home for William White and his family, who were temporarily staying at a nearby cottage. Beds were even placed in the living room.

One piece of furniture, in addition to what they found in the home, was squeezed in. It was Ellen White’s comfortable writing chair, equipped with a writing board that she could swing to one side for freedom of movement. This was the only piece of furniture [35] she had brought with her from Australia.

The general location of the home was certainly ideal. It was two and one-half miles northwest of St. Helena, and about fifteen to twenty minutes’ walk from the Sanitarium, depending upon whether one was going or coming. In addition to its beautiful location, with hills to the south and mountains to the north and east, she particularly appreciated the fact that the home was not far from the Sanitarium. Here she would have an opportunity to address a changing audience of non-Adventists often, which she enjoyed doing.

Ellen White had traveled widely through her life. She had crossed the Rocky Mountains many times. She had lived in Colorado and in Switzerland. She had crossed the Alps into Italy, and traveled extensively in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. But she was able to exclaim in 1905, perhaps with some bias, “Certainly no place I have ever seen equals the beauty of the scenery around here.”—Letter 111, 1905. At another time she expressed herself, “This world is not our abiding place, but I feel very grateful for the comforts of a good home. I consider the country here to be one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.”—Letter 117, 1905.

The Name Elmshaven

The conjecture has been that the property had received its name, Elmshaven, from its original owners, the Pratts. But careful research provides no evidence to support this. The place must have been nameless, or simply known as the Robert Pratt place. Now that the property was in Sister White’s hands and multiplied hundreds of letters would go out from there, should these not carry a distinctive dateline? Sunnyside was what she had called her much-loved Australian residence. What name should this beautiful, well-situated home carry?

Finally, it must have been the trees in front of the home—elms—that gave them a lead. The first inkling we get is from the heading of a W. C. White letter with the dateline “Shady Elms, St. Helena, Cal., January 1, 1901.” But this is one lone exhibit. Apparently Willie found no support, for there is not a second instance of its use. But a few days later Sara McEnterfer headed a business letter, “Elmshaven, St. Helena, Cal., January 6, 1901.” Soon W. C. White and [36] E. G. White letters were carrying the Elmshaven dateline.

One feature that made Elmshaven particularly attractive was the space its acreage provided for the erection of other buildings that could be occupied by members of Ellen White’s staff. A most pressing need was that of providing a home for her son Willie and his family. Just across Blackmon Canyon Creek and next to the land on which a food factory was being built were seven acres that included a beautiful building site on a knoll. These were soon deeded to W. C. White. One and one-half of these seven acres were of level, rich garden and orchard land. The rest was rolling hill land. When this land was given to him, his mother declared, “You are not to sell any of this! This is to be the children’s schoolroom and playground.” It became just that.

Some of the land to the east went for a cottage for Iram James, who had been her farmer in Cooranbong and who had responded to her cable message inviting him to come to America and fill the same position at her new home place. Eventually some of the land was used as sites for cottages for three other families of her staff.

Just a little on the defensive on the matter of acquiring such a property, Ellen White pointed to the opening providences of God that had made the move so very clear. It was at a time when she was pressing hard for funds to help save the Scandinavian publishing house from bankruptcy. She wrote:

Some may ask, “Why, if there is such need of money in the work, did Sister White purchase a house and a farm?” This was not my planning. The Lord placed me here.... This home was provided for us by the Lord.... We could not possibly have found a place better fitted for our work. The Lord has certainly favored us, and I am greatly encouraged.... We greatly enjoy our quiet home in the valley, and we thank the Lord for all His great blessings.—Letter 10, 1901.

She confided to Dr. Kellogg that she could “now keep out of the din of the battle” (Letter 175, 1900). She wrote the officers of the General Conference, “The manifest working of the power of God in this matter is a cause of great thankfulness. Here I am retired from the strife of tongues.”—Letter 139, 1900.

Some months after getting settled, Ellen White made an earnest [37] appeal to the believers to establish a church school. She was particularly gratified that she could make available nearly an acre of land in a little triangle near the Sanitarium Road. This she set aside for the church school for as long as it should be operated there. On it a building was erected and eventually enlarged to accommodate a ten-grade school. She was pleased that her own grandchildren could attend this school. Part of her cow pasture just across the Sanitarium Road was soon serving as a baseball field.

A few things about Ellen White’s new house may have puzzled some visitors who entertained a narrow image of her and regarded her as a severe, reserved person. An ornamental glass panel in the main front door, and an entire, tall window beside the stairway in the hall were made of numerous pieces of colored and patterned glass. Blues, reds, greens, yellows, purples—all were there to spice up the appearance of the entryway and the stairway.

Around the fireplace (a feature that was a strong attraction to Ellen White) the Pratts had installed imported tiles depicting the legend of King Arthur. Ellen White would not have selected such decorations, but she was not so straitlaced as to have them removed. And she would later conduct many a family worship in the room with King Arthur’s knights.

The house and surroundings of Elmshaven today are not the same as they were in 1900. When she purchased the home, the three upstairs rooms and a low attic room over the kitchen served as bedrooms. Soon arrangements were made to replace the attic room with a spacious writing room over the kitchen and back entryway.

Of the trees around the house when she bought it, none were taller than the house. Only a couple even reached to the height of the eaves. This meant that in the early years the house was in the sun much more than it is today. Since there were no houses nearby, Elmshaven had a commanding view of all the flatland around it and the hills beyond.

On shipboard, when Ellen White was concerned as to where she should make her home, the angel of the Lord had appeared and assured her that there was “a refuge prepared” for her (Letter 163, 1900). Now this refuge—Elmshaven—was hers, and she was ready for the tasks she had returned to the United States to accomplish. [38]

Chapter 3—Face to Face With the Issues

There were good reasons why Ellen White hoped to get settled quickly on her return to the United States, and why she was so pleased to find Elmshaven ready for occupancy. In a number of visions in Australia, conditions, situations, and dangers that threatened the church were clearly revealed to her. Correspondence from America also disclosed some of the looming problems. These she must face unflinchingly and without delay.

There was the matter of the disproportionate development in the medical missionary lines, which was placing special emphasis on a work in Chicago directed toward the outcasts, the drunks, and the harlots. The light given to Ellen White indicated that a certain amount of this type of work, carried out under proper safeguards, was essential and proper, but it would yield but a limited lasting harvest. There was grave danger of an unbalance that would divert attention from major objectives in the medical work of the church and, because of the heavy financial demands, curtail various lines of denominational work around the world. From a reliable source in Battle Creek she was informed that Dr. Kellogg had at last taken a position against Sister White because she did not sustain him in the work he had carried to such extremes.

Then there was the situation in which Dr. Kellogg was involved. His growing interest in and promotion of a great Christian medical work that would be undenominational in nature and not linked to a small religious body was a matter of growing concern. Ever loyal to health principles, Kellogg was very critical and at times intolerant of [39] ministers who were slow to accept and follow all these principles. At the same time he was so pressed with duties and responsibilities that he had little time for the theological interests of the church.

Then, too, Ellen White had been given views of an outbreak of fanaticism, which when it developed came to be known as the Holy Flesh Movement. While in Australia, she was shown in vision its perils and what would transpire.

There was the work among the blacks in the South in which her son James Edson White was leading out. In 1894 he had built the Morning Star, a missionary riverboat, which in early 1895 he had sailed down the Mississippi River, and had pioneered a work, establishing schools and churches. This work was now under the direction of the Southern Missionary Society, an organization he headed and one that was recognized by the General Conference as the agency largely responsible for the work of the church among the blacks. This was almost entirely a self-supporting work, carried on with approval of church leaders and with minimal financial assistance.

In connection with this there had been the sad experience of the lost offering—$11,405 raised by the Sabbath schools to assist in the work in the Southern States, which in the absence of a central, overall organization, was inadvertently diverted to meet other pressing needs of the church. When the matter finally came to light, church leaders were dismayed, but seemed helpless to remedy the situation. Then, too, some unfortunate financial moves on the part of Edson White had reduced the confidence of church leaders in his qualifications in financial lines.

Perhaps uppermost in Ellen White’s mind was the General Conference session that was scheduled to be held in February. The reason she felt she must leave Australia in August was in order to be certain that she could attend this conference. There was an uneasy feeling among thoughtful church leaders; almost all of them sensed that this would be a particularly important meeting.

Clearly, the rapidly expanding outreach of the church was outrunning its organizational structure. Church leaders could see this, but they did not know how to grapple with the problems. They had considered these matters at the 1897 General Conference session, but no remedial steps were taken. [40]

To Ellen White these combined burdens intensified as she set foot on American shores, especially as she quickly comprehended the lethargy that marked the work in California, the second-largest conference in the world. Added to this was her own state of health. Approaching her seventy-third birthday, she recognized that her years were running out. She had left Australia in early spring only to arrive in the Northern Hemisphere in late autumn, to be followed quickly by an early winter, putting two winters end to end. She dreaded the prospect of traveling to Michigan in winter. Yet it seemed that she must attend the coming conference in Battle Creek. Also she had had unveiled to her in vision the needs of Europe and especially London, where she said that a hundred men should be at work.

Books were yet to be prepared and published. Her unfinished work pressed upon her. First there was Testimonies for the Church, volume 6, sometimes referred to as Testimony No. 34. Nearly twelve years had gone by since volume 5 had been published in 1889. There were reasons why another volume of the Testimonies seemed to be very necessary, and its issuance urgent.

When volume 5 was published, there were three Seventh-day Adventist educational institutions—Battle Creek College, South Lancaster Academy, and Healdsburg College—all located within the limits of small cities, and curtailed in their opportunities for outreach in normal expansion.

In the meantime, Ellen White had been in Australia, and in response to her counsels and encouragement the Avondale school was started on a 1,500-acre tract of land seventy-six miles north of Sydney, the nearest large city. Here was opportunity to develop a college along the lines that were called for originally if our educational work was to accomplish all that God would have it do. Now other institutions were being established, and to provide guidelines there was need of the recently written counsels that had been available in but a limited way.

There was Battle Creek with its many problems. Institutions were saddled with heavy indebtedness, particularly the college. Already Ellen White had dedicated the newly published Christ’s Object Lessons to help lift the debts on our schools.

Not only was she deeply involved in the selection of material for [41] Testimonies, volume 6, but work was under way for a book on education that could serve both the world and the church. This was to occupy considerable time from certain members of her staff until the book Education was published in 1903.

Then, for years she had been concerned relative to a general book on the subject of health that would serve the world as well as the church, taking the place of the old Christian Temperance. The work on this culminated in 1905 in The Ministry of Healing.

Long waiting for attention was work on the early Christian church, providing a Conflict of the Ages book to replace the Sketches From the Life of Paul, published in 1883. And there were her plans for a book on Old Testament history to follow Patriarchs and Prophets. Then, too, there was the matter of supplying articles almost every week for the Review and Herald, the Signs of the Times, and The Youth’s Instructor. From time to time articles for the union papers had to be prepared. Many interests demanded her attention and that of her staff.

Ellen White moved into Elmshaven as quickly as she could in early October. But this was no time to rest. As noted earlier Edson had left for California as soon as he heard that his mother was back in the States. Elder G. A. Irwin, president of the General Conference, was on hand in California to meet her and seek her counsel. The last Sunday in September, just a week after her arrival, found Edson, Willie, and Elders A. O. Tait, A. T. Jones, and G. A. Irwin gathered in counsel with Ellen White at the Rural Health Retreat, where she was staying. A major topic of discussion was Edson’s work in the South. Some problems had arisen over some of the transactions between him and the publishers who were issuing his books for colporteur sale. It was these books that formed the basis for financial support of the work of the Southern Missionary Society. Also, outbursts of racial violence demanded new tactics and some new personnel. All this was reviewed carefully.

The Next General Conference Session

Perhaps the main topic of discussion was the next General Conference session and where it would be held. Normally, it would come in February, 1901. The sessions held in the 1890s had been scheduled for dates from late January to early March. As the group [42] broke up, it was with the feeling that most likely Oakland, California, would be the best site for the 1901 session. Elder Irwin returned to Battle Creek prepared to speak in favor of that proposal at the Autumn Council, which would convene shortly.

Factors that seemed to point to Oakland as the logical place were the delicate nature of Ellen White’s health and her dread of a long journey east in midwinter, and the state of the work in California. Nonetheless, while she dreaded returning to Battle Creek in winter, or anytime, because of the burdens that would fall upon her when she returned to that city after an absence of ten years, deep down in her heart she knew that the time would come when she would have to spend some time in Battle Creek. In visions of the night she seemed to be bearing her testimony there in the Tabernacle, and she knew that she must sometime return. But in her weakness and advancing age, she just did not feel that she could undertake it for a meeting in midwinter.

The Autumn Council action on the question of the forthcoming session was that the meeting would be held in Oakland. It was an indecisive action, for some refrained from voting. It was clear that the vote was in deference to Ellen White. Some of the men, seeing the crisis that was looming at Battle Creek that involved Dr. Kellogg and his loyalties to the church, felt that there would be great advantage if the General Conference session could be held there at the headquarters city with Ellen White present.

Dr. Daniel H. Kress wrote to her on this point in a very open and candid letter, explaining the situation as he saw it. Kress had been in England and then returned to the United States to regain his health. He was now soon to leave for Australia. He felt that the men were using Ellen White’s position as an excuse for not thinking or acting for themselves. He was sure that a majority of the delegates favored Battle Creek over Oakland, but were afraid to go against her wishes.

Kress told Ellen White that Dr. Kellogg “feels that every hand is against him.” Then he explained that this was “not altogether without reason, for some of our brethren have used the testimonies which were given to correct and save him, as a club to destroy him and his influence.... The doctor thinks you also are trying to crush him.... I know you have the feeling of a mother toward him, but he does not believe this.”—D. H. Kress to EGW, October 18, 1900. [43]

Kress pointed out that if the General Conference were held in Oakland, the rank and file of Battle Creek Sanitarium workers, as well as those in the publishing house and the college in Battle Creek, could not attend. Kellogg, he felt, would see it as just another scheme to press him to the wall. Kress mentioned a rumor that Dr. Kellogg was planning to leave the denomination and he hoped that Ellen White would be able to prevent it. He felt that more than anything else Kellogg needed a heart-to-heart talk with her.

There were other rumors and reports that came to Ellen White that led her to feel that it might be best if the General Conference session were held in Battle Creek rather than in Oakland. Among these was one she heard in Australia that she was engineering things so as to bring A. G. Daniells and W. C. White into prominent positions in the leadership of the church—Daniells as president of the General Conference and W.C. as secretary and president of the Foreign Mission Board. These Ellen White categorized as “most surprising falsehoods,” stating that “such a thought never entered our minds.”—Letter 139, 1900.

Her correspondence, with St. Helena as the dateline during late October and November, reveals the struggle in her heart as she dealt with important matters, particularly in regard to the forthcoming session. The Lord did not give her clear light as to just what move should be made, and she wavered between promises to attend the session if it should be held in Battle Creek and her own physical weakness that seemed to make the journey impossible. To the General Conference officers she wrote on October 24:

I do not refuse to go to Battle Creek if the Lord indicates that it is my duty to go, but I may not be present at the General Conference if it is held in Battle Creek, or even if it is held in Oakland. I have a great and most solemn work before me in preparing for publication the writings which till now have been merely private testimonies, to be laid away in a drawer, with no heed paid to their instructions.— Ibid.

But it wasn’t long until she assured the president of the General Conference that if the decision were made to hold the session in Battle Creek, she would be present.

Now settled in northern California, she was urged to fill [44] speaking appointments in nearby and Bay-region churches. Immediately upon her return she had spoken several times at the camp meeting at Napa, twenty miles south of the Rural Health Retreat, where she was staying. On Sabbath morning, November 10, she spoke to four hundred believers crowded into the San Francisco church. Her altar call brought a hearty response, with some lingering on to visit. There were some who expressed their “gratitude to God that they had been permitted to see Sister White’s face again and to hear once more the message of the Lord” (Letter 148, 1900).

The next Sabbath she spoke to the Calistoga church, nine miles to the north. She was pleased with the neatness of the building, and the congregation was larger than she expected. But the room was small, the day was rainy, and a fire was burning in the stove in a room without proper ventilation. The hot stovepipe ran right above her, and when she rose to speak, the blood rushed to her head. Sara McEnterfer, her traveling companion and nurse, who had accompanied her, saw her face turn almost purple and feared that she would fall. Ellen White had to ask for more ventilation and told the people it would be better for them to dress warmly and do without the fire. At any rate they would be able to listen better if they had fresh air.

Just after the experience in Calistoga, in an interview with Dr. Kellogg, who had made a surprise visit to California, she explained to him that she could not go to Battle Creek in the middle of winter to attend meetings in tightly closed rooms. He asked her whether it would help if the date of the session were postponed a few weeks, and she indicated that it would. He invited her to come to the Battle Creek Sanitarium for a few weeks before the session and receive treatments so she could be ready for it. In commenting on the matter, she said that she would not dare to attend the session in midwinter in the East, then declared, “Midwinter is not the proper time to hold a conference.”—Manuscript 62, 1900.

The next Sabbath she was to fill a speaking appointment in Healdsburg at the church that served the college. She had sent word in advance that the room was not to be heated, but the janitor forgot, and when she arrived she found a crowded, closed room heated with two wood-burning stoves. She got through the meeting successfully, and felt that she had been vitalized by the Spirit of [45] God. This experience was to her an indication that she could probably attend the session in Battle Creek. On December 4, she wrote to the General Conference Committee urging that the session be held later than February or March. She declared, “It is not wise to bring together in midwinter a large number of people to a place which, in order to be comfortable, must be artificially heated. The heated atmosphere, with limited ventilation, has a tendency to lessen vitality.”—Letter 155, 1900.

Battle Creek Finally Settled Upon

On December 10, the available members of the General Conference Committee in Battle Creek voted to hold the 1901 General Conference from April 2 to 23 in Battle Creek. But her decision to attend had not come without some cost to herself. She declared, “For a week before I fully consented to go to Battle Creek, I did not sleep past one o’clock. Some nights I was up at eleven o’clock and many nights at twelve. I have not moved from impulse, but from the conviction that at this time I must begin at Jerusalem.”—Letter 159, 1900.

Then she explained her willingness to abandon the hope that the meeting might have been held in California:

The deep regrets of many that the conference was to be held in Oakland came to me across the Rocky Mountains. Had not a change been made, the impression would have rested upon minds that the conference was held in Oakland because of Sister White’s choice. To bear all the responsibility of having the conference in Oakland was a burden too heavy for me to carry.— Ibid.

She was also concerned about the extra expense for such a meeting in Oakland. She found that because of travel it would cost probably $5,000 to $8,000 more than if it were held in Battle Creek, and she was determined to do her part in trying to save this money. She explained, also, a factor that had helped her in her final decision:

In the night season, I was standing in the Tabernacle at Battle Creek, and the Spirit of the Lord gave me freedom to present [46] practical godliness in clear, distinct lines before the people. Several times this representation was impressed upon my mind. More definite light came to me. Yet it was some time before I could make the decision.— Ibid.

So the Committee action to hold the session in Battle Creek in April stood, and Ellen White would attend.

The Activities at Elmshaven

We turn our attention now to what was going on at Elmshaven from the standpoint of establishing Mrs. White’s work there. She occupied the northwest bedroom, at the top of the stairs. This overlooked the prune orchard, which had two thousand trees and stretched just below the knoll and a quarter of a mile to the west. She was to retain this bedroom until her death. Her office occupied the front bedroom across the hall, facing the south. The large writing room with a bay window that she later used as an office had not yet been built. She suffered somewhat because the room in which she worked had a stove instead of a fireplace. Very seldom did she light a fire in it, choosing rather to dress warmly enough to write.

The bedroom across the hall on the north side of the house was shared by her helpers Sara McEnterfer, Sarah Peck, and Maggie Hare. Kitty Wilcox, niece of M. C. and F. M. Wilcox, who for a short time served as cook, stayed in the small attic room over the kitchen. The large downstairs formal parlor under Sister White’s bedroom was converted to a bedroom and used by Mr. and Mrs. Druillard, for a time members of her staff. Others who intermittently helped with Ellen White’s literary work in those winter months were Eliza Burnam and Lillian Whalin, daughter of John Whalin, both borrowed from the Pacific Press.

The W. C. White family were living in five rooms rented from the Atwoods in a home at the north end of the narrow valley, some ten minutes’ walk from Elmshaven.

The little farmer’s cottage, with vertical boards and battens, some thirty yards to the east of the main house, was raised two feet and equipped as an office where her secretaries could work. W. C. White ordered self-inking rubber stamps, one with Ellen White’s signature, another with his own, another to say “Read and let others [47] read,” and another cautioning, “Not for publication.” He secured paper, envelopes, receipt books, typewriters, files, wire trays, alphabet dividers, three Bibles, Young’s, Strong’s, and Cruden’s concordances, and a good supply of Ellen White’s books. At hand was the “letter press” and letter books with their tissue-thin paper that carried copies of the letters and manuscripts—a thousand pages to a bound book—ingeniously reproduced from an indelible-ribbon copy.

Testimonies, Volume Six

The first order of work was to finish the preparation of Testimony No. 34 (volume 6), in time, if possible, for the General Conference. Something must be done to move the church away from a seeming standstill. Diligent effort was put forth to search from Sister White’s manuscripts, periodical articles, and other sources, such as her handwritten journals, to find what she had written that would present the counsel now so much needed. While in Australia she had assisted in the establishment of the college at Cooranbong, where she helped carry out principles that had been shown to her as essential to the church’s educational work. During those Cooranbong years she wrote much on the operation of schools. These writings were carefully searched and materials brought together for the section entitled “Education.”

The denomination’s sanitarium work was growing rapidly also. From the two medical institutions that were operating in 1889 when volume 5 was published, this line of work had grown to the point where the church was operating five in the United States and seven rather small ones overseas. The church also operated several orphanages, treatment rooms, and vegetarian restaurants. Counsels giving safe guidance in medical lines provided materials for Section 4 of the book. The volume opened with a presentation of the outlook before the church and a strong section on evangelistic work. There were also general counsels and cautions; the book closed with calls to service.

This volume took a somewhat different form than the first five Testimony volumes. The earlier books presented selected communications quite largely in chronological order, but almost without subject arrangement. Individual items appeared in their entirety, or [48] almost so. Now with the very large amount of material already available in the Testimonies in volumes 1-5, it was thought that more selective efforts should be made in choosing materials not so thoroughly covered in earlier articles. Many documents were marked for possible use. This procedure led to a choice of items that were grouped together in sections; sometimes several sources would contribute to one chapter within the section. This called for much more careful work on the part of Ellen White and her helpers in compiling the materials. She explained this work in a letter to Dr. Kellogg:

I have much to do before going to conference. There are some things to be completed for Testimony 34 [volume 6]....I had thought to go to the sanitarium for a while, but I seem to be needed here. I must select the most important matters for the Testimony, and then look over everything prepared for it, and be my own critic, for I would not be willing to have some things which are all truth to be published, because I fear that some would take advantage of them to hurt others.

After the matter for the Testimony is prepared, every article must be read by me. I have to read them myself, for the sound of the voice in reading or singing is almost unendurable to me.

I try to bring out general principles, and if I see a sentence which I fear would give someone excuse to injure someone else, I feel at perfect liberty to keep back the sentence, even though it is all perfectly true.—Letter 32, 1901.

W. C. White took care of the business end, handling all negotiations with the Pacific Press regarding type sizes, type of paper, binding, style of headings, cost of setting type, making up pages, producing plates, et cetera. He was a little bit surprised to find how much costs had increased over what they were when volume 5 was published.

The Everyday Engrossing Activities

The work on Testimony 34 moved along at a torturous pace through the early weeks of 1901. Two things served to make the work difficult. The first was the numerous letters and visitors that began to deluge the staff at Elmshaven as soon as Ellen White’s new [49] residence was established. Some wrote wanting to work for her. One wrote that her doctor had recommended milk and she wondered whether it would be right to follow his advice. A young minister wrote asking whether he should try to convert the Protestant pastors of the town before visiting the members. Then there were questions of marriage and divorce and others about butter and eggs and cheese.

Sara McEnterfer, Sister Druillard, and Willie answered many of these letters as they were instructed to by Ellen White. W. C. White proposed that with many of these they enclose a little duplicated appeal that read: “There are hundreds of people who desire to hear personally from Mother. Some write letters containing questions, others send us their life history, and others make donations to the cause. We have not time to write lengthy letters to these persons.”

Often the answers said that Ellen White had no special light on the case and urged the person to study for himself what was already published. Sara told one lady who wanted Ellen White to inquire of the Lord, “I would say that the Lord is no respecter of persons and will hear your earnest cry to Him for help as quickly and willingly as He will should it be sent to Him through Sister White.”—16 WCW, p. 184.

Then there was a constant stream of visitors. Two women appeared one day just as Ellen was returning, worn and weary, from San Francisco. They said that they had driven sixty miles in their little rig and they just had to see Sister White. She agreed to see them. The first thing they did was to present her with a demented child, and asked what should be done. Then they produced a list of ten questions for which they wanted nothing but Yes or No answers. 1. Has the time come when we positively should eat no more meat, eggs, butter, milk? 2. Is it a sin to raise children? Is it a sin to raise bread? et cetera. Ellen White referred them to her writings on each point, and told them that she was not commissioned to answer such questions, but the women would not desist (16 WCW, p. 55).

A daughter brought an invalid mother for whom she wanted Sister White’s special prayers. A divorcee wanted to get a little advice. Then an old friend fresh from the Klondike gold fields came to the home. It’s not hard to see how Sara McEnterfer acquired the [50] reputation of being Ellen White’s “watchdog,” for she bore much of the responsibility of protecting her from unreasonable demands upon her time and energy.

The great bulk of the mail received was of a justifiable and sensible nature, a good portion from workers carrying heavy responsibilities. Many of those well acquainted with her and her work would address a letter to W. C. White and merely suggest that he discuss the matter with his mother at a time when she was free to give consideration to it. There were some very personal letters that she herself elected to answer.

Among the men who kept up active and continual correspondence were Elder Irwin, president of the General Conference; Dr. Kellogg; Elder S. N. Haskell and his wife; and Edson. All wrote on a fairly regular basis, reporting their activities, outlining developments in their work, and asking for guidance and direction. Ellen White kept up an active correspondence with all of these. Her letters to them and to friends and relatives constitute the richest source of information about her day-to-day life. Whatever extra strength she could muster between her writing and bouts of illness she used in speaking to believers and unbelievers.

Meetings in the San Francisco Bay Area

She and Elder A. G. Daniells were the main speakers for the Week of Prayer in the churches at Oakland and San Francisco during the last week of December, 1900. She stayed in the home of a Dr. Ernest H. Mattner, who resided about five blocks from the church on Laguna Street. But she was to suffer another of her suffocating encounters with crowded rooms and hot wood-burning stoves when she tried to open the Week of Prayer in San Francisco on Sabbath morning, December 22.

She tells what happened when she went to the church:

I found two stoves in the meeting room, one on either side, midway between the door and the pulpit. Fires were burning in each of these. Sabbath school had just been held in the room, and owing to the imperfect ventilation, the atmosphere was very impure. I felt the effect of this as soon as I entered. My heart began to pain.—Manuscript 1, 1901. [51]

So greatly did I feel the effects of the poison in the air that although I stayed in the church only fifteen minutes, I feared that it would cost me my life.—Letter 2, 1901.

I could not breathe freely, and I knew that exhaustion was coming over me. I said to Elder Corliss, “I know that I cannot speak this morning.” He was greatly disappointed, and asked me if I would venture to speak in the afternoon. I said that I thought I could, and as nothing had been said before about an afternoon meeting, he put the question to the people. They unanimously decided to have a meeting.—Manuscript 1, 1901.

Before leaving the church auditorium, Ellen White nearly fainted. She feared that she might fall from her chair and create a sensation, so she half hid behind the organ. Just then Sara McEnterfer appeared and assisted her outdoors, and Ellen White declared, “I cannot describe the relief that came to me to know that Sara was there.”— Ibid. She rested in her room until the afternoon, pleading with God for strength to bear her testimony.

In the afternoon she found that there were no fires in the stoves and that the building was well ventilated, even though the thermometer stood at 56 degrees F. She addressed the people and felt that the Lord helped her in what was a “most decidedly victorious meeting.... The countenance of the congregation was lighted up and many testimonies were borne and they were right to the point—testimonies of thanksgiving and joy in the truth. Then I requested all to rise up and pour forth from grateful hearts their testimony.... It was a wonderful, blessed meeting.”—Letter 14a, 1901.

Tuesday was Christmas Day, and Ellen White spent much of it touring San Francisco. Of this she wrote:

Brother Pierson drove us to Strawberry Hill, explaining many things of interest along the way as we wound up the ascending grade. Here there are large parks, to which the people can come from the bustle of the city. This is a blessing which all classes are free to enjoy, the poor as well as the wealthy. Here they can see trees and plants and shrubs from every clime, with roses and lilies and pinks and many other flowers. All are free to enjoy these things, but none are permitted to pick the flowers. Should [52] they do this, the beauty of the scenery would soon be no more.—Manuscript 1, 1901.

Since it was a holiday, the park was not, as usual, filled with men “smoking pipes and cigars and cigarettes.” In regard to the few who were, she thought to herself, “Oh, how I wish they knew what harm they are doing to themselves by using tobacco, while at the same time they poison the Lord’s free atmosphere, so that others are injured.”— Ibid.

Dinner was taken at the vegetarian cafe at 755 Market Street. E. G. Fulton and his wife were operating a thriving business, serving nearly five hundred people a day. Ellen White liked everything about the little restaurant. She commented on the neat appearance of the waitresses with their dark dresses and white aprons. She was pleased that the establishment lived up to its name and did not serve a “particle of meat, poultry, fish, or anything that requires a sacrifice of life” (Letter 3a, 1901). She was also pleased to learn that the cafe was closed on Sabbath.

Fulton had received complaints from his regular customers when he first closed the doors on Sabbath. Some declared he would “fold up” if he insisted on that policy. But he had persisted, and as Ellen White noted, “Since the Sabbath closing, a special blessing has manifestly rested upon the work.”— Ibid. She was glad for the service the restaurant provided as a practical demonstration of the best methods of preparing wholesome, palatable food without flesh meat. Writing to an Australian doctor, she commented that she wished that some Adventists with their money tied up in banks and other investments would use this means in establishing vegetarian restaurants so more people might be benefited.

Midweek she went to Oakland for the last half of the Week of Prayer. She felt the Lord’s special blessing as on Sabbath she spoke to a congregation of six hundred. Elder Daniells, returning from many years’ work in Australia, stayed on in Oakland to bind off the work. When the final reports were in, forty-six had been baptized.

The ten days spent in the Bay Area were a time of earnest labor, and Ellen White was quite worn out when she returned to her home. She was happy, however, with the fruitage of the rather strenuous program. The following Friday she was exhausted, and during her evening bath she fainted. Sara and Maggie succeeded in getting her [53] to bed, where she was confined for the next two weeks. Then, upon getting up too soon, she suffered a relapse and had another period of illness. Nonetheless, she maintained her plans to attend the General Conference session in Battle Creek, even though Sara declared that she was “‘not fit to go anywhere,’” and she dreaded the trip for her (Manuscript 43a, 1901).

Guided by a Sabbath-Evening Vision

As the time neared for her to start her journey east, the question of where she should stay was uppermost in her mind. Dr. Kellogg had at first invited her to stay at the Sanitarium, but later invited her and her party to stay in his own home. He had a large, two-story frame house with sufficient room to accommodate the children he and his wife took in to rear. He now promised to make a portion of the home available to Ellen White and those of her helpers who would accompany her to the session, and urged that she accept the invitation. She had also received letters from others opening their homes to her. She wanted a place in Battle Creek where she could have her workers together with her and where she could be protected from the large number of visitors who would inevitably seek interviews (Letter 133, 1900).

But would it be wise to stay in the doctor’s home when so much controversy swirled about him? At first she felt it would not be best. Would not people feel that she was influenced by him? And then she thought, “No matter with whom I should stay, it would be said, ‘Someone has been talking with Sister White, telling her about the state of the church. This is why she talks as she does.’”—The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 204.

The answer came in a very forceful way. Friday evening, February 15, as Ellen White met with her family in the sitting room for worship, she was deeply burdened with a decision about Dr. Kellogg’s invitation. She began to pray about it. In reporting the experience, she says, “I was asking the Lord where I should go and what I should do. I was for backing out.... Well, while I was praying and was sending up my petition, there was, as has been a hundred times or more, a soft light circling around in the room, and a fragrance like the fragrance of flowers, of a beautiful scent of flowers.”—Manuscript 43a, 1901. And a voice said, “‘Respect the courtesy [54] of My servant, John Kellogg, the physician by My appointment. He needs encouragement that you can give him. Let him put his trust in Me. My arm is strong to uphold and sustain. He may safely lean upon My strength. I have a work for him to do. He must not fail nor be discouraged.’”—Letter 33, 1901.

Did the others kneeling in worship that Friday evening see the light and notice the fragrance? This is a very natural question, which she answered as she recounted the incident on April 11 at the General Conference session: “Though none of the family saw what I saw, or heard what I heard, yet they felt the influence of the Spirit, and were weeping and praising God.”—The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 204.

So Dr. Kellogg’s gracious invitation was accepted. Ellen White and her helpers would stay in his home. Now preparations were begun for the long journey by train. Routes must be decided upon and a schedule established. [55]

Chapter 4—Through the South to the 1901 General Conference

From a human standpoint, Sara McEnterfer was right when she said to Ellen White, “‘You are not fit to go anywhere. You should not go anywhere; ... I dread it for you.’”—Manuscript 43a, 1901. Sara was a nurse, a graduate of Battle Creek Sanitarium; and from a medical standpoint she could see that for Ellen White at the age of 73 and in her current physical condition, to start in late winter across the continent to attend a General Conference session was unwise. Even Ellen White questioned in her own mind as to whether the extra exertion and trip at that time might not cost her her life. Yet she was sure that she must go. And go she would, for God had a work for her to do. This was not the first time she had ventured forth in faith.

The General Conference session would be held in the Battle Creek tabernacle and not the Oakland church, April 2-23. April would be a much more favorable time than February. Now the decision must be made on the route to be traveled. To make the journey directly to Chicago and then Battle Creek would take them over the Sierra Nevadas and the Rockies. It would be a journey she had often taken and one she dreaded, for even when her health was seemingly good she was ill-equipped to stand the high altitude.

The alternative was to take a more extended journey traveling via Los Angeles, New Orleans, and then to Chicago and Battle Creek. This route carried attractive features for both Ellen White and her son Willie. Since returning from Australia, they had not gone a hundred miles from the Elmshaven home. The southern route would give them an opportunity to spend a few days in Los [56] Angeles, and they could survey the work that was beginning to develop nicely in southern California. Then there was Edson White and his work in Mississippi and Tennessee. They could go to Vicksburg, see the Morning Star, inspect the development of the work in Mississippi, then travel to Nashville. There Edson had his headquarters, engaging in publishing and managing the work of the Southern Missionary Society.

So, weighing the high mountains on the more direct and quick journey against the longer tour traveling at normal elevations; weighing the advantage of seeing James Edson White in his work, all of which had been developed since Ellen White had gone to Australia, against the wear and tear of the longer journey, the choice was made in favor of travel by the southern route. Tentative appointments were made for services Ellen White might hold with Adventist churches in Los Angeles, Vicksburg, and Chicago, even though it was a question from day to day as to whether she would be well enough actually to make the journey.

The trip began Thursday afternoon, March 7, with Iram James driving the party to the Southern Pacific Railroad station in St. Helena. The southbound, three-car steam train left at 3:17 P.M. to connect at Port Costa with the Owl on its nightly run from Oakland to Los Angeles. In the party were Ellen White, Sara McEnterfer, Maggie Hare, and William White. When the party boarded the Owl at six-seventeen, they were happy to find Elder McClure, pastor of the Healdsburg church, on the train. In his pocket he had the tickets for the journey, which he had secured from C. H. Jones in Oakland. He also had health certificates to prevent quarantine restrictions upon entering Texas on their eastern journey.

Every member of the party was weary. They retired early and were a bit refreshed when they reached Los Angeles at eight o’clock Friday morning. In making arrangements Willie had asked that provision be made for the party to stay at the Sanitarium in Los Angeles, where they could have pleasant rooms, good food, and be comfortable without the burden of visiting. This could not be done if they were dependent on the graciously offered entertainment in the homes of believers. Two other things Willie had asked for: the use of a carriage for Ellen White while she was in the Los Angeles area, and oranges, which might supplement their diet as they journeyed. [57]

On Sabbath morning Ellen White met her speaking appointment in the Los Angeles church. This experience had an immediate and dramatic effect on her physical condition. In San Francisco after her “decidedly victorious” meeting she had walked five blocks. In Healdsburg a successful meeting left her feeling so exhilarated that she decided that she could stand the trip to Battle Creek. The Los Angeles meeting had the opposite effect. A full hundred visiting believers had come in, some from a distance of sixty miles, to be present for the Sabbath-morning service. Four hundred people crowded into the meeting house. As Ellen White stood before the congregation, she thought of the great work to be done in southern California. “Like lightning” the condition of things “flashed” before her mind. Such was not unusual in her experience. While standing before large congregations, not infrequently visions were given to her opening up to her both general situations and the experiences of individuals in her audience. In this case, several persons were presented to her. Their influence on the work was clearly depicted. Writing of it later, she said:

The presentation distressed me.... While I was speaking, there came to me the assurance of full and abundant grace and salvation. I thought of the wonderful possibilities before those who unite with Christ. They will become true, earnest, self-sacrificing workmen, preparing the way for the coming of the Lord. They work in harmony with the prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”—Manuscript 29, 1902.

Recounting the experience, she declared:

I could not find words to express my feelings at the thought that the warnings of His word have not been heeded. I longed for strength to cry aloud and spare not, to lift up my voice as a trumpet, and show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins.— Ibid.

Then the scene changed:

There flashed before me a presentation of the great mercy and goodness of God in contrast with the perversity of His people, who ought to be far advanced in spiritual understanding. [58] How I longed to arouse those before me to realize the importance of the time in which we are living.... I seemed to see Jesus standing as He stood on the last great day of the feast, stretching out His arms as if to embrace the world, and crying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”— Ibid.

Somehow she was unable to roll off the burden that rested upon her. She was so “anxious, so desirous, that the people should see their danger in not appreciating their privileges, in allowing their opportunities to pass unimproved.” She asked herself, “Will they awake? ... Will they come to their senses? I felt my soul fainting at the thought of the situation. The experience was too much for me.”— Ibid.

That noon Ellen White could not eat. She was weary and heartsick. Her vital forces seemed to be giving way. Rapidly her condition deteriorated, and soon she lost consciousness. It was not until two o’clock on Sunday morning, twelve hours later, that she again regained a knowledge of her surroundings. She found Dr. F. B. Moran, a physician, and a nurse laboring over her. The appointments that had been made for her to speak Sunday had to be canceled, and serious misgivings were entertained as to whether she would be able to continue her journey. W. C. White, writing that Sunday afternoon, declared, “We are praying that she may have strength to proceed on her journey Tuesday morning.”—16 WCW, p. 298.

By Tuesday Ellen had rallied a bit, and they felt that they could go on. They boarded the Sunset Limited at eight o’clock, found the train not crowded, and a first-class compartment ready for Ellen White and her two women helpers. They also found two bushels of large, luscious oranges there at the station waiting for them. The train pulled out on time for its sixty-hour trip to New Orleans.

Since the car was not crowded, Maggie and Sara spent most of the time in the center of the car, leaving Ellen White to herself. Though uncomfortable from a physical standpoint, she felt she was in the line of duty, and later wrote, “As I lay in my compartment on the train, with no one with me, how precious it was to commune with God. I was alone with Him, and if ever I realized His presence in suffering and distress, I did then. I felt that the everlasting arms [59] were underneath me. I realized the comfort of the Saviour’s love.”—Manuscript 28, 1901.

W. C. White described the pleasant and interesting task the party had in eating the two bushels of big, sweet oranges before they got to New Orleans. They were there Thursday evening in time to catch the train for Vicksburg, Mississippi, where Edson White had pioneered the work among the blacks. That night on the train Ellen White thought of the Morning Star, which she would see in a few hours. How eagerly she had followed the accounts of its building and sailing and its work as Edson had written to her in Australia, keeping her posted with the developments.

With James Edson White in Vicksburg

On Friday morning, Edson White met the party in Vicksburg and took them to the Morning Star, which would be Ellen White’s home for the next few days (Manuscript 29, 1902). It lay tied to a landing in Centennial Lake, just below Fort Hill where the houses of the blacks clustered.

As she stepped aboard, she found the ship’s deck was 105 feet long and 24 feet across. In the bow on the lower deck was the boiler room, then the printing office, where two steam presses had printed the Gospel Herald for many months. Next were two staterooms and a dining room, then the galley, and finally the engine room. Photographs of the boat show that instead of having one wide paddle wheel at the stern, the Morning Star had two, one on either side.

Immediately behind the smokestacks, at the front of the upper deck, was a business office. Just behind this were the main cabin and Edson and Emma’s stateroom. In the rear portion of the upper deck was a sixteen-by-forty-foot chapel, where services were conducted. Even larger meetings could be held on the third, or hurricane, deck, where two hundred could be seated. The third deck also had a small pilothouse, with the steering apparatus and a bunk for the pilot.

If a hand sketch of the Morning Star published in the Gospel Herald is to be trusted, the boat’s emblem, a large metal star, was suspended between the smokestacks at the bow. The star is now a cherished possession of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama.

“I was pleased with the arrangement of the boat,” Ellen White [60] later wrote, “and with the efforts made to make life on it as agreeable as possible. I found that everything about the rooms fitted up as a home for my son and his wife, and their helpers, was of the simplest order. I saw nothing expensive or unnecessary.”—Manuscript 29, 1902. Then she commented: “Perhaps some would have been unwilling to live in such narrow quarters.”— Ibid.

Reminiscing, she penned, “I have followed this boat with my prayers. Some most interesting scenes have been presented to me in connection with it. This boat has been a floating Bethel. At the gospel meetings held on it many have had the privilege of eating of the bread of life.”— Ibid.

And looking ahead she said, “I hope it will continue to do its work of taking the truth to those who without its instrumentality would never have an opportunity of hearing the truth. Through its work many have heard the last message of warning.”— Ibid.

Sabbath morning she spoke in the new church building on the hill. It was crowded, for believers had come in from quite a distance. Choosing the first verses of John 14 as her text, she portrayed the reward of the faithful. She pictured Christ as a personal Saviour. She urged a careful and firm witness in favor of the truth, not in their own strength but in the strength and grace that God gives.

While Ellen White was on board the Morning Star at Vicksburg, Edson doubtless had opportunity to tell his mother about the boat, and reminisce about some of the harrowing experiences through which he and his boat and crew had passed.

The Morning Star and its Mission

The Morning Star was built on the banks of the Kalamazoo River at Allegan, Michigan, in 1894, just after Edson’s reconversion. It was his ambition, and the ambition of his close friend Will Palmer, to open up a work among the blacks in the Deep South. The boat would provide transportation along the twisting waterways of the Mississippi and its tributaries, as well as house the workers and furnish a portable meeting place for the people.

As the boat neared completion, it sailed under its own steam down the river to Douglass, a port on the east side of Lake Michigan. There Edson hired a fruit steamer, the Bon Ami, to tow the Morning Star with its own engines running, across the lake to Chicago. It was [61] a night journey. On their way a violent storm arose. The steam tubes of the Morning Star clogged and the hull began to fill with water, nearly sinking the craft. Fourteen hours after leaving the Michigan port, the exhausted crews of the two boats stepped ashore in Chicago. The captain of the Bon Ami gave Edson a $10 donation, saying it was something more than human power that had brought them through the storm.

From Chicago the Morning Star, with Emma, Edson’s wife, on board, and with an enlarging crew, passed through the Illinois and Michigan Canal to LaSalle, Illinois, down the Illinois River to the Mississippi, and on down to Vicksburg, where it berthed on January 10, 1895. Along the route Edson had picked up a team of workers, including Fred Halladay, who would spend the next fifteen years in service to the blacks of the American South.

Built originally with one deck, the steamer was lengthened and widened in 1897, and received an extra deck. This is how Ellen White found it.

The Morning Star had been used occasionally for meetings while she lay in Centennial Lake at Vicksburg, but the work had had to be established ashore before the steamer could do her best service along the Yazoo River.

Edson had begun his Vicksburg work with Sunday schools and night classes in the Mount Zion Baptist church on Fort Hill. When he was excluded from the church for his belief in the Sabbath, he built a little chapel at the corner of Walnut and First East streets. But this was only after ten days of fervent prayer had resulted in permission from adamant city councilmen to grant a permit for building a church for the blacks.

Now that little chapel and schoolhouse had been outgrown, and Ellen White was on hand to dedicate the new larger church during her 1901 visit. The present Vicksburg church stands on the site of this second building, and in the early 1970s three women who had been aboard the Morning Star were still worshiping there!

Edson undoubtedly told his mother that once the work had been established in Vicksburg, they had ventured into the heart of the delta, using the Yazoo River as their main highway. Halfway up the river to Yazoo City, he had tried to establish a school for the hundreds of black children in the area who had no facilities for [62] education. He was soon informed by the county superintendent of education that his work must stop, and later learned that in the mob that accompanied the superintendent was one man who had volunteered to “hold a Winchester on ol’ White while you-all fetch the rope.”

He probably told her that a little later the Morning Star had been of great service to the plantation owners of the area, rescuing many of their animals during a flood. That next winter he brought in tons of food and clothing to relieve the suffering among the black tenant farmers who were facing starvation from crop failures and severely cold weather. Then, with some measure of confidence among both the whites and the blacks, they built a little chapel and schoolhouse at Calmar.

Later the work there was stopped also. On the boat Edson had edited and published a monthly journal, the Gospel Herald. One issue carried a mildly critical editorial of the sharecropper system, and this, along with the fact that so many of the blacks were becoming Adventists and refusing to work on Saturdays, spurred the plantation owners to action.

A mob of twenty-five men on horseback called at the school, sent the white teacher, one of Edson’s men, out of town “on a rail,” nailed the doors and windows shut, and burned books, maps, and charts in the schoolyard.

Then they found one of the leading black believers in the area, N. W. Olvin, and thrashed him with a buggy whip, stopping only when commanded to do so by a white man who brandished a revolver.

While the work was broken up at Calmar, it continued to thrive at Yazoo City and Vicksburg, and in the years shortly after Edson left for Nashville there were encouraging developments in a large number of other Mississippi towns.

One hair-raising episode Edson may have recounted was the time the Morning Star escaped being dynamited in Yazoo City, having left town only hours earlier with the General Conference president and secretary on board. F. R. Rogers, who taught the Yazoo City school, was ordered by a mob to close his school, and was shot at in the streets.

These early workers and believers faced two kinds of prejudice, [63] racial and religious. The black ministers opposed them because they were teaching Sabbath observance and tithe paying; the white people opposed them because they were educating the blacks and introducing new and better agricultural methods, which threatened to break the stranglehold of poverty in the Delta.

Edson had informed his mother of these developments during her years in Australia, and her instruction was of caution and prudence as the only course available to the church if they wished to continue to witness and work in the South. This was as true for the work among the whites as among the blacks. Even though in his contacts Edson said nothing about political matters, even though he did not mention inequalities or the need for social justice, the mere fact that he was educating blacks and trying to improve their economic condition nearly cost him his life and the lives of his wife, fellow workers, and believers. [For the account of James edson White and the Morning Star, see ron graybill, Mission to Black America.]

Service in Vicksburg

Ellen White scrutinized the Morning Star because of the criticism she had heard of it. She knew her son was not always careful with money, and she was glad to report to the General Conference session a few weeks later:

When I came to Vicksburg, I went on board my son’s boat, the Morning Star. From the reports I had heard, I thought to find that boat fitted up very extravagantly. I found nothing of the kind. I want all to understand this.

My son and his workers have lived on this boat because they could not get a house suitable to dwell in. The rooms on this boat are fitted up in the very simplest way.... No one can work in the Southern field without some facilities with which to work.—The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 482.

A little later, she wrote Edson concerning the Morning Star:

I have been shown how when you first went to the Southern field you used this boat as your home, and as a place on which to [64] receive the people. The novelty of the idea excited curiosity, and many came to see and to hear. I know that through the agency of this boat, places have been reached where the light of truth had never shone—places represented to me as “the hedges.” It has been the means of sowing the seeds of truth in many hearts, and many souls have first seen the light of truth while on this boat. On it angel feet have trodden.—Letter 139, 1902.

Sunday morning, March 17, the new church, the second to be built in Vicksburg, was to be dedicated. It was a memorable weekend for Ellen White, her son William, and others in the traveling party. Just to be in the setting of the heart of Edson’s activities and to witness the fruits of his dedicated labors and the labors of those who helped him was uplifting.

The crowning event of the visit was the Sunday dedication service. Ellen White was asked to preach the sermon. The report is that the church was packed. Word had gone up and down the river that the mother of James Edson White would be the speaker that Sunday morning. She was pleased with the high caliber of people who made up the congregation, and she wrote, “I know that Jesus and the angels were in the assembly, and that, as the church was dedicated to the Lord, He accepted it.”—Manuscript 29, 1902.

She also wrote:

I was much pleased with the meeting house. It is neat and tasteful.

Wherever I go, I try to give the light the Lord has given me regarding the building of meeting houses. No haphazard work is to be done in their erection. However small they may be, they are to be object lessons of neatness and thoroughness. All that is done in the cause of God is to be done with exactness.

Our buildings are to represent the character building that should be carried forward by everyone. We are working before God and the inhabitants of the universe. Let us do no halfhearted, slipshod work.— Ibid.

Sunday afternoon, too, held a unique experience for Ellen White. She had read in letters from her children of the meetings and of the school sessions held in the chapel on the boat, and now she spoke there. [65]

En Route to Battle Creek

The travel schedule called for the party to spend Sunday night on the train en route to Nashville via Memphis. Reaching Memphis in the morning, they found that a meeting had been arranged for nine o’clock (16 WCW, p. 300). There were only a handful of Sabbathkeepers residing there, but they had purchased a lot and a meetinghouse, and thirty-five were present. Among them were four canvassers and one Bible worker.

Leaving Memphis at one o’clock, they arrived at Nashville at eight-thirty. Edson, who had hurried on ahead, was at the station with his wife, Emma, when the train pulled in! He had brought what was called the “Gospel Wagon” to pick up the party (Ibid.). (Willie described it as “a big carry-all.”) The reunion between Ellen White and her daughter-in-law was a happy one.

They were to have two days in Nashville, with the time divided between inspecting the work that was being done there and a convention of the Southern Missionary Society, with meetings on both Tuesday and Wednesday. In addition to the Nashville workers and Ellen White and her party, there were Elders N. W. Allee and Smith Sharp, conference workers from Tennessee. Out-of-State workers included Prof. E. A. Sutherland from Michigan, Elder Stone from Kentucky, Elder D. T. Shireman from North Carolina, Elder F. W. Halladay from Mississippi, I. H. Ford from the Review and Herald, and A. F. Harrison, a canvassing agent for the district (The Gospel Herald, March, 1901).

Tuesday morning they climbed into the “Gospel Wagon,” fourteen in all, and Edson conducted a tour of the Adventist work in Nashville (16 WCW, p. 300). This included the printing establishment, which later grew into the Southern Publishing Association, treatment rooms for blacks, and the treatment rooms operated by Louis Hanson and his wife for whites.

At the meetings of the Southern Missionary Society, Ellen White spoke strongly in favor of the establishment of an industrial school near Nashville. She “gave a straight testimony upon this point, bringing out clearly the need of such schools, and in regard to other lines of work in the South. She also spoke about the necessity of our people arousing to the needs of this field, which has been so long [66] neglected, notwithstanding the instruction that has come to us as a people, over and over again.”—Gospel Herald Supplement, March, 1901. Plans were laid for developing and strengthening the work with some items referred to for study “at the time of the General Conference, to be held at Battle Creek” (Ibid.).

At the Wednesday meeting it was voted “to meet from time to time, as thought necessary by the president of the society, during the General Conference meeting at Battle Creek” (Ibid.).

The party left Nashville on another night journey, arriving in Chicago at ten o’clock Thursday morning, March 21. With the tenuous condition of Ellen White’s health when they left Nashville, no firm plans had been made for meetings in Chicago. The general plan was that if she was able to do so, they would spend Thursday in Chicago and go on to Battle Creek on Thursday evening or Friday morning.

The Chicago visit was indeed an interesting one for Ellen White (Manuscript 29, 1902). In visions the work in Chicago had been opened up to her. On the basis of these visions she had written encouraging words and had sounded warnings of the perils of a disproportionate work. Such endeavors would funnel too large a percentage of available funds into a work that was good in itself, but that would yield only a limited lasting fruitage.

The church’s medical school, the American Medical Missionary College, had been started in 1895 with its clinical division in Chicago. She was deeply interested in this undertaking to train physicians within the church’s educational and medical structure.

The train was late in its arrival in Chicago, but they found a number of workers waiting to meet them. She was urged to remain over and speak on Sabbath, which she consented to do. When she was told that the medical workers in Chicago would like to hear from her, she also consented to speak at the medical school to students, helpers, and patients. She was pleased when it was suggested that she might have a hydrotherapy treatment at the Sanitarium’s branch at 33d Place. Miss S. M. Gallion, a youthful Battle Creek Sanitarium nurse, gave her an hour of bath and massage. For seventy years that nurse cherished the memory of this hour spent with the Lord’s messenger.

Sabbath morning Ellen White spoke with freedom to a [67] congregation of about 650 (16 WCW, p. 307). As she looked back she wrote, “It was only by the Lord’s help that I was enabled to do this work, for I was weary from traveling, and was not free from pain for a moment.”—Manuscript 29, 1902.

In Old Battle Creek Again

After the Sabbath, W. C. White hastened by train to Battle Creek, a three-hour journey. The next morning Ellen White with Sara and Maggie made the trip, and they soon settled on the second floor of Dr. Kellogg’s comfortable home. Six rooms were made available to the party. A horse and carriage with a driver was at their disposal. Dr. Kellogg arranged for a nurse to come over from the Sanitarium each evening to give Ellen White a treatment, and a young woman in the house did the cooking for the group (16 WCW, p. 307).

W. C. White threw himself wholeheartedly into a publishers’ convention, which began Monday morning, but no mention is made of Ellen White’s activities until later in the week. W. C. White had been in Battle Creek four years before in connection with his trip to the United States to attend the General Conference session held at Lincoln, Nebraska. But it was Ellen White’s first visit in ten years. Sara McEnterfer, of course, was glad to be back. For Maggie Hare, whose home was in New Zealand, it was a new and exciting experience.

With a horse and carriage and driver at their disposal, no doubt Ellen White took the opportunity to show Maggie around Battle Creek. Dr. Kellogg’s spacious home, with its grounds, occupied almost a square block at the corner of Manchester and Wood streets, six blocks from the Tabernacle. Just down Wood Street one short block was the little cottage James and Ellen White had built in 1856. It was the first home they had owned, and at the time of this writing it is the oldest Seventh-day Adventist landmark in Battle Creek. Here in 1858 she had written Spiritual Gifts, Volume I, her first account of the great controversy story.

On one day she would, of course, drive out to the Oak Hill Cemetery to the White family plot and pause at the graves of James White and their two sons, the youngest and the oldest. Herbert died at the age of 3 months, and Henry at the age of 16. James White’s father and mother were also buried there, and there was the grave of [68] Mary Kelsey White, W. C. White’s first wife, and also James White’s sister, Mary Chase. What memories must have come back to her as she stood under the leafless trees at this hallowed spot.

On the hillside immediately above were the graves of J. P. Kellogg and his wife, Ann, the parents of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and W. K. Kellogg, of cornflake fame. The Kelloggs were a stalwart family. How they had sacrificed and struggled with the Whites and others in building up the work in Battle Creek in its beginning days.

Of course, there were the institutions in Battle Creek. The Review and Herald Publishing House, with its addition upon addition, stood on West Main Street, on the site originally occupied by a little frame building erected in 1855.

A few blocks away was 303 West Main Street, the home that Ellen White had owned and occupied before leaving for Australia. Deep in her heart, as she had thought of attending the General Conference session, she had hoped that she might arrange to stay in this home. But Dr. Kellogg’s invitation to stay in his home had superseded all this.

The Sanitarium was on North Washington Street. Its grounds covered a number of square blocks and reached down to Champion Street and took in the site of the home that the Whites had owned for many years and where many visions were given to Ellen White.

Across from the Sanitarium was the college, the school that had been called into being by the visions. This school, which she and her husband had hoped would be located in the country on a large tract of land with opportunities for industry and agriculture, was crowded in on an eight-acre tract in the thickly populated West Battle Creek.

On Wednesday night, March 27, she spoke at the Sanitarium to the guests and the helpers. Entering the spacious lobby where such meetings were held, she recognized in her audience friends of earlier years. But, of course, the larger part of the audience to which she was introduced was made up of strangers to her—the guests of the institution in its heyday. Now she was speaking:

I am thankful to the Lord for the privilege of meeting my friends here once more, some of whom I have met before, many of whom I have never seen.—Manuscript 28, 1901. [69]

She talked of the love of Jesus, of the home being prepared for the faithful, and of our responsibility as Christians “not to disappoint the Saviour” (Ibid.). From this she turned to the importance of right living—healthful living. Her listeners noted that Christ was the central theme of her address. She reminded the workers and the guests that “God gives the physicians of this institution skill and efficiency because they are serving Him.”—Manuscript 28, 1901.

She felt at perfect ease on such occasions addressing a high class of people who were not yet fully informed of the message that Seventh-day Adventists have for the world. She would address this group again.

Thursday evening she spoke to those assembled at the publishers’ convention, which meeting was held in the Review and Herald chapel. Her mind turned to the forthcoming General Conference session and its importance.

Regardless of how Ellen White may have spent the first few days after reaching Battle Creek, one thing is certain—she refrained from a great deal of visiting. “I was obliged,” she said, “to refuse to see many visitors, for private conversations were more taxing to me than public speaking.” This is followed by the observation: “As I stood before the people, I felt that I was leaning on a strong arm, which would support me. But when engaged in conversation with visitors, I had not this sense of special strength.... I was compelled to save my strength for the times when I must stand before the thousands of people assembled in the Tabernacle.”—Manuscript 29, 1902.

This opportunity came the next Sabbath, March 30, her first Sabbath in Battle Creek in ten years, when she filled the Tabernacle pulpit for the Sabbath-morning service. Although the few days after arriving in Battle Creek may have given her a bit of respite, looking back several months later, she wrote: “From Chicago we went to Battle Creek, and here my labors began.”—Manuscript 29, 1902. [70]

Chapter 5—The General Conference of 1901

A feeling of exhilaration and excitement filled the air on Tuesday morning, April 2, as workers and church members began to assemble in the Battle Creek Tabernacle a little before nine o’clock. This would be the largest General Conference session ever held. What is more, Ellen White would be there, and it would be the first session she had attended in ten years. The 267 delegates represented a church of 75,000 members. Four fifths of these members resided in the United States.

Many of the workers came with feelings of apprehension. It was very clear that the church had outgrown its organization. While at the sessions of 1897 and 1899 there was a recognition that some changes should be made, no one knew just what to do. At this juncture it would be well to review the overall picture and reconstruct the stage, as it were, for what took place.

The Organizational Status of the Church

The basic structure of church organization with its local conferences bound together in a General Conference had remained unchanged from 1863 to 1901. In 1889 the thirty-three conferences and missions in the United States were divided into six districts. But these had no organizational or administrative status. The leaders in each district served merely in an advisory capacity. A union conference was formed in Australia in 1894 and steps were under way toward forming a general conference in Europe. But the basic constitutional structure stood unchanged from what it was since the church had been organized. There were two recognized organizational [71] levels—the local conference and the General Conference. And when the delegates were seated for the conference of 1901 it was on the basis of local conferences within a General Conference; they are so listed in the daily Bulletin. Of the forty-five local conferences, thirty-one were within the United States.

Michigan, with its 7,122 members, was the largest State conference; California was second, with 4,485. The smallest was South Australia, with 193 members. At the time of the organization of the General Conference in 1863, the church had one institution—a publishing house at Battle Creek. But the work of the denomination soon expanded. The health work began with the establishment of a sanitarium in 1866. Educational work was started with the opening of Battle Creek College in 1874. Other publishing houses were added, and sanitariums and schools were opened.

As work in different lines developed, associations were formed to foster the interests. There were the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association; the International Sabbath School Association; and the International Tract Society, which fostered “home missionary” interests. Certain issues in the United States led the church into the religious-liberty field. From this activity the National Religious Liberty Association was organized. To aid in the development of a foreign mission program, a foreign mission board was set up, with headquarters in New York City.

These were all autonomous organizations represented by independent corporations, operated by Seventh-day Adventists but not integral parts of the General Conference organization. The various branches of the work were not thought of or directed as departments of the General Conference, but as independent entities.

As the institutional interests in Battle Creek grew, businessmen were drawn in to head them, and a strong center developed. A General Conference Executive Committee, beginning with three members in 1863, some twenty years later was increased to five. Its work was “to carry out the plans of the body, and to direct the affairs of the denomination in all parts of the world when the conference is not in session.”—Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1889, p. 4.

In 1887 the Committee was increased to seven, and in 1889 it was enlarged to nine. There it stood for four years until 1893, when it was [72] increased to eleven, and in 1899 to thirteen. Even so, the group was widely scattered and did not often meet for a full meeting. Six of the thirteen men were the district leaders spread out across North America. Two men represented overseas work and resided overseas. This left four members of the General Conference Executive Committee resident in Battle Creek. These, with the secretary and the treasurer of the General Conference, who were not members of the Committee, formed a sort of unofficial officer group that carried the day-to-day responsibilities of the operation of the church.

It is not difficult, then, to grasp the situation that developed with the world work outgrowing the organizational structure that must administer it. Those at headquarters naturally felt that they were prepared to give the wisest and best management to even the minute details of Seventh-day Adventist interests in the remotest parts of the world. One area in particular in which serious problems developed was in financial support of the cause. Without carefully planned budgets to serve as guidelines in the expenditure of funds, great inequities developed, with the needs nearest at hand often gaining the favor of the treasury men.

Problems that Loomed Large

Beginning with 1889 certain measures were strongly promoted to consolidate and centralize various features of the denominational work. This would begin with the publishing interests and then reach out to the educational and medical lines.

As a diversified and growing denominational work with multiplied business interests rapidly developed, spiritual fervor waned, and in some areas there was a failure to heed the counsels God sent to alert of dangers and to guard the cause.

In the publishing house in Battle Creek, the employees devoted a large part of their time to commercial printing. This included fiction, Wild West stories, Roman Catholic books, and works on sex and hypnosis. When cautioned, men in positions of management at the Review office declared that they were printers and not censors. Often, commercial work was done to the neglect of denominational printing. The cause of God was marred by self-interest on the part of some workers who were demanding abnormally high wages. [73] Discouragement developed. The sale of message-filled books plummeted. It was during this period in the 1890s that many of the startling messages addressed to church leaders and ministry now found in the book Testimonies to Ministers were penned and sent to the leaders at Battle Creek.

Medical missionary work, under the brilliant and dedicated leadership of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, had grown rapidly into a large, strong program. The Battle Creek Sanitarium, with all its facilities, could care for more than one thousand guests. By the year 1901 two thousand persons were employed in medical work in Battle Creek and in the medical institutions in other parts of the country and overseas, while those employed by the denomination in conference, evangelistic, and other lines of work numbered only 1,500. The medical workers were directed by the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, under Kellogg’s leadership, and not by the General Conference or local conference committees.

Though missionaries were being sent abroad and the work of the church was growing in other parts of the world field, the situation in Battle Creek often led to sad neglect of the growing work. Failure to provide the funds to sustain missionary workers sometimes brought on suffering and want. Workers were sent to the world field by three different Seventh-day Adventist organizations—the General Conference, the Foreign Mission Board, and the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, with resultant confusion.

Church leaders, without resources and without budgets, often borrowed money with which to launch sanitariums and to operate the church’s mission program. The cause was badly in debt. Leading men, so wrapped up in the interests at headquarters, had insufficient time to deal with the problems of the far-flung work, which was very disheartening to those laboring at a distance from Battle Creek.

Ellen White’s Concern

Little wonder, then, that it was with apprehension that the delegates gathered for the General Conference session that Tuesday morning, April 2. All were profoundly thankful that Ellen White [74] was to be there, and she carried a heavy burden for the meeting. It was this conference with its challenges and its opportunities that had in a large part led Ellen White to close up her work in Australia and hasten back to the United States. Her concern continued while she was in her home in California. In one of her addresses at the conference she said, “I was troubled before leaving California. I did not want to come to Battle Creek. I was afraid the burdens I would have to bear would cost my life.”—The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 204.

Very shortly after reaching Battle Creek, her addresses revealed her deep concern for the session. As she spoke to the publishing leaders Thursday night, March 28, in the Review and Herald chapel, her mind turned from the smaller group to the larger meeting that was about to open. Her address began:

I feel an intense desire that at this meeting we shall come into right relation with God. We may have great ambition, all the ambition it is possible for us to have; we may have all the activity it is essential for us to have; but unless we are close to our Saviour, unless His power and grace are with us individually, we may be sure that we shall go from this place thinking that we have not had a very wonderful meeting.—Manuscript 29, 1901.

She pointed out that every time the church assembles, angels of God are present and evil angels are also present. Her appeal was for the right personal relationship between each individual worker and God. She declared:

There are solemn and important decisions to be made at this meeting, and God wants every one of us to stand in right relation to Him. He wants us to do a great deal more praying and a great deal less talking. He wants us to keep the windows of the soul opened heavenward.— Ibid.

Then she stated:

Some have said that they thought that at this meeting several days ought to be spent in prayer to God for the Holy Spirit, as at the day of Pentecost. I wish to say to you that the business which may be carried on at this meeting is just as much a part of the service of God as is prayer. The business meeting is to be just as [75] much under the dictation of the Spirit as the prayer meeting. There is danger of our getting a sentimental, impulsive religion. Let the business transacted at this meeting stand forth in such sacredness that the heavenly host can approve of it. We are to guard most sacredly the business lines of our work. Every line of business carried on here is to be in accordance with the principles of heaven.

God wants you to stand in a position where He can breathe upon you the Holy Spirit, where Christ can abide in the heart. He wants you at the beginning of this meeting to lay off whatever of controversy, of strife, of dissension, of murmuring, you have been carrying. What we need is a great deal more of Christ and none of self. The Saviour says, “Without me ye can do nothing.”— Ibid.

The Meeting in the College Library

Two days before the General Conference session opened, church leaders held some unofficial precouncil meetings. Such a group gathered on Sunday evening, March 31. As they moved into their discussions, they decided to adjourn until a meeting could be held that would be a little more widely attended, and at which Sister White could be present. The hour was set for two-thirty the following afternoon, in the college library. Monday morning Elders Irwin, Haskell, Olsen, and Daniells went over to the Kellogg home to call on Sister White and to chat with her and invite her to the meeting planned for the afternoon. She consented to be present and to lay some matters before the brethren that had been opened up to her mind.

Quite a wide, representative group met in the college library that Monday afternoon. It included the General Conference Committee, the Foreign Mission Board, conference presidents, and institutional leaders. The room was packed. Elder Daniells took along a secretary, Clarence C. Crisler; and Dr. Kellogg took his private secretary to report the meeting. The records of the meeting include the reports as transcribed by both men, with some understandable slight variations in wording.

Although Elder Irwin was president of the General Conference, Elder Daniells, who had recently come from Australia, was in the [76] chair. In Australia he, with W. C. White, had developed the union conference, binding the local conferences in Australia together in an effective organization.

After making an introductory statement and telling of the meeting with Sister White in the morning, Daniells expressed his pleasure that she was present, and invited her to speak. She replied: “I did not expect to lead out in this meeting. I thought I would let you lead out, and then if I had anything to say, I would say it.”—Manuscript 43a, 1901. To this Daniells replied, “Well, it seemed to me (and I think to all of us who counseled with you this morning) that we had said about as much as we wished to until we heard from you.”

Ellen White came directly to the point:

I would prefer not to speak today, though not because I have nothing to say. I have something to say. The state of things that has existed in the Conference is not clearly understood by some who occupy positions in the Conference or by others who bear responsibilities in other lines of the work.

The work has been increasing; it has been growing. The light that I have had from the Lord has been expressed over and over again, not to as many as there are here today, but to different individuals. The plans upon which God wishes us to work have been laid down.

Never should the mind of one man or the minds of a few men be regarded as sufficient in wisdom and power to control the work and say what plans shall be followed. The burden of the work in this broad field should not rest upon two or three men. We are not reaching the high standard which, with the great and important truth we are handling, God expects us to reach.—Manuscript 43, 1901.

Speaking of the General Conference, she said:

Over and over again men have said, “The voice of the Conference is the voice of God; therefore everything must be referred to the Conference. The Conference must permit or restrict in the various lines of work.” As the matter has been presented to me, there is a narrow compass [as she said this, she drew a circle with her finger on the book she had in her hand], [77] and within this narrow compass, all the entrances to which are locked, are those who would like to exercise kingly power. But the work carried on all over the field demands an entirely different course of action.— Ibid.

Then she introduced the thought of reorganization by declaring:

There is need of the laying of a foundation different from the foundation which has been laid in the past. We have heard much about everything moving in the regular lines. When we see that the “regular lines” are purified and refined, that they bear the mold of the God of heaven, then it will be time to endorse these lines. But when we see that message after message given by God has been received and accepted, yet no change has been made, we know that new power must be brought into the regular lines. The management of the regular lines must be entirely changed, newly organized.

There must be a committee, not composed of half a dozen men, but of representatives from all lines of our work, from our publishing houses, from our educational institutions, and from our sanitariums, which have life in them, which are constantly working, constantly broadening.— Ibid.

She asked why more had not been done to open up new fields even in America, and continued by saying:

To have this conference pass on and close up as the [other] conferences have done, with the same manipulating, with the very same tone and the same order—God forbid! God forbid, brethren.... Why, from the light that God has given me, everything about this conference should be the most sacred. Why? Why, because it is to put ideas and plans and work upon its proper basis, and this thing has been acted and re-acted for the last fifteen years or more, and God calls for a change.—Manuscript 43a, 1901.

From one point to another she moved. She branded as “contemptible in the sight of God, contemptible” (Ibid.) the selfish, grasping financial policies of some, particularly in the publishing houses, who demanded high wages. She called for men to “stand as true to principle as the needle to the pole” (Manuscript 43, 1901). She [78] referred to “sharp dealings” in the publishing houses, which actually resulted in losses instead of gains, and she exhorted:

God means what He says. He calls for a change. The same things are being repeated, the same ideas followed, the same committees appointed. In a small section a king reigns, and all others are secondary, when there are other men who are better able to do the work, because they have not been working on narrow plans.— Ibid.

She urged that until they were ready to take the Bible and make that their food and drink, she did not want them to repeat “‘Sister White said this’” and “‘Sister White said that’” and “‘Sister White said the other thing.’” She admonished that they ask, “‘What saith the Lord God of Israel?’” and then urged that they “do just what the Lord God of Israel does and what He says” (Manuscript 43a, 1901). Then her mind turned to the health reform and to the efforts of Dr. Kellogg to lead people to change their lives. She thought of the slowness of some to respond. Mentioning Dr. Kellogg, she said, “I do not suppose he is here, I do not know that he is, but at any rate---”

At this point Elder Daniells broke in to say, “Yes, he is here,” to which Ellen White replied, “Well, I cannot see. I have to have congregational glasses that I can discern the faces; but I cannot see.”— Ibid.

Then she pointed out that God did not want the medical work separated from the gospel work, that the medical missionary work should be considered the pioneer work, “the breaking-up plow.” She said that “God wants every soul to stand shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Kellogg.” She referred to his work in Chicago as she had seen it a few days before. Then she went on to point out that Kellogg should work to reach the higher classes and the wealthy classes. Her closing words were in exaltation of the Word of God.

It was a solemn meeting. Ellen White had not failed to deal with the matters that were heavy on her heart—matters that concerned the welfare of the General Conference session about to open and the welfare of the work of the church at large. It pointed in the direction the General Conference should take in its work. The session, scheduled for a full three weeks, opened the next morning. [79]

The 1901 General Conference Session

At nine o’clock Tuesday morning, with the president of the General Conference, G. A. Irwin, in the chair, the thirty-fourth session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was called to order. J. N. Loughborough read Psalm 106, and S. N. Haskell led in prayer. President Irwin then opened the way for business.

The first item was the roll call of delegates. Four newly organized local conferences were admitted to the General Conference—Queensland and South Australia in Australia, and Cumberland and Ontario in North America. The president gave his address and reviewed the progress of the work over the preceding two years of his administration. He concluded with a declaration that undoubtedly was tempered by some of the things he had heard the day before in the special meeting in the college library:

Ours is a momentous time, and this is a momentous occasion. The wisdom of no human agent is sufficient for the planning and devising that needs to be done.—The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 23.

His address completed and his office surrendered, the work of the church was now in the hands of the delegates. As chairman, Elder Irwin declared: “The conference is now formally opened. What is your pleasure?”— Ibid.

Ellen White, seated in the audience, arose and went to the front. She ascended the steps to the speaker’s platform and approached the desk. The floor was granted to her. She first pointed out the privilege of the Advent people to stand high above the world, sanctified by the truth and having a close connection with Heaven. Then she turned to the immediate situation. The following statements have been gleaned from her address:

Every soul in every conference, in every part of the Lord’s vineyard, has the privilege of knowing the truth. But truth is not truth to those who do not practice it. Truth is only truth to you when you live it in the daily life, showing the world what those people must be who are at last saved.... Why, I ask you, are men who have not brought self into subjection allowed to stand in important positions of truth and [80] handle sacred things? ...

The principles of heaven are to be carried out in every family, in the discipline of every church, in every establishment, in every institution, in every school, and in everything that shall be managed. You have no right to manage, unless you manage in God’s order. Are you under the control of God? Do you see your responsibility to Him? ...

Oh, my very soul is drawn out in these things! Men who have not learned to submit themselves to the control and discipline of God are not competent to train the youth, to deal with human minds. It is just as much an impossibility for them to do this work as it would be for them to make a world.

That these men should stand in a sacred place, to be as the voice of God to the people, as we once believed the General Conference to be—that is past. What we want now is a reorganization. We want to begin at the foundation, and to build upon a different principle....

Here are men who are standing at the head of our various institutions, of the educational interests, and of the conferences in different localities and in different States. All these are to stand as representative men, to have a voice in molding and fashioning the plans that shall be carried out. There are to be more than one or two or three men to consider the whole vast field. The work is great, and there is no one human mind that can plan for the work which needs to be done....

According to the light that has been given me—and just how it is to be accomplished I cannot say—greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the conference....

God wants you to be converted, and may He help, that this work may go forward. He is a power for His people when they come into order. There must be a renovation, a reorganization; a power and strength must be brought into the committees that are necessary....

If we will take hold of the Master, take hold of all the power He has given us, the salvation of God will be revealed.—The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 24-26.

Thus Ellen White gave what was in reality the keynote address. [81] She spoke for an hour. The very serious nature of the situation that had developed she fearlessly and clearly delineated. Help from God was promised if they would take hold of Him. There must be a change. It was one of the most solemn messages ever delivered to the church in a General Conference assembly.

The Response to Heaven’s Call

A solemn silence pervaded the assembly as Ellen White made her way to a chair. Elder Irwin stepped forward and said in response:

These are certainly very plain words that we have listened to, and it seems to me they come in very timely, right in the commencement of our conference. We notice the burden of the testimony was reorganization. This must first begin with us as individuals, and I trust that it may begin in each heart. I, for one, want to accept the testimony that has been borne, and I want that work of reorganization and regeneration to be not only begun, but completed, in my life. I am glad that these words were spoken right now, at the very commencement of our General Conference.

I take it that the reorganization means a change in our method of procedure, in the General Conference, and now, as we are just ready to organize the delegation that has been called, it seems to me it is an opportune time to begin the work of reorganization. I am sure we all want the Lord to lead in this conference; and if there is any method that we have been working along that has bound the Spirit of the Lord—and surely, if I can understand the meaning of what has been said, we have been bound about by regulations and restrictions—now is the time to break loose from these things, and to make a new start. So again I ask, What is the pleasure of the conference at this time?—Ibid., 27.

What next took place came as no surprise to the president. A.G. Daniells, a man 43 years of age and in his prime, who for the past thirteen years had labored in New Zealand and Australia, now asked for the floor. He walked down to the front of the Tabernacle, mounted the stairs, and stepped up to the desk. He told of the [82] meeting held in the college library on the preceding day, at which Ellen White had given similar counsel. He declared:

We all feel that our only safety lies in obedience, in following our great Leader. We feel that we should begin at the very beginning of this work at this meeting, and just as nearly as we know how, build on His foundation.— Ibid.

Then Elder Daniells offered the following comprehensive motion:

“I move that the usual rules and precedents for arranging and transacting the business of the conference be suspended, and that a General Committee be hereby appointed, to consist of the following persons: The presidents and secretaries of the General Conference, of the General Conference Association, of the European and Australasian union conferences; of the Review and Herald, Pacific Press, and Echo publishing companies; of the Foreign Mission Board, Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association; of Battle Creek, Healdsburg, and Union colleges; and the following named persons: J. N. Loughborough, S. N. Haskell, A. T. Jones, W. W. Prescott, and such other persons as may be necessary to represent the important enterprises and interests connected with the work of the Seventh-day Adventists throughout the world, the same to be named by the committee when organized, and this committee to constitute a general or central committee, which shall do such work as necessarily must be done in forwarding the work of the conference, and preparing the business to bring before the delegates.”— Ibid.

Elder Daniells confidently predicted that if we would “step out boldly to follow the light that He gives us, whether we can see clear through to the end or not—if we walk in the light we have, go just as far as we can today, God will give us further light; He will bring us out of bondage into glorious liberty.” In his closing remarks he expressed his appreciation that “we have a definite, certain voice to speak to us.” And he declared, “I am so glad that all through this meeting we can receive instruction and help....May God help us for His own name’s sake.”— Ibid.

The delegates then entered upon an earnest discussion of the [83] proposal before them. When there seemed to be an overcautious attitude, Ellen White arose and urged that no one block what was being proposed. After a season of prayer, the matter was placed before the assembly and after a little more discussion and the answering of questions, the chair put the matter to the vote and the record is that it “was carried unanimously” (Ibid., 29.

The session was adjourned to meet again at three o’clock in the afternoon, with a Bible study to be given by Elder Haskell.

The large committee that had been appointed became known as the Committee on Counsel. The next day a number of names were added, raising the members to about seventy-five. In response to some questions from some fearful delegates, all were assured that it was not the intent of this committee to take over the business of the Conference, but rather to guide the work of the session along the lines suggested by Ellen White.

Sermons, Bible studies, reports from the various parts of the world field, and devotional meetings filled much of the next few days while the Committee on Counsel tackled its rather amorphous task of reorganization.

Changes had been called for by the Lord. Changes had to be made. Steps must be taken that would distribute the responsibility of men to points near where the work was being done. [84]

Chapter 6—The Church Responds

Ellen White was asked to take the first early morning devotional study of the session. It convened on Wednesday at 5:30 A.M. Choosing a topic most appropriate for the occasion, she stressed the apostle James’s admonition, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering” (chap. 1:5, 6).

She dwelt on the experience of those who forget this instruction and “begin to look for human help.” “Is not Christ close beside us, and will He not give us the help we need?” she asked, and then reminded her hearers that in His Word there is the repeated promise “‘If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it.’”—The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 35, 36.

The whole address was an appeal for the workers to look to God for guidance. This was a thread that was to run through her appeals to the conference, urging men to look away from men and look to God.

Fortunately, as the Committee on Counsel approached the task of reorganization, they had before them the knowledge of what had been done in Africa under Elder A. T. Robinson’s leadership. There, departmental interests had been organized within a conference structure, in place of separate, independent organizations representing Sabbath school work, religious liberty, et cetera.

They also had before them what had been done in Australia in the development of a union conference. Sister White had been in that field as the cause had developed and grown. Australia was far [85] from Battle Creek. It took weeks to get letters to the General Conference and back. In the interest of efficiency, A. G. Daniells and W. C. White with encouragement from O. A. Olsen and in close counsel with Sister White, had led out in developing a form of organization that would bind the local conferences together in what they called a union conference. Incorporating the Robinson plan, such interests as Sabbath school work, tract and missionary work, and medical missionary work were brought into the union conference as departments. This plan had worked very successfully.

Europe also had pioneered with some success a plan for a European General Conference, as it was called.

Elder Daniells, with his implicit trust in the messages of the Spirit of Prophecy and his recent experience in leading in the organization of the work in Australia, was the man of the hour. He was the man to step forward and fearlessly initiate steps toward reorganization, standing at the head of the Committee on Counsel. After reviewing the general needs and the directions in which the work should move, the first task was to set up subcommittees. First to be appointed was a committee on organization, with W. C. White as the chairman. Then followed the naming of other committees on education, on colporteur work, on publishing, on missionary work, et cetera. But it was the committee on organization especially that often brought its reports to the conference as a whole. And it was these reports that gained first attention.

An early proposal was that union conferences, after the order of what had been done in Australia, be formed throughout North America and the European fields. At the business session held Thursday afternoon, April 4, a memorial was presented from the Southern field, or what might be termed the Southern district, embodying three conferences and six missions. Perhaps it was the relative smallness of the field, with 2,600 members, and because the work was just getting well established there that they were able quickly to move into line with the new organizational plans and with a suggestion that they be made a union conference. The proposal also called for their president to be a member of the General Conference Committee. With the memorial was a request that they be permitted to draft a constitution for their union. [86]

Again Ellen White entered into the discussion, giving full support to the desires of the brethren in the South. In her speech she said, “I want to say that from the light given to me by God, there should have been years ago organizations such as are now proposed.”—Ibid., 68.

One paragraph in the memorial declared, “We believe that a more complete and independent organization of the work in this field, if sanctioned and approved by the General Conference, will result in great benefit to the work.”—Ibid., 67.

In the discussion that followed the reading of the Southern memorial, the point was made that there is strength in action that is initiated locally. Ellen White in a little speech told of how on her journey to Battle Creek as she visited different places in southern California, she asked, “Why do you not do this? and, Why do you not do that? And the response has been, ‘That is what we want to do, but we must first get the consent of the board, the members of which are in Oakland.’ But, I asked, have you not men here with common sense? If you have not, then by all means transport them. You show great deficiency by having your board hundreds of miles away. That is not the wisdom of God. There are men right where you are who have minds, who have judgment, who need to exercise their brains, who need to be learning how to do things, how to take aggressive work, how to annex new territory. They are not to be dependent on a conference at Battle Creek or a board at Oakland.”—Ibid., 69.

Hers was one of the longer speeches made in regard to the Southern memorial, and it gave her an opportunity to stress some of the points that she was so eager to see carried into the work of the conference. She stated:

We want to understand that there are no gods in our conference. There are to be no kings here, and no kings in any conference that is formed.... New conferences must be formed. It was in the order of God that the union conference was organized in Australasia. The Lord God of Israel will link us all together. The organizing of new conferences is not to separate us. It is to bind us together. The conferences that are formed are to cling mightily to the Lord, so that through them He can reveal [87] His power, making them excellent representations of fruit-bearing. “By their fruits ye shall know them.”— Ibid.

Then, in more general terms, thinking of the work in its larger elements, she declared:

The Lord wants to bind those at this conference heart to heart. No man is to say, “I am a god, and you must do as I say.” From the beginning to the end this is wrong. There is to be an individual work. God says, “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” Remember that God can give wisdom to those who handle His work. It is not necessary to send thousands of miles to Battle Creek for advice, and then have to wait weeks before an answer can be received. Those who are right on the ground are to decide what shall be done. You know what you have to wrestle with, but those who are thousands of miles away do not know.

It is best for us to put our trust in the God of Israel. We are to feel that it is time for us to possess new territory, time for us to feel that we must break the bonds which have kept us from going forward.—Ibid., 70.

The whole discussion, in which a number took part, was a very wholesome experience and paved the way somewhat for the work that was in the hands of the committee on organization.

The Conference Proceeds

On Thursday morning at nine o’clock Ellen White was the speaker. Under the title of “In the Regions Beyond,” she reported little incidents in the development of the work in Australia, and what she saw in the South as she came to the session. She then went back to her memories of early days in the work of the church.

Again she touched on the point of the need of a change in the management of things in the heart of the work. She called for economy, pointing out that from the light God had given to her “there must be a decided change in the management of things at the heart of the work.”—Ibid., 83. She spoke of the unworked fields around them, and recounted an incident that indicated God’s guidance in their experience in starting the work in Oakland, California. [88]

We came to the place where we must have means, and we did not know what to do. My husband was sick and feeble, and very busy. I said, “Will you let me go to Battle Creek to try to raise some money for the work here?”

“How can you go?” he said. “I am overwhelmed with responsibility. I cannot let you go.” “But God will take care of you,” I said.

We held a meeting in an upper room of a house in Oakland where prayer was wont to be made. We knelt down to pray and while we were praying, the Spirit of God like a tidal wave filled the room, and it seemed that an angel was pointing across the Rocky Mountains to the churches in this part of America. Brother Tay, who is now sleeping in Jesus, rose from his knees, his face as white as death, and said, “I saw an angel pointing across the Rocky Mountains.”

Then my husband said, “Well, Ellen, I shall have to let you go.”

I did not wait for another word, but hurrying home, put a few gems [bread rolls] in a basket, and hastened to the cars. I made very little preparation, for I had just time to get to the cars.... I went alone.... I obtained means, and then returned to California to build up the work.—Ibid., 84.

And then she brought the lesson home, explaining:

I told the Lord that when I came to Battle Creek this time, I would ask you why you have withheld means from the work in Australia. The work there should have been pressed with tenfold greater strength than it has been, but we have been hindered on the right hand and on the left....

Why am I telling you this? Because we desire that at this meeting the work shall be so established that no such thing shall take place again. Two or three men, who have never seen the barren fields, where the workers have had to wrestle with all their might to advance an inch, should not control matters.”— Ibid.

If Ellen White’s voice had not been heard in a General Conference session for ten years, it was heard in this conference of [89] 1901. She was asked to speak Sabbath morning, which she did. This was the most largely attended session thus far held by Seventh-day Adventists. In addition to the delegates, there were 1,500 visitors from all parts of the United States, and the comment was made, “All of these seem of one heart and mind to make this the greatest and best occasion of their lives.”— Ibid., 65.

According to the General Conference Bulletin, that first Sabbath of the session, April 6, was a great day. “Sister White spoke in the Tabernacle at 11:00 A.M. to an overflowing house. Not only was every available seating space occupied but every foot of standing room was covered. There must have been 3,500 people or more present to listen to a stirring address upon the duty of tithe-paying.”—Ibid., 89.

The Tabernacle was not capable of housing all who had come for the Sabbath meetings. “At the same hour W. W. Prescott spoke to about all who could be accommodated in the college chapel. His subject was the sanctuary and its service.”— Ibid. E. J. Waggoner spoke in the Review and Herald chapel to a good-sized audience on the “Temple of God.” At the Sanitarium a Sabbath-morning service was held with Elder J. O. Corliss as the speaker. The estimate was that approximately five thousand people worshiped that Sabbath morning in Battle Creek, “making [it] the largest Sabbath meeting ever held” in that city (Ibid., 89).

At five-thirty Tuesday morning, April 9, Ellen White again gave the morning devotional study. Her topic was the need of missionary effort. She thanked the Lord that He was working in their midst and said that this could be so only when His people draw together. “There seems to be in this meeting an endeavor to press together. This is the word which for the last fifty years I have heard from the angelic host—press together, press together. Let us try to do this. When in the spirit of Jesus we try to press together, putting ourselves out of sight, we shall find that the Holy Spirit will come in, and the blessing of God will rest upon us.”—Ibid., 182.

Her address was filled with appeals for attention to be given to needy fields of labor. She spoke of Europe and of New York City. And she came back to the theme that lay heavily upon her heart—the importance of a close binding together of the medical and evangelistic interests of the church. [90]

“Do not,” she urged, “longer divorce yourselves from the medical missionary work. Dr. Kellogg has been driven almost to despair as he has sought for some way in which he could bring the truth more prominently before the world. Let every minister of the gospel heed the words of Paul: ‘I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway.’” She urged that “God wants you to observe the strictest principles of temperance. He wants you to stand in a position of sacred nearness to Him, where you can ask and He will hear, where you know that He will always be with you.”—Ibid., 184.

At three o’clock on Tuesday afternoon Dr. Kellogg took two hours to present the work of the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, stressing what was being done in Chicago. (The regular work of the General Conference in session was interspersed with the meetings of the various associations.) It was on this Tuesday, April 9, also, that the organization of the Southern Union Conference was completed, a constitution adopted, certain officers elected, and members of the executive committee named. This represented the first full-fledged union conference to be organized in the United States. It was the bellwether, and before the conference was to close two weeks later, there would be six union conferences in North America.

The Reorganization

On this same day the basic action embodying reorganization was framed and presented to the General Conference in these words:

“5. That the General Conference Committee be composed of representative men connected with the various lines of work in the different parts of the world.

“6. That the General Conference Committee, as thus constituted, should take the place of all the present boards and committees, except in the case of the essential legal corporations.

“7. That the General Conference Committee consist of twenty-five members, six of whom shall be chosen by the Medical Missionary Association, and nineteen by the General Conference. That five of these members be chosen with special [91] reference to their ability to foster and develop true evangelical spirit in all departments of the work, to build up the ministry of the word, and to act as teachers of the gospel message in all parts of the world; and that they be relieved from any special business cares, that they may be free to devote themselves to this work.

“8. That in choosing this General Conference Committee, the presidents of the union conferences be elected as members.”—Ibid., 185.

The proposed changes were sweeping. They called for the various independent and separate international organizations—the Sabbath School Association, the Religious Liberty Association, the Foreign Mission Board, et cetera—to be blended into the General Conference. The Executive Committee was to be a much larger group with much wider representation. The medical missionary work, which had grown so strong, was to be integrated, with a definite representation on the General Conference Committee.

It took several days of earnest, prayerful discussion and consideration before the conference was ready to take an action on such a sweeping reorganization. At one critical point when progress seemed blocked, Sister White stepped in and spoke directly to the point, exposing the vital involvements. When the vote was called for on these crucial and far-reaching steps in reorganization, the resolutions were passed unanimously.

From day to day throughout the session the various districts into which church work in North America had been loosely drawn were organized into union conferences. Constitutions were drawn up and accepted, and officers were elected. The various international auxiliary organizations took actions looking forward to their absorption into the General Conference.

It was a thrilling meeting of earnest, prayerful study, discussion, and action. There was no bitterness, no holding back. The thought expressed at the opening meeting by Elder Daniells when Ellen White called for a reorganization was kept in the minds of all:

We all feel that our only safety lies in obedience, in following our great Leader. We feel that we should begin at the very beginning of this work at this meeting, and just as nearly as we know how, build on His foundation.—Ibid., 27. [92]

The Call to Move the College

But there were other burdens that Ellen White carried on her heart. These related to the institutions in Battle Creek—all three of them, the publishing house, the Sanitarium, and the college. The college occupied her attention midway in the meeting. At half past five on Friday morning, April 12, she dispatched one of her helpers to the Magan home. Percy T. Magan was the dean of Battle Creek College, serving with Prof. E. A. Sutherland, the president. The message to the dean was that Sister White wanted to see him.

Within a few minutes he was talking with her. As reported by Magan, she asked him whether he remembered when he and Professor Sutherland had through correspondence discussed the moving of the college out of Battle Creek. “‘I told you at the time,’ she said, ‘not to do it. Now I am ready to tell you to do it. What we will do with the old plant I do not know. I think possibly we may be able to sell it to the sanitarium. I do not think even then that we will be able to realize enough to pay off anything on the principal. Perhaps we will get enough to pay its debts. We will have to go out single-handed—empty-handed. It is time to get out now, for great things will soon be happening in Battle Creek.’”—Founder’s Golden Anniversary Bulletin, 21, quoted in Merlin L. Neff, For God and A Call to Medical Evangelism and Health Education, 70.

At nine o’clock Magan gave his report on the relief book plan he was directing. Ellen White had dedicated her book Christ’s Object Lessons to the financial relief of Seventh-day Adventist educational institutions. Thousands of dollars had been raised as church members sold the books to their neighbors and friends and turned over the proceeds for debt reduction. Ellen White was seated on the platform with other workers who were leading out in this particular meeting. As Magan closed his report, he referred to the testimonies that called for a country location for Seventh-day Adventist schools and proposed that consideration be given to moving Battle Creek College to “a more favorable locality” (The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 212).

Then Ellen White rose to speak. She made reference to the experience with Christ’s Object Lessons and then challenged the audience with this declaration:

The light that has been given me is that Battle Creek has not [93] the best influence over the students in our school. There is altogether too congested a state of things. The school, although it will mean a fewer number of students, should be moved out of Battle Creek. Get an extensive tract of land, and there begin the work which I entreated should be commenced before our school was established here—to get out of the cities, to a place where the students would not see things to remark upon and criticize, where they would not see the wayward course of this one and that one, but would settle down to diligent study.—Ibid., 215.

She then reviewed their experience in Australia in the establishment of the Avondale school at Cooranbong, and admonished:

Our schools should be located away from the cities, on a large tract of land, so that the students will have opportunity to do manual work. They should have opportunity to learn lessons from the objects which Christ used in the inculcation of truth. He pointed to the birds, to the flowers, to the sower and the reaper. In schools of this kind not only are the minds of the students benefited, but their physical powers are strengthened. All portions of the body are exercised. The education of mind and body is equalized....

God wants the school to be taken out of Battle Creek.... Some may be stirred about the transfer of the school from Battle Creek. But they need not be. This move is in accordance with God’s design for the school before the institution was established. But men could not see how this could be done. There were so many who said that the school must be in Battle Creek. Now we say that it must be somewhere else.—Ibid., 215, 216. And then she urged:

The best thing that can be done is to dispose of the school’s building here as soon as possible. Begin at once to look for a place where the school can be conducted on right lines. God wants us to place our children where they will not see and hear that which they should not see or hear.—Ibid., 216.

At this point the meeting adjourned to 11:00 A.M., which left just a short intermission. Much of the rest of the morning was devoted to a consideration of the release of the denomination’s schools from [94] their financial obligations through the sale of Christ’s Object Lessons and to the moving of Battle Creek College.

Elder A. T. Jones, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Educational Society, asked for the floor. He referred to the appeal that the college be moved out of Battle Creek. He called for the stockholders of the Educational Society present who favored carrying out the instruction that had been given, to rise to their feet. The report is that there was a hearty response and that when the negative vote was called for, no one responded.

Then the delegates of the General Conference session were asked to vote and this was unanimous. Finally, a third expression was called for from the congregation generally. Rising to their feet, they gave a unanimous affirmation to the decision to move the college from Battle Creek. History was made that day at the General Conference session, and when the fall term of school took up, it was at Berrien Springs, Michigan. This was the second marked instance of a wholehearted and immediate response at the General Conference of 1901 to counsel given by the messenger of the Lord that called for sweeping changes.

Other Evidences of a Hearty Response

For three weeks the delegates labored carefully, patiently, earnestly. At the opening of the conference a message from God through His servant had called for marked changes. The delegates had applied themselves, and when it came time to close the session on Tuesday, April 23, clearly great changes had taken place.

The General Conference was now a world conference, with an Executive Committee of twenty-five men representing the various interests of the whole world field. The organization of union conferences provided for the leaders close to the problems to carry the burdens of the work. This was a point that had been stressed again and again by Ellen White. It also led to the development of men in executive experience.

Provisions were made to bring the various auxiliary interests into the General Conference as departments. While committees were named to represent these lines, to implement the changes would take a little time, but everyone seemed pleased and confident in the actions that had been taken. [95]

An Undetected Weakness

But there was one weakness in the new constitution that did not show up clearly when it was adopted. It was to cause considerable concern in the months that followed. This related to the election of the officers of the General Conference.

According to the new constitution, the delegates attending a General Conference session were empowered to elect the General Conference Committee; this committee in turn was to organize itself, electing its own officers. It was recognized at the time that this could mean that a man might be chairman for only one year.

Undoubtedly this provision came about as an overreaction to the desire to get away from any “kingly power” (Letter 49, 1903), a point that was pushed hard by Elder A. T. Jones, a member of the committee on organization.

While this arrangement would clearly reduce the possibility of anyone exercising kingly power, it also greatly undercut responsible leadership. It went too far, for it took out of the hands of the delegates attending the General Conference session the vital responsibility of electing the leaders of the church and instead placed this responsibility in the hands of the General Conference Executive Committee of twenty-five. It was too unwieldy. There was no church leader with a mandate from the church as represented by its delegates.

That some of the delegates attending the session of 1901 were not clear on this point is evidenced in the insistence that the Committee elect the chairman and announce their decision before that session closed. A. G. Daniells was chosen as chairman of the General Conference Committee. He was the leader of the church and nearly all the delegates were pleased, but they did not discern at this point how he would be crippled in his work, having no tenure and no mandate.

To take the position that Ellen White’s urging that there be no kings meant, as interpreted by A. T. Jones, that the church should have no General Conference president was unjustified. At no time had the messages from her called for the abolition of the office of president of the General Conference; rather her messages recognized such an office in the organization of the church. An earlier statement indicated that she understood that the work devolving [96] upon the president of the General Conference was too large for one man to carry and that others should stand by his side to assist. (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 342, 343). She did condemn the exercise of kingly power.

The weakness, which soon became very apparent, was corrected at the next session of the General Conference—the session of 1903. [Note: See A. V. Olson, through crisis to victory, pp. 316-320.] [97]

Chapter 7—The Last Ten Days

The three-week-long General Conference session of 1901 was marked as a meeting of plain testimonies given and of immediate and hearty responses. True advance in God’s work is seen not only by Heaven’s messages of guidance, counsel, and reproof but by the miracle of men and women accepting such messages without hesitation. Only the strongest evidences that the words spoken by Ellen White were indeed the messages that God was addressing to His people could bring about such responses.

Two important factors contributed to this attitude. One was the feeling of frustration and misgiving that pervaded a large part of the delegation as they anticipated the meeting. They sensed that only if God were to step in and help could they come through triumphantly. The situation was desperate. Some solution must be found. But none knew of, or was ready to suggest, a solution.

Second was the evidence of the total dependence that Ellen White had upon God as she undertook her work. This brought the conclusion that she was but conveying God’s message to His people. When as a teen-age maiden she was called to be God’s messenger, it was recognized that God had chosen the weakest of the weak. There was nothing about her background, the vitality of her physique, or her education that could ever lead anyone to point to the individual and say, “See what she has performed.” Now, as she ministered at the General Conference of 1901 at the age of 73, it was clear to all that God was working through her, sustaining her, speaking to her; only as He strengthened her could she do her work. [98]

Returning to her home after the General Conference session, she opened her heart to Elder Haskell, recounting her attitudes and experiences in Battle Creek and immediately after:

Lately many perils have arisen; questions have come up which required a great amount of wisdom and grace and the love of Jesus to answer. The fear that the cause of God would be wounded and bruised kept me in a state of constant burden and taxation. At times my head has been so weary that it seemed as though I could not think at all. I have suffered severe pain in my left eye and cheekbone. Nevertheless, I must do the things I am expected to do.—Letter 125, 1901.

On the opening day of the session, she had called for a reorganization of the whole work of the General Conference. There was an immediate response, and the next three weeks were spent in bringing this reorganization about. On the second Friday of the session, Ellen White had called for the moving of Battle Creek College to a rural location. Before the meeting closed, the constituency had voted to move the college, and this had been affirmed by the delegates and by all the visitors present. Immediately steps were set in motion to establish Battle Creek College elsewhere.

During each of the last ten days of the session (April 14-23) except one, Ellen White carried speaking appointments.

At midsession there were many burdens still heavy on her heart. Perhaps one of the greatest was that of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the broad influence of the course of action that he might take. Along with this was the attitude of the ministry toward the medical work of the church, and, further, the personal experience of the ministers toward the health-reform principles to which God had called His people. Also, she was deeply concerned regarding the development of the work in the Southern States, both among the whites and the blacks. Up to midsession little had been done along this line.

On Sabbath afternoon, April 13, she listened to a mission symposium. Elder Daniells as chairman had arranged for six fifteen-minute presentations giving a cross section of the world work. First, L. R. Conradi reported on the work in Europe. Then J. E. White gave his report on the work in the South. W. A. Spicer was [99] called on to report from India. J. O. Corliss reported on work in the large cities. Dr. A. J. Read told of God’s providences in the island fields of the South Pacific, and H. Champness reported on the work in London. In meetings yet to come, Ellen White was to speak of the work in the South, the work in the cities, the work in London. All of these enterprises weighed heavily upon her heart.

During the session she was to deal with two disruptive elements. One was the case of Helge Nelson, who claimed the prophetic gift and insisted that he be given a hearing by the Conference. This being denied, he was granted an interview with Ellen White and the General Conference leaders. His burden was that she stood where Moses stood in the typical history of God’s people, and he, Helge Nelson, was to stand where Joshua stood, for he claimed special guidance from God. Ellen White met the false claims squarely and in the interview declared, “I know that God never gave mortal man such a message as that which Brother Nelson has borne concerning his brethren. It is not like our God.”—The Review and Herald, July 30, 1901.

She was to meet Nelson again at the General Conference session of 1903 in a rather dramatic way.

The other disruptive element that Ellen White was to meet, and this time before all the ministers of the cause, was the “holy flesh” fanaticism, which centered in Indiana. This would come on Wednesday evening.

On Sunday morning, April 14, taking the sermon hour at nine o’clock, she spoke in the Tabernacle on the Christian Life (Manuscript 62, 1901). Likely she joined the delegates as they were entertained at the Sanitarium that Sunday noon. “Three hundred persons sat down to a dinner” of what was said to be “the most toothsome delicacies, consisting of grains and vegetables exquisitely served, followed by delicious fruits and assorted nuts.”—The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 225.

One of the guests remarked that he did not see why anyone, with such food in abundance, should desire to gorge himself with the flesh of a dead animal. Those who overheard him agreed that such a food program as was presented “was far preferable to the old system of a meat diet” (The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 225). In the matter of vegetarianism it had been a battle and a march through the years, but the new and better program was winning out. The Sanitarium itself, with Ellen White’s encouragement, would soon discard meat in its dietary. [100]

Monday morning at five-thirty, Ellen White spoke to the ministers, presenting “An Appeal to the Ministry.” It was a solemn meeting at which she laid before the ministry of the church their large responsibilities. The leading ministers responded, declaring that they could see that the church had come to a turning point in experience.

Then on Tuesday morning, April 16, she spoke in the college chapel on the relations that should be sustained between the workers in the various branches of the cause and especially between the older and the younger workers. The report is that “the meeting was a deeply solemn one, and the impressions then received seemed to rest on the brethren all the day, to temper their words and conduct.”—Ibid., 305.

Meeting the “Holy Flesh” Fanaticism

The workers’ meeting at five-thirty on Wednesday morning, April 17, was not only solemn but exciting. Ellen White chose at that point in the session to meet the “holy flesh” fanaticism. She did so by reading a carefully prepared manuscript statement. Before the meeting closed, she told the audience that to meet this fanaticism was one of the reasons she had left Australia and returned to the United States. The situation with which she was dealing had been revealed to her in Australia in January, 1900, “before I left Cooranbong.” And she declared, “If this had not been presented to me, I should not have been here today. But I am here, in obedience to the word of the Lord, and I thank Him that He has given me strength beyond my expectations to speak to the people.”—Ibid., 426.

What was the holy flesh movement?

In 1898 and 1899 Elder S. S. Davis, conference evangelist in Indiana, developed and promulgated teachings that led to this movement. The basic features of this strange doctrine, which was called “the cleansing message,” were that when Jesus passed through the Garden of Gethsemane He had an experience that all who follow Him must have. It was taught that Jesus had holy flesh, and that those who followed Him through this Garden experience would likewise have holy flesh. They were then “born” sons of God and they had “translation” faith. Having holy flesh like Christ, they [101] could not experience corruption any more than He did; thus they would live to see Him come. This faith, it was claimed, was similar to that which led to the translation of Enoch and Elijah. Those who did not have this experience were “adopted” sons. They did not have translation faith; they must pass through the grave and thus go to heaven by “the underground railway.”

Attempting to gain this Garden experience that would give them holy flesh, the people gathered in meetings in which there were long prayers, strange, loud instrumental music, and excited, extended, hysterical preaching. They were led to seek an experience of physical demonstration. Bass drums and the tambourines aided in this. It was expected that one, possibly more, of their number would fall prostrate to the floor. He would then be carried to the platform, where a dozen or more people would gather around and shout, “Glory to God!” while others prayed or sang. When this person regained consciousness, it was declared that he had passed through the Garden experience—he had holy flesh, he had translation faith!

Under the guise of a great revival and the outpouring of the latter rain, the movement swept through the Indiana Conference. Late in 1899 the president, Elder R. S. Donnell, became a strong advocate of these views and was joined by most of the ministers in Indiana. In arranging for the camp meeting of 1900, he planned great things. He was unwilling that the two visiting General Conference brethren, Elders S. N. Haskell and A. J. Breed, be given much opportunity to reach the people. He warned his workers that these men did not have “this experience” and the ministers should not allow themselves to be influenced by them.

As the conference president stood speaking one evening, he held his arms outstretched toward the congregation, and later reported that he had felt great power coursing down his arms and passing through his fingers out to the people.

Elder Haskell reported that there was indeed a power, a strange power, in this new message. The people were bewildered. None wished to miss the experience of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Translation faith seemed desirable. The teaching was a mixture of truth, error, excitement, and noise.

The camp meeting at which this experience took place was held [102] in Muncie, Indiana, while Ellen White was on board ship returning to the United States. When James Edson White journeyed to the West Coast to greet his mother, he handed her a letter from Elder Haskell in which he described some of the things that had taken place.

To describe it, I hardly know what to say. It is beyond all description. I have never seen any company held with a firmer grasp by a certain number of the leading ministers, than they are held in Indiana. Brother R. S. Donnell is president, and they have an experience in getting the people ready for translation. They call it the “cleansing message.” Others call it the “holy flesh“: and when I say the “cleansing message” and the “holy flesh,” no doubt these terms will bring to your mind experiences that illustrate what we saw....

There is a great power that goes with the movement that is on foot there. It would almost bring anybody within its scope, if they are at all conscientious, and sit and listen with the least degree of favor, because of the music that is brought to play in the ceremony. They have an organ, one bass viol, three fiddles, two flutes, three tambourines, three horns, and a big bass drum, and perhaps other instruments which I have not mentioned. They are as much trained in their musical line as any Salvation Army choir that you ever heard. In fact, their revival effort is simply a complete copy of the Salvation Army method, and when they get on a high key, you cannot hear a word from the congregation in their singing, nor hear anything, unless it be shrieks of those who are half insane. I do not think I overdraw it at all.—S. N. Haskell to EGW, September 25, 1900.

Haskell went on to describe the confusion and perplexity that were resulting from this preaching. One of the features of their teachings, along with holy flesh and translation faith, was that of “moral purity,” for which they seemed to carry a great burden. It was all “a mixture of truth and error, with much excitement and music.”

Haskell’s letter to Ellen White indicated that in his opinion the work that was done by him, his wife, and Elder Breed had been of little consequence as far as most of the people were concerned. [103]

Another communication that had reached Ellen White concerning this movement was a letter written June 1, 1900, by an Ida V. Hadley. The questions asked in this letter throw some light on the holy flesh teaching. Some of these questions were:

Was Mary’s body made holy, sinless, in her flesh before conception, so that Christ was born from sinless flesh? And His own body sinless flesh of itself? (Hebrews 10:5)....

Is it Bible doctrine that men need never have died, but all been translated, if they only had grasped the “translation faith”? Was that why Enoch and Elijah were translated, because they grasped this fact, rather than others? (John 11:26)....

Is conversion a change of flesh from sinful to sinless? ...

Is it possible for us to arrive at that place in our experience where we do not always have to be overcomers? ...

Is it possible to get where we will not be tempted from within before Christ comes? ...

Do the Scriptures teach that there is a difference between born sons and adopted sons, that adopted sons go to dust, and born sons are translated?

We have no knowledge that Ellen White responded to the Hadley communication, which would have reached her just before she left Australia. In replying to the Haskell letter on October 10, 1900, she wrote from her Elmshaven home in northern California:

Last January the Lord showed me that erroneous theories and methods would be brought into our camp meetings, and that the history of the past would be repeated. I felt greatly distressed. I was instructed to say that at these demonstrations demons in the form of men are present, working with all the ingenuity that Satan can employ to make the truth disgusting to sensible people; that the enemy was trying to arrange matters so that the camp meetings, which have been the means of bringing the truth of the third angel’s message before multitudes, should lose their force and influence.—Letter 132, 1900 (Selected Messages 2:37).

But Ellen White’s letter to the Haskells did not constitute a confrontation with the issues or with those involved. The Haskell letter conveyed to her what was now in the open. Some may feel [104] that these letters gave Ellen White her inspiration in this matter. In this her experience was much like that of Paul, of which she tells us:

Paul was an inspired apostle, yet the Lord did not reveal to him at all times just the condition of His people. Those who were interested in the prosperity of the church, and saw evils creeping in, presented the matter before him, and from the light which he had previously received he was prepared to judge of the true character of these developments.... The Lord had shown him the difficulties and dangers which would arise in the churches, that when they should develop he might know just how to treat them.

He was set for the defense of the church. He was to watch for souls as one that must render account to God, and should he not take notice of the reports concerning their state of anarchy and division? Most assuredly; and the reproof he sent them was written just as much under the inspiration of the Spirit of God as were any of his Epistles.—Testimonies for the Church 5:65, 66. (Italics supplied.)

Ellen White was shown in Australia in January, 1900, what would take place. The strange work was just then developing in Indiana, and she was shown what would take place at the camp meeting. Thus she was prepared to speak of the matter when she came to the General Conference session in 1901.

In her audience that Wednesday morning, April 17, were R. S. Donnell, president of the Indiana Conference; S. S. Davis, who had led out in this teaching; and many of the ministers from Indiana. Battle Creek was not far away from their home State. Ellen White said in part:

The Message Read to the Ministers

Instruction has been given me in regard to the late experience of brethren in Indiana and the teaching they have given to the churches. Through this experience and teaching the enemy has been working to lead souls astray.

The teaching given in regard to what is termed “holy flesh” is an error. All may now obtain holy hearts, but it is not correct to claim in this life to have holy flesh. The apostle Paul declares, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). To those who have tried so hard to obtain by faith [105] so-called holy flesh, I would say, You cannot obtain it. Not a soul of you has holy flesh now. No human being on the earth has holy flesh. It is an impossibility. If those who speak so freely of perfection in the flesh could see things in the true light, they would recoil with horror from their presumptuous ideas....

Let this phase of doctrine be carried a little further, and it will lead to the claim that its advocates cannot sin, that since they have holy flesh, their actions are all holy. What a door of temptation would thus be opened! ...

I have been instructed to say to those in Indiana who are advocating strange doctrines, You are giving a wrong mold to the precious and important work of God. Keep within the bounds of the Bible. Take Christ’s lessons, and repeat them over and over again....

Those who meet Christ in peace at His coming must in this life walk before Him in humility, meekness, and lowliness of mind. It becomes every human being to walk modestly and circumspectly before God, in harmony with the great testing truths He has given to the world.

But the late experience of brethren in Indiana has not been in accordance with the Lord’s instruction. I have not during this conference held conversation with anyone in regard to this matter, but the Lord has given me a definite testimony that a strange work is being done in Indiana, the results of which are not after His order. This phase of religious enthusiasm is a dangerous delusion. The sentiments and exercises are not prompted by the Holy Spirit. They have led to very sad results.

Again and again in the progress of our work, fanatical movements have arisen, and when the matter was presented before me, I have had to bear a message similar to the message I am bearing to my brethren from Indiana. I have been instructed by the Lord that this movement in Indiana is of the same character as have been the movements in years past....

The manner in which the meetings in Indiana have been carried on, with noise and confusion, does not commend them to thoughtful, intelligent minds. There is nothing in these demonstrations which will convince the world that we have the truth. Mere noise and shouting are no evidence of sanctification, [106] or of the descent of the Holy Spirit. Your wild demonstrations create only disgust in the minds of unbelievers. The fewer of such demonstrations there are, the better it will be for the actors and for the people in general.

Fanaticism, once started and left unchecked, is as hard to quench as a fire which has obtained hold of a building. Those who have entered into and sustained this fanaticism might far better be engaged in secular labor, for by their inconsistent course of action they are dishonoring the Lord and imperiling His people. Many such movements will arise at this time, when the Lord’s work should stand elevated, pure, unadulterated with superstition and fables. We need to be on our guard, to maintain a close connection with Christ, that we be not deceived by Satan’s devices.

The Lord desires to have in His service order and discipline, not excitement and confusion.—The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 419-421; Selected Messages 2:31-35).

Mrs. White stood before the congregation for an hour, first reading from the manuscript she had prepared for the occasion, then bearing impromptu testimony, which was also reported in the Bulletin.

She spoke of the fact that they still had in their midst “a few of the old pioneers who know something of the fanaticism which existed in the early days of this message. Here is Brother [J.L.] Prescott; he knows something about it. He is acquainted with phase after phase of the fanaticism which has taken place. Here is Brother Haskell. He knows something about it, and there are various ones of our older brethren who have passed over the ground, and they understand something of what we have had to meet and contend with. Then there is Brother Corliss; I speak of him because he knows something about fanaticism, not only in the early days, but in our later experience.”—The General Conference Bulletin, 426. And she continued:

At great expense to myself, in sickness and feebleness, I have come a long way to bear this testimony before the congregation which was presented to me before I left Cooranbong. If this had not been presented to me, I should not have been here today. But I am here, in obedience to the word of the Lord.— Ibid. [107]

The Conference President Responds

The next day at the early morning workers’ meeting, Elder Donnell rose and asked whether he might make a statement. It appears in the General Conference Bulletin under the title “Confession of Elder R. S. Donnell.” He spoke in measured words:

I feel unworthy to stand before this large assembly of my brethren this morning. Very early in life I was taught to reverence and to love the Word of God; and when reading in it how God used to talk to His people, correcting their wrongs, and guiding them in all their ways, when a mere boy I used to say: “Why don’t we have a prophet? Why doesn’t God talk to us now as He used to do?”

When I found this people, I was more than glad to know that there was a prophet among them, and from the first I have been a firm believer in, and a warm advocate of, the Testimonies and the Spirit of Prophecy. It has been suggested to me at times in the past, that the test on this point of faith comes when the testimony comes directly to us.

As nearly all of you know, in the testimony of yesterday morning, the test came to me. But, brethren, I can thank God this morning that my faith in the Spirit of Prophecy remains unshaken. God has spoken. He says I was wrong, and I answer, God is right, and I am wrong....

I am very, very sorry that I have done that which would mar the cause of God, and lead anyone in the wrong way. I have asked God to forgive me, and I know that He has done it. As delegates and representatives of the cause of God in the earth, I now ask you to forgive me my sins, and I ask your prayers for strength and wisdom to walk aright in the future. It is my determination, by the help of God, to join glad hands with you in the kingdom of God.—Ibid., 422.

With this confession the holy flesh fanaticism was broken. The April 18 General Conference Bulletin carried this note on the opening page under the title “Our Best Meetings“:

There are some features of the present General Conference which cannot be produced in the minutes of the proceedings, [108] largely verbatim though they be. The unification of disjointed parts, and the blending of sympathy which has taken place as the result of efforts to reorganize the work on broader and truer lines, has to be seen, and felt in personal contact, to be appreciated.

Before the Conference convened, many throughout the field had grave apprehensions, lest grave obstacles should be met which would divide the sentiment of the workers, and so retard the precious message of truth. Those, however, who have been present in the meetings now greatly rejoice that the symptoms of such disturbance has abated, and delightful fellowship has become the prevailing condition.

This has not come through any human skill in diagnosing the case. The Great Physician has graciously bestowed His attention, in His ever-merciful way, to the healing of wounds that sin had made. This work has been largely carried on in the early morning meetings held by the ministers. In these the Lord has spoken through Sister White to correct wrong methods of policy and to reprove distracting theories. Those involved have responded, acknowledging the voice to be from heaven and pledging themselves to live in harmony with it.—Ibid., 305.

The Conference Moves to a Close

But Ellen White’s work was not done. There were yet six days of the session. On Thursday morning at nine o’clock she spoke to the students at the college. At the sermon hour on Friday morning, Elder W. W. Prescott gave a report on the work in England. She followed with an extended appeal for the work in London, on the Continent, and in large American cities such as New York.

On Sabbath, April 20, she spoke again in the Tabernacle, presumably at the morning worship hour. Her subject was “His Wonderful Love.” The sermon closed with the words: “At the last great day, if our characters are in harmony with the character of God, we shall be caught up to heaven to see the King in His beauty, there to sing the praise of our Creator through the ceaseless ages of eternity.”—Ibid., 426.

It was a busy and momentous time. Ellen White was weary. But she spoke again on Monday, April 22, presenting instruction [109] regarding school work. What a triumphant General Conference session it had been. How her heart was buoyed up with the thought of the hearty response to the messages that had been given.

But in some lines there was no response. This was particularly in regard to the attitudes of some who were leading out in institutional interests—the publishing house and the Sanitarium. How different the story of 1902, with its Battle Creek fires—first the Sanitarium and then the Review and Herald—would have been if all had heartily responded to the appeal for a consecrated work. How different if Dr. Kellogg had not resisted the appeals made. Ellen White was to write and speak of this on several later occasions. The chapter “What Might Have Been,” published in Testimonies, volume 8, was one such, although Dr. Kellogg is not mentioned by name.

The farewell service was held at three o’clock Tuesday afternoon. Many of the workers spoke; one who pressed in early was J. N. Loughborough, who was present when the General Conference was first organized in a three-day session in 1863. He observed, “When we have heeded the light that He [God] has given, the cause has gone straight every time; and the difficulties in the way have been when we have not strictly heeded the instruction that God has given .... I thank God for what I have seen here in this work of reorganization during this conference.”—Ibid., 460.

Ellen White spoke at length at this meeting. Among other remarks, she observed:

Wrongs—serious wrongs—have been committed in Battle Creek. I did not know how we would get along at this meeting. The Lord gave me instruction regarding this. I was referred to an incident in the life of the prophet Elisha.—Ibid., 463.

She recounted the appearance of the angels at Dothan, and then continued:

God presented this to me, and I did not know what it meant. I did not understand it. I pondered over it, and then, as the lesson was fulfilled, I began to grasp its meaning. I do not know that I would ever have seen the significance had it not been fulfilled right here.

Who do you suppose has been among us since this [110] conference began? Who has kept away the objectionable features that generally appear in such a meeting? Who has walked up and down the aisles of this Tabernacle? The God of heaven and His angels. And they did not come here to tear you in pieces, but to give you right and peaceable minds. They have been among us to work the works of God, to keep back the powers of darkness, that the work God designed should be done should not be hindered. The angels of God have been working among us....

We have been trying to organize the work on right lines. The Lord has sent His angels to minister unto us who are heirs of salvation, telling us how to carry the work forward....

I was never more astonished in my life than at the turn things have taken at this meeting. This is not our work. God has brought it about. Instruction regarding this was presented to me, but until the sum was worked out at this meeting, I could not comprehend this instruction. God’s angels have been walking up and down in this congregation. I want every one of you to remember this, and I want you to remember also that God has said that He will heal the wounds of His people.

Press together, press together. Let us be united in Christ.—Ibid., 463, 464.

By suppertime it was clear that more time was needed, so an evening meeting was arranged and the testimonies continued. In his closing remarks the newly chosen leader of the church’s worldwide work, A. G. Daniells, said:

“God has answered the thousands of prayers that have gone up to Him during the past six months, that this might be a conference of peace. God has answered those prayers in a signal manner. Praise His holy name. I sincerely pray that this harmony and union may continue forever.”—Ibid., 474.

And so the great General Conference session of 1901 came to a close as the Tabernacle clock struck the hour of ten, April 23. [111]

Chapter 8—The Extended Journey Home

Following the close of the General Conference session of 1901, Ellen White spent another full week in Battle Creek. She addressed the Sanitarium patients on Friday, April 26. She preached again in the Tabernacle the next morning. On Sunday night a vision was given to her concerning the course of action being followed by Dr. Kellogg. Her attention was called to the Battle Creek Sanitarium, particularly as it had to do with binding those who gained their training there with contracts that called for long periods of sacrificial service. She slept only an hour that night.

On Monday she went to visit Judge Arthur and his family. He was an attorney who gave his time largely to the work of the institutions in Battle Creek, but he was ill at home. When Ellen White called at his home, he sent to the school for his children to come so that they might be present for the visit. As she was engaged in prayer in the Arthur home, seeking God’s special blessing upon the judge and his family, she herself was greatly blessed. Of this she later wrote:

While praying at his bedside, the Lord came very near, and I was blessed indeed. After that I felt renewed, soul and body.... The peace of Christ filled my heart. I did not feel at all weary.—Letter 70, 1901.

A few days after this experience she said:

I feel as though I had been resting for a month. This is the Lord’s doing.— Ibid. [112]

Such an experience of healing and renewed strength was not a new one for Ellen White. From day to day she moved forward in faith, trusting wholly in the Lord. But what a joy it was to her and what confidence it brought to her when from her weariness and illness she was restored to health and was refreshed with new vigor to carry on her tasks. It was a miracle that was often repeated in her life.

In this refreshment she was ready to undertake her journey home to California—but not directly so. First she was asked to spend the following weekend in Indianapolis, where the entire church had been involved in the holy flesh fanaticism and where a special session of the Indiana Conference had been called to deal with the resignation of the president, Elder Donnell, and the entire conference committee. Elders Daniells, Jones, Prescott, and W. C. White were to be there. All members of the Indiana Conference committee had been involved in the holy flesh teachings.

Meetings began Friday night, May 3. Ellen White preached Sabbath morning. On Sunday morning she came to grips with the holy flesh teaching. She was pleased with the response of the people. That Sunday there was an election of a new president and of an entirely new conference committee. Elder Donnell retired for a time to a little farm and then later engaged in the ministry in other conferences. S. S. Davis, who had led out in the holy flesh teaching, first accepted the correction at Battle Creek, then repudiated his repentance and continued to hold his extreme views, which removed him from the church.

The denomination had been saved from fanaticism in a movement that had spread through one conference and was threatening to spread to other conferences. The workers in the main recovered themselves. Some of the church members, however, never did.

Before that Sunday meeting at Indianapolis an experience transpired that was to cause considerable perplexity to a few for a time. Mrs. White had clearly indicated in her dealing with the holy flesh movement that the workers should be divided up and scattered, which was assented to at the time. But on giving the matter second thought, Elder Donnell began to waver. He asked W. C. White whether he would arrange for an interview with Ellen [113] White early Sunday morning during the special conference session.

Willie had intended to convey this word to his mother the night before, but he became so involved in the work taking place there in Indianapolis that the matter was overlooked. So he hastened to Ellen White’s room early Sunday morning to arrange for this interview with her. She had been up since three-thirty and was completely engrossed in writing on another subject. When Willie told her Elder Donnell wanted to see her, she was puzzled. “What does he want?” she asked. “What can I say? Have not I borne my testimony?”—18 WCW, p. 182.

The partitions in the Sanitarium building where they were staying were not soundproof. Ellen White was growing deaf, and Willie White spoke in a firm, loud voice so that she could hear. The Sanitarium cook, who occupied the next room, overheard the conversation and slipped into her closet so she could take it all in better. She was amazed when she overheard W. C. White suggesting to his mother what she should say to Elder Donnell. Writing of it later, White reported:

In doing this I did not suggest to her any new thoughts. It was not my place to do so. I simply recalled to her mind things that she had formerly written and said regarding what these brethren ought to do.— Ibid.

But the curious cook in the closet did not realize that Ellen White had a difficult time switching the channel of her thoughts in an instant, and she formed another opinion of the situation. She kept her little secret until the Indiana camp meeting in Greenfield that September. Then she approached Elder Donnell and told him what she had heard. The former president was immediately thrown into confusion and began to question whether it might not have been Willie White who had engineered his surrender of the office and the condemnation of the holy flesh movement. It took some earnest work on the part of I. J. Hankins, the new president, to explain the situation—that W. C. White was not priming his mother as to what she should say, but, finding her mind on another subject, was merely reminding her of what she had said in the past that might be helpful to her as she would in a few minutes meet the perplexed ex-president. [114]

The journey from Indianapolis to her home in St. Helena, instead of taking only the normal four days, stretched to twenty-three, with visits to five sanitariums, two colleges, and participation in two camp meetings. The seven institutions had all been started while Ellen White was in Australia. Here was her schedule, which embodied twenty-three speaking appointments:

May 6,7

Des Moines, Iowa

Visit sanitarium

May 8, 9

Lincoln, Nebraska

Sanitarium and college

May 10, 11

Denver, Colorado

Sabbath speaking appointments

May 12-14

Boulder, Colorado

Sanitarium

May 15-22

Waitsburg, Washington

Rest and camp meeting

May 23

Walla Walla, Washington

Sanitarium and college

May 24-26

Portland, Oregon

Sanitarium and camp meeting

May 28

Arrive home at St. Helena

It was a full schedule. The travel was by train, much of it during the hours of the night. At one sanitarium she was introduced to the manager. Although she had never met him in person, he was no stranger to her. A few hours after meeting him, she wrote: “When I was introduced to you, I recognized your countenance as familiar. It came to me that things had been presented to me concerning you.”—Letter 156, 1901.

The communication is one of ten pages. [Note: When mention is made of numbers of pages in an E. G. White document, it is understood that these are double-spaced, typewritten pages of 250 to 300 words.] As she continued her opening paragraph, she stated:

A sadness came over me. You have been presented to me a man walking in a false show. You have capabilities, but they are not sanctified by the Spirit of God. You draw too much from the brackish fountain of self-sufficiency. With the best of opportunities, you have not made advancement in spiritual understanding. You have walked in the light of the sparks of your own kindling. I am instructed to say that you should not be superintendent or manager in any of our institutions.—Letter 156, 1901. [115]

In this and several other letters that followed in succeeding weeks, Ellen White opened up to this man the perils that threatened both his experience and the work in which he was engaged.

You are too free with young girls. This is your weakness. The fact that you are in danger of losing your soul because of carelessness in this respect should lead you to avoid even the appearance of evil in your association with young women. Sister---was so much drawn to you that her infatuation was noticeable. Her mind was dazed by your supposed scientific wisdom, which hurts the imagination of young, inexperienced people.— Ibid.

And then she made a suggestion:

If it is necessary for you to have a secretary, employ a young man instead of a young woman. Your employment of a young woman is a snare to you and to her and a reproach to the cause of God....

You have a wife.... It is your duty to show your wife special favors. Give her an opportunity to ride by your side, an opportunity to hear your opinions and appreciate your affection.— Ibid.

And in another communication she declared:

You inspire in the minds of young girls thoughts which spoil their usefulness and taint their spiritual perceptions.... The enemy would lead you to pervert the understanding of women, as he perverted the understanding of Eve, leading her to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.—Letter 87, 1901.

While on the train four days later, she again wrote to him, repeating some of the warnings sounded earlier and appealing to him to walk in the light.

Her main theme at another of the sanitariums was the importance of observing the principles of proper diet. It was here at the breakfast table that she rather strangely ordered every cooked dish on the menu. Now Ellen White was far from a gourmand, and she was not wasteful or extravagant. It would seem that this was her way of checking on the dietary program of the institution. In a [116] testimony written to the believers in that conference she declared, “You have been rebelling against health reform.”—Letter 177, 1901.

While she counseled against certain foods as being unhealthful, she hastened to say, “We have not come to the time when I can say that the use of milk and eggs should be wholly discontinued.”— Ibid.

At College View, Nebraska, she visited both the sanitarium and the new college that stood on the same campus. Her meetings held in the church exposed a rare insight into local situations. She called for harmony in the work and declared, “I am deeply pained as I see that things have been moving in a kind of systematic discord.”—Letter 97, 1901.

At Denver she found the church pastored by H. M. J. Richards, father of Radio Evangelist H. M. S. Richards. It was a racially mixed church and she made a strong appeal for financial support for the Southern Missionary Society in the South.

At Boulder, some thirty miles north of Denver, was another new sanitarium. Ellen White was not a stranger to Boulder, for some thirty years earlier she and her husband had spent several working vacations in Colorado, and at times stayed in a cottage not far from Boulder. The two days spent there in 1901 were devoted to meetings and to looking around and to writing.

One letter sent from Boulder was addressed to 24-year-old Clarence C. Crisler, Elder Daniells’ secretary. Crisler was a dedicated young man whom she met in Battle Creek. In conversation she learned that Clarence for some time had felt that he should connect with her work. The copying of letters and of helping to get the articles into shape for the papers had fallen primarily upon Maggie Hare. At the time she was Ellen White’s only copyist. She had asked the Lord to send her the one that He would choose to help in the important work she was doing. Now she was greatly relieved for she felt certain that in young Crisler the Lord had answered her prayer (Letter 65, 1901). She urged Clarence to join her in late June if at all possible.

The local Boulder-Denver train service failed to meet the needs of Ellen White and her party in getting them to the morning train in Denver for the journey to Waitsburg, Washington, where she was to attend camp meeting. So at 2:00 A.M. on Wednesday, Ellen White, [117] W. C. White, Sara McEnterfer, and Maggie Hare, with a young man to drive the team, clambered aboard a carriage and started on their drive—thirty miles—before breakfast, to Denver. They made the connection, but just barely.

The Waitsburg camp meeting was held some twenty miles northeast of Walla Walla. It was well attended, some of the people driving as far as three hundred miles by carriage to attend the meetings (Letter 97a, 1901).

At this camp meeting, held so soon after the General Conference session, there was considerable discussion among the workers concerning the development of the work in harmony with the steps taken in the reorganization of the General Conference. Elder A. T. Jones, a General Conference representative at that meeting, told the people that the General Conference now had no president, and that the State conferences should not have presidents. He declared that the office of union conference president would soon be abolished (16 WCW, p. 321). To support this position, he cited Ellen White’s counsel that we should have “no kings.”

W. C. White was not sure that “it was necessary to discard the name and title of president, as carried by the presiding officer of our conference.” Nor had Ellen White at any time suggested this. He declared:

I have not felt that the mere changing of a name would accomplish much for our people; and it has seemed to me that if the president understood that his work was to preside, if our people understood that it was his duty to preside rather than to act as a dictator, there is no great harm to come from the continuance of a title which seems businesslike and is generally understood.— Ibid., 322.

He commented favorably on his observation that Elder Daniells was affixing the term president to his name as he did business for the General Conference. As to A. T. Jones, his attitudes changed considerably when three weeks later he himself was elected president of the large California Conference.

Seven times Ellen White spoke to the people in Waitsburg, including one address through an interpreter to the German believers. This reminded her of her work in Europe. [118]

Taking a look at Walla Walla College, established while she was in Australia, she was pleased with the location. At the Portland camp meeting she filled a number of speaking appointments. When she finally reached home on Tuesday, May 28, she recorded that on the twenty-three-day journey home she had spoken twenty-three times and had traveled three thousand miles, and she recounted: “At every place I visited there was writing that must be done for that place.”—Letter 213, 1901. [119]

Chapter 9—In the Din of the Battle

Now back at home, Ellen White was weary. Her throat was sore and she could hardly speak. But it was good to be home again. She had been gone since late winter, and it was now early summer. As she looked at her Elmshaven farm, she found the grapevines had fruit setting heavily, but as to the prunes, there were two thousand trees and not a prune in sight! The fruit buds had been frozen in the April frost.

“‘Well,’” she said, “‘I thank God that it is not anything I have done that has brought this about.’” Then, always looking for a cheerful side even in calamity, she added, “‘I thank the Lord that we shall not have the trouble and care of gathering the prunes.’”—Letter 49, 1901.

This would have been her first prune crop, and this loss was one she would feel, but she said, “Let us not complain. Let there be no complaints in our mouth.... Talk not darkness; talk light.”— Ibid.

Ellen White was badly mistaken in her thought that she could hide away in a comfortable and convenient place and devote her unbroken attention to her writings and the issuance of her books. Her advancing years drove her to the conviction that this must be, but the needs of the cause as she observed things, and the enlightenment that visions imparted to her, led her into the field. The year 1901 is the story of these divided interests, with the demands of the field largely the winner. Not even with the General Conference session over was she able to turn immediately to her book work.

During the first night Ellen White spent in her home in three [120] months, she was given a vision. The subject matter: Dr. D. H. Kress, who had recently gone to Australia. In his extremes in dietary practices, he was suffering from what was diagnosed as pernicious anemia. In vision she saw his hands—as white as if he were a corpse.

“Do not go to extremes in regard to the health reform,” she wrote in the letter penned Wednesday morning. She counseled Dr. Kress to “get eggs of healthy fowls” and use them with unfermented grape juice. She declared, “This will supply that which is necessary to your system.” And she urged, “Do not for a moment suppose that it will not be right to do this.” Bringing the letter to a close, she wrote, “This that I now send you was opened distinctly before me last night.”—Letter 37, 1901. [Note: The dietetic instruction to Dr. Kress may be found in CDF, pp. 202-207, 366-367, and Medical Ministry, 286-289.]

The thirteen-page testimony reached Australia at a very critical time in the experience of Dr. Kress. He put the counsel into practice, his life was saved, and he spent nearly a half century more in dedicated medical service. Nor did he ever discard the special dietary prescription that he found most helpful.

The question of further camp meetings in the summer of 1901 was much in Ellen White’s mind. Elder Daniells urged her to attend the Eastern camp meetings. This is something she, with her husband, had done again and again twenty or thirty years before, but to Elder Daniells she wrote:

I have been absent from home for nearly four months, and have worked beyond my strength. My workers have been scattered, and Willie and I have given our undivided attention to the general work. Now we are trying to gather our forces.... Attending so many meetings has made a deep impression on me, and has revived many things in my mind. I have decided that the members of our churches need the matter I have for them. I shall not attend the camp meetings in the East.—Letter 65, 1901.

But she added, “If the Lord said, ‘Go,’ I would not hesitate a moment.”

She found many things to attend to at Elmshaven. There was an [121] eight-room office building under construction about thirty yards north of the home. Brother Druillard was in charge of the construction.

Coming through Oregon, her son William had negotiated for lumber for a home he was to build on the seven-acre tract his mother had given to him. It would be large enough to accommodate several families, so his wife and children would not be alone when he had to be on his many trips. He would begin building later in the summer.

Little Forays that Rested Mind and Body

Ellen White contrived to arrange affairs so that short, practical trips could be made that would rest her mind and body. Somehow, traveling by carriage did something for her that nothing else could. She was to attend the California camp meeting in Oakland in early June. As she planned to stay through the entire meeting, a home near the campground was rented for her use. She made the thirty-five-mile journey from St. Helena to Vallejo by carriage, for she felt she needed the relaxation and rest that she would thus gain. She continued the trip to Oakland by ferry and by train, but the carriage was brought on for her use during the camp meeting.

There was a trip to Healdsburg to see what needed to be done with her home there. It was only a few blocks from Healdsburg College, and she had kept it since its purchase in 1882. Now, with the securing of Elmshaven and the decision not to reside at Healdsburg, she must arrange to fix up the building and rent it till it could be sold. After it was refurbished, she would rent it to Alma McKibbin, who was writing Bible textbooks. The home would be occupied by Mrs. McKibbin, her mother, her grandmother, and her younger brother, Alonzo Baker.

Ellen White felt that she needed to spend the day in the open air and so made the thirty-five-mile trip by carriage, giving her heart and head an opportunity to rest. It was to be a full day, so they left Elmshaven at four o’clock in the morning. Sara McEnterfer and Maggie Hare were with her in the carriage, which was driven by a young man who wanted to journey to the college. About halfway they stopped by a brook and under the shade of a tree ate their breakfast.

Looking over the Healdsburg house, she decided what must be [122] done and made arrangements for the work. This included repapering the whole house and painting it inside and out. The $10 a month that Mrs. McKibbin would pay for rent would in time cover the expenses. In the next year or two, whenever she went to Healdsburg, she visited the home. It held many memories for her, and she loved it.

The first time Ellen White visited the home after Mrs. McKibbin moved in, she asked whether she might go out and look at the orchard. There was an acre and a half of fruit trees at the back of the home. Mrs. McKibbin observed that though Ellen White was a short, somewhat stout woman, “her step was very light.” She stepped “from the top of one furrow to another just like a bird.” She knew every tree there and remarked about the planting of this one and that one. She loved the orchard and the garden.

A large pine tree stood in the yard at the side of the house, a carpet of pine needles covering the ground around it. Looking down at the needles, Ellen White remarked, “‘Sister McKibbin, we will never see anything like that in the new earth. Nothing will ever fade there, there will be no death there.’”—DF 967, Alma McKibbin, “My Memories of Sister White,” February 15, 1956.

On the occasion of another visit she wanted to walk through the house. As they crossed the rather large enclosed back porch and passed the bathroom that opened into it, Ellen White said, “‘Sister McKibbin, away out here!’” and then commented, “‘But really it was a great convenience, after all.’”

To this Mrs. McKibbin replied, “‘I find it so, too.’”

Then Ellen White said, “‘I think, Sister McKibbin, I should like to go upstairs.’”

“‘Very well,’” her hostess replied, and led the way.

“‘You have put a handrail on,’” Ellen White noted as she ascended the rather steep stairs. “‘I should have had that when I lived here. It’s a great help in going up these stairs.’”

When they got to the head of the stairs, Mrs. McKibbin opened the door to the room on the southeast corner, and said, “‘Sister White, this is my room.’”

“‘Oh, is it?’” she said. “‘It was my room when I lived here; and you have your desk just where I had mine! The light is so good here.’” [123]

She crossed the room and leaned on the desk and paused in silence for a minute or two. Then she looked up and said, “‘It’s here that I finished Patriarchs and Prophets.’”

“‘Did you, Sister White?’” Mrs. McKibbin responded. As she was a writer of church school Bible textbooks one may understand her appraisal of the book as her favorite. “‘Now,’” she said, “‘it will be much more precious to me.’”— (Ibid.)

The room held a fireplace, as did three other rooms. “‘Do you use the fireplace?’” she asked. “‘No, Sister White, I cannot afford to use it. Fireplaces use too much wood.’”

By the gate was a big rose geranium. “‘Oh,’” Mrs. White said, turning to Willie, who was with her, “‘that rose geranium is still alive that was here when I lived here.’” Then addressing Mrs. McKibbin, she said, “‘May I have a leaf? You know, I love the fragrance of the rose geranium; and to think that it’s still here!’”

So Ellen White carried away with her a branch of the rose geranium. The next morning Miss McEnterfer found it under Sister White’s pillow (Ibid.).

But back to July, 1901. As to the therapeutic value of the trip to Healdsburg, she declared, “When we closed the journey I was feeling better than when I started.”—Letter 213, 1901.

Not long after this she thought up another “therapeutic” drive. This was in search of a cow for her son Willie. She and Sara, their carriage pulled by a young colt, started up Howell Mountain about ten o’clock one Wednesday morning. Optimistically, they had expected to return by lunchtime, so they had only some tarts and a few crackers along. The young horse went up the hill readily enough, but they found the drive down the other side of Howell Mountain into Pope Valley, where they would see the cow, to be very disagreeable.

When the women reached the valley, they sought a way home that would not involve going back down the steep grade they had ascended in the forenoon. They were told that there was a road that would take them fourteen miles to the Napa Valley and then on to St. Helena.

“We found a beautiful road,” wrote Ellen White, “and romantic enough. Had few hills to ascend, but the way seemed very long and we inquired and found the distance from Pope Valley was twenty [124] miles. We were in for it and we must go through.” That trip around by Berryessa Valley ran into the early evening.

Finally, when they reached St. Helena, Sara found a telephone and put through a call to Elmshaven. She knew everyone would be concerned, for Ellen White had gone on the trip because her head was “refusing” to work and her heart was paining her. The call came just in time, for the farm manager, Iram James, had a wagon all hitched up, ready to go look for the women.

Commenting on it, Ellen White said, “You would think by the joy expressed when we got home that we had been like the lost sheep, just found.”— Ibid. As to the cow, it seems to have been forgotten.

California Interests

August was a month that marked development in the work of the church on the Pacific Coast. The newly established Pacific Union Conference was getting well under way. On August 1, the first issue of the Pacific Union Recorder was published, and its first article, from the pen of Ellen G. White, was devoted to “True Missionary Work.” It fitted nicely in the journal’s department titled The Church. This first issue carried, as well, an explanation concerning the formation of the new union conference and presented its constitution.

It was also in August that the churches in the southern part of California, formerly part of the Statewide conference whose headquarters were in Oakland, were organized into their own local conference. This new Southern California Conference, comprising thirteen churches, had a membership of just about a thousand. Clarence Santee was elected president.

Sara McEnterfer and Maggie Hare accompanied Ellen White on the journey south to attend the Los Angeles camp meeting. W. C. White remained at St. Helena. Ellen White spoke several times in the large tent and, on August 14, was invited to attend an important counsel meeting. Of this she wrote:

This morning I was called into a committee meeting, to give the light the Lord had given me in regard to the sanitarium which is to be established in Los Angeles. Some of the brethren have held one view in regard to the way in which the work should be carried on, and some another. [125]

I gave them the light God had given me, and I think that now they will all work on right lines. I spoke for over an hour, presenting the necessity of blending together in medical missionary work. I had some very plain things to say.—Letter 113, 1901.

After she had spoken, she drove out to see a five-acre site the brethren were looking on as favorable for a sanitarium. The next day they visited Long Beach, checking on another site. She felt that there was too much fog there to make a good sanitarium location.

Concerning her entertainment in Los Angeles during the camp meeting, Ellen White wrote:

We were well located in Los Angeles. A brother who had just purchased a new house kindly gave it up for the use of myself and my workers. We were very thankful to be thus favored. And even now as I recollect their kindness, I feel like saying, “Thank you, my brother and sister.”— Letter 125, 1901.

On the return journey to her Elmshaven home she stopped in Oakland to attend two meetings of the Pacific Press board. She talked for an hour at each one of these meetings, “setting forth the importance of consecration to God’s work.” She had much to say regarding “the religious interest in the Pacific Press” (Letter 125, 1901).

After returning to her home, she wrote to the leaders in southern California concerning a vision in which she seemed to be participating in a meeting as important matters were considered:

We were in council, and the matter of locating the sanitarium at Long Beach was being discussed, when One of authority said, You will make a mistake if you select that place. It is not a favorable place for invalids. The winds are objectionable. Take time to make full investigation, and in no case locate the sanitarium in a place where the sea breeze blows as strongly as at Long Beach.—Letter 143, 1901.

And then to give emphasis to what she had just written, she declared: “This is light from the Lord.”

The matter of the establishment of sanitariums in southern California was one in which she would participate for the next decade and more. [126]

At Elmshaven, work on Education was moving slowly. Ellen White felt the urgency of her literary work, but before she could settle down to this, there was the three-week teachers’ institute opening at Healdsburg on Friday afternoon, August 23. Elementary church schools were just getting well under way, and this institute would be an important one. She pledged her presence. Sarah Peck, an educator on her staff, and W. C. accompanied her.

About forty people attended the institute, twenty-five of them church school teachers. Ellen White spoke frequently to the group. On the two Sabbaths she spoke in nearby churches, Santa Rosa and Petaluma. The Santa Rosa trip included a visit to the Lighter family, where she found Mrs. Lighter’s father, an aged cripple, desiring baptism. He was too feeble to go to either Healdsburg or Santa Rosa, so plans were formed for conducting the baptism by letting him down in a bathtub (Letter 126, 1901; Evangelism, 315).

Ellen White made a quick trip back to Elmshaven on Sunday afternoon, September 1, to attend to some important writing. Monday she worked from 2:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. A vision was given to her that night, and she was up on Tuesday morning at three o’clock, writing. She returned to Healdsburg that same morning (Letter 126, 1901).

Then at the close of the institute on Friday, September 13, they returned to Elmshaven. W. C. White reported that book work was about to begin again (17 WCW, p. 366). This embodied primarily work on Education and The Ministry of Healing. The records of the days reveal these activities:

Sabbath, September 21 Ellen G. White spoke in the sanitarium chapel.

Monday, September 23 An interview with J. N. Loughborough in regard to his going to Australia (Letter 195, 1901).

Wednesday, September 25 She found a letter under her door from A. G. Daniells at one o’clock as she arose and began her day’s work.

Thursday, September 26 At 1:00 A.M. she began a letter to Daniells declaring that the church was not ready to press the work in China and India. She explained: [127]

We first have a work to do at home. All our institutions—our sanitariums, publishing houses, and schools—are to reach a higher standard. Then the workers sent to foreign fields will reach a higher standard.—Testimonies for the Church 8:87.

That evening she retired at seven o’clock. But an hour later she arose to write concerning Rodney M., a student at Healdsburg College and son of one of the ministers. She wrote until midnight and then slept until 4:00 A.M. When she rose. Burdened with the case of the “Doctors S.” at the Sanitarium, she wrote a testimony to them.

In her eagerness to see the school year at Healdsburg start off in right lines, she drove over again for the opening of the college. Her address to the students and faculty “on the subject of Christian education” was encouraging. She dwelt especially on “the relation of students to each other and to their teachers” (Pacific Union Recorder, October 24, 1901).

She constantly carried a heavy burden on her heart for the spiritual condition in church institutions and for the men and women connected with them. Just at this time she had a particular concern for the publishing house in Battle Creek, and for the sanitarium on the hill just above her Elmshaven home.

Laboring for Two Misguided Physicians

On Friday, August 23, just before she went over to Healdsburg for the three-week teachers’ institute, there had rolled upon her heart a great longing to help the Drs. S., connected with the St. Helena Sanitarium. In vision she had been shown the peril of their course, one marked with indifference toward Bible study and an unusual interest in amusements. Worldly aspirations and a determination to rule seemed to mark their characters.

Before reaching America on her return from Australia, she was given instruction regarding conditions at the St. Helena Sanitarium. Now among other pressing tasks she must deal faithfully with these two leading workers. This case, in which several visions were involved and a number of most earnest testimonies written, extended over a period of months before the final breakthrough; it illustrates an important phase of her work. Dr. S., 36 years of age, was the medical superintendent and had been for most of the ten [128] years since he came to the institution. Mrs. S., also a physician, stood close by his side. The seven-page letter Ellen White addressed to Mrs. S. on that Friday, August 23, opened with the words:

My Dear Sister,

I have been alarmed for you, because you are not a practical Christian. Your salvation depends upon a change, not a spasmodic change, but an entire, lasting change of heart. You cannot be a child of God unless this change takes place.—Letter 117, 1901.

This letter was to be followed by others to the husband-and-wife doctor team—thirteen in all, in eight weeks. The opening lines of these communications, ranging from two to sixteen pages each, provide a glimpse of the concern the messenger of the Lord felt for those whose cases had been revealed to her and the labor on her part in bearing testimony to them. On August 24, she wrote again: “My Dear Sister: The past night has been one of labor, and it concerned you. I have words to speak to you.”—Letter 118, 1901. There were eight pages. On August 26 she wrote: “My Dear Sister: I am up at one o’clock, my soul filled with sorrow on your account.”—Letter 119, 1901.

Another written the same day to Dr. S, her husband, filled six pages. This letter referred to perils in their medical work. It was the introduction to further counsel she would give concerning their use of hypnosis in their practice. In this letter she wrote:

The physician is never to lead his patients to fix their attention on him. He is to teach them to grasp with the trembling hand of faith the outstretched hand of the Saviour. Then the mind will be illuminated with the light radiating from the Light of the world. The mind cure must be free from all human enchantment. It must not grovel to humanity but soar aloft to the spiritual, taking hold of the eternal.—Letter 120, 1901.

Two weeks later, on Thursday, September 12, she wrote from the Healdsburg Institute: “Dear Brother: I have said many things to you by letter, but I am so weighed down in your case that I must continue to write to you.”—Letter 121, 1901.

In the fifteen pages of this letter Ellen White entered more deeply into what she termed “a species of mind cure.” Speaking of the [129] vision that formed the basis of this letter, she declared:

In tones of earnest warning the words were spoken: Beware, beware where your feet are placed and your mind is carried. God has not appointed you this work. The theory of mind controlling mind is originated by Satan to introduce himself as the chief worker, to put human philosophy where divine philosophy should be.

No man or woman should exercise his or her will to control the senses or reason of another, so that the mind of the person is rendered passively subject to the will of the one who is exercising the control. This science may appear to be something beautiful, but it is a science which you are in no case to handle. If you do handle it, it will finally handle you.— Ibid. (Medical Ministry, 111-115).

In another communication to these same physicians Ellen White wrote:

In dealing with the science of mind cure, you have been eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God has forbidden you to touch. It is now high time for you to begin to look to Jesus, and by beholding His character become changed into the divine likeness. Cut away from yourselves everything that savors of hypnotism, the science by which satanic agencies work.—Letter 20, 1902; Selected Messages 2:350).

As an alternative she counseled these physicians: “The only safe and true mind cure covers much. The physician must educate the people to look from the human to the divine. He who has made man’s mind knows precisely what the mind needs.”—Letter 121, 1901.

Then there were letters of response, one from each of the husband-wife physician team.

This brought great relief to Ellen White, and it was with joy that she wrote:

Your letters have been received and carefully read. I will now write a few lines in reply. I thank you for writing; for your letters have taken a heavy weight off my heart. I greatly desire that you shall both so will and so do that God will be honored and [130] glorified by your service in the sanitarium.

I know that changes must be made, and we shall help you in every way possible. I felt like weeping when I read Sister S.’s letter. I thank the Lord, my sister, that you are resolved to open your heart to the Saviour. I would not speak one word to discourage you. I will try to help you in every way that I can.—Letter 123, 1901.

But as is true so many times, the battle was only partly won. Steps had been taken in the right direction, but it was revealed to Ellen White in vision that there was a great deal yet to be accomplished. She continued to write to these workers until thirteen letters had been sent. Through the winter she continued to carry the burden of this couple on her heart. One letter was written December 3, 1901. Then in February, 1902, there was another. It began:

My Dear Sister,

Do you know that you are spending your life for naught? If converted to the truth, you could be a help to your husband.... You are not building on the Rock of Ages, but are laying your foundation on the sand, and when the tempest beats on the house you are building, it will surely be swept away.—Letter 18, 1902.

It was this letter that brought the response for which Ellen White was hoping and praying. On March 2, Sister S. sat down and penned these words to Ellen White:

Dear Sister White,

I feel that some word of explanation and gratitude is due you from me, after your many messages of warning and reproof, especially those received yesterday morning.

I wish I had language to express to you just how I have felt over these things. I have not thought myself indifferent to your words, only puzzled and unable to apply all of them to my case. It may be that, as you say, it has simply been that I have stubbornly turned from what might have proved life and salvation.

I will not take your time to tell you of what parts of your messages I could not understand. I feel sure now that, had I [131] accepted and lived up to what I could understand, in time I should have been enabled to understand all.

I am by no means blind to certain of my faults, though entirely incapable, no doubt, of seeing them in their true light. For some weeks I have been studying and praying that God would reveal Himself to me and enable me to see my true needs. And I really felt glad when your letters came yesterday. It seemed to me that they had come in direct answer to prayer, feeble though it was.

I am fully determined now, by earnest prayer and studying God’s Word, to learn what is duty, and to perform it. I realize that this will be no easy task, and that only by constant vigilance shall I be enabled to have God’s blessing dwelling in the heart. But I am fully determined in purpose, and I am glad that the struggle will be only one day at a time.

I am greatly grieved as I look back over my worse than misspent life. I can see, in some measure at least, how I have been to blame for many of the failures in our work at St. Helena.... I believe we have needed just the experience through which we have passed, to teach us our true condition. I am only too grateful that even through these troubled experiences, God has brought us to as much of a knowledge of our own need as we possess.

I am anxious to do or to be anything that the Lord will have me, so that I may have a close and abiding connection with Him. I have at times known His blessing, but never for long. Yesterday I spent the most of the day in seeking God, and He specially blessed me. For all this I am truly thankful. It is wonderful how ready He is to bless me after all my perversity....

So far as I know, we have no reservations, but are willing to do whatever is best and pleasing to God.

Very gratefully,

Dr. S.

What rejoicing Sister S.’s letter brought to Ellen White, and she could not refrain from an early reply:

Dear Sister S.,

I have just read your letter. I need not say that I am very glad that you are making use of your will to break the [132] power of Satan, that you may be his slave no longer. I thank the Lord for this movement in the right direction. I shall pray for you and unite with you in drawing near to Christ Jesus.—Letter 30, 1902.

In the five pages of this letter Ellen White discussed her Lord, His cross and what it means to the human family, and the importance of the study of the Word of God in the development of Christian life. And then she wrote:

In your character building you must work in union with your heavenly Father, your will conformed to His will. We are to work in union with Him “who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Then why should we doubt Him? Do not stop, my sister, with a work half done.

Do not stop before receiving a new and sanctified nature, in which will appear the fruits of righteousness. Those who stop short of this are Christians only in name. Make diligent work for eternity. Take hold with your husband, walking and working in all humility, and you shall receive grace for grace.— Ibid.

A few weeks later the husband wrote to Ellen White in appreciation and reported that his wife had been rebaptized.

This is the picture of Ellen White’s care for individual cases. However, she was eager to get on with the book work that awaited her attention. She now had a good staff: Sara McEnterfer was her personal secretary, nurse, and traveling companion; Marian Davis, Clarence Crisler, Sarah Peck, and Maggie Hare composed her secretarial force; Mrs. M. J. Nelson was cook; Iram James managed the farm; Mrs. N. H. Druillard was her accountant; and Mr. Druillard the builder. W. C. White gave general supervision and served Ellen White and the General Conference in varied capacities.

The new eight-room office was now in use.

On October 26, Ellen White wrote, “I shall now remain at home for a time, to do the work on my books which has been so long neglected.”—Letter 153, 1901. Her hope would not be realized. Within two weeks she was on the train to New York City to meet a critical situation there! [133]

Chapter 10—The Precarious Winter Trip to New York

The evangelization of the great cities of the world was a matter of deep concern to Ellen White, and high on the list was New York City. Her return to the United States in late 1900 intensified this interest. For several winters an evangelist, E. E. Franke, had conducted meetings in New York City with considerable success. He “could, as one of his converts testified, ‘present all the Seventh-day Adventist doctrines in a finer and more convincing way than he had ever heard them presented’” (Ella Robinson, S.N. Haskell, Man of Action, p. 194).

But Elder Franke also had some weaknesses. He took great pride in extolling E. E. Franke’s talents and abilities. He advertised rather lavishly, and sometimes spectacularly. He hired non-Adventist choirs as an attraction to draw crowds. But with his church members he was often abrasive and harsh, and on the least pretense would disfellowship any who disagreed with him.

In November, 1900, Elder S. N. Haskell was asked to spend some time in New York City to strengthen the work. He and his wife worked there for nearly two months. In temperament and experience Haskell and Franke were entirely different. Haskell was a solid New Englander, deliberate, extremely economical, and calm. He and his wife believed in personally contacting the people, visiting them in their homes, studying the Bible with them, bringing them into the church in a strong, solid way.

Soon there were rather bitter conflicts between the two evangelists. In late December, Haskell felt he must withdraw and spend some time in regaining his physical forces. Shortly after this, [134] Elder Franke was called to work in Trenton, New Jersey. Then in midsummer, 1901, Elder and Mrs. Haskell were requested to settle in New York City and make it their field of labor.

Characteristic of their methods, the Haskells began an evangelistic city mission. For this work they rented an apartment on the sixth floor of a good building, well situated, on West 57th Street. They drew around them a group of Bible instructors and colporteurs and opened the way for laymen in New York who could devote some time to the work of the Lord to come and help. The mornings were spent in instruction and the afternoons in house-to-house missionary endeavor. As interests developed, Haskell was successful in securing the Metropolitan Lyceum on 59th Street, in which he planned to conduct a series of Bible lectures. Elders John Brunson and Luther Warren, young ministers called to work in New York, joined Haskell in the presentation of the message in the evening meetings.

Then, quite unexpected to them all, they learned that Elder E. E. Franke would return to New York City to conduct evangelistic meetings through the fall and early winter of 1901. They learned that he planned to hold Sunday-night meetings in Carnegie Hall, only a few blocks from the Metropolitan Lyceum. Elder Haskell feared such a program would interfere with his own efforts. Both men apparently forgot that there is more than one right way to accomplish a task, and in view of the tremendous needs of New York City, many methods of approach and many types of talent were needed.

Letters from Haskell to Ellen White in October revealed the differences and conflicts, and greatly perturbed her. She wrote several letters to Elder Franke during this period, reproving him on many points, encouraging him on others. It was clear that he was very weak in instructing his converts concerning spiritual gifts, and he had little use for health reform (Evangelism, 663-665). When it was announced that he would begin his meetings in Carnegie Hall on the first Sunday in November, there was considerable distress. Ellen White had declared that “according to the light given her we [the brethren] ought not to encourage Elder Franke to return to labor in New York City” (17 WCW p. 425).

But Franke had already secured his hall and had paid the rent. [135] He had advertised in different papers and had distributed ten thousand advertising cards. He had made arrangements for music and other matters (E. E. Franke to EGW, October 25, 1901).

Apparently there were some misunderstandings and perhaps poor communication. On October 31, Ellen White wrote to Elder Franke:

I feel extremely sorry that matters have assumed the shape they have. Why did you not sit down with Elder Haskell and tell him all your plans? Why did you not come to some understanding? ... I am much interested in New York. There is abundant room for you both. Commence your labors in some other part of the city, farther away than within a few blocks of where another hall has been hired for meetings.... You can reach a class that Elder Haskell cannot reach.—Letter 157, 1901.

And on the same day to Elder Haskell she wrote:

I am troubled in mind. Last night matters were urged upon me that have made me afraid that we may fail to recognize that Brother Franke has talents which are needed in our cities. I feel afraid that we have not encouraged him as we should. We do not all have the same gifts.—Letter 158, 1901.

And then she counseled:

Elder Franke needs to be helped in the right way. There is no need of your getting in each other’s way, even though you both labor in New York City. It is not necessary for Elder Franke to interfere with your line of work. Is there not abundance to do in that great, wicked city?— Ibid.

Referring again to the vision, she recalled:

The word was spoken regarding Elder Franke, “Forbid him not. I have given him a work to do. Varied gifts must be brought into exercise to break the terrible spell that is upon the people.”— Ibid.

She penned several communications indicating that God had given her light that Elder Franke was not to be restricted in his work. On the other hand, a good deal of counsel was given as to the [136] conduct of his evangelistic meetings and his relationship to his brethren and to the church.

Ellen White Agonizes to Know God’s Will

With the burden of New York City building in her heart and mind, Ellen White was perplexed to know what course she should follow. Somehow she felt if she could only be in New York she could help to smooth matters out and open the way for a strong coordinated evangelistic thrust in that city. On Sunday, November 3, she addressed a letter to Elder Haskell in which she wrote of the needs of New York City:

There is a vast amount of work to be done in proclaiming the truth for this time to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Most startling messages will be borne by men of God’s appointment, messages of a character to warn the people, to arouse them....

Messages will be given out of the usual order. The judgments of God are in the land. While city missions must be established where colporteurs, Bible workers, and practical medical missionaries may be trained to reach certain classes, we must also have, in our cities, consecrated evangelists through whom a message is to be borne so decidedly as to startle the hearers.—Testimonies for the Church 9:137.

She was careful in this letter to point out the unity that must exist in a diversity of talents held by the workers (Ibid., 9:144-146). She called for them to unite in a harmonious effort.

Three times in as many weeks she had decided that she must go to New York City. Three times she had turned away from it, feeling that her work on her books required her to remain in California. But on Tuesday, November 5, she decided to go. Writing to the men leading in the schoolwork at Berrien Springs, Professors Sutherland and Magan, she declared:

I shall probably see you soon, for after a week of conviction, I have decided to leave for the East. By my former decision not to leave home I came to a crisis in my experience and I will leave for New York City tomorrow morning, if the Lord will. And this seems to me to be His will.—Letter 161, 1901. [137]

The expressions in this statement bring us again to the point of the personal responsibility of Ellen White in making decisions as to the course she should pursue in the conduct of her work, especially in the absence of any direct instruction from the Lord.

Never was there any question as to the message that she should give. Nor was there any question as to what she should do when the Lord clearly indicated the course that she must follow. This was evidenced in her letter to Elder Daniells concerning her responsibility to attend camp meetings in the summer of 1901, at which time she wrote: “If the Lord said, ‘Go,’ I would not hesitate a moment.”—Letter 65, 1901.

But in judging the course of action that she should pursue, she watched for God’s opening providences. She was influenced by the burden of her own heart, and she counseled with her brethren. While considering the matter of attending the General Conference session in Battle Creek, in due time she had the clear assurance that she should attend, and she acted accordingly. Now it seemed to her in this instance that she should make a hurried trip to New York.

As she counseled with Sara McEnterfer, she was advised not to go. A letter from Willie gave her no encouragement. As she counseled with Brother and Sister Druillard they said little, but thought that she should go. She wrote W. C. White, who had gone to Battle Creek to attend an important General Conference Executive Committee Meeting:

I think I have a duty to go to New York City. There is a testimony I have to bear there.—Letter 224, 1901.

I have never borne my testimony in New York City, but have had an impression I should do this.... I am burdened with the outlook, and I think I shall without further delay go to the city of New York.... I could help them if God gives me a message to go....

It may be my last chance to speak to them in New York and if there could be unity brought about among the Sabbathkeepers who are now standing one apart from the others, I should have done a good work in the strength the Lord will give me.... I think I shall start this evening for Oakland.... It is now half past two o’clock A.M.... May the Lord guide me is my most [138] earnest prayer. Lord, help! Lord, help! is going forth from my mind constantly.— Ibid.

As will be seen before the story is finished, she herself soon had some occasion to question whether she moved in the line of duty.

Off to New York

So, with a telegram sent to W. C. White to meet her in Chicago on Sunday morning, November 10, Ellen White with Sara McEnterfer went to Oakland, where they could catch the transcontinental train.

Thursday morning, November 7, they left fog-shrouded California bound for New York City. By eleven that morning the weather had cleared, and that night she slept longer than she had any time during the previous year. The decision to go to New York had been an agonizing one, and having made it, she was greatly relieved.

The next day as the train clicked past the Great Salt Lake and she looked out on miles and miles of sagebrush and dry sandy plains, her heart was at rest. She was quite sure she was doing the right thing. She wrote to the folks at home:

I am well, and am resting. My heart is drawn out in prayer to God, that He will give me a fitness by His Holy Spirit for the work before me.... I shall not be left to confusion while I put my trust in Him. I praise His holy name. I feel that I am indeed in the line of duty, that the Lord is guiding me.—Letter 174, 1901.

The next two days of travel were not too pleasant, but on Sunday morning at nine-thirty they were met at the Chicago station by W. C. White, along with Elder A. G. Daniells, Homer Salisbury, and Alan Moon. Salisbury had been planning to go to England. In a hurried and brief conference they discussed these plans. And then, with Willie joining the party, they caught the next train out to New York City (Letter 183, 1901).

Monday morning the White party was in New York at Elder Haskell’s city mission and Bible training school. It was situated at 400 West 57th Street, a couple of blocks from the southern end of Central Park. Fortunately there was an elevator in the apartment building to take them up the six stories to the room occupied by the city mission family. [139]

Monday and Tuesday were spent in discussion with Stephen and Hetty Haskell about their work. Ellen White joined in the daily round of activities at the school—up at six, Bible study at six-thirty to seven-thirty, breakfast, classes through the morning, et cetera.

On Wednesday there were interviews with Elder Franke and his wife and a visit to Elder J. E. Jayne, the conference president. On Thursday she and Willie took the streetcar over to Brooklyn to see the vegetarian restaurant on the corner of Fulton and Cranberry streets and to pay a visit to George A. King and Carl Rasmussen, who operated the restaurant. The families of both men lived above the restaurant.

The Rasmussens had several children and a sister-in-law living with them. The latter had lived in Battle Creek years before and had met Ellen White there. She had thoroughly prepared her nephews, the Rasmussen boys, to dread the visit of the prophet. Her philosophy was that it was a sin for children to play with toys or laugh, and claimed that Sister White backed up her cheerless views.

The boys were amazed when Ellen White on meeting them, turned to her son and asked, “Willie, where are those things for the boys?” Willie produced two packages, each containing a toy train. The boys were delighted, and no doubt were careful to display them for their aunt’s benefit! Ellen and Willie enjoyed a good meal at the Rasmussens’ and Kings’, topped off with one of Mrs. Rasmussen’s Danish Christmas cakes, which Willie enjoyed so much that he asked for the recipe. He spiced the meal with a few interesting and humorous stories. At first the Rasmussen boys were afraid to laugh, but when they saw Ellen White smile and heard Elder White laugh at his own stories, they soon joined in. Sister White had no objection to a little sensible humor. Loud, hilarious laughter she detested.

The several churches in the New York area joined on the weekend in the mass meeting in Elder Haskell’s 59th Street Hall. The hall was packed, and Ellen White spoke to about seven hundred on Christ’s prayer for unity as set forth in John 17. At a later meeting she spoke there again to an audience of about the same size comprised of many non-Adventists. Her text was the first chapter of Second Peter and she spoke on a favorite subject,“Peter’s Ladder.” Looking back on the experience, she noted that the meetings were a “grand success” (Letter 183, 1901). [140]

The following Sabbath Ellen White made a three-hour trip by boat and train to Trenton, New Jersey, to speak to Elder Franke’s church. She witnessed a baptism in the morning at the Delaware River and was favorably impressed. She wrote:

I was much pleased with the neat, plain robes that were worn, prepared for men and women; and the administrator also had a becoming garment, a surplice that covered the rubber baptismal suit, which was everything it should be.— Ibid.

In the afternoon she climbed a long flight of stairs to reach the hall where the Trenton members worshiped. Between two hundred and three hundred people were present, some baptized, some anticipating baptism, and some interested. The rather phenomenal response to Franke’s evangelistic preaching seemed to augur a new day in city evangelism. Trenton, she maintained, should have a “plain, neat, substantial meeting house” (Manuscript 127, 1901). She wrote:

The Lord gave me my work on the Sabbath, to present the fourteenth chapter of John.... The blessing of the Lord attended the word spoken. Many testimonies of courage and of faith and hope were borne.—Letter 183, 1901.

By the time the meeting was over, night had come and rain was falling. It had been a happy and busy day, but the speaking in the crowded, stuffy room was soon to take its toll.

Sunday evening she spoke again in New York, her last appointment there. The discussions that took place while she was in New York City seemed to ease the tensions. What she observed broadened her concept of what might be done in the large metropolitan areas. She called for the purchase of a hall where the people in New York and the surrounding areas could be called together. As she closed her work, she left this admonition:

The mission established in New York by Elder Haskell must be sustained.

Elder Haskell must be assisted to locate himself and his workers in a more retired place.... Elder Haskell’s strength must not be drawn on too heavily. He needs more prayer and [141] less criticism. Let those who in the past have cherished the spirit of criticism take themselves in hand, and keep careful watch over every thought and word.—Manuscript 127, 1901.

And to Elder Franke, she added:

I have been asked, “Shall Elder Franke take up the work in the various cities, as invited?”

I answer, “Leave this matter with the Lord. Let Elder Franke follow his best judgment.”

From the light God has given, it seems that now is the time to plan for work in Greater New York. When wise plans have been laid for this work, let these plans be decidedly and thoroughly carried out. God has a people in New York City.

We say to Elder Franke, Do all in your power to reach the people of New York, and let all who can sustain you in the work.... For Christ’s sake, Elder Franke, lift the standard of the cross. Seek to diffuse light to those who are in darkness. In the name of the Lord, go forward.— Ibid.

Attending Union Conference Sessions

With her work finished in New York City Ellen White, with Sara McEnterfer, journeyed to South Lancaster and on Tuesday, November 26, her seventy-fourth birthday, she settled into a room in the newly established South Lancaster Sanitarium, only a short distance from the school. The newly organized union conferences were beginning to hold their initial sessions. Ellen White was to spend two weeks there, with much of the time devoted to the first session of the Eastern Union Conference.

As she was coming down with a cold, she and Sara felt it was fortunate that she could stay in the Sanitarium. Her room was comfortable and she could have the advantage of the care she needed, with the institution’s hydrotherapy facilities near at hand.

Regarding the meetings, she wrote:

We have had a very important meeting at this place. I am not well, and so have spoken only three times. I spoke Friday morning, Sabbath morning, and Sunday afternoon. Dr. Kellogg also spoke Sunday afternoon. He spoke well. The congregations [142] at the meetings have been large.—Letter 178a, 1901.

Shortly after her arrival she made reference in her journal to a vision given to her in reference to Dr. Kellogg and the dangers that threatened his experience. She expressed the hope of seeing him face to face so she could discuss some of these matters with him. Perhaps she had such an opportunity at South Lancaster, though as her physical condition worsened, she had to refrain from interviews.

On Monday night, December 2, rain began to fall; by Tuesday noon it turned to snow and the thermometer plunged to -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Ellen White probably slept with her window partially open as usual because the next morning the water in the washbowl and pitcher were frozen. Her false teeth were frozen in a solid mass of ice and even her ink had congealed (Letter 184, 1901). But of the snow, she said: “This is a sight I have not seen for eleven years.”—Letter 178a, 1901.

At the Sanitarium Ellen White’s health was at a low ebb. Sara reported that she was so weak that when she fell asleep she hardly had energy to wake up again. Several times her breathing seemed to stop. Friday marked a turn for the better. By now the snow was two feet deep. As she looked out the window of her room, she saw sleighs flying briskly over the snow and noted the world around her clothed in its pure vestment of white. “Whiter than the snow,” she pondered. This was how God had “promised to make all who shall come to Him with broken hearts, and contrite spirits” (Letter 184, 1901).

I have been having a severe test of my faith. Over doing is not profitable. I have been shorn of my strength, quite feeble, nearly voiceless, too weak to see or converse with anyone except it was positively essential. I have not dared to go from the rooms assigned me in the sanitarium, dared not to go home to California, which I so much desired to do in my weakness.— Ibid.

On the next Thursday, December 12, she seemed to have recovered enough to start the journey for Nashville and home. She had to drop from her planning a much desired visit to Battle Creek and the new college at Berrien Springs. She was carried to the train, [143] and at 2:30 Friday morning the party arrived in Nashville. Edson met them and took them by carriage to the new office of the Southern Publishing Association, which was under construction. She was no worse than when she left South Lancaster, but no better. After a day or two of rather pleasant weather, it turned cold. Sara urged her to head for California and home immediately. This Ellen White refused to do, saying that she intended to attend the upcoming meeting of the Southern Union Conference, even if she should die there (18 WCW, p. 134).

W. C. White commented: I look for her to regain strength, and return to her home in good courage.— Ibid.

The union conference session was to be held from Friday, January 3, to Sunday, January 12. In the three weeks before the session, W. C. White visited nearby institutions, including the school at Graysville and the college for black students at Huntsville, Alabama. The weather tempered as December wore on. Ellen White’s health improved from day to day, and she was able to go out for a carriage ride each day.

The first Sabbath of the Southern Union Conference session Ellen White was strong enough to speak for about thirty-five minutes in the SPA chapel. The audience was attended by both blacks and whites, the blacks sitting on one side of the room and the whites on the other side. But on Sunday she suffered a relapse and was unable to speak again, though she much wanted to (Letter 3, 1902).

Elder George I. Butler and his sister Aurora Lockwood, who had come from Florida, were there, and Ellen White enjoyed meeting them again. They reminisced together, recalling their past experiences in the work of God. This took them back thirty-five years. Still not recovered, she invited Butler and other pioneer workers at the meeting to come to her room and have special prayer and anointing, that she might be healed. She reported the experience:

We had a precious season of prayer together.... My soul was all light in the Lord. A heavenly fragrance seemed to surround me. I was not healed, but I was given the comforting assurance [144] that the Lord’s presence would be with me. It is not possible for me to describe the peace I felt.—Letter 11, 1902.

And in her diary she wrote:

I am sure those present must have felt the deep influence of the Holy Spirit. I felt that the canopy of God was over me. I could say fully, Whether I live or die it is well, it is well, with my soul. My life is hid with Christ in God.—Manuscript 220, 1902.

The Journey Home

Sunday evening, January 12, just after the session closed, the White party was on their way to California via Chicago.

Monday morning in Chicago, Ellen White had her first ride in an automobile. H. W. Kellogg, formerly manager of the Review and Herald, and now connected with the manufacturing of the W. O. Worth automobile, arranged to have one of these cars there to take the traveling party to the Sanitarium downtown. A wheelchair had been brought to help move Mrs. White from the train to the car and from the car to the sanitarium. To Edson and Emma she reported: “I could not have been treated more kindly by my sons than I was by these young men.”—Letter 22, 1902. She described the automobile as a “covered carriage, shaped like a streetcar”(Letter 11, 1902). She lay down on one of the seats that ran along each side.

She was exhausted when they reached the Sanitarium at 28 33d Place, and 33-year-old Dr. David Paulson treated her very gently. But his feelings about her venturing out on such a journey were much less gentle. Ellen White was to write of it to Edson and Emma after reaching home:

Dr. Paulson was very tender of me, and gave me an earnest scolding for leaving California at this time of the year. I took it, thinking I might deserve it. He told the truth from his standpoint and perhaps from my own. He was thoroughly indignant to think that the brethren had had no more mercy on me.

“Why,” he said, “I wonder that you are alive. We have too much interest in you and your work to want to bury you. We want your life to be spared.” He was certainly very much aroused as he saw my feebleness. He talked as if he could not be [145] reconciled to what I had done. I told him that I might have made a mistake.

“Yes,” he said, “I am sure of it. You will lose your life if you venture to travel at this season of the year. Circumstances will occur that you cannot control. The Lord wants no such presumptuous movements. Your life is too precious to be thrown away in this manner.”—Letter 22, 1902.

And a few weeks later, after reflecting on Paulson’s “most decided scolding,” she wrote to Elder Butler:

But I dare not say it was a mistake [to go to New York in midwinter]. I leave it all with the Lord. Certainly, I should not have gone to New York had I seen the end from the beginning. But I did not, and therefore I went, in response to the call of Elder Haskell, and in obedience, I thought, to the impression of the Spirit of God.—Letter 27, 1902.

At Oakland, C. H. Jones met the travelers and took them by streetcar to his home for the night. While on the tram Ellen White brought up the subject of a call to Jones to go to Battle Creek to manage the publishing house there. That matter had been discussed with her in the East. She saw no light in the proposal. At breakfast she brought up the subject again, and Jones showed her his letter turning down the invitation. She nodded her approval and then in sad, yet yearning, tones repeated the words of Christ appearing in Matthew 11:21: “‘Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.’”

A hush fell over the group around the table. What did it mean? When the guests had left for St. Helena and Jones went to the office, he called his secretary and dictated a letter addressed to Elder Daniells, recounting the incident in the light of the call for him to go to Battle Creek:

I am afraid that city is doomed so far as our work is concerned. There are other things that Sister White said in regard to the work in Battle Creek which I do not feel free to mention, but I am really alarmed at the situation. There still [146] seems to be a desire on the part of some, at least, to centralize everything at Battle Creek.—C. H. Jones to AGD, January 17, 1902.

On the journey West, Ellen White was unable to eat much, and this was so for a week after she arrived home. Then suddenly her appetite returned and she became insatiably hungry. “I am like a fever patient who has been half starved,” she declared. “I feel hungry, hungry.”—Letter 8, 1902.

On days when the weather permitted, she rode out in her carriage. It was not until mid-March that she was able to venture to speak in public and to take up her work in a normal fashion again.

In the story of the trip to New York Ellen White related to the leading of God’s Spirit, probing His opening providences, weighing the impressions, as would any dedicated child of Christ. She felt she should go to New York, but she admitted that it might have been a mistake. She would have to leave it with the Lord. For her own part, she thought she had followed the Spirit’s leading. She was grateful that her life had been spared.

Was her experience much different from that of the apostle Paul when, on arriving at Jerusalem, he felt it was his duty to follow the counsel of his brethren and entered upon certain purification services at the Temple that led to his arrest and imprisonment? Such experiences make it clear that God’s prophets, while decidedly and unquestionably led of God in the messages that they bore and the counsel and instruction that they gave, were not in each activity of everyday life and work specifically commanded of God. In the absence of special light from heaven, they must reach out by faith and in trust seek God’s guidance and direction, and move in harmony with the tokens that they feel indicate His guidance.

And now what of the future and all the work Ellen White saw before her? Ten days after reaching home she pledged:

I have suffered much, but my life is spared. I thank the Lord for this; for I have much to do. I shall be very careful of my strength.—Letter 11, 1902.

A few days later she thanked the Lord that she could continue to write, but she was unable to use her voice. She recalled that even while she was so sick in Nashville, her head was clear and she could write. [147]

It was with rejoicing that on March 18 she was able to pray aloud at family worship. And she could walk again. She exclaimed, “I rejoice to think that I may hope to be once more as well as I was before I went to New York.”—Letter 41, 1902.

Shortly after this she tested her voice by speaking Sabbath morning in the little Calistoga church. By mid-April, after speaking twice in Calistoga, testing her strength and physical ability, she accepted an invitation to speak in the Sanitarium Church. She had made a full comeback. Solemnly she declared: “The burden of my book work must not again be laid down as it has been.”—Letter 21, 1902. [148]

Chapter 11—The Battle Creek Sanitarium Fire

Had the word that came over the telegraph wires and reached Elmshaven Tuesday morning, February 18, 1902, carried the word that the Review and Herald Publishing House had been destroyed by fire, Ellen White would not have been surprised. Five months earlier she had written to its managers a message that was read to the board:

I have been almost afraid to open the Review, fearing to see that God has cleansed the publishing house by fire.—Letter 138, 1901; Testimonies for the Church 8:91).

But the message that came that rainy morning was that the two main Sanitarium buildings in Battle Creek had just burned to the ground. The first report of the disaster W. C. White refused to believe. But the second report bore evidence of authenticity, and in a letter he explained his feelings: “I join with all our people in mourning at this great loss to us as a people, and to the world” (18 WCW, p. 425).

Ellen White reached for her pen and somewhat in agony noted:

I would at this time speak words of wisdom, but what can I say? We are afflicted with those whose life interests are bound up in this institution. Let us pray that this calamity shall work together for good to those who must feel it very deeply. We can indeed weep with those who weep.—Manuscript 76, 1903.

She was one who could weep. It was the message given to her by God on Christmas Day thirty-six years earlier that led to the [149] establishment of this institution in Battle Creek in August, 1866.

After signing her name to the pledge list to help get the institution started, she wrote $500. Down through the years she had been very close to the Sanitarium and those who worked there. She was a member of the constituency. Why was it, she was led to ask, that this institution, which had been such a great means for good, should suffer such loss? And as her pen traced the words, page after page, she wrote:

I am instructed to say, Let no one attempt to give a reason for the burning of the institution that we have so highly appreciated. Let no one attempt to say why this calamity was permitted to come. Let everyone examine his own course of action. Let everyone ask himself whether he is meeting the standard that God has placed before him.... Let no one try to explain this mysterious providence. Let us thank God that there was not a great loss of life. In this we see God’s merciful hand.— Ibid.

What she wrote on the day of the fire and the few days following showed that she would encourage attitudes that would not impede a work that had proved to be such an effective part of the work of the church. Anxiously the staff at Elmshaven waited for word presenting in detail just what had happened. This in some larger features came in the West Coast newspapers and then in more detail in letters and in the next issue of the Review and Herald:

It was a winter night, with snow quite deep on the ground. The Sanitarium had been ever gaining in popularity, and its main buildings were filled to capacity. Its guest list carried names of business and government leaders. Only a skeleton staff was on duty at four o’clock that Tuesday morning when the fire broke out in the basement of the main Sanitarium building, just beneath the treatment rooms. The two main alarms in the building were set off as well as the nearest city fire-alarm box. Equipment from Battle Creek and nearby cities hurried to fight the blaze. But spreading through the ventilating and elevator shafts, the flames soon enveloped the building, making it clear that it could not be saved.

The nurses and other staff members swung into their practiced fire-evacuation plan, taking first the fifty patients who were unable to get out of their beds, then assisting women and children to safety. [150] Ambulatory patients made good use of fire escapes. With the special blessing of God every patient was cleared from the building. This was made certain as physicians and nurses, wet towels about their heads, felt their way through the dense smoke to recheck the rooms and corridors. As the insurance inspector looked over the situation a few days after the fire, he declared: “Nothing but divine power could have assisted those nurses and doctors to do as they did in getting the people out.”—DF 45a, S. H. Lane to AGD, February 28, 1902.

But one man did lose his life. It was “old man Case,” an eccentric patient in his late 80s, who, not trusting the banks, always carried his treasure with him in a satchel—“all the way from one to five thousand dollars” (Ibid.). He, his wife, and daughter were led to a place of safety, and then unnoticed, he must have gone back into the building to retrieve his satchel with its treasure. He never came out.

The fire from the main Sanitarium building soon spread across the street to the hospital, a five-story structure. Situated as it was on a hill, water pressure was insufficient to protect it. So it burned too.

By seven o’clock that Tuesday morning it was all over. The principal Sanitarium structures were gone. The patients, some four hundred in all, had been moved to “the several large buildings which “were rapidly adapted to the purpose, and the cottages which were not included in the disaster” (The Missionary Magazine, April 1902, p. 181). Immediately the staff swung into action to provide for the continued care of the patients. The treatment schedule, modified somewhat, continued that day.

Dr. Kellogg was on the train returning from the West Coast to Battle Creek at the time of the fire; he learned of it when he arrived in Chicago on Tuesday evening. As he continued his journey to Battle Creek he called for a table and utilized the two hours in drawing plans for a new Sanitarium building.

The moving of Battle Creek College to Berrien Springs four months previous to the fire had left buildings vacant that were available to the Sanitarium. The two dormitories, West Hall and South Hall, were soon filled with Sanitarium patients. The old Battle Creek College classroom and administration building furnished space for the business offices. East Hall, the Sanitarium-owned dormitory occupied by nurses, was able to accommodate 150 of the patients. The nurses moved elsewhere. Extensive bath and [151] treatment rooms were quickly fitted up in the basements of two of these buildings. So within a few days’ time the Sanitarium program was moving forward quite normally.

The citizens of Battle Creek asked for the privilege of holding a mass meeting in the Tabernacle on the evening of Wednesday, February 19. It was led by the clergymen of the city. The Tabernacle was packed; eulogies were spoken, and pledges given of moral and financial support.

As Ellen White pondered the first sketchy news of the fire, while the embers were still warm in Battle Creek, she wrote:

Our heavenly Father does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. He has His purpose in the whirlwind and the storm, in the fire and in the flood. The Lord permits calamities to come to His people to save them from greater dangers.—Manuscript 76, 1903.

Five days after the fire, with some of the reports before her, she picked up her pen and wrote to the Druillards:

I feel very much troubled about the burning of the Sanitarium. This is indeed a sad calamity. I fear there are among our people those who will put their own construction on this accident, and will act the part of Job’s comforters, searching for something to condemn in Dr. Kellogg.—Letter 29, 1902.

As the days passed and Ellen White had an opportunity to recount both experiences through which she had passed and the visions that had opened up to her the dangers of Dr. Kellogg and those associated with him, she began to write more specifically, emphasizing two points: one, the desirability of smaller sanitariums, and two, the temptation of Dr. Kellogg to build up a very great work that would glorify him with a fruitage for which a sanitarium is established, but in reverse proportion to the sanitarium’s size.

Ellen White no doubt at the time recalled this, for she wrote later of a conversation with Kellogg in which he declared:

In many respects it would be an advantage if the Sanitarium were in some place out of and away from Battle Creek. “The climate here,” he said, “is unhealthful for very many. [152]

“If these Sanitarium buildings were not in existence, I know what I would do. I would find a better climate, and establish the institution there. I would have fewer buildings and more land. I would arrange for the sick to live out of doors much of the time, where they would be surrounded by the beauties of nature.”—Letter 110, 1902.

Apparently Dr. Kellogg quickly abandoned any thought of moving to a new location, for in his initial statement concerning the fire, published in the Review and Herald just one week after the destruction of the institution, he envisioned in Battle Creek a fireproof building, a better building, an edifice “standing as a temple of truth, the headquarters for a worldwide movement, represented by hundreds of physicians and nurses, and many thousands of interested friends in all parts of the world” (The Review and Herald, February 25, 1902).

The concept of establishing a great temple of truth in which he would preside dominated his thinking and buttressed his statements, oral and published. In his remarks on Sabbath morning in the Tabernacle, in a special service dedicated to the experience of the fire, he spoke again of a building of a “temple of truth.” Elder W. W. Prescott gave the main address. Then Dr. Kellogg spoke, expressing his confidence that God was in it all “because this is God’s work, and not man’s work. And if God built the house, and permitted the house to burn, it is for some good purpose.”—Ibid., March 4, 1902.

There was one feature of this talk by Dr. Kellogg that must have encouraged Ellen White as she read it, for he spoke of “a smaller house.” “We must have another house,” he declared, “a better house; not necessarily a larger house, it may be a smaller house, but we must have a better house.”— Ibid.

Plans to Rebuild

Plans were quickly drawn. Building concerns were consulted. Bids were called for. A special meeting of the General Conference Committee was called, and approval was given to the general plan for the rebuilding of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. One special point was the prospect of financial relief in Dr. Kellogg’s proposal of giving a book manuscript to help raise money. The General [153] Conference Committee considered it a “grand proposition.” The doctor proposed 400,000 copies as a gift.

On March 25, Elder A. G. Daniells reported this and other developments in a letter to W. C. White. Between $80,000 and $90,000 had been subscribed in the city of Battle Creek toward a new sanitarium; this, along with the insurance money, amounting to $154,000, would provide a “fair sum with which to erect a new building.”

We have accepted plans submitted by an Ohio architect. They are plain but dignified. We propose to erect an absolutely fireproof building, and to pay the cash for everything. We suppose that when it is finished, furnished, and fully equipped for business, the cost will be between $250,000 and $300,000. But the board is determined that no debt shall be incurred by the erection of this building.—DF 45a, AGD to WCW, March 25, 1902.

Another matter Elder Daniells discussed in this letter was the attitude of the city toward the Sanitarium. During the past three years they had levied taxes on the institution that they now agreed to return. This would give them $15,000. They promised to remit all taxes thereafter. So, Elder Daniells wrote:

Under all the circumstances we all feel that we cannot consistently take the Sanitarium away from Battle Creek, and have decided to rebuild here.— Ibid.

Even the assurances of a modest building and of a debt-free building program did not put Ellen White’s mind at ease. On the last night of April a vision was given to her concerning the rebuilding of the Sanitarium, and she wrote in a letter addressed to Dr. Kellogg:

I have been given a message for you. You have had many cautions and warnings, which I sincerely hope and pray you will consider. Last night I was instructed to tell you that the great display you are making in Battle Creek is not after God’s order. You are planning to build in Battle Creek a larger sanitarium than should be erected there. There are other parts of the Lord’s vineyard in which buildings are greatly needed.... [154]

Battle Creek is not to be made a Jerusalem. There are calls for means to establish memorials for God in cities nigh and afar off. Do not erect an immense institution in Battle Creek which will make it necessary for you to draw upon our people for means. Such a building might far better be divided, and plants made in many places. Over and over again this has been presented to me.—Letter 125, 1902.

In this same vein a week later she wrote to Dr. Kellogg’s close friend, Percy T. Magan, now at Berrien Springs:

It is not wise to erect mammoth institutions. The Battle Creek Sanitarium was altogether too large. I have been shown that it is not by the largeness of an institution that the greatest work for souls is to be accomplished. A mammoth sanitarium requires a great many workers. But it is difficult, where so many workers are brought together, to maintain the standard of spirituality that should be maintained in the Lord’s institutions....

If that institution had been situated in the country, where it could have been surrounded by gardens and orchards, where the sick could have looked upon the beautiful things of nature—the flowers of the field, and the fruit trees, laden with their rich treasures—how much more good would have been accomplished!—Letter 71, 1902.

In the months that followed, she wrote much more along these lines to those who were carrying responsibilities in Battle Creek, both in the Sanitarium and in the General Conference.

With the plans drawn and accepted and the bids let, the next step was the laying of the cornerstone. Sunday afternoon, May 11, 1902, some ten thousand people gathered for the elaborate ceremonies, with guest speakers from the Government and the clergy from the city. Sanitarium employees were seated back of the speakers’ stand, and Sanitarium guests and citizens seated in front. W. W. Prescott led out in the main address of the afternoon. The cornerstone was appropriately laid by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg himself. In his address he reminded helpers, guests, and townspeople of the principles upon which the institution stood. He referred back to its history—a history he had often connected with God’s providential [155] guidance through the light given to Mrs. White. He declared:

It is certainly no discredit to those who founded this institution thirty-six years ago that, in this new founding, this cornerstone laying, marking the beginning of a new era in the history of this work, it is not necessary to introduce any new principle nor to discard or repudiate any principle which has been heretofore recognized.... The little light kindled here on this hilltop a third of a century ago has never gone out, but has burned brightly, and yet more brightly, as the years have passed, and this day shines out even from the midst of these shapeless piles of brick and stone with a brighter luster than ever before, and not from here only, but from a hundred hilltops scattered throughout the civilized world.—The Review and Herald, May 20, 1902.

He was to liken this new institution to the Temple city Jerusalem, to which the ancient Israelites looked from all over the world. In passing, we note that an element of pantheism appeared in this address, representing a philosophy he firmly held in his heart, the perils of which had not yet been seen by his associates.

With the work well under way, Dr. Kellogg was soon off to Europe with A. G. Daniells to attend the European General Conference. This together with the doctor’s endeavors to establish a medical institution in England kept him overseas until mid-August. It was in connection with this enterprise that a rift developed between John Harvey Kellogg and Arthur G. Daniells that was to widen and deepen. It was sparked by differences in financial policies, of which note will be taken shortly.

The decade of the 1890s was a period of institutional expansion. Two new colleges had been started—Union College and Walla Walla. Dr. Kellogg had forged ahead, encouraging the establishment of a number of medical institutions in the United States and one in Mexico, the first medical interest of the church to be established outside the United States. For all of these, money for the capital investment was borrowed and then the General Conference Association was persuaded to assume the obligations.

Kellogg was an energetic, forceful, persuasive man, and somehow the General Conference leaders through the middle 1890s found it difficult to resist his insistence of such financing. Of one [156] such church leader Ellen White wrote: “To Elder--- was given plainly stated instruction as to how the Lord regarded such matters, but he had not the courage to say, ‘I cannot betray sacred trusts.’”—Manuscript 144, 1902.

Debts piled on debts—debts assumed with no systematic plan for their amortization. This was reflected in the sad situation of the Battle Creek Sanitarium at the time of the fire. Even though they had been operating for thirty-five years, they had outstanding notes of $250,000. The Boulder Sanitarium, opened in 1893, was heavily in debt. It was overbuilt at the outset and was then plagued by poor business management. Even with a good patronage no appreciable progress was being made in the reduction of its debt load. Other newly established sanitariums were in much the same shape.

When Elder Daniells assumed responsibilities as leader of the church, following the General Conference of 1901, he was appalled to find that the total institutional indebtedness was close to $500,000. In the context of the times, this was a huge sum. The top pay of ministers, physicians, and publishing-house employees at this time was from $12 to $15 a week (DF 243d).

Ellen White’s Heart Heavily Burdened

In the meantime, in California, Ellen White was carrying a heavy burden on her heart for Dr. Kellogg. The disastrous outcome of the course he was following in the rebuilding of the Battle Creek institution had been revealed to her. To Dr. David Paulson, one of Kellogg’s close associates, she wrote on July 7, 1902:

Brother Paulson, pray most earnestly for Dr. Kellogg. He is going directly contrary to the light that God has given in regard to the building of smaller sanitariums. The evils of erecting a very large sanitarium in any place should be fully understood. The Lord has revealed to me that if, in the place of having one mammoth sanitarium in Battle Creek, smaller sanitariums could be established in several cities, His name would be glorified. The centering of so much in one place is contrary to God’s order. Small plants should be started in many places.—Letter 110, 1902.

On August 5 she wrote to Kellogg:

I received your excellent letter a short time ago. You were not [157] at home when you wrote, but were traveling from place to place, and therefore I did not answer immediately. After I received your letter, my heart was much oppressed. For several nights I could not sleep past one o’clock, but walked the room praying.

The fourth night I said, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? I am willing to do anything that it is duty for me to do.”

I was instructed, “I have a message for you to bear to Dr. Kellogg.” I thought, “It will do no good. He does not accept the messages that I bear him, unless these harmonize with his plans and devisings.” Yet I must give the message given to me for you.

My brother, you have not heeded the light given you. If you go forward in your own judgment, to carry out your purposes, you will lead other minds astray. Many of the plans that have been laid for our work are not according to the plans and purposes of God.—Letter 123, 1902.

But the matter was larger than the construction of sanitariums. Basically it was the expression of the hearts of men that gave her such concern.

In her mind she went back to the General Conference session held in April, 1901. She pointed out to Kellogg that if the work had been done there that God designed should be done, the fallow ground of the heart would have been broken up and men bearing responsibilities with humility of soul would have led out in the work of confession and consecration, giving evidence that they had received the counsels of warning sent by the Lord. She laid the responsibility on “men in positions of authority in the medical missionary work” (Letter 173, 1902) and declared:

There would have been one of the greatest revivals that there has been since the day of Pentecost.—Letter 123, 1902.

Sadly she wrote,

The work that all heaven was waiting to do as soon as men prepared the way was not done, for the leaders closed and bolted the door against the Spirit’s entrance. There was a stopping short of entire surrender to God. And hearts that might have been purified from all error were strengthened in wrongdoing.— Ibid.

Near the close of the eight-page letter she urged: [158]

The leaders in our medical work should now be considering the testimonies that for years have been coming to them. If they pay no heed to these warnings, the Lord cannot cooperate with them as He desires to. There is danger of your placing yourself and others in harmony with worldly plans.— Ibid.

She reminded him:

Faithfulness in duty, trust in God at every step—this is your safety. If you follow your own ambitious projects, you will go where Jesus has given you no liberty to go. Obey the word of God, and you will be safe.— Ibid.

The next day, August 6, 1902, she wrote again to the doctor:

My Dear Brother,

The Lord is your strength. Take hold of His strength, and make peace with Him. In your human strength, you are as liable as any other man to err in judgment. The Lord is merciful and gracious. He will give you wise counselors.

If ever a man needed wise counselors, you need them—men who will not receive your propositions or representations if they discern that they are not in harmony with the will of God, men who will not make things appear as they are not, who will abide by principles that will stand God’s test. The Lord wants you, Dr. Kellogg, to make straight paths for your feet, for the sake of your own soul’s salvation, and to save other souls from following in false ways.—Letter 124, 1902.

And then followed these words:

You regard too lightly the sacred truth for this time. You are not, in all things, walking in the light that God has sent you. Beware lest you confederate with unbelievers, accepting them as your counselors and following their worldly policy; for this is dishonoring to God.— Ibid. (Testimonies to the Church Regarding our Youth Going to Battle Creek Obtain An Education, 35).

In the meantime, brick was being laid on brick in Battle Creek, and the Sanitarium edifice was rising—an edifice that church leaders were soon to discover would cost between two and three times the amount estimated. What is more, not all the promises for financial help made when the institution was destroyed by fire were [159] kept. Some of the pledges made by the businessmen and citizens of Battle Creek were never honored. The anticipated income from the sale of The Living Temple, Dr. Kellogg’s gift book, did not materialize, for church leaders found it permeated with pantheistic, philosophies. There is no indication that the pledge made by the Sanitarium Board or the General Conference Committee that no further debt would be incurred in the rebuilding of the Sanitarium was kept or even remembered.

On August 14 a communication from Ellen White, addressed to the General Conference Committee and the Medical Missionary Board, was placed in the mail. The opening paragraph carried these words:

I was shown that the Sanitarium there was deteriorating for the want of men of capability and consecration to carry it forward in pure, upward lines, in accordance with Bible principles. Very clearly it has been presented to me that it would be in God’s order for the work of the Battle Creek Sanitarium to be divided, and plants made in many other places, in the cities that are in need of sanitariums....

I am instructed to say that our people must not be drawn upon for means to erect an immense sanitarium in Battle Creek; the money that would be used in the erection of that one mammoth building should be used in making plants in many places. We must not draw all we can from our people for the establishment of a great sanitarium in one place, to the neglect of other places, which are unworked for the want of means.

It is not the Lord’s will for His people to erect a mammoth sanitarium in Battle Creek or in any other place. In many places in America, sanitariums are to be established. These sanitariums are not to be large establishments, but are to be of sufficient size to enable the work to be carried forward successfully.—Letter 128, 1902.

Denominational Or Undenominational?

Another deep concern on the part of Ellen White was regarding the position that Dr. Kellogg was taking and advocating, that the Battle Creek Sanitarium was undenominational. This was being [160] heard more and more frequently. Its seeds went back for almost ten years, when Kellogg began to envision the medical work being done by Seventh-day Adventists as a great Christian benevolent work, not particularly denominational in its character. In 1893 the Seventh-day Adventist Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association had been formed to succeed the earlier Health and Temperance Association. But in 1896 the name had been changed, dropping out the words “Seventh-day Adventist” and adding the word “International” (The Story of Our Health Message, 293).

Writing in 1898, Dr. Kellogg declared of this organization that it was developed to “‘carry forward medical and philanthropic work independent of any sectarian or denominational control, in home and foreign lands’” (Medical Missionary, January, 1898; quoted in Ibid., 293). (Italics supplied.)

The following year at a convention of the association it was declared the delegates were “‘here as Christians, and not as Seventh-day Adventists.’” Nor were they there “‘for the purpose of presenting anything that is peculiarly Seventh-day Adventist in doctrine.’” In other words, it was defined as “‘simply the undenominational side of the work which Seventh-day Adventists have to do in the world.’”—Medical Missionary Conference Bulletin, May, 1899, Extra (quoted in Ibid., 293).

This growing number of declarations on the part of Dr. Kellogg and his close associates provided sound basis for alarm, and of this Ellen White also spoke in midsummer, 1902:

It has been stated that the Battle Creek Sanitarium is not denominational. But if ever an institution was established to be denominational in every sense of the word, this sanitarium was.

Why are sanitariums established if it is not that they may be the right hand of the gospel in calling the attention of men and women to the truth that we are living amid the perils of the last days? And yet, in one sense, it is true that the Battle Creek Sanitarium is undenominational, in that it receives as patients people of all classes and all denominations.—Letter 128, 1902 (The Story of Our Health Message, 298).

And she pointed out:

We are not to take pains to declare that the Battle Creek [161] Sanitarium is not a Seventh-day Adventist institution; for this it certainly is. As a Seventh-day Adventist institution it was established to represent the various features of gospel missionary work, thus to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.— Ibid.

She was distressed, too, when Dr. Kellogg did not abide by the absolute truth in certain statements he made. She sent a confidential warning to Elder Daniells on September 5:

Do not let him beguile you by his statements. Some may be true; some are not true. He may suppose that all his assertions are true; but you should neither think that they are, nor encourage him to believe that he is right. I know that he is not in harmony with the Lord. Do not sanction his effort to gather from every source all the means possible for his line of the work; for God does not favor so great an outlay of means as is now being made in Battle Creek.—Letter 138, 1902.

In a council meeting held at her home on October 19, 1902, attended by Elder Daniells and some others, she again made reference to her deep concern for the doctor. Tying in with her work first, she said:

I am writing on the life of Solomon. And I wish to write more on the case that I have so many times brought before Dr. Kellogg as illustrative of his own dangers—the case of Nebuchadnezzar. Over and over again I have warned the doctor not to follow the course of this king, who said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built ... by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” Dr. Kellogg is now pursuing a similar course in Battle Creek.— Manuscript 123, 1902.

Then she added an interesting comment:

I am told that he made the remark that he was glad that the old sanitarium buildings burned down. Brethren, those buildings burned down as a reproof to him, but instead of taking it thus, he has given place to self-exaltation.— Manuscript 123, 1902.

In a rather interesting sidelight, she had discovered that in order [162] to reduce the expenses of the institution and to gather the funds with which to finance the new plant, Dr. Kellogg had used strong persuasive powers to encourage the young people in training and the nurses working at the institution to either work free, or, if they did receive wages, to accept an amount “so small that it is nearly all used in paying for board, room rent, and incidental expenses”’ (Manuscript 123, 1902). This was rather characteristic and showed up in contracts she would later mention, between the Medical Association and young people in training. She emphatically declared that “this is not right in the sight of God” (Manuscript 123, 1902). She emphasized the individual stewardship of the wage earner.

Through the early months of 1903 the work of building the Sanitarium continued. There were 296 patient rooms in the new edifice. Costs soared far above the estimates, adding financial problem on financial problem. The Medical Missionary for June, 1903, presented “Facts From the New Building“:

In the structure of the new main building there were used 4,101,000 bricks, 7,400 bbls. of lime, 15,000 bbls. of cement, and 700 tons of iron and steel. There are 16,250 feet of steam pipes, 14,000 feet of water pipes, and 14 1/2 miles of waste pipes. There are 22 1/2 acres of plastering, and 25,500 loads of sand and gravel were used. Over 4,000 sacks of marble chips were used in forming the seven acres of mosaic floor. There are 1,200 veneered doors, finished with American mahogany stain. The gymnasium has 82 windows. The building has 3,500 electric lights, 200 bath and treatment rooms, 132 full bathtubs, and 400 telephones.

Dedication of the New Building

The institution was dedicated in a three-day service running from Sabbath morning, May 30, to Monday night, June 1, with meetings being held in the Tabernacle and on the grounds of the Sanitarium. The Sabbath-morning service was one of dedication on the part of the workers to this important phase of the Lord’s work (The Review and Herald, June 9, 1903).

In this dedication Ellen White could heartily agree. The Battle Creek Sanitarium was the Lord’s institution. Even though some [163] phases of counsel given concerning its work had been brushed aside, it was still the Lord’s institution. A few weeks before the dedication service Ellen White, speaking at the General Conference session of 1903, made this statement:

Let me say that God does not design that the Sanitarium that has been erected in Battle Creek shall be in vain. Now that the building has been put up, He wants His people to understand this. He wants this institution to be placed on vantage ground.... We are now to make another effort to place our institutions on solid ground. Let no one say, because there is a debt on the sanitarium in Battle Creek, “We will have nothing more to do in helping to build up that institution.” The people of God must build that institution up, in the name of the Lord. It is to be placed where its work can be carried on intelligently.— The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 58, 67.

She urged that one man was not to stand alone at the head of the institution. It was God’s will that His servants should stand united in carrying the work forward in a balanced way.

Just how the Sanitarium could be placed on vantage ground she declared she did not know nor could she tell the congregation. “But,” she said, “I know that just as soon as the Holy Spirit shall come upon hearts, there will be unity in voice and understanding; and wisdom will be given us.”— The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 58, 67.

Ellen White arranged for a complete set of her books to be furnished to the Sanitarium as her gift (Letter 96, 1903). These were for the patients’ library and were to be in the “best binding.” [164]

Chapter 12—A Perplexing and Difficult Year

By late April, 1902, Ellen White was quite well recovered from her illness that overtook her in connection with the emergency trip to New York and Nashville. She was now able to throw herself more fully into the work of writing. Among the communications from her pen in April were testimonies to two leading men in the Sanitarium church not far from her home. These were testimonies of reproof for harsh dealing with each other and with their brethren.

One of her secretaries put the communications in the mail on Thursday, April 3. On Sabbath, April 5, a communion service was held. The two men who had received the testimonies rose in the quarterly meeting and made “good, hearty confessions” (19 WCW p. 73). The congregation witnessed the evidences of the work of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of these two leading church members, knowing they had received messages of reproof and rebuke. This brought a very tender spirit into the meeting and rejoicing in the hearts of all.

Pacific Press Matters

The Pacific Press constituency meeting, held on April 28 and 29, demonstrated again the influence of messages borne by Ellen White. The press was then located in Oakland. It was doing a great deal of commercial work, which was a growing source of concern and perplexity. While in the earlier years it had been necessary to accept commercial work to keep the equipment and the men needed for the production of literature for the church profitably employed, [165] as the work of the church grew, the commercial work became less vital. At times it proved to be detrimental.

Elder A. T. Jones, president of the California Conference and member of the board, held a series of meetings with the workers of the Pacific Press. God blessed his earnest work. The feeling was growing that some changes in policies and general plans should be made at the publishing house. With this there developed a feeling that implicated the manager, C. H. Jones, as the scapegoat, that he was the man mostly responsible for the commercial work and for the problems that it brought. A tide of criticism enveloped the employees.

As the time neared for the constituency meeting, at which a board would be chosen and officers selected to manage the Pacific Press, C. H. Jones wrote a lengthy letter to Ellen White. First he urged her to attend the constituency meeting. He invited her and those who would be with her to stay at his home as guests during this meeting, as they had done in the past. And then he turned to some of the problems that would be discussed at this constituency meeting.

Should they attempt to dispose of the commercial work? He argued that it had been valuable in (a) educating and training workers; (b) filling in during dull times; and (c) providing substantial financial aid. But conditions were quite changed now and possibly they could part with this.

There was the threat of the labor unions, a threat that would recede if they were to withdraw from commercial printing. The capital investment amounted to $300,000, and they were paying interest on a debt of $200,000. About half the investment and half the time of the employees was devoted to the commercial work.

Then there was the question of whether, if the commercial work were discontinued and the overall program of the plant greatly reduced, it would be wise to sell the plant in Oakland and move to a retired area more conducive to the welfare of the employees, establishing a plant of moderate size dedicated entirely to denominational work.

On the closing page of his nine-page letter to Ellen White, Jones bluntly stated that he did not expect to accept any responsibility in connection with the Pacific Press for the coming year. The situation, [166] he felt, was such that he should retire to other work, perhaps assisting his son, a physician in Santa Barbara. For thirty-one years he had been connected with denominational publishing work—eight with the Review and Herald and twenty-three with the Pacific Press. He declared:

My life has been put into this institution. I have had no separate interest, but my whole time and attention has been given to building up the Pacific Press.—C. H. Jones to EGW, April 16, 1902.

He recognized that he had made mistakes, and he expressed his feeling of regret as he contemplated severing his connection with the institution, even though he thought that this was the best move. He invited any counsel that Ellen White might have for him.

Clearly, Jones’s intentions were serious and determined. Then God spoke. “The Lord,” Ellen White declared, “gave me a most unexpected testimony to all, especially to C. H. Jones.”—Letter 260, 1902.

On Wednesday, April 23, she wrote:

Dear Brother and Sister C. H. Jones,

I have words from the Lord for you.

Recently I read a very important letter from Brother Jones. That night I was instructed of the Lord by object lessons and explanations that made a deep impression on me. I do not now purpose relating all that was presented to me; but there are some things that I must relate.

We seemed to be assembled in council with a number interested in the working of the Pacific Press. Some things were said with regard to the past management of the institution. The statement was made that the results of this management were not altogether satisfactory. Papers were read. Many perplexing problems were introduced. There seemed to be so many questions to consider that little headway was made, and no light from God seemed to be shining in.

One of the questions under consideration was, “Should Brother C. H. Jones resign, who will occupy the position that he has occupied in the institution since he was a young man?” [167]

One who has often been present in our councils now stepped forward, and looking with intense interest and sympathy upon Brother Jones, stepped to his side, and speaking to the brethren, said, “Should your brother leave the office now, he would wrong himself and do a wrong to others and to the work.”— Letter 65, 1902.

She described how her instructor put His hand on Brother Jones’s shoulder and addressed him:

“Take up the work anew, and”—turning to the others present—“learn of Jesus His meekness, His lowliness. Empty the mind of unkind criticism, and fill it with the determination to cherish the faith that works by love and purifies the soul....

In this institution a large number of hands are employed to do commercial work. God does not require the doing of this work. Light has been given you in regard to this matter. “How long halt ye between two opinions?” ... The time and talents of the workers should be devoted to the publication of the truth.— Letter 65, 1902

Two days later Ellen White penned a message addressed to “My brethren in Positions of Responsibility in the Pacific Press.” She came directly and bluntly to the point, opening the letter with:

The case of Brother C. H. Jones has been presented to me. Should he resign his position to take up some other line of work? If the Lord should say, “This is My will,” it would be right for Brother Jones to do this.... When the Lord selects a man who in His sight is the proper man for this place, it will be right for Brother Jones to sever his connection with the Pacific Press. But at present the Lord does not accept his resignation.—Letter 67, 1902.

Ellen White spoke at the Sanitarium church on Sabbath, April 26, and then on Sunday made the journey to Oakland and to the C. H. Jones home, where she was to stay as a guest. The constituency meeting opened on Monday morning with a good representation present. On Monday afternoon Ellen White was the principal speaker. As the letter to C. H. Jones was read to the constituency, followed by the reading of the twenty-one-page testimony to the [168] men in positions of responsibility in the Pacific Press, hearts were touched. In reporting the meeting, the Pacific Union Recorder states:

The Spirit of the Lord came into the meeting, and many hearts were melted to tears. Following her remarks, there was a spirited social meeting, in which many confessions were made, and the entire audience manifested their desire to reconsecrate themselves to the service of the Lord by a rising vote.— Pacific Union Recorder, May 22, 1902.

What a contrast from the ordinary corporation constituency meeting! Among the actions that were taken were these:

“That we instruct the incoming board of directors to make a continuous effort to reduce commercial work and develop the publication of religious, educational, and health literature. Also, that we recommend that the incoming board of directors dispose of the plant as a whole, or in part, as Providence may open the way.

“We also recommend that, in case the plant is sold a smaller plant be established in some rural district convenient for our denominational work, for the training and education of missionaries.”— Pacific Union Recorder, May 22, 1902.

A board of seven was chosen, and C. H. Jones was whole-heartedly and unanimously returned to his position as manager—a position he was to hold for another thirty-one years. W. C. White, a deeply interested observer reporting the meeting wrote of the perplexing situation and then said:

But God, in His mercy, sent us a message just before the annual meeting, calling upon Brother Jones to stand bravely in his position, working for the necessary reforms and calling upon his associates to stand by him, sharing the burden. (19 WCW, p. 275)

Problems in the South

The work in the Southern States was very close to the heart of Ellen White, first because of the very great need and because the church had neglected the work for so long, and second because her own son was deeply involved in successfully opening up the work [169] of the church among the blacks and in establishing schools and churches and finally the publishing house in Nashville. But there were elements that served as a fuse to what was to become an explosive situation.

Neither Edson White nor W. O. Palmer, who went with him into the South, was known for his financial acumen. With hearts dedicated to God, the Lord greatly blessed their labors in preaching and writing and teaching. A strong, growing work was established.

Edson’s brother William was staid, cautious, careful, and carried the confidence of church leaders. In fact, through many years he served as a counselor to church leaders. It was not quite so with Edson. He was impulsive and sometimes unsuccessful in business ventures, launched with borrowed money. This gave rise to questions about the work he represented. Money to carry on was scarce.

The newly organized Southern Union Conference represented only a limited membership. With the newly organized publishing house using secondhand equipment that was badly worn, and in buildings that were heavily mortgaged, it was a tenuous situation. Under these circumstances, the Southern Union sent its president, George I. Butler, and the treasurer of the publishing house, W. O. Palmer, to California to interview Ellen White and gain counsel as to the course that should be pursued.

The two men arrived at Elmshaven on Friday noon, May 16. They were given a hearty welcome. Ellen White had worked very closely with Elder Butler down through the years. Will Palmer was a son of the Palmers who had helped in early days to establish the publishing work in Battle Creek.

When the brethren, early in the new week, spread before Sister White and the staff at the office at Elmshaven their problems and the reasons for their coming, they were delighted to find that during the past few months she had already written much on the work in the South that answered their questions. As they looked over these materials, they found that the Lord had instructed her to appeal to the churches throughout America to assist in establishing the work in the Southern States on a firm basis. The needs, which were great, were to be made known to church members throughout the land, and an opportunity was to be given to them to help. The brethren [170] found in this counsel that which brought courage to their hearts, and after several interviews in which the work was reviewed and counsel given, they felt that their mission had been accomplished.

Will Palmer returned to Nashville. Elder Butler lingered a bit on the West Coast, speaking Sabbath morning in the Sanitarium church. This was followed by a meeting Sunday night in which he made an appeal for the work in the South and $500 was pledged. This gave Butler the courage to go to other churches—Healdsburg, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fresno. Eighteen hundred dollars was raised to assist the Southern Publishing Association.

W. C. White, shortly after the visit, wrote of the surprise and amazement that came to the visitors and to the Elmshaven office staff in that “they found that before their arrival, their questions had been anticipated, and that Mother had already written many things which they can now use to excellent advantage for the advancement of the work in the Southern field.”— Ibid., 371.

Things at Elmshaven

A description of the various activities at Elmshaven on Tuesday evening, May 20, was given by W. C. White:

Maggie [Hare] is writing for Sara. Mother is very weary today, and cannot write much for the Australian mail, so Sara is writing some letters by Mother’s direction. Sister Peck has just left the office, and gone to her little cottage about fifty yards from Mother’s house. Sister Davis is in her east room in this office building, hard at work preparing book manuscript. Brother Crisler and I are in the southwest chamber of the office, writing to you. At the house, about twenty yards south of the office, all is quiet. Mother has just gone to rest, after a hard day’s work of writing to our people in the South. About an hour ago, Brother and Sister James, Mrs. Nelson (Mother’s cook), Maggie, Brother Crisler, myself, and Elder George I. Butler were all picking cherries from a big tree close to the office.— Ibid., 272, 273.

William White then turned to his own home situation and wrote concerning his two older daughters, who had to find some means of earning money during the summer. Money was very scarce and each had to do his part. So W. C. White said: [171]

Ella and Mabel [20 and 16 years old, respectively] have been preparing for a journey of thirty miles southeast into a large fruit district, where they expect to find employment picking and packing fruit. Ella, with the help of Anna Rasmussen, has been mending an old tent in which the girls will lodge, while Mabel has been packing up provisions, and cooking. My wife has been preparing to take the boys and go with me and Elder Butler to Healdsburg tomorrow.— Ibid., 273.

And on Thursday, W. C. White reported:

When I came over this morning, I found Mother picking strawberries, and although she is quite weary from the extra work of the last few days, she seems very cheerful.— Ibid., 301.

Ellen White was very fond of strawberries. In 1867 and 1868, when their home was in Greenville, Michigan, and her husband, James, was recovering from his stroke of paralysis, they had grown many strawberries. She was pleased to find that the little patch at Elmshaven “bore wonderfully.” The fruit was good. It was large, and she noted “some of the berries measuring three and a half inches around, and one four inches” (Letter 116, 1902).

It was camp meeting time, and while she would not attend many this year, she did feel that she should attend the California meeting, which was scheduled nearby at Petaluma, to be held June 5 to 15. On such occasions she did not drop her office work, but took her staff with her. The work would continue from day to day, slowed up somewhat of course by the camp meeting program, but not too seriously interrupted. Trunks were packed, typewriters were prepared for shipping, and the materials were sent over to Petaluma in advance. She felt the hand of the Lord had been with them in making arrangements for a home during the camp meeting.

On Thursday the party set out with horse and carriage from St. Helena for the fifty-mile drive. Fruit was hanging heavily on the trees in the orchards they passed. The vines gave good promise of a bountiful yield of grapes. Mustard was knee-deep in the orchards and vineyards that had not yet been plowed. Clusters of poppies bloomed along the road. They passed some eucalyptus trees in the Petaluma area, which reminded Ellen White of Australia. [172]

She described the home they rented as “a large two-story house, in a quiet neighborhood, within about five minutes’ walk of the campground.” It was an eight-room house with a bathroom. It was equipped with a stable and a paddock for the horses, and the rent was $7 for the ten days. She remarked, “Never before in all my travels have I, when away from home, been so favorably situated either for working or for resting as I was in this house in Petaluma.”— Ibid.

The weather during the camp meeting was excellent. Mrs. White slept well. Each day she spent some time on the campground, and she spoke seven times. Each day she went for a short drive in the carriage. Each day she spent time with her writing. She and her staff were preparing for the annual meeting of the California Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association to be held at the St. Helena Sanitarium immediately on their return from Petaluma.

The Important Medical Meeting

She returned to St. Helena on Monday, June 16, taking most of the day for the trip by carriage. She was present when the medical missionary council opened at the Sanitarium Wednesday noon. During this opening meeting she informed the delegates that she would be pleased to talk with them for an hour each morning, and they quickly arranged for an early-morning session from six to eight each day.

Her heart was burdened with many things—the control of the church’s medical institutions; the worldly policies that were coming into the management of many church institutions; the legal restrictions that limited the use of the profits of the Battle Creek Sanitarium to use in the State of Michigan when there were dire needs in other parts of the world; and the health-food business. As she dealt with some of these topics, she read from manuscripts prepared especially for this convention. She stressed the distinctive nature of the denomination’s medical work as she urged that “conformity to the world is causing many of our people to lose their bearings.... Worldly policy has been coming into the management of many of our institutions.”—Manuscript 96, 1902.

At this four-day meeting long-range plans were laid that called [173] for the establishment of the Pacific Union Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association. This meant that there would be on the Pacific Coast a strong medical organization under denominational control. The medical interests in the West would not be a part of the Battle Creek-controlled International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association. The constituency of the new association sensed the impact of what they were doing. They stated that: “In view of the importance of the steps about to be taken, careful study should be given to the questions involved, as not only affecting the interests of the entire Pacific Coast, but of the denominational work throughout the world.”—Pacific Union Recorder, August 14, 1902.(Italics supplied.)

One feature of the long-range plans was that “medical missionary enterprises that may be started ... shall be upon the basis that the financial and managing responsibility shall rest upon a local constituency or board.”— Ibid. The way was being paved for very important decisions to be made by the General Conference Committee at a meeting to be held in November, and the General Conference session the following spring.

Ellen White was pleased that Judge Arthur attended the meetings (Manuscript 33, 1906). He was connected with the Battle Creek Sanitarium staff in legal lines.

The meetings closed Sunday noon; the next day found Judge Arthur and his wife at Elmshaven, guests of Ellen White. They stayed through the week. During this time she learned from him about the buildings in Chicago that she had seen in vision while in Australia, buildings for which plans had been drawn but which Dr. Kellogg had denied existed or were planned for (Manuscript 33, 1906).

Both Ellen White and Willie were sorry when the visit came to a close, and they realized that pressing literary tasks had deprived them of spending more time with the Arthurs.

Work Through The Summer

Much of the summer was devoted to her book work and to correspondence with many in the field. She watched with deep interest the turn Dr. Kellogg was taking in the light of the strong position of the denomination in relation to the ownership and control of church medical institutions. This led to an explanation concerning certain of the testimonies dealing with critical situations, [174] copies of which carried the word “Amplified” stamped on them. Elder Prescott had asked what this meant. In her letter to him written July 10, 1902, she wrote:

In a letter to W. C. White, you speak of the amplifications in testimonies recently sent you. I suppose that the question you asked regarding this matter was not so much for your own sake as that you might have a statement with which to meet the questions of others.

I had a large amount of matter written regarding the dangers of some, and especially regarding the work of Dr. Kellogg. But I supposed that after the experience at the last General Conference, this matter would not be needed. Soon after the new year, many things were presented to me that I knew must sometime be brought before the managers of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Because of the presentation of these matters, I felt that the time had come for some of the testimonies in my diaries to be written out. I made a selection, and had some of the matters copied.... I thought that it would not be best to present every particular now, because the temptation might come to take exception to the wording, and thus the testimony failed of achieving the object for which God sent it.— Letter 99, 1902.

And then she explained:

On reading the matter that was prepared, I saw that I should have to say something more definite, and I made many additions with my pen. This was my last reading of the matter, and some copies had already been sent out. Therefore the word “amplified” was placed on the copies to which I made additions in my last reading.— Ibid.

Interestingly she added:

And all is not yet spoken. As matters are presented to me, I dare not even now tell all the truth given. There are many things that I forbear tracing on paper. There are many things I feel I must leave unsaid until I can speak them before the whole congregation.— Letter 99, 1902.

On a Sunday in mid-July, feeling the need for a change, she [175] spent the day in an excursion to find cherries, accompanied by Sara McEnterfer and Iram James. Standing in the wagon, she picked eight quarts, largely for canning. She rejoiced in the progress in building her writing room over the kitchen and reported that she was “enjoying much better health” than she “ever enjoyed in the past” (Manuscript 138, 1902).

The fruit crop in northern California that summer was abundant, and Ellen White got some of her exercise picking peaches, plums, and apples.

From time to time during the summer she spoke Sabbath mornings in the Sanitarium chapel. The first Sabbath and Sunday in August she enjoyed attending a Sabbath school convention held four miles from her home in a secluded spot just off the main road to Calistoga. The Sanitarium, St. Helena, and Calistoga churches came together there for the services, and she spoke several times. [176]

Chapter 13—Getting On With the Book Work

Testimony No. 34, known now as Testimonies for the Church, volume 6, published early in 1901, presented counsels written in Australia. During the nine years she spent there, Ellen White helped to pioneer newly opened fields with the thrust in evangelistic outreach, augmented particularly by evangelistic camp meetings; in church-oriented educational work resulting in the establishment of the Avondale school at Cooranbong; in the medical work represented in treatment rooms and sanitariums; and in church buildings to meet the needs of a growing church and to give stability to the cause.

Many of the testimonies of instruction and counsel penned during this period, while universal in their application, quite naturally relate to these lines of church activity and are strongly represented in the five hundred pages of volume 6.

But with Ellen White back in the United States, another Testimony volume seemed to be needed. The situations that were met in rapid succession during her first two years back in America led to a great deal of writing. She traveled through the South to attend the General Conference session in Battle Creek, which brought her into close touch with the work among the blacks. The 1901 session with its sweeping reorganization brought many administrative matters to her attention. The trip to New York City brought her into close contact with the evangelistic challenge of that great city and other cities of America.

There was the accelerated interest in opening new sanitariums and establishing food factories and vegetarian restaurants. There [177] were the operational problems of two longstanding publishing houses and the establishment of a third in Nashville; the Battle Creek Sanitarium fire and its important lessons; and not least, the many contacts with newly opened colleges and medical institutions as she crossed and recrossed the continent. As noted earlier, she found that “at every place” she “visited there was writing that must be done for that place.”—Letter 213, 1901.

Testimonies for the Church, Volume 7

While Ellen White was on the precarious winter trip to New York just at the close of 1901, Marian Davis was busy at Elmshaven drawing materials together for consideration for the proposed new Testimony volume. In a brief note to her, W. C. White, in the East, wrote on December 20:

I am much pleased with the work you are doing on Testimony No. 35, and I can only say, go forward with good courage. Give the matter room to be well and clearly presented.

There is a movement on foot for the establishment of many more sanitariums; this will make it important for us to bring out in the next Testimony very fully what Mother has written on the erection and management of sanitariums.—18 WCW, p. 174.

Quietly through the next few months the work progressed. Writing to Dr. and Mrs. Kress in late April, Ellen White reported:

At times my brain is so intensely active that it seems impossible for me to write the ideas as fast as they come to me.... I have four workers at work for me, besides my son.... I have much to place in their hands.—Letter 68, 1902.

As the work progressed on Testimony No. 35, articles on soul winning—the theme ever uppermost in Ellen White’s mind—took the lead. There were appeals for lay families to move to new territories and, as they engaged in making a livelihood, let their light shine. There were the needs of the great cities; the church should delay no longer in its thrust in a strong work in soul-winning activity. Articles on family worship and married life needed to be written.

The manuscript for the section on sanitarium work encompassed [178] the whole world field in its appeals and included instruction on starting medical institutions, their location, and their operation. It also came to grips with a declining of the spiritual experience of personnel in the church’s older medical institutions.

With health-food manufacturing burgeoning and with the starting and operation of vegetarian restaurants, a section of the new book was appropriately given to this rapidly developing phase of the work.

Problems in the publishing institutions abounded, and there was need for counsels dealing with situations from “the object of our publications” to “commercial work,” with the devastating effects of some of the demoralizing literature published; from the making of translations to “avoiding debt” and the threat of consolidation.

Volume 7 of the Testimonies was to bring to the attention of all believers the importance of the much-neglected work—the work for blacks—in the Southern part of the United States. In a series of five articles published in the Review and Herald late in 1895, Ellen White had made an earnest appeal for a strong work in the South. Now having traveled through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee in 1901, and visiting Tennessee again in early 1902, she devoted a section to the Southern field in which she brought to the church the fact that “the proclamation that freed the slaves in the Southern States opened doors through which Christian workers should have entered to tell the story of the love of God.”—Testimonies for the Church 7:222. She called for “a hundred workers where now there is but one” (Ibid., 7:224).

The closing section of the manuscript presented many lines of practical counsel to workers of the church in various capacities, and closed with an appeal for a “workers’ fund,” which materialized in 1911 as the “sustentation fund.” Through August and early September intensive work was done on the manuscripts, not only for volume seven, but also for Education. Ellen White informed her friends that they had not been forgotten, but she was just too busy to correspond with them (Letters 133 and 141, 1902). W. C. White told of spending ten days reading manuscripts and selecting matter for Testimony No. 35. He was to leave with his mother on September 8 to attend the Los Angeles camp meeting, and he spoke of their desire “to get this work so far along that one person remaining” at [179] Elmshaven could “see it through the press” (20 WCW, p. 390).

She was delighted to see Willie working so hard on her books, and she wrote to Elder Daniells on September 5:

For the first time since returning to this country, Willie has taken hold of my book work in earnest. All our helpers are doing excellent work in this line. The preparation of the book Education and Testimony for the Church No. 35 has held me close at home for several weeks.—Letter 138, 1902.

In mid-December Testimonies for the Church, volume 7, came from the press, and W. C. White, when he received a copy in Battle Creek, commented:

It is indeed a fine book. The matter is precious. Its arrangement is good, the paper and printing are fair, and the binding is excellent. I’m sure our people will be glad to get it, and that it will be studied very diligently.—WCW to C. C. Crisler, Maggie Hare, and M. A. Davis, December 17, 1902.—20 WCW, p. 605.

The Book Education

Christian education reached a high point of interest and activity among Seventh-day Adventists in the late 1890s and the early 1900s. For twenty or twenty-five years the church had been operating colleges. But except for elementary schools in connection with these institutions of higher learning, little or nothing had been done for small children by way of “church schools” till just before the turn of the century.

Ellen G. White counsels on education were published in 1893 by the International Tract Society in Battle Creek in the form of a 255-page book titled Christian Education. Its messages of instruction were eagerly read and began to influence the membership. Four years later Special Testimonies on Education in its 240 small pages added emphasis to the subject. With Ellen White calling the church to action and with instruction on the conduct of schools available, Seventh-day Adventists began to act.

At Battle Creek College in 1896 and 1897, where G. W. Caviness served as president and Frederick Griggs headed a twelve-grade preparatory school, dedicated instructors developed a normal [180] school for the training of elementary teachers. (See A. W. Spalding, Origin and History, vol. 2, p. 361.) The next year, with E. A. Sutherland serving as college president, several church schools were opened here and there in Michigan. The church school movement spread rapidly. All this intensified the interest of Seventh-day Adventists in Christian education and made the preparation of an Ellen G. White book on the subject particularly timely.

Work on the book Education was begun in Australia by Ellen White and Sarah Peck. Considerable appropriate material was drawn from the two books just mentioned and from other sources such as her Review, Signs, and Youth’s Instructor articles. Her addresses on education and letters of counsel to educators added more. Then Ellen White wrote new material to fill in where needed. Writing on April 11, 1900, while still in Australia, she reported:

I have been reading some chapters of the book on education. Sister Peck has been gathering this matter from a mass of my writings, carefully selecting precious bits here and there, and placing them together in harmonious order. I have read three chapters this morning and I think the arrangement is excellent.

I want all our teachers and students to have this book as soon as they possibly can. I can hardly await the process of publication. I want the principles contained in this book to go everywhere. We must take a higher stand on education.—Letter 58, 1900.

Her return to the United States from Australia later in 1900 and the travels and labors in the field in 1901 greatly delayed the work on the proposed book, but the summer of 1902 gave some time for work on it, as well as Testimonies, volume 7.

As Ellen White and those who worked with her were eager that books intended for both the church and the world should be most effective in their mission, it was not unusual for them to submit the manuscripts while in preparation to one or more qualified readers who could give counsel. Writing on July 19, 1902, to Mrs. Druillard, Ellen White mentioned her work on Education and reported:

I have carefully read all this matter. I feared that my eyes [181] would not be strong enough to finish reading it, but I cried unto the Lord in prayer, and He heard me.—Letter 116, 1902.

And she asked this trusted worker and friend to read the manuscript and report. Here is her request: “I have had a copy of this book, in manuscript form, sent to you to read. We are now waiting for you to return it, with your criticism.”— Ibid.

Two weeks earlier W. C. White sent some sections to Professor Sutherland, now the president of Emmanuel Missionary College. He outlined what was expected in such readings:

We have sent to you several sections of copy prepared for Mother’s educational book, with the request that you shall read it carefully and critically. We request you to mark carefully any passage which may seem to be difficult to understand, which may seem to be incomplete, or which may in your judgment be out of place in this book. In fact, we request you to comment and criticize freely upon what you read....

You will notice that since you saw the manuscript last, a wider range has been taken. More of the plan of redemption has been worked in by drawing from Mother’s published works, such as Patriarchs and Prophets, Great Controversy, Desire of Ages, Mount of Blessing, and Christ’s Object Lessons. This has required much labor; but we hope that the book is sufficiently strengthened to compensate both for the labor and for the delay. Please tell me what you think about this.—20 WCW, pp. 53, 54.

The Proposal of Independent Publications

Associated with Sutherland at Berrien Springs was P. T. Magan. He had led out by General Conference appointment in the Christ’s Object Lessons campaign in which this E. G. White book was widely sold by church members to aid in the reduction of debts on educational institutions. Being a very practical man, the thought struck him that if Education could be printed on the press of their emerging “Advocate Publishing Company” at Berrien Springs, it would help the college and provide a book that could be sold for less than if printed by the Review and Herald or the Pacific Press. Further, it could be handled in such a way as to yield the author some much-needed funds with which to carry on her work. [182]

On August 6, 1902, he wrote to W. C. White:

Now, I want to talk to you a little while relative to the book Education. I know that the type will be set and plates made by the Pacific Press. I also know your great perplexity relative to the publication and sale of this book. This is the point upon which I am exceedingly desirous to write you....

I cannot help but feel that if our publishing work were broken up into smaller sections, each section pushing different lines of books, that we would have greater success; and that is why I am making a plea that [Emmanuel] Missionary College, and our little Advocate Publishing Company, as we call it, should have a chance to demonstrate what it can do on Mother’s [Note: Among the younger workers were those who often referred respectfully and affectionately to Ellen G. White as “mother”] new book, Education.—P. T. Magan to WCW August 6, 1902.

And then he put in some telling arguments:

It is this way: In the past Brother Sutherland and some of the rest of us, as well as your mother, have written a few educational books. We find it impossible to get our old publishing houses to take hold of these books unless we give them everything that there is in it, and then they put the prices so high that there is difficulty in selling the books. After we have given them all the profits, and accepted mere pittances for royalties, we find that we have to work up the entire trade, or else the books are not sold at all.— Ibid.

Professor Magan then pointed out:

Now, here at Berrien Springs we feel the most intense interest in the publication of educational books. We would like to build up a little educational book business—not for the money there is in it, but for the good that it will do. There must be immediately some small simple textbooks, for use in our church schools, and they must be gotten out at a price so that our poor people and poor children can have them.— Ibid.

It is not difficult to see that with the situation among the church’s [183] established publishers as it was at that time, involved as they were in the handling of commercial work and with a measure of indifference that could not be hidden (see Testimonies for the Church 7:161-163), such an appeal might have considerable weight. W. C. White presented the letter to his mother, and on August 29, both of them wrote to Professor Magan.

The bid for independent publishing was attractive. A large distribution of a very precious book was promised. But God gave instruction to Ellen White on the point of independent publishing. In her response to Magan in dealing with the principles involved she referred several times to the light given to her in vision. She wrote from her home on August 29, 1902:

Dear Brother Magan,

I have read your letter in regard to the publication of my book on education. I respect all you say about this matter, and I was quite desirous of complying with your request, if on consideration it should be thought best. But light has come to me that it would not be wisdom to do this. Confusion would be brought in. Some things have been presented to me that I will try to present to you.

There was in my mind a desire to present to the cause a couple of other books, to be used for its advancement, as Object Lessons has been used. In the night season I was instructed that the giving of the manuscript of Object Lessons was of the Lord, but that if other books were given to be handled in the same way, the arrangements made for their sale would bring in a train of influences that would hinder the work of handling the larger books.—Letter 137, 1902.

She pointed out that all phases of the Lord’s work must be taken into consideration if there were to be real success:

Sometimes we get in a hurry, and by our plans bring confusion into the Lord’s work. How many there are who work in their own strength, following their own lines, in order to accomplish that which they think should be accomplished. May the Lord take pity on our ignorance. May He help us to do nothing to hinder the work that He desires to have accomplished. [184]

The work of the Lord includes more than one line of service. The doing of it calls for many minds and for much wisdom, in order that each part may be carried forward successfully.— Ibid.

Referring to the church’s literature evangelists and how carrying out Magan’s proposition might affect their work, she wrote:

There are many things to be done to advance the work of God. I have been instructed that the canvassing work is to be revived. Our smaller books, with our pamphlets and journals, can and should be used in connection with our larger books.— Ibid.

Ellen White had a high sense of honor, and on the point of justice and fairness, she added:

Should I give the publication of the book on education into other hands than those who acted so liberally in publishing Object Lessons, I should not be dealing fairly. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to those who took part in the publication of this book, cooperating with me in carrying out the God-given plan for freeing our schools from debt. Let the good work continue....

We need to remember that the church militant is not the church triumphant. The difference between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the world is to be carefully considered, else we shall draw threads of selfishness into the web that we are weaving. We need to remember that beside every soul there is an unseen, heavenly Watcher.— Ibid.

The manuscript for Education was submitted to the Pacific Press and has been a publication of that house from 1903 to the present. Ellen White especially led by God, refused to take steps that would bypass the divinely established organizational procedures that governed the publication and distribution of the literature of the church.

Visit to Southern California

In the second week of September, Ellen White, W. C., and their helpers traveled to Los Angeles for the camp meeting scheduled for September 12 to 21. The meeting was held at Boyle Heights, not far [185] from the present location of the White Memorial Medical Center, and eight hundred people attended. While attending this meeting the White party enjoyed a new home that belonged to an Adventist family who moved onto the campgrounds, making it possible to turn over the whole house to Ellen White. Here they set up a temporary office.

Early during the meeting she slipped away to see the newly acquired property for the San Fernando Academy. She visited again when school opened October 1, and spoke to the students and faculty.

In connection with this trip south she was on the lookout for appropriate sites for sanitariums. To Elder Daniells she wrote, “Constantly the Lord is keeping southern California before me as a place where we must establish medical institutions.”—Letter 138, 1902. On the way down, prospective property had been explored in Santa Barbara, and as she had opportunity during the camp meeting she went to Monrovia and Pasadena; the following week she looked at property just south of San Diego in the Paradise Valley.

The journey back north took her through Fresno, where she stopped for the California Conference session. While there she urged the reelection of A. T. Jones, who had served one year as conference president. His rather erratic leadership had seriously undermined the chances of his continuing in office, but after talking with him she pleaded with the constituency to give him another opportunity, and this was done. The Fresno meeting was climaxed by a special service for some twenty workers who were bound for overseas service. A new day was dawning for Adventist missions. She addressed the group and then offered a dedicatory prayer.

While in Fresno she was given a vision that she did not fully understand at the time but would come to understand following certain interviews held at Elmshaven later in October—and a stand on her part for which God reproved her.

Before going to the southern California camp meeting, Ellen White had moved into her new writing room. It had been a bit trying to do her literary work nearby during all the hammering and sawing and construction work. But it was well worthwhile. This room extended across the complete east end of the home, over the kitchen and service porch. Even though it had been specified that old [186] materials would be used as far as possible, the alterations with the painting, inside and outside, cost $1,000. But she felt she was justified in making this investment even though she thought she should defend it. She had to have working conditions that were conducive to efficiency and health. To an acquaintance she wrote:

The building of this room took money. I held back for a year before consenting to have this room built; for I know how many places there were in which money was needed. But I saw that it was necessary, for the preservation of my life, that something be done. It would be wrong for me to shorten my life, for this would take me from the Lord’s work.—Letter 165, 1902.

There was a bright bay-window arrangement on the southeast corner, with windows opening in all four directions, but principally east and south. Artistic shingles set off the tower on the outside. The room was fitted with a fireplace on the east side and with cabinets along the west wall, where her manuscripts, books, and papers could be kept. From the window on the north end of the room, between the cabinets and the door to the steep, hidden stairway to the service porch, she could look up to the Sanitarium on the hill above, and at the nearby office building when it was built shortly thereafter.

There were three features about this newly constructed writing room that especially pleased Ellen White: its roominess, its bay window with light and sunshine, and its fireplace. She was to spend a large part of her time here during the next twelve years, writing, writing. She would often come to the room at two or three o’clock in the morning, sometimes at midnight, sometimes earlier to start her day of writing. [187]

Chapter 14—God Reproves His Messenger

Soon after the month-long trip to southern California Ellen White passed through one of the most difficult and excruciating experiences of her life. It involved the developing work in the South, which as has been noted was very close to her heart. It involved her own son, James Edson White. In this experience the Lord in vision severely reproved His messenger.

Prophets of God were far from automatons. Through many visions their minds were enlightened, sometimes in direct instruction, sometimes through symbols and figures. They were often carried ahead into the future, shown what will take place, and given a line of instruction that would give direction for that situation when the time came. Again, based upon the wealth of the visions given over a period of many years, prophets were often called upon to speak, basing their messages on principles, giving approval to certain proposals and procedures, and pointing out the perils and hazards of other proposals and procedures. This was true with the prophets in Bible times, and it was true in Ellen White’s experience.

She exercised great care in refraining from expressing her own viewpoints in matters relating to the development of the cause of God and in spiritual lines. Often she remained silent when matters were brought before her concerning which she had no foundation in the visions to provide an adequate answer. In a later year when a theological question was placed before her, she remarked, “‘I have no light on the subject.... Please tell my brethren that I have nothing presented before me regarding the circumstances concerning which they write, and I can set before them only that which has [188] been presented to me.”’ Quoted in a letter from C. C. Crisler to E. E. Andross, December 18, 1914.

On the other hand, many times she was called upon to deal with matters so similar in nature to others that had been clearly revealed to her that she was able to speak promptly and with confidence. Thus at one time she wrote: “This matter has been brought before my mind in other cases.”—Letter 16, 1893Selected Messages 2:63, 64).

And so with careful consideration Ellen White gave words of counsel based firmly on principles set forth in many visions given to her through her lifetime. And it must be noted that the Lord did not intend to give special light for every particular case or situation. This was made clear to her in 1868:

Since the warning and instruction given in testimony for individual cases applied with equal force to many others who had not been specially pointed out in this manner, it seemed to be my duty to publish the personal testimonies for the benefit of the church. In Testimony 15, speaking of the necessity for doing this, I said: “I know of no better way to present my views of general dangers and errors, and the duty of all who love God and keep His commandments, than by giving these testimonies. Perhaps there is no more direct and forcible way of presenting what the Lord has shown me.”—Testimonies for the Church 5:658, 659.

Or, stated succinctly: “In rebuking the wrongs of one, He designs to correct many.”—Ibid., 5:659.

It was in keeping with this principle that when the prophet Nathan came before David, and David proposed the building of a house for God, Nathan responded immediately, giving indication that for David to build the Lord a house would be in harmony with God’s will. Should not the Lord have a house built for Him? Would not David be the logical man to lead out in this enterprise? But there were factors that at the moment Nathan did not take into account. God called Nathan’s attention to this through a vision. It became Nathan’s difficult duty to return to David and tell him that the counsel he had given was not right. A house should be built for God, but it should be built by another, one whose hands were not stained by blood.

Rather than undermining confidence in the messages of God’s [189] prophets, a knowledge of such experiences gives us confidence that God has His hand on His work. Should the prophet for some reason err in his mission, the Lord steps in and makes the record straight. What made the experience of Ellen White, in October, 1902, particularly difficult was, first, it involved the work of her son Edson in the Southern States; second, she ever endeavored to keep her own personality and her own wishes and feelings out of her work. That month she was to express:

My personality is not my own, and I have no right to use it for selfish purposes. I can stand before the throne of God and be perfectly clear at this point, for I have never used my personality selfishly. My husband used to tell me that I was more in danger of going to the other extreme.—Manuscript 123, 1902.

Crisis in the South

Here was the developing situation: James Edson White, after a reconversion in 1893, had unselfishly led out in the development of the work in the South, using the Morning Star, which he built, as a missionary boat. He prepared appropriate literature, such as Gospel Primer, to help finance the enterprise and to supply a teaching aid. With his new dedication and consecration, his labors were greatly blessed by God. As we have already mentioned, he weathered the opposition in the South as he worked for blacks and nobly pioneered in educational work among them. He led out in the formation of the Southern Missionary Society, an organization the General Conference recognized, to carry the burden of a developing work at a time when the church itself was largely underdeveloped in that area and for which finances were limited.

But Edson White had one great weakness. He was not a financier. Again and again he had been warned and counseled by his father and his mother in his younger years. When he served as manager of the Pacific Press in the late 1870s, it came close to financial disaster. As he pioneered the work in the South he was especially warned by his mother of perils of his becoming involved in business ventures. He was a promoter, and to him every interest in which he was engaged gave promise of unfailing success. Others among his close associates did not share his optimism. But he dared [190] to do what others would not attempt. In so doing he brought about a work that was effective in the winning of souls for the kingdom.

A little printing press on the Morning Star made possible the issuance of literature to aid in the developing work. It was but logical that eventually a printing concern should be established at some permanent location in the South. Nashville gave promise of being a good location, so a building was secured and presses, paper cutters, and type were purchased. A dedicated staff launched into the work of a third publishing house in the United States. The overall scheme showed daring and optimism, but it had its weaknesses.

God had opened up to Ellen White the need of publishing in the South, for the South, but also had indicated that its products should not be restricted to the South. At the General Conference of 1901 she spoke favorably of the steps taken. But under Edson White’s unsteady financial hand, and with the use of worn-out equipment, losses mounted. And all this was taking place at a time when the attention of the denomination was being called to operating on a debt-free policy. In fact, this was a very strong point with Elder Daniells, the new church leader. He saw disaster ahead if the cause were to plunge into debt and stay there year after year, as it had in the late 1890s.

Ellen White herself was deeply concerned about the mounting debt and urged that operations in all lines of denominational work be carried on a pay-as-you-go basis. She had counseled that debt should be shunned, and personal debt should be shunned as leprosy. As church leaders studied the worsening financial situation developing in Nashville, it seemed they must bring a halt to the losses. It seemed logical to take steps to reduce the newly established publishing concern to that of a book depository and the printing of only some tracts and materials that would be especially useful in the Southern States. From a purely business standpoint, this seemed sound, especially when the church had two well-established publishing houses in North America—one in Battle Creek and another at Oakland. Neither of these had sufficient denominational work to keep its presses active, and both continued to do commercial work. Why could not all of the literature that would be needed in the United States be issued from these two houses? [191]

The Council Meeting at Elmshaven

A council meeting was held at Elmshaven at 6:00 A.M. Sunday, October 19, 1902. Elder A. G. Daniells, the leader of the church, and Elder E. R. Palmer, who led out in the publishing work at the General Conference, were present. W. T. Knox, president of the Pacific Union Conference; A. T. Jones, president of the California Conference; J. O. Corliss, pastor of the San Francisco church; and Ellen G. White and W. C. White made up the committee of seven. Clarence C. Crisler was called in to make a stenographic report of the discussion. The problem under study: the increasing burden of debt being incurred by the denomination, with particular attention being given to the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which was being rebuilt, and to the Nashville publishing house. As they were discussing the building of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, Ellen White opened her remarks with these words as recorded in the stenographic report of the interview: “I hope you will not incur large debts.”—Manuscript 123, 1902.

As her mind turned to the recent experience in Great Britain, which will be mentioned later, she stated: “I would not feel free to advise you, brethren, to go heavily into debt in order to establish sanitariums.”— Ibid.

Elder Daniells responded that he did not refuse to help establish a medical work in England, but he did refuse to establish it on borrowed capital. They promised to help raise the money as quickly as they could, and when the money was in hand they would invest it in buildings and equipment. Of this Ellen White commented: “But that is not Dr. Kellogg’s manner of working.” But Elder Daniells interjected, as he referred to plans for the rebuilding of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, “We counseled together, and we positively stated over and over that a debt should not be made on the new sanitarium.... We made provision that when that institution was up, not a dollar of additional debt should rest upon it.”— Ibid.

Then Elder Daniells turned attention to the work in Nashville. He said, “It has been repeatedly published that the brethren in Nashville were not going into debt, and everybody has understood that a new order of things had set in, and that they were going to have an institution put up without debt. And so they have sent their money in.”— Ibid. [192]

But the institution was badly in debt, and the people were beginning to find it out. It was suggested that the matter could be cared for if it were handled like other situations of a similar character, except that Ellen White’s support of her son’s work made it impossible for the brethren to step in and put things right.

The question was asked, “Shall we wait another period of time for things to evolve down there, or has the time come for the General Conference and the Southern Union Conference men to get together and in prayerful, thoughtful counsel readjust those matters ... and bring the business where it will not continually be going into debt?” To this Ellen White replied:

It has; and I say, Go ahead. God’s cause must not be left to reproach, no matter who is made sore by arranging matters on a right basis. Edson should give himself to the ministry and to writing, and leave alone the things that he has been forbidden by the Lord to do. Finance is not his forte at all.

I want the brethren to feel free to take hold of this matter. I do not want them to make any reference to me. I want them to act just as they would act if my son were not there.... I must always stand on the right side of every question. I do not want anyone to feel that I am sustaining Edson in a wrong. He has felt that it is terrible for me to write to him in the straight way that I have written. I have presented things to him just as they are presented to me.— Ibid.

The report of the discussions was typed out the same day, and with a feeling of satisfaction Elder Daniells left California that night on his return to the Battle Creek headquarters. In his pocket he carried a copy of the interview. On arriving in Battle Creek, he called a meeting of the General Conference Committee and gave a report of the interview in California. He had the assurance that the Lord’s messenger was with them in their plans to close up the Nashville printing establishment in a very short time.

Visions that Changed the Course of Action

But the publishing house was not closed. On Monday, within twenty-four hours of the interview that was held at Elmshaven, Ellen White wrote a letter addressed to “Dear Brethren.” [193]

Last night I seemed to be in the operating room of a large hospital, to which people were being brought, and instruments were being prepared to cut off their limbs in a big hurry.

One came in who seemed to have authority, and said to the physicians, “Is it necessary to bring these people into this room?” Looking pityingly at the sufferers, he said, “Never amputate a limb until everything possible has been done to restore it.” Examining the limbs which the physicians had been preparing to cut off, he said, “They may be saved, the first work is to use every available means to restore these limbs.

“What a fearful mistake it would be to amputate a limb that could be saved by patient care. Your conclusions have been too hastily drawn. Put these patients in the best rooms in the hospital, and give them the very best of care and treatment. Use every means in your power to save them from going through life in a crippled condition, their usefulness damaged for life.”

The sufferers were removed to a pleasant room, and faithful helpers cared for them under the speaker’s direction; and not a limb had to be sacrificed.—Letter 162, 1902.

And another scene passed before her. She seemed to be in a council meeting. Elder E. R. Palmer, leader of our publishing work, was speaking, urging that “all our book making should be done by one publishing house, at one place, and thus save expense.” She describes how “One of authority” was present and pointed out the perils of a consolidated work, and then she declared, “Let the Southern field have its own home-published books.”— Ibid.

In her closing statement Ellen White recognized that—

in the work at Nashville there has been a departure from avowed principles and plans of work. Great evils have resulted. The Lord would have saved from all this if the workers had prayed more and walked humbly with God. It will never answer for these mistakes to be repeated. They must stand as warnings against deviations from the plain path marked out for us by God.

And how shall we treat those who have erred? Let those who have had experience, and who have passed over the ground, show sympathy for those who have done this unadvised thing.— Ibid. [194]

When Elder Daniells received the letter, he was stunned. Commenting on the experience when the letter came to Battle Creek, he declared:

The message to continue the work of the Southern Publishing Association was truly disconcerting. It brought great disappointment to many. Its contradiction to the counsel given to us in our interview threw some into perplexity.—AGD, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 328.

He recalled the experience of Nathan and David:

“Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee. And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house.” (See 1 Chronicles 17:1-4.)— Ibid.

He recalled that David accepted the message that had come by revelation, in place of the counsel given in the interview the preceding day. And as he reported the experience, he said: “Our committee took the same action.”— Ibid.

But the experience was an agonizing one for Ellen White. She recalled the vision given to her in Fresno, which should have alerted her:

I was in the night season in a meeting where the room was darkened, as if a blanket of darkness had been drawn over the assembly. Someone was speaking. The voice was the voice of Elder Daniells, but the words were those of Brother E. R. Palmer.—Letter 194, 1902.

It was Elder Palmer, a dedicated man who, looking at the matter from a business standpoint, felt certain that one publishing house in North America was sufficient. A few weeks later, in a message addressed to the General Conference Committee, Ellen White reviewed the experience: “A short time after the council that was held at my home October 19 in regard to the Southern work, a great burden came upon me. I was bowed down with distress. I had wakened with an inexpressible load resting on me.”—Letter 173, 1902. [195]

The Messages of Rebuke

Then she reported that she was given instruction regarding the conversation she had had with the brethren in reference to the Southern work. In it was a message of rebuke to herself. She listened as her Instructor repeated part of the conversation of the October 19 council meeting at Elmshaven, and then she was bidden:

“You cannot maintain any such position. You must not allow the words of ministers or presidents of conferences to have such an effect on you as to lead you to take your stand against the Southern Missionary Society.

“I shall give you messages to bear, and you must bear them. You are in a trying place. You will be severely tried.... The Southern Missionary Society is not to be extinguished. It must exist to do a work that will be neglected unless it lives. You have sought to avoid taking a position, even if this position is entirely as it should be, that would lead others to say that you are influenced by your son, J. E. White.”— Ibid.

Her Instructor in His admonition stated that mistakes had been made in the work in the South, but they were not of a nature that required such drastic treatment as was proposed. A few weeks later as she discussed the question again in its larger outreaches, she told of how for three nights in succession after the October 19 interview, she received visions, and the Lord instructed her that she “had spoken unadvisedly” (Letter 208, 1902). She was informed that not all the matters had been “correctly represented” to her. Not all the particulars had been given. She should not consent to allow the taking of steps that were proposed, merely because Edson White was her son. She was informed that “liberal gifts should be made in response to the calls for means to advance the great work that must be done” in the Southern field, “a field where the greatest difficulties must be met and overcome” (Letter 208, 1902).

The whole experience was one in which Ellen White herself was reproved by God, and we will let her explain it, as she does in a letter to Elder Daniells, written December 7:

When you were here, you laid before me the condition of things in the publishing house at Nashville. You spoke of the [196] terrible financial embarrassment resting on the work there, and gave me the impression that the brethren did not think that anything could be done to set things in order, because Sister White would exert her influence to prevent them from doing what they thought necessary to put matters on a proper basis.

Questions were asked me, and I answered them in the light of your representations. I said, “If what you say is correct, I will not stand in the way of your doing what you think ought to be done.” You said that if you could adjust matters as they would be adjusted if the difficulties existed in any other place, the work would be placed on a sound basis.—Letter 194, 1902. (Italics supplied.)

And then she significantly reported:

The Lord reproved me for accepting any man’s version of matters, even Elder Daniells’, when He had already given me instruction.

I never remember feeling more pained than I did after speaking as I did in the interview with you. I had nothing to say in favor of Nashville. The Lord reproved me for this, and pointed me to those who by His appointment were laboring in Nashville.— Ibid. (Italics supplied.)

Then in a direct testimony of reproof she wrote:

That there should be an attempt to counterwork the Lord’s plans, and to hinder the good work being accomplished in Nashville; that Elder Daniells and others, notwithstanding the light that God has given, should join in this attempt, is an offense to God. He will not endorse their work, nor countenance their course of action.— Ibid.

Just as Ellen White accepted the messages of reproof for her failure to come to the defense of the workers at Nashville at a time when their course seemed indefensible, so Elder Daniells accepted the message of reproof for the course of action that he proposed on what he felt was sound argument and careful reasoning. The printing establishment was not closed. Elder Daniells encouraged the workers in Nashville to meet the challenge. Year after year he went down to attend the constituency meetings of the publishing [197] house and supported it. How he rejoiced when a turn came in the tide. Within a few years the institution began to gain ground. As he later told the story, he observed:

God who knows the end from the beginning sent us messages to prevent us from narrowing the work in a time of discouragement. These messages sometimes seemed difficult to understand. They called for superhuman effort. In these later days, we can rejoice more than ever in the guiding hand of God manifested through His servant. I number this experience as one among many that have confirmed my confidence in the divine leadership of God’s people through the prophetic gift.—AGD, op. cit., p. 329.

At Elmshaven in Late 1902

Ellen White had much on her mind during the closing days of 1902. She was burdened with the production of her books Education and Testimonies, Volume 7, and a beginning on Old Testament history (Prophets and Kings). She was deeply concerned over the situations in Battle Creek. The Review and Herald publishing house forged ahead, seemingly unmindful of the many messages of warning and counsel God had given to avert disaster. Those in charge of rebuilding the Sanitarium seemed heedless of many guiding messages, replacing the large structure regardless of mounting debts. There was Dr. J. H. Kellogg himself, whom Ellen White viewed as in a particularly perilous position by way of self-exaltation and independence.

The days came and went as ticking off the time for the convening of the General Conference session in March and April, 1903. W. C. White, to whom Ellen White looked for assistance in her book work, was urgently summoned by A. G. Daniells from Elmshaven in early November, 1902, to meetings in Battle Creek to deal with financial problems. He would be gone for eleven weeks.

On the last day of the year, she learned that the Review and Herald publishing house had burned to the ground the night before. This came as no surprise to her.

The next General Conference session was scheduled to be held in California, beginning in late March. For a time Ellen White pondered whether she should attend. [198]

Chapter 15—The Crisis Over Financial Policies

(A Prelude to the General Conference Session of 1903)

During the decade that Ellen White was in Australia, the expansion of Seventh-day Adventist denominational institutions was phenomenal but financially irresponsible. Little restraint was exercised on the interlocking boards at the Battle Creek headquarters. As college debts increased, money was borrowed from the Review and Herald. The Review itself was heavily in debt but much trusted, and many Adventists chose to use it as their investment institution. [Savings passbooks, very similar to those used by banks, were printed by the review and herald and were furnished to Seventh-day Adventist investors. See DF 193c.] Dr. Kellogg pushed ahead in opening new sanitariums across the land, mostly on borrowed money. This created debts that he and his associates persuaded the General Conference Association, also a trusted investment institution among Seventh-day Adventists, to assume. The presidents of the General Conference (Elder O. A. Olsen from 1888 to 1897, and Elder G. A. Irwin from 1897 to 1901) seemed powerless to stem the tide. Each was surrounded by shrewd and much-trusted businessmen who were in sympathy with liberal financial policies that allowed seemingly unrestrained plunging into debt.

Elder Olsen was a deeply spiritual, highly respected man. Even though Ellen White recognized his weaknesses, she favored his reelection to the office of president of the General Conference in 1895 for a two-year term. She was later to write that in financial matters “he had not the courage to say, ‘I cannot betray sacred trusts.’ Instead, he linked himself with wrongdoers and thus made [199] himself equally guilty with them.”—Manuscript 144, 1902.

When Elder Daniells assumed the leadership of the denomination as chairman of the General Conference Committee in 1901, he soon discovered the church’s very critical financial situation. There were no budgets. Indebtedness was being increased to put up new institutions and for the day-to-day operation of the work of the church.

The load of debt was staggering. As stated previously, the wage of ordained ministers and of skilled workmen in the publishing house was only $12 to $15 per week. Yet debts on educational institutions amounted to $350,000. The General Conference Association owed $288,000. By the end of 1902 the debts of the association exceeded the assets by $7,400. The General Conference itself was overdrawn in its account by $41,500 (The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 19). The Battle Creek Sanitarium was carrying a debt of $250,000.

Elder Daniells was well acquainted with Ellen White’s statements concerning the loading of church institutions with indebtedness. He determined as he came into office that the work should be operated on a pay-as-you-go basis. To do otherwise was suicidal. He had been in Australia as she wrestled with the debt problem there. While helping to establish the Avondale school, she counseled in 1896: “There must be a strict regard to economy, or a heavy debt will be incurred. Keep within bounds. Shun the incurring of debt as you would shun leprosy.”—Letter 60, 1896.

Two years later she wrote: “The practice of borrowing money to relieve some pressing necessity, and making no calculation for canceling the indebtedness, however common, is demoralizing. “—Manuscript 168, 1898 (see also Colporteur Ministry, 96).

Writing of the Battle Creek College debt in 1899, she declared: “Methods must be devised to stop this continual accumulation of debt. The whole cause must not be made to suffer because of these debts, which will never be lifted unless there is an entire change and the work is carried forward on some different basis.”—Manuscript 86, 1899.

Proposing a remedy for faulty school finance in which she advocated a proper tuition rate, she advised:

The teachers must cooperate in requiring from the students sufficient funds to cover running expenses, or they must [200] themselves agree to do their work for lower wages. The estimate of the school expenses must be considered, and if there is no other way to keep free from debt, all are at liberty to arrange among themselves to donate a certain amount of their wages. It may be best to raise the tuition; then the teachers will have the privilege of using their means to help where they see that help is most needed.—Manuscript 58, 1898.

Still heavily burdened over the debts that the church’s schools were carrying in 1899, and with little prospect of liquidating them, she “laid the matter before the Lord.” She reports on the outcome:

There came to me the thought that I could give the book Christ’s Object Lessons to the schools.... I could see no other way for the schools to be relieved than for me to give Object Lessons for this purpose, and I said, “It must be done.”—Manuscript 48, 1902.

Of course, such a project called for well-organized effort, but by 1902 $200,000 had been raised for debt reduction (The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 19), and by 1903 the amount was more than $300,000.

Concern Over the Battle Creek Sanitarium Debt

When the group of leading workers met for the council meeting in her home on the morning of October 19, 1902, as noted earlier, Ellen White launched into the question of rebuilding the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and declared: “I hope you will not incur large debts. I have been instructed to tell our people that they are not to erect such immense buildings for sanitariums.”—Manuscript 123, 1902.

Elder Daniells replied:

After the fire, Dr. Kellogg called some members of the General Conference Committee to Battle Creek to counsel with the Sanitarium Board. We counseled together, and we positively stated over and over that a debt should not be made on the new Sanitarium. Brother Prescott, Brother Cottrell, Brother Evans, and I were there, and we laid it all out. We made provision that when that institution was up, not a dollar of additional debt should rest upon it. They were then in debt $250,000—a quarter of a million; and that was on the land and property that remained [201] after the main buildings were burned.

The General Conference Committee took the position that the Sanitarium debt ought not to be increased. They had all the debt they could carry. We spent two days with them in counsel. After our discussions and arrangements, Brother Prescott said, “We want it thoroughly understood that we agreed that this building shall not cost more than $250,000, and that this money is to be raised from the $150,000 insurance money and from the donations of the Battle Creek citizens.” He laid it all out the last thing before the council closed. “When this thing is done,” he said,“we are not to have a dollar added to our debt.” This was agreed to by all.— Ibid.

But Elder Daniells added:

It now looks as if a large amount of indebtedness would be added to the Sanitarium. The General Conference is not responsible in any way, shape, or manner for a dollar of that. We did not put our hands to any such movement.—Ibid.

To this Ellen White replied:

I hope you will maintain this position in regard to the matter. Dr. Kellogg must not think that because he does this, you must succumb. But God has permitted things to come to such a pass that you can clearly see your duty to refuse to bear the burden of this additional obligation.—Ibid.

Crisis in England

A crisis in the Daniells-Kellogg relationship had been reached only a few weeks before at a committee meeting held in the denominational publishing house in London. For a year following the General Conference of 1901, there had been a close working relationship between the two men. It was Kellogg, at the meeting of the General Conference Committee held at the 1901 General Conference session, who had nominated Daniells to serve as chairman of the Committee and thus leader of the church (DF 15a, AGD, “How the Denomination Was Saved From Pantheism,” copy A, p. 6).

General meetings were held in Europe in the summer of 1902. [202] Dr. Kellogg, a member of the General Conference Committee, was asked by Daniells to attend these meetings and bring strength to the medical work there. Kellogg was eager to start a sanitarium in England. He found an attractive property near London and sent a cable to Elder Daniells, then in Christiana (Oslo), Norway, asking him to come to see a property available at a reasonable price. Daniells dropped his work and took three of his associates with him to London, where they met Kellogg at the publishing house. The committee meeting that day was a stormy one, with tears and threats.

In spite of all that had been said about debt and the importance of a cash policy at the time an agreement had been entered into concerning the rebuilding the Battle Creek Sanitarium, the doctor proposed the purchase of the prospective sanitarium property at a cost of $30,000, on the basis of the British brethren assuming $5,000 or $10,000 of the obligation and the General Conference $20,000. Daniells was the first to speak:

“Doctor,” he said, “that would be creating a debt here of $25,000.”— Ibid., 8. Kellogg agreed that that would be so. Daniells continued: “And you are aware that we have been working night and day for two years with [Christ’s] Object Lessons to roll away the reproach of debt from the schools?” The doctor was aware of that. Then Daniells pointed out that with the church members working so hard to clear debts, he did not see how the General Conference could assume more debt without their approval.

But Kellogg would not take defeat. He blurted out, “You do not want to have any medical work done in England. You are blocking everything.”— Ibid.

Before the day was over, Dr. Kellogg pushed Elder Daniells into the washroom, stood against the door, and for nearly two hours harangued him over a “cash policy” that he declared the church had never followed, not even at the beginning. “We had always assumed obligations,” he said, “and worked them out and raised the money.”—Ibid., 9.

“I know we have always assumed,” replied Daniells, “but we have never paid up yet, and we are in debt heels over head everywhere.... I am pledged to my committee and to our people not to go on any longer with this borrowing policy.”— Ibid. [203]

Kellogg retorted angrily that Sister White would “roll ... [Daniells] over in the dust” if he took such a stand. After more stormy debate, the discussion terminated with Dr. Kellogg’s saying, “Well, sir, I will never work with you on this cash policy. I will see you in America. Good day.”— Ibid., 9, 10.

Whether Dr. Kellogg knew it or not, Elder Daniells had Ellen White’s strong support in avoiding further debts. Kellogg returned to Battle Creek and labored hard to alienate the General Conference Committee members and workers generally. With this experience and the mounting costs of rebuilding of the Sanitarium, for which no provision had been made, tensions grew. It was at this point that Daniells arranged for the General Conference Committee to meet in Battle Creek on November 10, 1902.

On Sunday morning, October 26, 1902, just a week after the momentous October 19 meeting at her home, Ellen White wrote in her diary:

During the past night I have slept but little.... I have spent the greater part of the night praying that the Lord, by some way of His own choosing, will open Dr. Kellogg’s understanding, that he may see that he is departing from the faith. Unless he is led to realize his true spiritual condition, he will walk away from Christ into false paths.

I am greatly burdened by the thought that those connected with the doctor in medical missionary work do not see that he is not standing on the platform of Bible truth. Unless there is a change, grave errors will be brought in. These will be rejected by some, but by others they will be accepted. Dr. Kellogg will have a sad account to give unless he sincerely repents for lifting himself up unto vanity and assuming over souls a power that has hurt them spiritually.—Manuscript 137, 1902.

On Thursday of that week a telegram addressed to W. C. White was received at Elmshaven from Elder Daniells at the church headquarters in Battle Creek. It read: “Important conference meeting at Battle Creek, November tenth. Come without fail. Bring Knox and Alonzo [A. T. Jones]. Signed, A. G. Daniells.” (20 WCW, p. 552).

This was a call of distress, a summons to General Conference [204] Committee members on the Pacific Coast to hasten to Battle Creek for an important meeting. It was to be a forerunner of the Autumn Councils (now called Annual Councils) of the General Conference Committee that from year to year deal with the finances of the denomination. It was precipitated by Dr. Kellogg’s insistence that the denomination should not be dominated by men who stood for a no-debt policy. He consistently took the position that since sanitariums were philanthropic institutions they should be launched without expectation of returning the capital investment nor even be burdened with the interest.—28 WCW, p. 452.

Kellogg had come back to the issue again and again, begging, arguing, and finally weeping as he pleaded for permission to go further into debt (DF 45h, JHK to EGW, December, 1902).

The financial situation in the denomination was deteriorating. Daniells wrote to one member of the General Conference Committee on November 6:

I presume that you have heard that recently very heavy pressure has been brought to bear upon the General Conference Committee to become party to the debt-making policy in carrying on the medical work. During the past summer, four medical institutions have been erected, or launched, at a cost of at least $30,000. This does not include the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which in all probability will add $300,000 to its indebtedness. Thus in one short year, almost half a million dollars of sanitarium and food factory debts have been created.—AGD to N. W. Allee, November 6, 1902 (29 AGD, pp. 44-45).

The issues were clear-cut, and Daniells was a man of principle. He took his stand upon sound business principles and the principles Ellen White had enunciated and urged. He had heard her say in the council meeting at Elmshaven only three weeks before the Battle Creek meeting, “I hope you will not incur large debts.”— Manuscript 123, 1902. When he reported the firm stand in England to Ellen White and the proposition that “when we have the money in hand, we will be ready to invest” (Ibid., 1902) she had commented,“But that is not Dr. Kellogg’s manner of working,” and she urged Daniells to stand firm. He did.

The thrust of the November meeting was clear, and with the [205] issues and personalities involved, it was a stormy one. During the two-week session a number of communications were received from Ellen White giving encouragement and support. She was in earnest.

Dr. Kellogg declared to some of his friends that Elder Daniells would have to be turned out of office. He suggested a successor, Elder A. T. Jones. To replace Daniells would have been quite possible under the faulty provision made at the 1901 General Conference session for the choice of a leader for the church. A majority of the General Conference Committee—thirteen men—could at any time change the chairmanship and thus the leadership of the church. The Doctor threatened to renew the controversy at the next General Conference session, which was only a few months away. Elder Daniells commented:

I presume no General Conference officer has ever come into more violent controversy with him [JHK] than I have, and I cannot hope to have his friendship again unless the Lord works a marvelous change.—AGD to O. A. Olsen, December 1, 1902.

“I must confess that I do not like this strife,” he wrote. “I am not a fighter; I do not like to disagree with men. I would rather pack my satchels and go to the heart of Asia.”—AGD to W. O. Palmer, December 4, 1902.

Fully conversant with Ellen White’s counsel, the General Conference Committee took a firm position on financial matters.

Sound Financial Policies Adopted

The action of primary importance taken at this council was:

Whereas, the work of carrying on the third angel’s message is rapidly enlarging and extending into new fields; and, whereas, Unless careful management be given to the operations in extending the message, large debts will be contracted; therefore, 1. We recommend, That all evangelical and missionary enterprises carried on in the name of the denomination, or under the denomination’s support, be conducted on a strictly cash basis.—The Review and Herald, December 9, 1902.

Another of the significant actions that cut across Kellogg’s views on finances read: [206]

We further recommend, (a) That the General Conference or Mission Board from this day be not held financially responsible for any obligations which they have not assumed by their own action.

(b) That the foregoing be the general policy of the union and State conferences and other organizations and institutions of the denomination.

(c) That all parties undertaking local enterprises, such as institutions, church buildings, and other undertakings in this country, secure their means in their respective local territories, and not by general call for means unless previously arranged.— Ibid.

As to the Sanitarium that was nearing completion in Battle Creek, the Council wrote into the record:

That this General Conference Committee and council renew our hearty cooperation with the Battle Creek Sanitarium board and the Medical Missionary Association in their plans and work to recover from the effects of the fire, to renew the institution, and to promote their work as never before.

That this council approve of the Sanitarium getting money on bonds to satisfy its indebtedness, from whomsoever it may be able, at the lowest possible rate of interest.— Ibid.

At the close of the meeting Elder Daniells reported to Elder C. P. Bollman:

We have had probably the most severe crisis the General Conference Committee has ever experienced with the Doctor. We have endeavored to hold our ground, and I think we have been successful.—AGD to C. P. Bollman, November 26, 1902.

And to Elder N. P. Nelson he explained:

You will learn ... of the terrible time we had during our council. It was very clear from the start that Dr. Kellogg occupied what we would call a hostile attitude. Of course, he declared that he was on the most friendly terms with us personally, and charged all the hostility to us. I know better.

I know very well how hard I worked for him in Europe, how [207] we differed in our views of finances, and what heavy pressure he brought to bear upon me to yield my convictions.... On my return to America, I found that he had been talking to my friends against me, and was doing all he could to prejudice them. He continued this work until our council opened, and then a fierce struggle began....

I took the position that the time had come to stop the work of debt making.... In the next place, I claimed the right to think for myself and to express my convictions in any board meeting or publicly without being held up to ridicule, and charged with being an obstructionist, and unwilling to cooperate with those with whom I differed. These were really the two questions over which our battle was fought. Without boasting, I can say that the Lord gave the General Conference Committee a victory.—AGD to N. P. Nelson, November 28, 1902.

At this November meeting not only was there disagreement on financial issues, but theological matters were beginning to loom. It was here that the issue of the teachings of Kellogg’s book The Living Temple came into the open, an issue with which Ellen White would become deeply involved. Daniells wrote of issues of prime importance:

One was the securing of money for the Battle Creek Sanitarium; another was the circulation of The Living Temple on the same plan of Christ’s Object Lessons. Growing out of the latter was another issue, and that was regarding the character of the teaching or doctrines set forth in The Living Temple.—AGD to G. A. Irwin, December 12, 1902.

Apparently defeated in his financial maneuvering, Dr. Kellogg did not wait for the General Conference session. In December he dictated a seventy-page letter to Ellen White—a letter clearly aimed at alienating her from Arthur Daniells and gaining her support for himself. It was a letter in which the doctor used every possible argument he could summon to influence her. A close associate of Elder Daniells learned of the letter and reported the matter to him. He decided he must write to Ellen White presenting his side of the story. That evening he sat down and wrote one page and started on another. Then he came to himself. [208]

“‘What are you doing?’” he asked himself. “‘Are you helping the Lord to give Sister White information which she should have? I guess He is able to do it Himself.’”—DF 15a AGD, “How the Denomination Was Saved From Pantheism,” copy A, p. 15. He tore up the sheet, “threw it into the wastebasket, and never wrote her a line” (Ibid.). But in his mind he pondered. He knew well that if any man could influence Ellen White, it was Dr. Kellogg.

Kellogg’s seventy-page letter was not mailed until early or mid-February. It was read to Ellen White on March 16 (21 WCW, p. 270). It betokened a storm ahead. Would the messenger of the Lord be influenced? The answer came in March, 1903, at the General Conference session. It was a decided No; she was not influenced.

In the meantime, on the night of December 30, 1902, the Review and Herald publishing house burned to the ground. Disaster was following disaster. [209] [210] [211] [212] [213] [214] [215] [216] [217] [218] [219] [220] [221] [222] [223]

Chapter 16—The Review and Herald Fire

It was Tuesday, December 30, 1902, a quiet winter evening in Battle Creek. No snow was on the ground. Most of the three hundred employees of the Review and Herald publishing house had left their machines and editorial offices for the day. A few workers had come in for the night shift. Elder Daniells, the newly elected leader of the General Conference, was still in his office on the second floor of the West Building, just across North Washington Street. A little after six o’clock Elder I. H. Evans, president and general manager of the Review and Herald Publishing Company, and Elder E. R. Palmer had met with him to look over some new tracts in preparation. At seven-twenty Palmer left, and Daniells and Evans were chatting.

It had been a good year for the Review and Herald—one of the most prosperous. There were bright prospects for a busy 1903, also (RH Supplement, April 28, 1903).

The Tabernacle bell rang, summoning the faithful to prayer meeting. Then the electric lights went out. Daniells stepped over to the window and saw flames coming from the publishing house.

A few minutes before, all had been normal in the big building. The night watchman had just made his rounds through the engine room. Then the few employees at work detected the smell of smoke. Immediately the lights throughout the plant went out, leaving everything in total darkness. The dense, oily smoke that filled the building with incredible speed forced everyone to leave hastily; even now some found the stairways cut off and took to the fire escapes. All the workers got out, but one just barely made it, [224] crawling through smoke-filled rooms to safety. The fire alarm had been turned in at the first detection of the emergency.

When Elders Daniells and Evans reached the street, the whole pressroom was in flames. A minute or two later fire engines from the city fire department arrived and soon were pouring water onto the blaze. The whole building seemed engulfed. At no place could any fireman enter it. To check the fire was futile. All could see that the flames were beyond control. Nothing could be saved from the editorial offices or library, but Brother Robert of the art department saved a few pieces of furniture and some precious art materials.

It was now a little past seven-thirty; the firemen directed their efforts toward saving the two-story West Building across the street, and the stores on the east side of the Review plant. Fortunately, the breeze was from the southwest, and the smoke and flames were blown across Main Street into McCamly Park. At eight o’clock the roof fell in, and the machinery on the upper floors began to tumble. By eight-thirty the brick-veneer walls were collapsing.

Although there were a number of employees at work throughout the building, none had seen the fire start; but it was generally agreed that it had begun in the basement in the original engine room, under the dynamo room. The first published report of the fire said:

The very day on which it occurred the chief of the city fire department, in company with the office electrician, made a tour of inspection throughout the building, examining the wiring for the lights and other possible sources of danger, and pronounced everything in satisfactory condition.—Ibid., January 6, 1903.

This was done in consideration of the renewal of the insurance on January 1.

Fire Chief Weeks, who had directed the fighting of a number of big fires in Battle Creek, was later to declare that he had fought every one of the Adventist fires and his score was zero.“‘There is something strange,’” he said, “‘about your SDA fires, with the water poured on acting more like gasoline.’”—P. B. Fairchild to Arthur L. White, December 4, 1965.

The Review and Herald publishing plant had grown to be one of the largest and best-equipped publishing establishments in the State of Michigan. Now it was just a pile of rubble. Why? [225]

As some of the board members stood and watched the flames, there must have come to their minds one sentence in a letter from Ellen White, written from California and addressed to the manager of the Review and Herald. It had been read to the board thirteen months earlier: “I have been almost afraid to open the Review, fearing to see that God has cleansed the publishing house by fire.”—Testimonies for the Church 8:91.

The Word Reaches Ellen White

That Tuesday night, Ellen White at her Elmshaven home had slept but little. In vision she had agonized over conditions in Battle Creek. As she came down for breakfast on Wednesday morning, Sara McEnterfer told her that the Review and Herald publishing plant had burned the night before. C. H. Jones had telephoned the news. It came as no surprise to Ellen White. Only a few days before, with pen in hand, she lost consciousness of her surroundings and again saw a sword of fire over Battle Creek, “turning first in one direction and then in another,” with disaster following disaster (Letter 37, 1903).

The Sanitarium had burned in February; now the Review was gone. Picking up her pen, she wrote to Edson:

Oh, I am feeling so sad, because ... the Lord has permitted this, because His people would not hear His warnings and repent, and be converted, that He should heal them. Many have despised the words of warning. Oh, how sad it is. How large the loss is of books and furniture and facilities.... May the Lord have mercy upon us is my prayer.—Letter 214, 1902.

That day her mind must have retraced a great deal of history. There was the publishing of the Present Truth at Middletown, Connecticut, in the summer of 1849. How they prayed over the little stack of papers before sending them out! Then followed the meeting in 1852 at Saratoga Springs, New York, and the decision to buy a hand press, that the paper might be printed on a press owned by Sabbathkeepers. With type and other equipment it would cost $650. Hiram Edson advanced the money from the sale of his farm and in the following weeks the believers sent in money to repay Edson. This was the first concerted financial effort in which Sabbathkeeping [226] Adventists joined hands to herald the message.

What memories there were of setting up the press that summer in their big rented house in Rochester, New York—a home that was to serve as family residence, boardinghouse, and printing office.

In 1855, as James White found he must divest himself of the cares of publishing, brethren in Battle Creek, Michigan, provided a publishing house—a brand-new two-story frame building in the west end, at the corner of Washington and Main streets. Two years later a power press was installed in the little publishing house. Now the printing of papers, tracts, and small books became easier. But what days of sacrifice these were. James White’s pay averaged $4.57 a week. James was 36; Uriah Smith, resident editor of the Review, was ten years younger, and the others were in their late teens and 20’s.

Then there was the new brick building erected in 1861 at the side of the first little plant. It was part of the complex of three three-story buildings linked together that had just burned.

The “cause” in those days centered largely upon the publishing plant, its staff, and its products. To give the organization that was formed to handle it a name, a term was devised—“Seventh-day Adventists.” When church organization was finally attained, the Review plant was all the office the church leaders had. This was to be so for another forty years.

As the work had grown, the pocketknife that Uriah Smith used to trim the pamphlets (the Review was not even trimmed) gave way to a paper cutter. The shoe awl and needle and thread were replaced by simple but more efficient binding equipment. Book printing and binding called for more sophisticated equipment and better-trained workmen.

But there was not enough denominational work to keep the machines and men busy. Printing for other concerns was the answer. Idle equipment would spell disaster—so the Review and Herald became a commercial printer, and a good one too. This was fully justified, but in it were seeds for trouble.

Dedicated businessmen, some of them recent converts, were brought in by James White to manage the growing interests. This procedure, not without its perils, was continued after his death in 1881. [227]

How much must have passed through Ellen White’s mind that day after the fire! The Review and Herald publishing plant was a very part of her life. She must have thought of her writing in the library in the old brick building, as she sought a quiet place to work. At the death of her husband it was reported that under his perceptive leadership the institution was among “the first of first-class offices in the State,” and it was declared that

the business principles and the habits of industry and painstaking which were introduced in the infancy of the work, have left their impress upon its management, and have been characteristic of its operations. Therefore its reputation in business circles has always been deservedly high.—Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 373.

Growing demands had called for additions to the plant, first in 1871 on the west, crowding to Washington Street, doubling its working space; another in 1873, on the east; then the addition of a story in 1878, tying the whole plant together in one four-story building. No doubt Ellen White recalled the warnings given about overbuilding. Why had they not been heeded?

Disturbing Development in Battle Creek

But pervading her mind that Wednesday at Elmshaven was the agony of soul she had suffered during the preceding decade, which reached an almost unbearable level during the weeks before the fire. Managers had lost their sense of justice and responsibility, employees had lost much of their unselfish dedication and consecration. Boards had lost their power to control in right lines. It was a gradual process that was frowned upon by Heaven, and warning after warning had been sounded by God’s messenger. But these were for the most part ignored or scorned.

A few months before she left for Australia in 1891 she was concerned about “a certain kind of loud, boisterous talking and unsanctified zeal in [the institution’s] council meetings” (Manuscript 23, 1891). Ellen White recorded in her diary:

Religion and business are becoming divorced. Worldly, selfish plans are coming in.... Many who know not what spirit they are of are ready to reach out their hands to grasp and gather [228] in that which they have not earned. Many are under condemnation because of the grave sin of selfishness which is leavening the institution. One confederates with another. “You stand by me, and I will stand by you,” they say to each other. Thus they lead others into false paths, bringing in the strange fire that God has positively forbidden to be used in His work.—Ibid.

Messages of warning were sounded again and again as she appealed for changes on the basis of God’s instructions to her. In her distress she wrote:

The men in leading positions in the office of publication do not respect either the messenger or the messages graciously given them of God.... It is not safe for men who have so little of the spirit of Christ, so little divine enlightenment, to hold positions where they themselves, through temptation, may become tempters to lead into false paths those with whom they are associated.—Ibid.

Two years later, from New Zealand, in a letter addressed to the president of the General Conference, she told of how she “could not sleep after two o’clock last night.” She wrote of the injustice that was being done in the Review and Herald office.

She was referring primarily to two situations: (1) injustice to authors by the instigation of policies that would deny them their just rewards for their literary work, and (2) inequity in dealing with publishing-house personnel. Managers argued that it was because of the skill and ability of those in management that the work prospered, so the men in positions of responsibility should receive double the pay of the skilled workmen in the plant.

Added to this were the pressures being brought by men in the publishing house to put the Review office in control of all publishing work in North America. The Pacific Press in Oakland, California, would be but a branch of the Review and Herald, with all decisions made in Battle Creek. Steps that virtually would bring about the consolidation of the publishing work were introduced as early as 1889 at the General Conference session and developed in 1891. In fact, propositions along this line had been made before James White’s death in 1881.

From Australia, Ellen White wrote in 1896: [229]

The Lord has presented matters before me that cause me to tremble for the institutions at Battle Creek....

The scheme for consolidation is detrimental to the cause of present truth. Battle Creek has all the power she should have. Some in that place have advanced selfish plans, and if any branch of the work promised a measure of success, they have not exercised the spirit which lets well enough alone, but have made an effort to attach these interests to the great whole. They have striven to embrace altogether too much, and yet they are eager to get more....

Twenty years ago, I was surprised at the cautions and warnings given me in reference to the publishing house on the Pacific Coast—that it was ever to remain independent of all other institutions; that it was to be controlled by no other institution, but was to do the Lord’s work under His guidance and protection....

It must not be merged into any other institution. The hand of power and control at Battle Creek must not reach across the continent to manage it.

At a later date, just prior to my husband’s death, the minds of some were agitated in regard to placing these institutions under one presiding power. Again the Holy Spirit brought to my mind what had been stated to me by the Lord. I told my husband to say in answer to this proposition that the Lord had not planned any such action. He who knows the end from the beginning understands these matters better than erring man....

The Lord presented before me that branches of this work would be planted in other places, and carried on under the supervision of the Pacific Press, but that if this proved a success, jealousy, evil surmisings, and covetousness would arise. Efforts would be made to change the order of things, and embrace the work among other interests at Battle Creek. Men are very zealous to change the order of things, but the Lord forbids such a consolidation.—Letter 81, 1896.

Most distressing of all was the general deterioration of the spiritual experience of the Review management and workers and the eroding of a sense of right, which allowed for the commercial [230] work to bring demoralizing publications into the manufacturing plant. Taking the stance that they were printers and not censors, management authorized the printing of publications that came far short of Adventist moral standards. There were no restraints established that regulated the type of literature that would be published. Presses poured forth fiction, Wild West stories, books promulgating Roman Catholic doctrines, sex literature, and books on hypnosis. The managers looked upon the publishing house as a commercial enterprise whose first obligation was to make money.

Appeals for Needed Change

This background provides a better understanding of the appeals and cautions that came to the Review manager and the General Conference leaders. In a letter addressed to responsible leaders in Battle Creek, Ellen White wrote:

The men who have been connected with the greatest interests upon this earth have tainted and corrupted the work of God. The instrumentalities which He designed shall be used in advancing His cause have been used to forward unlawful schemes, which are in direct opposition to the work which God has specified as His. God has been forsaken by the men who have voiced decisions regarding His work, which has thereby become entangled.—Letter 4, 1896.

After naming certain leaders in the publishing work, Ellen White wrote sadly:

Professedly, these men were working for the interests of the publishing institution.... I speak that which I have seen, and which I know to be true. The speculative spirit has been gaining supremacy in the Battle Creek publishing house, and oppression is seen in a marked degree. I must speak plainly, for a power from beneath, a power that works in the children of disobedience, is working in the men who are acting in opposition to the leading of the Holy Spirit.... Satan gives them the impression that in their cruel business dealing, they are doing God a service.— Ibid.

The next month she wrote to the manager of the house: [231] I cannot trace with pen and ink the disappointment of my soul as I consider what you might have been had you used and improved your God-given capabilities....

I have been shown the inward workings and decisions of your councils and board meetings, the strange positions that have been accepted, the mutual obligations involved, and the binding up of plans and inventions that God does not endorse. But nothing that I could say would change the current of selfish, dishonest practices, for you and those connected with you are indifferent to the messages given you of God.

You virtually say, “I do not care for the testimonies. Men in important and responsible positions do not believe in them, and pay no regard to them, and why should I have faith in them?” This is the spirit that has come in, and controls the work at the present time....

When God sends His messages of warning, and they are turned from with the words, “I do not believe it,” what means has He left to call the deluded soul back to repentance? They care not to obey the “Thus saith the Lord“: and when the message comes through His chosen instrumentalities, they say, “I do not want to hear any more on this subject.” One has, when reproved, taken the written words of reproof, and thrown it in the fire, and another treats it with perfect indifference.

Thus they go on in their own way, doing their own will, and confederating together to devise methods and plans to take from the treasury large wages which they do not earn; they work to rob the workers to whom God has entrusted talents, in order to supply the unjust measure they extract. In other matters also, they deal unfairly, but the books of heaven contain a record of all these dealings.—Letter 28, 1896.

In spite of these messages of warning and appeal that were sent to the leading workers in the publishing house and to church leaders, no noticeable change came about. To Uriah Smith, the editor of the Review and Herald, she wrote in January, 1898:

The Saviour has oft visited you in Battle Creek. Just as verily as He has walked the streets in Jerusalem, longing to breathe the breath of spiritual life into the hearts of those discouraged and [232] ready to die, has He come to you. The cities that were so greatly blessed by His presence, His pardon, His gifts of healing, rejected Him; and just as great, yea, greater evidence of unrequited love has been given in Battle Creek.—Letter 31, 1898 (Testimonies for the Church 8:67).

But she also noted:

Christ sorrows and weeps over our churches, over our institutions of learning, that have failed to meet the demand of God. He comes to investigate Battle Creek, which has been moving in the same track as Jerusalem.

The publishing house has been turned into desecrated shrines, into places of unholy merchandise and traffic. It has become a place where injustice and fraud have been carried on, where selfishness, malice, envy, and passion have borne sway.

Yet the men who have led into this working upon wrong principles are seemingly unconscious of their wrong course of action. When warnings and entreaties come to them, they say, Doth she not speak in parables? Words of warning and reproof have been treated as idle tales.— Ibid. (Ibid., 8:67, 68).

Her fifteen-page letter closes with these words:

These are no idle tales, but truth. Again I ask, On which side are you standing? “If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”— Ibid. (Ibid., 8:68).

Last-Minute Warnings

On July 8, 1901, Ellen White wrote to the manager of the Review and Herald:

Unjust, unholy actions have brought the frown of God upon the Review and Herald office. Evil work has brought the cause of God into disrepute, and has kept the backslider from obeying His holy law.—Letter 74, 1901.

Conditions worsened during 1901, in spite of the many messages of warning counsel. Frank Belden charged that the foreman was “brutal,” and that he sometimes required employees to clean his bicycle on office time. One man still living in 1970 [233] recalled his days in the Review pressroom where he began work at the age of 14, in 1896. He was still working there when the fire struck, and he left the building just minutes before the flames swept through it. He recalled a book on witchcraft being printed there, and a pressman printing copies of Bible Readings while spitting tobacco juice onto the press. This young man was ridiculed by other workers when he decided to be baptized. The terror engendered by the harsh manner of his superiors led him to wish that the next day would never come. There were young women workers who read proof on books that were filled with skepticism about religion and who then brought this skepticism into their talk around the office.

“We have no permission from the Lord,” wrote Ellen White, “to engage either in the printing or in the sale of such publications, for they are the means of destroying many souls. I know of what I am writing, for this matter has been opened before me. Let not those who believe the message for this time engage in such work, thinking to make money.”—Testimonies for the Church 7:166. About this time she made a most interesting observation, one that shows an insight God gave to her:

Even the men who are endeavoring to exalt their own sentiments as wonderful science are astonished that men in positions of responsibility in our office of publication—a printing office set for the defense of the truth of God—have consented to print their books.—Manuscript 124, 1901.

In her distress and in a desperate attempt to halt the satanic work, Ellen White called for a virtual boycott on the part of the employees in the publishing house. After depicting the demoralizing effects of the literature being printed on the Review and Herald presses—including love stories and books setting forth crimes, atrocities, and licentious practices—Ellen White pointed out that the position taken by the managers (that they carried no responsibility for the type of books coming from their presses and that the employees had no responsibility in the choice of the nature of the materials that passed through the publishing house) was wrong. She declared:

In these matters a responsibility rests not only upon the managers but upon the employees.... Let typesetters refuse to [234] set a sentence of such matter. Let proofreaders refuse to read, pressmen to print, and binders to bind it.—Ibid., 7:167, 168.

In delineating the personal responsibility, she added:

You are responsible—responsible for the use of your eyes, your hands, your mind. These are entrusted to you by God to be used for Him, not for the service of Satan.—Ibid., 168.

The blight of commercial work was not confined to the Review and Herald. The Pacific Press, although not involved in as many ways in the problems that have been depicted as sapping the vitality of the Review and Herald, was in its commercial work going beyond the bounds of that which was acceptable for a denominational publishing house. In October of 1901 Ellen White wrote:

In the Pacific Press an objectionable class of work has been taken in—novels and storybooks, which absorb the minds of those who handle them, diverting their attention from the Word of God.... The introduction of this class of matter destroys the spirituality of the office.—Letter 140, 1901.

Somehow those who managed the work had become hardened against the messages that God sent. Now on Wednesday morning, December 31, 1902, all of the great Review and Herald publishing plant, except for the West Building book depository, was warm embers, collapsed brick walls, and twisted machinery. There was nothing left of any value.

The Morning After the Fire

The Review and Herald board met that morning for a short meeting at seven-thirty. At nine o’clock the employees were called together. They were given the assurance that none would be allowed to suffer. Some would be employed at the Sanitarium. Some might connect with other publishing houses. Some would be given opportunity to engage in colporteur ministry.

A quick assessment of the situation revealed that because the West Building had been spared, there was a good stock of books, which would supply colporteurs for a number of months. That branch of the work could continue without embarrassment. It was decided to delay plans for the future of the publishing house until [235] the General Conference meeting three months later.

Fire insurance provided $100,000, but the debts of the institution far exceeded this. Many telegrams were received that Wednesday from business concerns in Michigan and nearby States, expressing condolence and offering assistance.

The Review of January 6, 1903, told the story to Adventists across the land. It was printed in Battle Creek on the presses of “The Pilgrim,” the type having been set in the three newspaper offices of the city—The Daily Moon, The Battle Creek Journal, and the Morning Enquirer. With the Review stripped of its linotypes and printing presses, the proprietors of the printing establishments in Battle Creek showed a hearty sympathy and offered their facilities.

Fortunately, the mailing lists of the Review and Youth’s Instructor were in the West Building. Within a few days a part of the book depository had been cleared, which made room for a linotype and a printing press, so that the publication of journals could continue without interruption.

So complete were the losses that it was necessary to publish a note that all supplies of articles and reports sent to the Review and Herald for publication were destroyed in the fire; this was true also of unanswered letters. An appeal was made for those who had furnished materials for publication to send duplicate copies to aid in the continued printing of literature for the church.

The sword of fire held over Battle Creek had fallen, and all knew that God had spoken. [236]

Chapter 17—Preparing for the 1903 General Conference

Oakland, California, was chosen as the site for the 1903 General Conference session. The date for the session to open was set for Friday, March 27; it would run through a third Sabbath. Meetings would be held in the Oakland church. Delegates would stay largely in the homes of our church members, and would breakfast with their hosts. A large tent was pitched across the street from the church, where noon and evening meals would be served by the staff of the San Francisco vegetarian restaurant.

This session would be different from any that had preceded it. With the new union conferences functioning well, many matters that normally would come to the General Conference were being handled by union conference committees.

It was planned that this session would be “more a council of leading workers than an occasion for instructing the multitude” (20 WCW, p. 381).

This would allow the rank and file of denominational workers to continue their labor in the field. There would be fewer delegates than assembled for the 1901 session at Battle Creek—initial provision called for 134.

This was the first General Conference session under the new constitution that had been adopted two years before. Not only was the plan for union conferences working well, but the various corporations and associations were being developed into departments under the direction of the General Conference Committee.

One weakness in the 1901 constitution had been early discovered, [237] that the work as outlined by the delegates was to be administered by the General Conference Committee of twenty-five, under officers of its choosing—a chairman, a secretary, and a treasurer. Under this arrangement the church officers had no mandate from the people. They were responsible only to a committee of twenty-five. These twenty-five, if they wished to do so, could change the officers during the period between the sessions.

Finance and financial policies loomed large. There were heavy debts, and the proposal that the denomination operate on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Another point of vital importance following the 1901 session was the ownership and control of the institutions of the church. Corporations, controlled by their constituencies, had at some time in the past been formed to handle these institutions. No real problems were faced with bringing the publishing institutions or educational institutions into line, but the story was quite different when it came to medical institutions. It was with misgivings that certain church leaders had watched the steps being taken by Dr. Kellogg. First he had declared the work of the Battle Creek Sanitarium and its related interests as undenominational; second he was trying to keep the control of the institution in the hands of the constituency of the corporation, made up of stockholders, employees, and some General Conference men.

This problem began to come into focus at the meeting of the California Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association (mentioned in Chapter 12) held at St. Helena in late June of 1902. At that time actions were taken with the intent to make all institutions an integral part of the work of the church, controlled by the church. Dr. Kellogg was present and argued stiffly against the move. Nevertheless, it passed. Battle Creek Sanitarium was being rebuilt, and certain denominational leaders entertained grave questions as to the future ownership and control of that institution.

With the developments in all these lines, the leader of the church, Elder Daniells, kept in close touch with Ellen G. White and her son W. C. White. Through the latter he could channel problems and matters to the Lord’s messenger; he was also the recipient of direct counsel from W. C. White. [238]

Concerns of Ellen White

Ellen White’s deep concern was for the spiritual interests of the church and the maintenance of the denominational image in its institutional work. While she was pleased with the steps that had been taken in reorganization in the 1901 General Conference, and she recognized that angels of God had walked up and down the aisles of the Battle Creek Tabernacle during that session, she was greatly disappointed that the recognition of waning spiritual experiences and the confession of wrongs that she had hoped would result with the leaders of the Sanitarium and the publishing house had not come.

Again and again following the 1901 meeting she spoke of her burden of heart and of her great disappointment that the steps that should have been taken had not been taken. On January 5, 1903, as she pondered these matters, she wrote:

One day at noon I was writing of the work that might have been done at the last General Conference if the men in positions of trust had followed the will and way of God. Those who have had great light have not walked in the light. The meeting was closed, and the break was not made. Men did not humble themselves before the Lord as they should have done, and the Holy Spirit was not imparted.—Testimonies for the Church 8:104.

As she lost consciousness, she seemed to be witnessing a scene in the Battle Creek Tabernacle. Study was being given by those present to the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon them. “The speaker turned to those who had been praying, and said: ‘We have something to do. We must confess our sins, and humble our hearts before God.’”—Ibid., 8:105. Ellen White described the scene that followed the breaking of the hearts of the people as confessions were made and wrongs were righted. She wrote of the “rejoicing such as never before had been heard in the tabernacle.” Then these words were spoken:

“This might have been. All this the Lord was waiting to do for His people. All heaven was waiting to be gracious.” I thought of where we might have been had thorough work been done at the General Conference, and an agony of disappointment came over [239] me as I realized that what I had witnessed was not a reality.—Ibid., 8:105, 106.

In other references to the same experience, she placed the responsibility very largely upon the leader of the medical work, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Referring to him in one of the meetings at the session, she stated: “After the meeting at Minneapolis, Dr. Kellogg was a converted man, and we all knew it. We could see the converting power of God working in his heart and life.”—The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 86.

Near the time for the opening of the session, Ellen White put into the hands of the delegates and others some of the testimonies that touched on many of the points at issue. The ninety-six page pamphlet presenting Selections From the Testimonies for the Church for the Study of Those Attending the General Conference in Oakland, California, March 27, 1903, was printed by the Pacific Press. A wide range of topics are represented in this pamphlet. There was special emphasis on the fires in Battle Creek, debt liquidation, and the vision of what might have been; there were various items dealing with the churches, consolidation of the publishing work, the work in the South, the Southern Publishing Association, and the use of the Morning Star. It closed with references to the work at home and abroad.

Elder Daniells’ Concerns

Elder Daniells was weary of the conflict that he had been through, trying to hold things steady. He pondered whether he should lay down the responsibilities of leadership and engage in some other line of work, possibly in evangelism in some other part of the world field. But he was the man in the saddle. With other workers he made the trip from Battle Creek to Oakland in time for a week of presession meetings.

On several occasions Daniells related the experience that came to him at this time. He set aside Sabbath, March 21, preceding the General Conference session as a day of special personal fasting and prayer. He felt he must know his duty. He went to one of the offices in the Pacific Press publishing house where he could spend the day in study, meditation, and prayer, longing for some omen that would [240] give him courage to move into the session. Through the day and into the evening he remained there. As he knelt in a final prayer, the burden that he might get into true relationship with God’s great work on earth rolled upon his heart.

In recounting the story just a few hours before his death, he said, “I struggled unto death, crying aloud, and I nearly reproached the Lord for not giving me some sign, some evidence of my acceptance, and His support of me in the awful battle that was before us.” During this struggle he prostrated himself on the floor, clutching, as it were, at the floorboards as he agonized with God. All night he wrestled with the Lord. Then, he reports, as the morning sun burst into the room, “As distinctly as if audibly spoken, the words burned into my mind as a message from heaven, ‘If you will stand by My servant until her sun sets in a bright sky, I will stand by you to the last hour of the conflict.’”—AGD, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 367.

“I couldn’t talk any more with God,” he said. “I was overcome. And although I have made mistakes, God has stood by me, and I have never repudiated that woman, nor questioned her loyalty, to my knowledge, from that night to this. Oh, that was a happy experience to me and it bound me up with the greatest character that has lived in this dispensation.”—DF 312c, “Report of a Parting Interview Between AGD and WCW, March 20, 1935,” p. 5.

“Every doubt was removed from my mind,” he reported on another occasion.

I knew that I must not run away from the work to which I had been called by my brethren, and that I must stand with them at my post of duty. I was deeply impressed that I must be as true as the needle to the pole to the counsels of the Spirit of Prophecy, that I must stand loyally by the Lord’s servant, upholding her hands, and leading this denomination to recognize and appreciate her heaven-sent gift.... I then made my solemn promise to the Lord that I would be true to His cause, that I would do all in my power to prevent anything from arising in this denomination to dim the glory of the priceless gift and of the Lord’s servant who had exercised this gift for so many years.—AGD, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 367.

The experience, Elder Daniells said, “marked the beginning of [241] an important era of wholehearted acceptance of the Spirit of Prophecy” (Ibid., 366).

Ellen White in Oakland

A vacant home in Oakland had been rented for the use of Ellen White and her staff during the General Conference session, and she traveled to Oakland on Monday, March 23. Willie had gone on one day in advance. Sara McEnterfer, Maggie Hare, C. C. Crisler, and D. E. Robinson went along with Ellen White. She had hoped that they could drive down, or at least that she could have access to a carriage while she was there, for carriage rides rested her when she was under pressure. This was not feasible, and so a comfortable wheelchair was rented that would aid her in going from the home to the church where the meetings were held.

On Tuesday morning Elder Daniells, knowing that Ellen White had arrived in Oakland, went to greet her and welcome her to the presession meetings and the General Conference session. He wondered, How will she greet me? He knew of the seventy-page letter Dr. Kellogg had written to prejudice her against him. He knew that if anyone could influence her it was Dr. Kellogg. As he stepped up onto the porch he found the front door standing open. He looked down the hall and saw Ellen White seated in a rocking chair in the kitchen at the farther end of the hall. He made his way down the hall to the kitchen. When she saw him approaching she called, “Come in, Brother Daniells.” Grasping his hand in a warm greeting and looking him in the eye, she said, “Do you know we are facing a great crisis at this meeting?”

“Yes, Sister White,” he replied.

She gripped his hand tighter and with a snap in her eyes said, “Don’t you waver a particle in this crisis.”

To this Daniells replied, “Sister White, those are the most precious words I ever heard. I know who you are and what you mean.”—DF 15a, AGD, “How the Denomination Was Saved From Pantheism,” copy A, pp. 16, 17.

Then the Lord’s messenger disclosed the forces behind the issues they faced. “Let me tell you,” she said, “Satan has his representatives right here at this place now, and the Lord has bidden me, Have no interview with Dr. Kellogg, no counsel [242] whatever with that man.”— Ibid., 17.

How different was this from the instruction given her just before the 1901 General Conference in Battle Creek! Then she was instructed to accept the doctor’s invitation to stay as a guest in his home.

Elder Daniells now knew that Ellen White had not been influenced one whit by the seventy-page letter and that he had her full support.

Presession meetings were held throughout that week, and Ellen White spoke on two occasions to the General Conference Committee. [243]

Chapter 18—The 1903 General Conference Session

At Two-Thirty Friday afternoon, March 27, Elder A. G. Daniells called the thirty-fifth General Conference session to order (Ibid., 1903, 1). Although only eighty-eight delegates were present that Friday afternoon, the session opened in normal fashion. The union conferences for which provision had been made two years before were taken into the conference, and also twenty-three local conferences around the world.

The meetings on Sabbath and Sunday were devoted to the three angels’ messages and the finishing of the work of God in the world. Ellen White spoke on Sabbath morning. Her sermon was followed in the afternoon by Elder G. A. Irwin’s address on “The Song of Victory.” Elder Daniells spoke in the evening on “Our Time, Our Work, and Opening Providences.” Thus the session was off to a wholesome start.

The business of the conference proper began Monday morning at nine-thirty. After a roll call of the delegates, the chairman, Elder Daniells, gave his address. In his opening remarks he spoke of the efficient functioning of the union conferences and observed, “Scores of men are now getting the experience of burden-bearing that was previously confined to comparatively few.”—Ibid., 18.

He then introduced the very difficult financial situation in which he found the denomination, and the security of its institutions. Speaking of God’s leadings through the Spirit of Prophecy, he stated that “another phase of reform to which this people were called was to arise and roll away the reproach of debt that rested so [244] heavily upon them.”—Ibid. The General Conference had been operating on a cash basis, reported Daniells, and had reduced the debts of the denomination by $250,000 (Ibid., 19). World membership at the end of 1902 stood at 67,000 (Ibid., 120).

The first motion placed before the General Conference was significant and far-reaching:

That Elder A. G. Daniells, chairman of the General Conference Committee, be, and is hereby, instructed to appoint a committee of five to examine into the financial standing of all our various institutions, and to investigate their relationship to the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, and to devise and recommend some plan to this conference whereby all institutions, as far as possible under existing corporation laws, be placed under direct ownership, control, and management of our people.—Ibid., 21.

It was right to the point and highlighted important work to be taken up at the session. It was referred to the Plans Committee, to be brought to the session in proper fashion. But another issue that threatened the cause lurked in the shadows—pantheism, propagated by Dr. Kellogg and his associates.

In her address on Sabbath morning, Ellen White had brought lessons from the sending out of the twelve spies and the experience of Israel. She dealt with the fruits of unbelief and pointed to the importance of trust and obedience. At this meeting she said:

Brethren and Sisters, from the light given me, I know that if the people of God had preserved a living connection with Him, if they had obeyed His Word, they would today be in the heavenly Canaan.—Ibid., 9,

She spoke of the work before the church:

God wants to work for His people and for His institutions—for every sanitarium, every publishing house, and every school, but He wants no more mammoth buildings erected, for they are a snare. For years He has told His people this.—Ibid., 10,.

That night in vision she was shown what she should bring to the session. This led her to request the privilege of addressing the [245] delegates on Monday afternoon. In place of the regular business meeting she presented a sermon on Josiah’s reign. She spoke of the investigation that was made by the king and of the punishment for apostasy. She declared:

Today God is watching His people. We should seek to find out what He means when He sweeps away our sanitarium and our publishing house. Let us not move along as if there were nothing wrong. King Josiah rent his robe and rent his heart. He wept and mourned because he had not had the book of the law, and knew not of the punishments that it threatened.

God wants us to come to our senses. He wants us to seek for the meaning of the calamities that have overtaken us, that we may not tread in the footsteps of Israel, and say, “The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are we,” when we are not this at all.—Ibid., 31,.

Then she called most earnestly for a change:

In every institution among us there needs to be a reformation. This is the message that at the last General Conference I bore as the word of the Lord. At that meeting I carried a very heavy burden, and I have carried it ever since.

We did not gain the victory that we might have gained at that meeting. Why? Because there were so few who followed the course of Josiah. There were those at that meeting who did not see the work that needed to be done. If they had confessed their sins, if they had made a break, if they had taken their stand on vantage ground, the power of God would have gone through the meeting, and we should have had a Pentecostal season.—Ibid.

She related the vision of what “might have been.” She called for teachers and leaders of church institutions to be sound in the faith, and to be faithful to the principles of the third angel’s message. She pointed out that God wants His people to know that they have the message as He gave it in 1843 and 1844. “We knew then what the message meant, and we call upon our people today to obey the word, ‘Bind up the law among My disciples.’”—Ibid., 32,.

As she closed her remarks, G. A. Irwin, chairman of the meeting, commented: [246]

We have been told before it was announced from this platform today of the possibilities of the last General Conference. We have been told what God wanted to do at that conference; we have been told what He was graciously waiting to do; but that we failed to do the part we ought to have done, and so failed of receiving the blessing He desired to bestow upon us. And the saddest thought of it all is that the cause of God is years behind as the result of our failure at that meeting.—Ibid., 33,.

He asked:

Shall we simply listen to the stirring appeal that has been made in our hearing through the servant of the Lord, indited by the Spirit of God, and then dismiss this meeting, and go away to our several cares and responsibilities?—Ibid.

This did not seem to be the will of the congregation; and they moved into a testimony meeting in which many heartfelt confessions were made.

Messages at the Devotional Meetings

The next morning, Tuesday, March 31, Ellen White gave the devotional message. She spoke on how to receive a blessing. She called attention to the evidences of God’s leading in the past and pointed out the importance of confession of sin. Then she dealt with faultfinding and criticism. She closed her words with an earnest prayer for pardon and help. The prayer occupied about the same amount of time as her talk. She talked with God about the things that were on her heart, and the mistakes that had been made. She confessed these mistakes and thanked the Lord for opening up to His people the true situation. She pleaded that the Holy Spirit might come into their hearts and break down every barrier.

Wednesday morning, April 1, she spoke again at the devotional service. Again she dealt with faultfinding and criticizing, backbiting and cannibalism. Then she began to deal with the church institutions and some of the problems faced by those institutions.

She reminded her audience of the financial embarrassment that had come to the publishing house in Christiania, Norway. Some wanted to let the house sink in its financial problems, but she said [247] that “light was given me that the institution was to be placed where it could do its work.”—Ibid., 58,. Then she came to the question of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which was on the minds of many, for the institution was being rebuilt at a cost of two or three times what had been anticipated. Large debts were accumulating. Some in the meeting were probably surprised when they heard the words:

And let me say that God does not design that the sanitarium that has been erected in Battle Creek shall be in vain. He wants His people to understand this.

He wants this institution to be placed on vantage ground. He does not want His people to be looked upon by the enemy as a people that is going out of sight.— Ibid.

She called for another effort to place the institution on solid ground, and declared, “The people of God must build that institution up, in the name of the Lord.”

One man is not to stand at its head alone. Dr. Kellogg has carried the burden until it has almost killed him. God wants His servants to stand united in carrying that work forward.— Ibid.

Before she closed her presentation, she declared:

Because men have made mistakes, they are not to be uprooted. The blessing of God heals; it does not destroy. The Mighty Healer, the great Medical Missionary, will be in the midst of us, to heal and bless, if we will receive Him.—Ibid., 59,.

We should pause for just a moment to note Ellen White’s relationship to situations of this kind. She knew that institutions had been overbuilt, in disregard of counsel that God had given. But even though mistakes had been made, she contended that it was God’s institution, that the church was to stand by it and make it succeed.

This was Ellen White’s sympathetic approach to the problem of the rebuilt but heavily indebted Battle Creek Sanitarium. Her deep concern was for its medical superintendent, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, of whom she declared a few months later:

At the General Conference held in Oakland, Dr. Kellogg gave [248] an exhibition of himself that revealed the spirit that controlled him. Long before that meeting he was presented to me as a man who understood not the spirit that controlled him. The enemy of souls had cast upon him a spell of deception....

During that meeting a scene was presented to me, representing evil angels conversing with the doctor, and imbuing him with their spirit, so that at times he would say and do things, the nature of which he could not understand. He seemed powerless to escape from the snare. At other times he would appear to be rational.—Letter 51, 1904.

The Conference Business

The business meetings of the General Conference session had been relieved of many of the details that had come before previous sessions, so there was time for discussion of two main items: the ownership of institutions, and the new constitution under which leading officers would be elected by the delegates.

From day to day, reports were brought in from each of the union conferences. On Thursday Elder H. W. Cottrell, president of the Atlantic Union Conference, presented a memorial from the Atlantic Union delegates expressing the belief that the General Conference headquarters should be moved; it suggested that New York would be an ideal location. The memorial also expressed the hope that the Review could be relocated in some suburb of New York City. A few days later the committee on plans and constitution submitted a partial report recommending:

“That the General Conference offices be removed from Battle Creek, Michigan, to some place favorable for its work in the Atlantic States.”—The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 67.

On Friday morning, April 3, Elder Daniells read the resolution to the session and asked Ellen White to comment on it. She said that it would be impossible to do justice to the question “unless I take some time (Ibid., April 6, 1901). She opened her remarks by saying:

The question is one that should be clearly and distinctly understood by us all. Few of our people have any idea of how many times light has been given that it was not in the order of [249] God for so much to be centered in Battle Creek.... For years the warning has been given to our people, Get out of Battle Creek.... At last Brother Magan and Brother Sutherland began to think of the advisability of moving [the college] from Battle Creek.... This was the first move made. It has been a success....

For the last fifteen or twenty years, light has been given that our people, by crowding into Battle Creek, have been leaving their home churches in a weak state.... The very worst thing that could now be done would be for the Review and Herald office to be once more built up in Battle Creek....

Let the General Conference offices and the publishing work be moved from Battle Creek. I know not where the place will be, whether on the Atlantic Coast or elsewhere. But this I will say, Never lay a stone or brick in Battle Creek to rebuild the Review office there. God has a better place for it.—Ibid., 84, 85.

She reviewed the history of the Sanitarium and her strong support for it and Dr. Kellogg:

Many souls have been converted; many wonderful cures have been wrought. The Lord stood by the side of Dr. Kellogg as he performed difficult operations. When the doctor was overwrought by taxing labor, God understood the situation, and He put His hand on Dr. Kellogg’s hand as he operated, and through His power the operations were successful. I wish this to be understood....

God has given Dr. Kellogg the success that he has had. I have tried constantly to keep this before him, telling him that it was God who was working with him, and that the truth of God was to be magnified by His physician....

God does not endorse the efforts put forth by different ones to make the work of Dr. Kellogg as hard as possible, in order to build themselves up. God gave the light on health reform, and those who rejected it rejected God. One and another who knew better said that it all came from Dr. Kellogg, and they made war upon him.—Ibid., 86, 87.

Ellen White used this occasion to drive home a number of points:

1. Other church institutions were not to be directed by the workers in Battle Creek. [250]

2. The rebuilt Battle Creek Sanitarium was not to be allowed to go into the hands of the world. “If you will trust in the Lord, this institution can be placed on vantage ground.”—Ibid., 87.

3. Dr. Kellogg was not to be “pushed out of his place.” “Spurious scientific theories,” she declared in an obvious reference to pantheism, “are coming in as a thief in the night, stealing away the landmarks and undermining the pillars of our faith. God has shown me that the medical students are not to be educated in such theories, because God will not endorse these theories.”— Ibid.

4. Leaders were to examine the standing of Battle Creek Sanitarium “to see whether the God of heaven can take control of it.”

A crisis was coming in Battle Creek, she warned:

The trades unions and confederacies of the world are a snare. Keep out of them and away from them, brethren. Have nothing to do with them. Because of these unions and confederacies, it will soon be very difficult for our institutions to carry on their work in the cities.

My warning is: Keep out of the cities. Build no sanitariums in the cities. Educate our people to get out of the cities into the country, where they can obtain a small piece of land, and make a home for themselves and their children.— Ibid.

Our restaurants must be in the cities, for otherwise the workers in these restaurants could not reach the people and teach them the principles of right living. And for the present we shall have to occupy meeting houses in the cities.

But erelong there will be such strife and confusion in the cities that those who wish to leave them will not be able. We must be preparing for these issues.—Ibid., 88.

At a later meeting actions were passed recommending that the offices of the General Conference be moved to the Atlantic Coast and also that the publishing association should not be rebuilt as a factory in Battle Creek. The Eastern States were strongly recommended as the location for the publishing house.

The Major Debate on Institutional Control

The first major debate was launched on Friday, April 3, just a week after the session had opened, when the report of the [251] committee on institutions was introduced. The report, submitted the day before under the heading “General Plan for Reorganization of Institutions,” read: “All institutions to be owned directly by the people, either General Conference, Union Conference, State Conference, or organized mission field.”—Ibid., 67.

In introducing the matter to the session, Elder C. H. Parsons pointed out that this would have binding force on all new institutions, but that it would be applied to existing ones only by “moral suasian.” None of the delegates at the session including Dr. Kellogg were so naive as to fail to see the import of the proposed resolution. The church was endeavoring to protect its properties and its interests built up from the sacrifices of its members.

Dr. Kellogg was strong in his support of an independent course, but he began his attack on the proposal in a low key, saying: “I think I ought to say to these delegates a word or two.... I rise to put myself on record simply, as I do not know what I shall say will have any influence whatever on any action that maybe taken.”—Ibid., 74.

Kellogg questioned the purpose of the resolution. Elder Parsons pointed out in response that the denomination should own all new institutions insofar as possible, and there was a request that existing denominational institutions also be owned by the denomination.

Dr. Kellogg replied that he understood the real purpose—it was to coerce denominational ownership. Thus the debate was opened; extended speeches were made. By the end of that Friday-morning discussion, question on the motion was called but no action was taken. Kellogg requested the privilege of having further time to explain the position of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. All of Friday afternoon was devoted to this, and again all of Sunday afternoon. The General Conference Bulletin does not report these speeches.

On the second Sabbath Ellen White took the morning service. Her sermon, as published in the General Conference Bulletin, is titled “A Call to Repentance.”—(Ibid., 88). She made no mention of the specifics of the Controversy, but opened her sermon by quoting the message to the church at Sardis. She remarked:

In view of this instruction, how important it is that we do not devote our time to faultfinding, or criticizing, but that we receive [252] the divine truth into our hearts, that they may break before God!— Ibid.

In the midst of her sermon she admonished:

Take your minds off human beings. They are finite, erring. We are only little children in comparison with God. From Him, as little children, we must learn our lessons. He wants us to humble our hearts before Him, in submission and contrition. He wants us to speak kind, tender, compassionate words to one another. Educate yourselves to speak such words. Be polite to God and to one another. Remember that He wants you to have the best of manners, that you may glorify Him before the world. He desires you to live in unity with one another, and to love one another. Remember that if you love one another here, you will live with the redeemed through the ceaseless ages of eternity. Oh, think of these things!—Ibid., 89.

As she discussed the situation, she introduced a rather interesting phrase:

This is our washing and ironing time—the time when we are to cleanse our robes of character in the blood of the Lamb.— Ibid., 89.

Concerning this Sabbath-morning meeting, she reported to friends in Australia:

I was in doubt as to the advisability of attempting to speak, as I had contracted a severe cold. But I dared not remain at home, so I said, I will place myself in a position to speak, and then, if I am unable, I will be humble enough to refrain from speaking. I found the church crowded. To the praise of God, ... I was enabled to speak for an hour and a quarter. Some who for forty years have frequently heard me speak said they had never before heard me give so powerful a discourse. No one could doubt that the power of God rested upon me.—Letter 79, 1903.

She called for a reconsecration, asking all to rise to their feet who would seek to meet the mind of the Holy Spirit during the meetings and pledge themselves by God’s help to put away all murmuring, complaining, and evil speaking and cease to hinder one another by setting a wrong example. Nearly all the congregation arose, [253] testifying that they would seek to advance the work of God instead of hindering it (The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 91). She asked those who had come forward to kneel in prayer and then she offered a most earnest petition to God.

Ellen White was asked to take the devotional service on Sunday morning. She opened her remarks with these words:

I have been carrying a very heavy burden. For the past three nights I have slept very little. Many scenes are presented to me. I feel an intense interest in the advancement of the work of God, and I say to our leading brethren, as you consider the questions that shall come before you, you are to look beneath the surface. You are to give careful consideration to every question discussed.—Ibid., 104.

She referred to the fires in Battle Creek and pointed out the needs of the world field. Referring to the proposition that money should be raised to meet the debts of the Sanitarium by the issuance of bonds, she declared, “Light has been given me that means are not to be thus drawn from our people.”— Ibid.

She was not unsympathetic to the situation in Battle Creek, for she said:

The light that God has given me is that there are proper ways that the conference shall devise to help the Sanitarium in Battle Creek. I wish that a portion of the work of this institution had been taken elsewhere. But the Sanitarium has been erected in Battle Creek, and it must be helped. God will institute ways and means by which it can be helped. But He does not wish His people to invest their money in bonds.— Ibid.

She spoke of the great field that was to be worked, and especially the needs of the South. Then she introduced another point:

The question has been asked, “Would it not be well to pay men of ability wages that are in accordance with their experience and ability, so as to secure the very best talent?”—Ibid., 105.

Her answer:

The most valuable workers that can be secured for service in [254] the cause of God are those who understand and obey the word, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”— Ibid.

Writing of the experience later, she declared:

I was forbidden to say the things that I thought I must say on Sunday morning. Light came into my mind, and I was given a subject to present. I was instructed that I must try to lead the minds of the people away from the difficulties and perplexities around them.—Letter 49, 1903.

As she brought her talk to a close it was very clear that she had Dr. Kellogg in mind and had decided that the time had come to confront the issues. But she did not do it.

Do not cut any man’s hands. I once read of a drowning man who was making desperate efforts to get into a boat close beside him. But the boat was full, and as he grasped the side, those in the boat cut off one of his hands. Then he grasped the boat with the other hand, and that hand was cut off. Then he grasped it with his teeth, and those inside had mercy on him and lifted him in. But how much better it would have been if they had taken him in before they had cut off his hands!

My brethren, do not cut a man to pieces before you do anything to help him. God wants us to have hearts of pity. He wants us to have reason and judgment and the sanctification of His Spirit.—The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 105, 106.

Helge Nelson Assaults Her

As Ellen White was stepping down from the platform a man in the audience, Helge Nelson, rushed to the front and attempted to assault her. A newspaper account declares that “the venerable exhorter staggered against the pulpit platform steps and tottered feebly as she was grasped by a number of men who were close by, as the hand of her attacker descended upon the unsuspecting woman.” The newspaper account continued: “Quickly, amid the scene of much commotion, ‘Angel Nelson’ [the title assumed by her attacker] was hustled out of the church by some stout-armed elders. While others attended the stricken woman, Alonzo T. Jones, [255] president of the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, summoned the police and Nelson was hustled off to the city prison by Patrolman Flynn and charged with battery.”

The report stated that “Mrs. White regained her composure shortly, and happily received the congratulations of her friends that the assault had not caused more serious trouble.”—DF 586.

Helge Nelson was not unknown to Ellen White, nor to many of the delegates who were present at that morning meeting. He claimed that he was to be the successor to Ellen White, that he was to be to her what Joshua was to Moses. At the 1901 General Conference session, Nelson had sought repeatedly for an opportunity to take over the meetings. An action was taken that disallowed him to speak.

But he had been given an opportunity to meet with some of the leading church workers. He had related to the brethren his experience and what he understood to be his call. In this committee meeting Ellen White had recounted her earlier contacts with Mr. Nelson. She told of how he had come to her home in California and she had spent time listening to him. She stated, “God has not given Brother Nelson the work of acting as Joshua in connection with His people. From the light that I have had, this could not be. It is an impossibility.”—The Review and Herald, July 30, 1901. She closed her remarks in the committee meeting in Battle Creek by saying:

We love our brother. We want him to be saved, but we cannot allow him to take the time of this conference. It is not his time. God has given us a work to do, and we intend to do it, under His supervision, that souls may be brought to a knowledge of present truth.— Ibid.

Action on Institutional Ownership and Control

As Dr. Kellogg occupied Sunday afternoon with his review of his experience with the Battle Creek Sanitarium, some rather sharp things were said at times. Eventually, the following action was taken on control of institutions:

All institutions created directly by the people, through either General Conference, union conference, State conference, or mission field organization, to be owned by the people, through [256] these or such other organizations as the people may elect.—The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 223.

At times when Ellen White attended general gatherings such as this, she absented herself from the business discussions, but at the General Conference of 1903 she was often present and occasionally spoke to the matters that were being discussed. Writing to old friends on April 1, early during the Oakland meeting, she stated, “I expect to take part in the meetings daily. There are many important questions to be settled.”—Letter 48, 1903. Her contributions to the meetings were mostly in the form of addresses, and in these she often made reference to the light that God had given to her in vision a few hours or a day or two before.

The New Constitution

The second major debate of the 1903 General Conference session, which came toward the end of the meeting, was centered upon the new constitution, specifically the provision for the election of a president and other appropriate officers for the General Conference. Actually, it was but a slight revision of the 1901 constitution, but it was handled as a new document.

Two reports were filed with the session from the Committee on Plans and Constitution. The majority report supported the new constitution, which would provide for the leading officers of the General Conference to be chosen by the delegates, thus giving them a mandate from the church. On this committee were a number of conference presidents and W. C. White. The minority report, signed by three men largely connected with institutional interests, claimed that the proposed new constitution would reverse the reformatory steps taken at the General Conference of 1901. These men argued that the constitution of 1901, which provided that the General Conference Committee could choose its officers, should not be “annihilated” without giving it a fair trial.

Dr. Kellogg strongly favored the minority report. In a letter written to Ellen White on the day of the opening of the session, he referred to “the schemes of Daniells and Prescott to become rulers over Israel,” which would be “in direct opposition to the whole plan of reorganization which the Lord gave us through you at the last [257] General Conference.” He pointed out that if this were allowed to culminate it would “drive out of the work and into a separate movement all self-respecting doctors and nurses and many ministers as well” (JHK to EGW, March 29, 1903).

As the discussions went on, again and again reference was made to the 1901 General Conference and to a statement quoted from Ellen White that “it is not wise to choose one man as president of the General Conference.” This had been read in 1901 from a manuscript source (Letter 24a, 1896) by those who advocated that the committee of twenty-five should elect the officers.

Now at this 1903 meeting W. C. White and A. G. Daniells were ready; Daniells read the statement, found in Testimonies to Ministers, in its context:

It is not wise to choose one man as president of the General Conference. The work of the General Conference has extended, and some things have been made unnecessarily complicated. A want of discernment has been shown. There should be a division of the field, or some other plan should be devised, to change the present order of things.... The president of the General Conference should have the privilege of deciding who shall stand by his side as counselors.—Page 342 (see also The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 160).

Ellen White did not enter into the debate on the question of the constitution. W. C. White spoke strongly in support of the changes proposed, as did some of the other respected leaders, such as Loughborough and Butler. The matter was not settled quickly. A vote with a three-fourths majority was needed. At the close of the evening meeting, April 9, 1903, the vote was taken, with 108 delegates present. Eighty-five voted Yes, carrying the action by a majority of four.

Ellen White’s final address was given Thursday morning, April 9, after J. Edson White had reported on the work in the South. She read from a manuscript written in 1902, making some comments as she read. Among these:

I have said, “The Southern work,” supposing that our people would certainly understand that I mean especially the work for [258] the colored people. I wish it now to be understood that this is what I meant.—Ibid., 1903, 202.

The session voted to make a quarterly appropriation for the work of the Southern Missionary Society.

Another significant action provided for the use of tithe money for the support of aged or sick workers and for the support of widows and orphans of workers (Ibid., 135). [259]

Chapter 19—In Agony of Soul

Ellen White returned home to Elmshaven from the session some time between April 10 and 12. Of the significant and far-reaching events in the early summer of 1903 she wrote:

“My strength was severely taxed while at the conference, but the Lord sustained me through the meeting, and by His blessing, I am recovering from the strain. I could have borne the work of the meeting very well, had not many perplexities arisen, to describe which would require the pen of a ready writer. While in Oakland I contracted a severe cold. Sara [McEnterfer] gave me thorough treatment, and this broke it up; but it still comes and goes, as colds often will.

During the first week of the conference, rain fell nearly every day, but for some time the weather has been very pleasant.

The prospects of the Sanitarium here are more encouraging than they have been for some time. The patients are well-to-do, and all the higher-priced rooms are taken. The patients who have recently come express themselves as being well pleased with everything about the institution. Some who have traveled much say they never before saw such beautiful scenery, or so fine a location. They roam over the hills, and are enjoying their stay very much.

Dr. Evans and his wife are the chief physicians. Both are pleased with their work, and are well thought of by others....

Sarah Peck [formerly a member of Ellen White’s working [260] staff] and her mother live in a small cottage near our house. We intended using this building for our workers, but it proved to be too small for the office work, so I built a plain, neat structure with eight rooms for our workers.

Sarah Peck teaches the Sanitarium church school. There are about forty pupils in attendance. Sister Peck has the reputation of being an excellent teacher. Her discipline is good, and all are well pleased with her work. The schoolhouse is built among the trees and rocks, on a piece of ground at the foot of the Sanitarium hill, a little removed from the road. All think it a delightful location. I was unable to give money to help in starting the school, but I have given the land for as long a time as the church may desire to use it for school purposes....

Ella May White [Willie’s oldest daughter] has been canvassing in Sacramento for The Desire of Ages, and has sold a good many books. Our people in that place are well pleased with the spiritual influence she has exerted, and put her in as superintendent of their Sabbath school.

Mabel is not well all of the time. The doctors say she cannot endure the confinement of a schoolroom, and must not use her eyes in reading or studying.... She attended the conference in Oakland, and helped in the dining tent as a waitress. She received four dollars a week and her board. She has a very good address, and the Food Company desired her to remain and help them in restaurant work....

The twins [Henry and Herbert White] are hearty boys. It is difficult to distinguish one from the other. Grace, the baby, is a strong, healthy girl, with a good disposition. She is now nearly three years old.

Brother James, who has charge of the work on our farm, occupies a cottage near us, with his family of eight children. They are a nice family. He is assisted by a faithful, intelligent man from Australia.

I have quite a company of workers with me. W. C. White takes charge of the business of my book work. He uses excellent judgment in deciding what shall be published. His brethren have wanted him with them in council meetings, and in the past I have let him go. But I have decided that he can help the cause of [261] God more by assisting me in my work than by attending council meetings.

Marian [Davis] edits the books that are prepared. Maggie Hare and Clarence Crisler prepare the articles for the papers. Miss Helen Graham does the typewriting. Dores Robinson, a son of A.T. Robinson, has lately come to help in the work.

Marian is sick at the Sanitarium. One evening while at the conference in Oakland, she visited the observatory. Not having sufficient wraps, she took a severe cold. We sent her up to the Sanitarium, and ever since she has been sick in bed. A nurse has been with her night and day. She has had a very severe illness, and at one time we feared she might die. I have been sick myself, and I was unable to go up to see her until last Friday, when I went with W. C. White. Her room is on the fifth story, and I had to tax my strength severely to walk up the last flight of stairs. We had a season of prayer for her....

This morning, Monday, I am up early writing these lines to you. [Written to her two nieces Addie and May Walling, whom she had cared for and educated after the death of their mother when they were children.] I should be tempted to go away somewhere for a change, but the change might make me worse, and besides, I must be with my workers to decide what matters shall be published. I want to make my time count for as much as possible while I have the strength to help.

I have several books in anticipation. I want to get out a book on The Acts of the Apostles, to follow the life of Christ. I have much matter written that I wish to put in book form. I sometimes fear that a fire will come, and I shall lose much of the precious matter that I desire to print. [Written before the construction of the fireproof manuscript vault in connection with the office building.]

I can say but little in reference to the conference at Oakland. It was a profitable occasion, and the Lord certainly helped us in the meeting. Some serious questions which arose were left to be decided at the meeting of the Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association in Battle Creek, which is now in session. We have been waiting with intense interest for news from them.—Letter 70, 1903. [262]

Concern for Developments at Battle Creek

Only too well Ellen White sensed the critical situation in Battle Creek and awaited the news of the outcome of the important meetings being held there—the meetings of the General Conference Committee, meetings of the Review and Herald constituency, and the meetings of the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association.

In the heat of the battle at the General Conference session in Oakland, Dr. Kellogg challenged Elder Daniells on the steps of the church:

“You think that this little body of men over here are the General Conference. I will show you that there is another General Conference when I get back to Battle Creek.”—DF 15a, AGD, “How the Denomination Was Saved from Pantheism,” copy A, p. 21.

Pressing close, the doctor shook his finger at Daniells’ nose and boasted:

“I will show you that I have a bigger delegation representative of this body of people than you have.”— Ibid., 21, 22.

It is true that at that time Seventh-day Adventists who were engaged in medical-related lines of work outnumbered all other denominational workers—evangelists, administrators, publishing-house employees, and educational workers—by about two to one.

Seeing the approaching struggle over control of institutions, Dr. Kellogg had called a twelve-day meeting of the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association in Battle Creek to follow the Oakland General Conference session, which closed on Sunday, April 12. To set aside twelve days for such a meeting was most unusual, but these were unusual times. The meeting would open in Battle Creek on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 21. Delegates were called in from the United States and Europe, representing “each of our sanitariums, food companies, benevolent institutions, and other enterprises connected with the medical missionary work” (The Medical Missionary, February, 1903).

The delegates would be housed in the new Sanitarium building [263] that was to be dedicated in a few weeks’ time. The meeting was billed as “without doubt the most interesting one ever held in the history of the association.” “Matters of the highest importance, questions of vital interest, principles which are far-reaching, must be considered calmly, earnestly, and resolutely.”— Ibid.

As interest-drawing features, a series of special separate conferences was announced for missionary nurses, for physicians, for sanitarium business managers, for superintendents of food work, and for those engaged in city medical missionary work (Ibid.).

The day this convention would open was the day appointed for the Review and Herald constituency meeting, when decisions would be made concerning the future of the publishing house. The next day, April 22, delegates to the General Conference session held in Oakland would meet in the Battle Creek Tabernacle to hold the last meeting of the 1903 session, which for legal reasons had to be held there.

Fully aware of all these activities, Ellen White hoped and prayed that all concerned would yield fully to the leadings of the Spirit of God, particularly Dr. Kellogg, for whom she carried a heavy burden. She had not conversed with him at the session, for as she explained to Elder Haskell, “At the time of the General Conference in Oakland, I was forbidden by the Lord to have any conversation with Dr. Kellogg.”—Letter 51, 1904. In words that gave an inkling of what might well be ahead, she wrote, “I have been shown that Dr. Kellogg has had papers drawn up by lawyers, the wording of which was such that few would see beneath the surface, and discern their final influence upon the work.”—Letter 59, 1903.

On the day the session closed in Oakland, she wrote from her home to Elder Daniells:

A great sadness is upon me. I see that some in God’s service are inclined to find fault and to work selfishly, using the Lord’s goods to please and glorify self. Some do this [in] one way and some in another....

There is an important work to be done in Battle Creek in the coming councils. If you can move so wisely as to save Dr. Kellogg, and yet not sacrifice one principle of truth, if you can pass through this crisis without the loss of one soul, it will be [264] because the Lord has worked with minds.—Letter 49, 1903.

Ellen White Working Through A. T. Jones

Just a week later, on Sunday, April 19, she wrote to A. T. Jones, who, as a General Conference Committee member would be, attending the meetings in Battle Creek. Jones and Kellogg had worked very closely together, sympathized with each other on the principles of organization, and seemingly had a good rapport. Jones would be in a position to approach Dr. Kellogg. To Elder Jones she wrote:

Dear Brother,

I am sending to you three manuscripts to be read to the brethren assembled at Battle Creek in council. These I desire that you shall read to the brethren when you discern that the time has come. You know my anxiety regarding the work—my desire that everything possible shall be done to establish unity and drive out dissension. We must do all in our power to save Dr. Kellogg and his associates from the result of the mistakes they have made, and to help them to see and understand the way of the Lord.—Letter 59, 1903.

Elder Jones received the letter and the documents on Thursday, April 23, and shared them with Elder Daniells, who on Friday wrote to W. C. White:

Our hearts are all made exceedingly glad by the arrival of the documents your mother has sent. They bring relief to the situation....

The crisis is here. The settlement must now be made. We shall do everything in our power to win every brother over to the right side, but we cannot compromise nor surrender the banner at this time.... We feel that your mother has certainly been inspired to send us what she has, and we shall endeavor to use it as we ought.—AGD to WCW, April 24, 1903.

She had already sent several other documents and she promised that more would follow. One of the letters sent to Jones was addressed to Kellogg. This course of action reveals how at times she was impressed by the Spirit of God to do her work. She wrote: [265]

I am also sending to you a copy of a letter that I have written to Dr. Kellogg. In it there are very many plain admonitions. Some of these it may be difficult for the doctor to understand. I have not yet sent him a copy of this letter, nor shall I do so at present. My wish is that you shall talk and pray with him, and then read the letter to him, when you think that the time has come. I greatly desire that he shall see his danger, and turn to the Lord....

I could not speak of his dangers in open conference; for there were some present who would have misunderstood and stumbled, making an unwise use of any statements made that were unfavorable to him.—Letter 59, 1903.

The letter she sent for Elder Jones to read to the medical missionary workers assembled was written on April 16, and was addressed “To Those in Council at Battle Creek, Michigan.” The opening sentence calls for the members of the Medical Missionary Association to work in concert with “responsible men of the General Conference” (Letter 54, 1903). The whole communication is an appeal for unity: “Seek for unity, and seek it in faith,” she wrote. And then she reminded the group:

Our work is not left in the hands of finite men. God rules, and He will turn and overturn. He will not allow His work to be carried forward as it has been. His medical missionary work is not to be ruled, controlled, and molded by one man, as for some years it certainly has been. The exercise of such a power, if continued, will mar the work, and will be the certain ruin of the man exercising control.—(Ibid.

She promised that God would work with men carrying large responsibilities if they humbly worked in His way. But she warned that watchmen on the walls of Zion must “take heroic action to save the man and the cause” if anyone set himself up “as being above God” (Ibid.)

She recounted an incident she had recently read of an artist painting on a high scaffold. He stepped back to admire his work, then watched in horror as an assistant rushed forward and smeared the delicate work. One more step backward would have plunged [266] the artist to his death. His angry surge forward saved his life. Ellen White asked: “Will our brethren in peril consent to be saved from the dangers they are in?” (Ibid.).

She reproved God’s watchmen for their blindness:

They should have been wide awake to see that one man’s mind, one man’s judgment, was becoming a power that God could not and would not endorse. To invest one man or a few men with so much power and responsibility, is not in accordance with God’s way of working.— Ibid.

Then, as she did at the 1901 General Conference session, she called for a complete change—a reorganization:

There must be a reorganization.... At the General Conference of 1901 the light was given, Divide the General Conference into union conferences. Let there be fewer responsibilities centered in one place.

Let the work of printing our publications be divided. The principles that apply to the publishing work apply also to the Sanitarium work.... The gospel ministry, medical missionary work, and our publications are God’s agencies. One is not to supersede the other. But you have sought to make the medical missionary work the whole body, instead of the arm and hand.—Ibid.

Her appeal closed with clear-cut concepts. The medical missionary work, properly conducted, was but a means to an end:

By the ministry of the Word, the gospel is preached; by medical missionary work the gospel is practiced. The gospel is bound up with medical missionary work. Neither is to stand alone, bound up in itself. The workers in each are to labor unselfishly and unitedly, striving to save sinners.—Ibid.

Other documents were in Elder Jones’s hands to be read. One in which she addressed herself to “Our Leading Brethren, to Our Ministers and Especially to Our Physicians,” made a strong appeal to banish both pride and a desire for prominence. “The Lord calls for a decided reformation,” she wrote. “And when a soul is truly [267] reconverted; let him be rebaptized.”—Letter 63, 1903.

While copies of these documents were entrusted to A. T. Jones as one who might most effectively bring them to the medical personnel assembled in Battle Creek, copies had also been sent to other church leaders. The meeting of medical personnel had opened on Tuesday, April 21, but Jones did not reach Battle Creek till Thursday, April 23, during the extended and heated debate over the removal of the Review and Herald publishing plant to some point in the East. It was Friday evening when he finally got together with the General Conference Committee to consider how the Ellen White testimonies should be used. They reached no final decision, but came back together Sabbath morning, April 25, before the eleven-o’clock service to give the documents more study and to try to decide whether they should be presented in a general meeting to all the people or in some other way. Again no decision was reached, and the General Conference Committee, with Jones present, met from 5:00 P.M. Saturday evening until late at night. The biggest issue seems to have been whether harmony could be reached without either the General Conference leaders or Dr. Kellogg actually yielding their positions on the various issues in question.

The Messages Reach Dr. Kellogg

Sunday evening, April 26, Jones had occasion to present the testimonies Ellen White had placed in his hands to the Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association leaders. Their reaction, as Jones recounted to Ellen White, was of spontaneous agreement and confession. As that meeting closed, he walked with Kellogg toward his home, chatting about the situation. Approaching the Kellogg residence, Jones sensed that the time had come to present Ellen White’s personal testimony to him. He mentioned the letter, and Kellogg invited him in. Again Jones pictures Kellogg as willing and eager to accept every line:

I am happy to say that from the beginning to the end there was in the doctor no sign of any irritation or impatience with anything that was said; but a quiet, considerate readiness to look fairly and candidly at every statement, and to receive it for just what it said.... I am sure that I never saw a brother accept a [268] testimony any more thoroughly than did he.—A. T. Jones to EGW, April 29, 1903.

In her letter to Kellogg, the messenger of the Lord explained that three times after sleepless nights, she had been ready to address the delegates at the 1903 General Conference regarding the doctor and the points at issue, but she was restrained because her words might be misunderstood. Now she must speak:

“What can I say that will in any way affect you?” she asked. “In some respects you have been pursuing a strange course during the last two years. This cannot continue.”

She mentioned the General Conference of 1901 and said:

If at that meeting you had fallen on the Rock and been broken, you would since that time have had a much deeper spiritual experience. But since that conference things have continually been occurring that show your mind is far from being free from evil....

I greatly desire that your soul shall be saved. You should no longer feel that your individual judgment is to be the criterion by which others are to be guided in carrying forward the medical missionary work....

Does not the sweeping away of the Sanitarium by fire mean much to you? Such a manifest token of God’s displeasure should lead you to most earnest self-examination.... Study to find out why this punishment has come. Allow not this rebuke to pass by unheeded, lest it be followed by still sterner punishment.—Letter 55, 1903.

She pleaded with the doctor to repent:

Pray for yourself, in the name of Christ. Pray earnestly, fervently, sincerely. I hope that your life may be spared, and that you may give yourself wholly to repentance. Come to the Lord, and surrender all to Him. You must, or you will be taken captive by the enemy.

I cannot but write these words, for One of the highest authority has made this appeal to you.—Ibid.

The next afternoon, Monday, April 27, Kellogg appeared before [269] the General Conference Committee. He made a frank admission that he had been wrong in some of his positions, he acknowledged the divine Source of Ellen White’s writings, and he asked for unity. The committee responded wholeheartedly with apologies and confessions. As Jones put it, “There was a breaking down all around. With tears of contrition and joy, brethren embraced one another in Christian love.”—A. T. Jones to EGW, April 29, 1903.

The doctor and the General Conference leaders went directly to the Tabernacle, where a session of the Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association was in progress, and told everyone about the new-found harmony. The next day, Tuesday, Kellogg and Daniells sent a joint telegram to Ellen White: “Peace established according to Ephesians 2:14-22.”

In a letter to W. C. White, Elder Daniells describes the experience and its aftermath:

Personally, I received very much help. Complete reconciliation to the doctor was established in my heart, and I told him so. This seemed to affect him very much.... When our meeting was over, peace reigned in all our hearts, and it seemed like a beautiful calm that follows a terrific storm. The medical convention was in progress at the Tabernacle, and we all went over and told them what God had done for us.

I need not tell you that there was great rejoicing. The doctor and I thought it would be a privilege for us to send a message to your mother. In establishing this peace, neither party claims a victory; neither one was asked to compromise the principles of right for which we felt that we were standing.—AGD to WCW, April 29, 1903.

A little later, after she had received letters from both Daniells and Kellogg reporting the reconciliation, she wrote:

I received your letter, also one from Elder Daniells. It made my heart very thankful to know that our brethren are doing all they possibly can to come into unity. May the Lord lead them on step by step.—Letter 80, 1903.

But the harmony was short-lived. Her period of rejoicing was soon cut short by a vision of which she wrote in a letter to Willie: [270]

After I received the letter in regard to the excellent meeting of confession and unity that had been held in Battle Creek, I was writing in my diary, and was about to record my thankfulness I felt over the fact that there was a change, when my hand was arrested, and there came to me the words: “Write it not. No change for the better has taken place. The doctor is ensnared in a net of specious deception. He is presenting as precious the things that are turning souls from the truth into ... forbidden paths.—Letter 172, 1903.

She wrote in the same vein to Dr. Kellogg, and said:

Your case, my brother John, weighs heavily on my soul. You are presented to me as one who has been making strange paths for his feet, exerting an influence that leads others out of the right way.—Letter 181, 1903.

Crisis days were to continue. These crises led church leaders to put their dependence wholly in God and to reach out for every bit of light the Lord might send through His messenger. [271]

Chapter 20—The Move to Washington, D.C.

Early in the 1903 General Conference session, the proposal was made that the General Conference headquarters and the publishing house be moved from Battle Creek to suitable locations on the Atlantic Coast, possibly in the vicinity of New York City. As noted earlier, Ellen White, when asked to speak to the matter, replied:

Let the General Conference offices and the publishing work be moved from Battle Creek. I know not where the place will be, whether on the Atlantic Coast or elsewhere. But this I will say, Never lay a stone or a brick in Battle Creek to rebuild the Review office there. God has a better place for it.—The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 85.

Before the session closed, actions were taken to move the General Conference office to the Atlantic Coast and encourage the Review and Herald stockholders to reestablish the work of publishing in the Eastern States.

To move the General Conference offices from their rented quarters in the West Building of the Review and Herald would be quite simple. To close up the business of the publishing house in Battle Creek and reestablish it elsewhere would involve legal and deeply emotional factors.

The Review and Herald constituency meeting called in Battle Creek from April 21 to 29 was not at all a tranquil one. Church leaders and the majority of the constituency favored the move from Battle Creek, but a relatively few constituent members bitterly opposed it. The Spirit of Prophecy counsels were clearly the [272] deciding factor. The final vote was overwhelmingly in favor of moving. But that vote did not resolve legal matters. The General Conference and the publishing house had been closely twined through the years, and now in the proposed move, both were involved and both must be considered at the same time. The question was whether the move was to be to one location or two.

With the decision made to relocate the publishing house, Elder Daniells and his associates turned to the matter of just where it should be. The time was now early summer. He felt that if the move of the headquarters were to be made within a year, it should be within a few weeks. General worldwide church activities precluded other dates.

On May 15 he addressed a letter to Ellen White in which he indicated his sense of need for divine guidance. “I do not wish to add any burdens to those you are already bearing,” he wrote, “but I feel that I must write to you for counsel regarding the location of the General Conference headquarters, also the location of the Review and Herald printing plant.”—AGD to EGW, May 15, 1903.

He reminded her of her counsel on moving and of the action taken at the session. He pointed out that they were thinking of New York City, with offices “located outside of the city” and on a good railway line. It should be near enough to the city so that the General Conference workers could engage in missionary efforts in the city on weekends. He outlined tentative plans for searching for a site. Then he urged:

I most sincerely request that you will write me promptly, giving all the counsel you may have to guide us. We want all the light the Lord has for us, so that we shall know that we are meeting His mind, and thus taking steps that we shall not regret. We must have divine guidance. For this we shall earnestly pray until the matter is settled.— Ibid.

This appeal for divine help was typical of his letters during the next five months. To this appeal Ellen White replied immediately:

Dear Brother Daniells,

We have received your letter in regard to the selection of a place for the Review and Herald publishing house.

I have no special light, except what you have already [273] received, in reference to New York and the other large cities that have not been worked. Decided efforts should be made in Washington, D.C....

May the Lord help us to move understandingly and prayerfully. I am sure that He is willing that we should know, and that right early, where we should locate our publishing house. I am satisfied that our only safe course is to be ready to move just when the cloud moves.—Letter 95, 1903.

Within a short time she indicated that caution should be exercised about settling in or near New York, and said, “I am sure that the advantages of Washington, D.C., should be closely investigated.”—Letter 106, 1903.

Soon another letter came to the General Conference officers, from Elder J. S. Washburn, pastor in Washington, D.C., about locating there. Ellen White in one of her letters indicated that it would be advantageous for the Review and Herald to bear the imprint of Washington, D.C. But thus far she still had no definite light (Letter 115, 1903).

Seeking a Suitable Location

The committee that was appointed in mid-June to seek a suitable location found two promising sites. One was a ninety-seven-acre tract sixty miles north of New York City at Fishkill, New York, on the Hudson River, where a retired businessman had built a forty-room hotel with many attractive features. It was for sale at $12,000.

A portion of the locating committee, including Elder Daniells, mindful of Ellen White’s instruction to give careful consideration to the advantages of Washington, spent four days there and were immediately impressed that the environs of that city possessed many favorable qualities as headquarters for the church. The impression grew as the men investigated properties in the close vicinity of the nation’s capital. Daniells reported to W. C. White and his mother:

One of the finest places we have found was a place called Takoma Park. It is on the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad running to Chicago and St. Louis. It is also reached by an electric line. It is five or six miles from the city. It is ... a large [274] wooded tract of land, lying on each side of the District line, part in the District and part in Maryland. It has an elevation of three hundred feet above the Potomac. It is a magnificent place. We could purchase all the land we required at a very reasonable rate.—AGD to WCW, June 21, 1903.

As committee members studied the matter, their recommendation was to give Washington first consideration, but they would not let the opportunity slip to purchase the Fishkill property.

Daniells than asked that W. C. White join them in making further inspection and participate in making the decision, if he could be spared from his mother’s work. He wrote:

You know that the selection of a location for our conference and printing establishment is a matter of very grave importance. We must not make any mistakes. We want to do just right. You have been in close touch with your mother, and know better than anyone else the light that has been given her; consequently, we do most earnestly desire your presence with us.— Ibid.

He expressed the wish that Ellen White might come also and be with them as she was when the Avondale school site was investigated in Australia, but he thought that hardly possible.

Again he reiterated the determination of the committee to “walk in the light given us in the Testimonies regarding this matter,” for they did not want to make a mistake “if we can help it.” They were eager for “divine guidance.”

Ellen White wrote on June 26 that she had been praying for light and “light has come ... in a very decided way.”— Letter 120, 1903. She mentioned that the Fishkill property might be secured for a sanitarium and a school, but clearly indicated Washington as the place for the General Conference headquarters, the Review and Herald, and a sanitarium (Ibid.).

While waiting the arrival of W. C. White in Battle Creek, Elder Daniells wrote her on July 5:

From your communication of June 26, I understand that we are to settle on Washington for our location. We ... shall plan in such a way that the enemy will not be permitted to outgeneral us.—AGD to EGW, July 5, 1903. [275]

Anticipated Conflicts in Battle Creek

Daniells was referring to steps being taken by various individuals and groups to block moving the Review and Herald out of Battle Creek. Three hundred people had been employed in the plant. Many owned their own homes and some had rental properties; they feared personal financial disaster. Then, too, the burgeoning cereal-food industry, pioneered by the Kelloggs but now far beyond their control, had made Battle Creek a boom town.

According to P. T. Magan in a letter written in mid-1902, Adventists in Battle Creek were “making lots of money these days. They are adding farm to farm continually, building houses and speculating generally,” wrote Magan. “Our brethren there have gone wild on land and food propositions.”—P. T. Magan to EGW, May 25, 1902. He reported that “the town of Battle Creek has come to be known throughout the whole Central and Eastern States as ‘the Adventist mining camp.’”

It is not difficult to see why Battle Creek Adventists were not eager to see the General Conference and the Review and Herald printing plant leave the city.

But more disturbing to church leaders were the lawsuits threatened by certain disaffected members of the Review and Herald constituency, which could tie things up in legal battles for years.

“We are in a dreadful place,” wrote Daniells to the Lord’s messenger. “God must help us. We are helpless.”—AGD to EGW, July 5, 1903.

In agonizing words he poured out his soul to her:

Sister White, the hour has struck for something to be done. We are in peril. The stability of this cause is at stake. This involves the honor of God and the welfare of thousands of innocent, faithful believers in this message. Unless I am altogether deceived, we are face to face with a crisis.

The situation admonishes me to get my bearings that I may prove true to my trust. I do most earnestly want the Lord to take me by the hand and lead me. I am afraid to go alone. I humble my heart and repudiate all that is of self, all that is carnal. I know nothing yet as I ought to know it. Christ, whose I am, is my head [276] and my wisdom. For weeks my heart has been crying out for God, the living God.

I want to tell you that I realize as I never have in all my life the need, and the value to the church, of the Spirit of Prophecy. The working of Satan at this present time is surely with all power, and signs, and lying wonders. And it is so intense and cunning that only God can meet it successfully. We who accept the high and sacred responsibilities of this work must let God teach us, and we must listen to His voice.— Ibid.

On W. C. White’s arrival in Battle Creek, the men hastened to the East to look at the New York and Washington properties. In spite of a pledge made by the real-estate agent to hold the Fishkill property, they found it had been sold by another agent (AGD to EGW, July 23, 1903).

Washington and Takoma Park

In Washington they hurried out to Takoma Park and found “a fifty-acre block of land” about a mile from the post office. This had been developed by a Dr. Flower, who operated a medical institution in Boston and planned to open one in the Washington area. After investing $60,000 in the land and clearing it, he fell into financial trouble. It was now in the hands of a man who held a $15,000 mortgage on it; he was willing to sell for $6,000. Daniells wrote: “We paid $100 to bind the bargain.” They praised God for His opening providence (Ibid.). Fifty acres of well-located wooded land seven miles from the U.S. Capitol, situated by a beautiful stream, Sligo Creek, for $120 per acre. In their initial planning the brethren saw this as most suitable for sanitarium and school purposes.

Recognizing the advantage of Seventh-day Adventist literature bearing the Washington, D.C., imprint, the brethren projected that they could also buy a tract of several acres just a mile to the south, inside the District of Columbia, for a modest investment. Daniells promised Ellen White: “We shall counsel with you freely on this point.”— Ibid.

Anticipating an immediate move, they sought and found in downtown Washington a building with sixteen rooms, just a few blocks from the Capitol, which could serve as a temporary [277] headquarters. It seemed to be “just the place.” Even some printing equipment could be installed in the basement and first-floor rooms. They would take possession August 15 or a little earlier.

Daniells went on to report to Sister White:

There was not a dissenting voice among the brethren who were engaged in this important move. The blessing of the Lord rested upon us as we made our decisions day by day.... We believe that the good hand of our God is leading us.— Ibid.

A new printing corporation was formed while the men were in Washington. The address, 222 North Capital Street, would be shared by the new publishing concern and the General Conference office; operations would begin in Washington in three weeks’ time—August 15, 1903.

Knowing Ellen White as he did, Daniells wrote: “I am expecting that before spring you will feel it your duty to come to Washington to see our situation, and counsel with us regarding the work.”— Ibid. He even proposed to put up on the new land a little cottage that she could occupy. These propositions Ellen White was not to forget.

Battle Creek Believers Respond to the Proposed Move

The members of the Battle Creek Tabernacle church had to be apprised of the decision made to move to Washington. Sabbath morning, July 25, Elder Daniells laid the whole matter before the congregation. He read from three or four of Ellen White’s communications that gave instruction as to where they should go. The meeting continued in the afternoon. Elder Prescott read from other E. G. White testimonies and Elder Daniells followed, relating to the church “the providences of God that have opened before us as we have endeavored to walk in the light as given through the Spirit of Prophecy” (AGD to EGW, July 27, 1903).

The opposition that the leading men expected from many of the Battle Creek Adventists when it became known they were leaving the city did not materialize. The plain instructions and the review of God’s leadings and providences made a profound impression, and tears flowed freely.

“There was a softening and subduing influence present in our midst,” wrote Daniells to Sister White. He reported that he had [278] learned that “this experience has given many of our brethren and sisters renewed confidence that the Lord is leading in this work.”— Ibid. Further, he wrote:

I do not think I have seen the Tabernacle congregation so deeply interested and so thoroughly stirred over anything since the last conference here two years ago.— Ibid.

The Prompt Move to Washington

Packing began at once. Two freight cars were loaded with General Conference furniture and documents on Monday and Tuesday, August 3 and 4. They left Battle Creek on the fifth and were in Washington on August 10. Printing equipment from the West Building followed shortly.

The last issue of the Review and Herald printed in Battle Creek carried the date Tuesday, August 11. The next issue bore the dateline, Washington, D.C., Thursday, August 20. To many Adventists across the land, their Review coming two days late was their first knowledge that the headquarters of the church and the printing equipment had been moved.

Elder Daniells and others were convinced that God had led in the move. This is apparent from Elder Daniells’ letter to Ellen White, the first to be sent from the new Washington headquarters:

Dear Sister White,

I am enclosing a copy of a letter I have just written to Brother White about our experiences this week in Washington. I know that you will be anxious to hear from us, and so I send you this copy. I cannot tell you, Sister White, what a blessing we experience as we enter upon our duties in this place. Surely the Lord’s hand is in this move. I never felt such confidence in God’s leadership in this work as I have since we started out from Battle Creek to find a location in the East.

I believed that He was speaking to us and that if we would obey His voice implicitly and not swerve nor follow our own notions He would give us unmistakable evidence regarding the right place; but, oh, what little conception I had of how clear and comforting that evidence would be. I cannot tell you what this experience has done for my heart; but I can say that it leads me to a new and full surrender of my life to God and His work. [279]

I see as never before the folly of doubting and hesitating and swerving from the instruction God gives His people. We shall never know until the books unfold it how much has been lost to this cause by failing to render prompt and implicit obedience to all that God calls upon us to do. I must write you again regarding some important matters, but will not write more today. Your letters and instruction never were so precious to me as at this time. I am praying God to help me to not falter whatever may come. Please be free to counsel me as the Lord instructs.—AGD to EGW, August 14, 1903. [280]

Chapter 21—The Threat of Pantheism

The year 1903 witnessed in a very marked way the fulfillment of a prediction made by Ellen White in 1884 and published in the Testimonies in 1885:

The enemy is preparing for his last campaign against the church. He has so concealed himself from view that many can hardly believe that he exists, much less can they be convinced of his amazing activity and power. They have to a great extent forgotten his past record; and when he makes another advance move, they will not recognize him as their enemy, that old serpent, but they will consider him a friend, one who is doing a good work....

Satan hopes to involve the remnant people of God in the general ruin that is coming upon the earth. As the coming of Christ draws nigh, he will be more determined and decisive in his efforts to overthrow them. Men and women will arise professing to have some new light or some new revelation whose tendency is to unsettle faith in the old landmarks. Their doctrines will not bear the test of God’s word, yet souls will be deceived.—Testimonies for the Church 5:294, 295.

To understand better the crisis that faced the church in the Kellogg controversy, it is necessary to review the events that preceded the 1903 General Conference and the move to Washington, D.C.

The medical work in which Seventh-day Adventists were engaged, which later came to be known as the medical missionary work, was in God’s providence instituted as a means of bringing [281] relief to the sick and of acquainting them with the Saviour and preparing them to meet Christ at His second coming. This work was to be the right arm of the message. It was a means of contacting and reaching people effectively.

It is not strange, then, that the great adversary of all truth, one who had declared war against God and His people, should attempt to nullify the effectiveness of this ministry. Preceding chapters have noted the steps taken by Dr. Kellogg to wrest the medical work from the control of the church leaders and form it into a great nondenominational Christian work.

There is no question that Dr. Kellogg was an unselfish, dedicated, much-loved man. He was a generous, great man. But it was largely (yet not altogether) through Dr. John Harvey Kellogg that the great adversary introduced into the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists the seeds of error in the form of so-called new light, just at a time when the medical work was at its height.

Pantheism is the term used to designate the strange new teachings that were being introduced. Pantheism pictures God not as a great personal Being, but a mysterious essence—an impersonal influence pervading all nature. God is seen in all nature—in trees, flowers, sunshine, air, and human beings. The power of God in nature is confused with the personality of God.

As is so often the case with misleading teachings, it came to the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists subtly, as new, advanced truth. At first it was not discerned as a threat to the church. Dr. Kellogg had toyed with these concepts before James White’s death in 1881, and considering it “great light,” had discussed it with Ellen White. “‘Those theories are wrong,’” she told him. “‘I have met them before.’” He seemed dazed as she showed him the outcome of espousing such a philosophy. She then admonished, “‘Never teach such theories in our institutions; do not present them to the people.’”—Manuscript 70, 1905.

Dr. Kellogg Introduces Pantheistic Teachings

Fifteen years later (1895) a Dr. A. H. Lewis, editor of the Sabbath Recorder, prominent among Seventh Day Baptists, and steeped in pantheism, visited Battle Creek and was entertained in the Kellogg home (Mrs. Kellogg was a Seventh Day Baptist). Lewis talked his [282] pantheistic views, which did not fall on deaf ears. Kellogg first introduced pantheism publicly in 1897 in a series of talks at the ministerial institute that preceded the General Conference session held in the College View church at Lincoln, Nebraska.

The records of what took place are clear, for they were published in the General Conference Bulletin, and distributed to Adventist workers throughout the world. The issue of February 18 carries the first of the Kellogg addresses under the title “God in Nature.” This was presented Tuesday morning, February 16. In his talk he introduced an extended quotation from Ellen White, taken from Manuscript 4, 1882, carrying the title “God in Nature.” In this document she stated that Christ and the Father are continually working through the laws of nature. Nature is God’s servant, directed as He pleases. Nature at work testifies of the intelligent presence and active agency of a Being who moves in all His work according to His will (The General Conference Bulletin, 1897, 73).

Dr. Kellogg drew heavily upon Ellen White in laying out his position that God works through nature and in nature. His next presentation carried the title “God in Man.” Under this title he gave several talks in which he set forth clearly the pantheistic philosophy he held:

Gravitation acts instantaneously throughout all space. By this mysterious force of gravitation the whole universe is held together in a bond of unity.... We have here the evidence of a universal presence, an intelligent presence, an all-wise presence, an all-powerful presence, a presence by the aid of which every atom of the universe is kept in touch with every other atom. This force that holds all things together, that is everywhere present, that thrills throughout the whole universe, that acts instantaneously through boundless space, can be nothing else than God Himself. What a wonderful thought that this same God is in us and in everything.—Ibid., 83.

In words that seemed to put man above God, he boldly declared:

What a wonderful thought, that this mighty God that keeps the whole universe in order, is in us! ... What an amazing thing that this almighty, all-powerful, and all-wise God should make [283] Himself a servant of man by giving man a free will—power to direct the energy within his body!— Ibid.

Ministers and Teachers Imbibe the Intriguing Views

Ministers and physicians who had a high regard for Dr. Kellogg began to imbibe his philosophy and to develop it in their own work, not sensing the point to which it would lead. One such was Elder E. J. Waggoner, who was also a physician. He was at one time editor of the Signs of the Times and the man who, with Elder A. T. Jones was used mightily of God at the General Conference in 1888 to bring a reemphasis on the message of righteousness by faith. Elder Waggoner, one of the denomination’s highly respected speakers, was repeatedly called upon at the time of General Conference sessions to conduct series of Bible studies.

At the General Conference of 1899, held at South Lancaster, Massachusetts, Waggoner was a delegate from England, where he was engaged in editorial work. In a discussion of health and temperance, Elder Waggoner was asked to make a presentation of some things he had been giving to the Battle Creek Sanitarium family. He opened with the rather bold statement:

I thank God, brethren, that the Lord has taught me something in the last few months, and enabled me to teach something of how to live forever.—Ibid., 1899, 53.

He recognized that some would feel that this was fanaticism, but he denied this. He asked the question:

What is it that gives us life, no matter who we are? It is the life of God. How many lives are there in the universe? There is but one life, and that is the life of God. What is the life of God given to us for? That we may live it. And how long is the life of God to endure? Through eternity. What does He let us have this life for? and why does He bear it with us, and with this whole world? That we may take the life that He has already given, and know that it is eternal life.—Ibid., 53.

He was asked by someone in the audience, “Do you ever expect to be sick?”

He answered, “No; I expect to live forever.”— Ibid. [284]

In his presentation, which carried over into the afternoon, Waggoner referred to man’s first breath. He noted that the first thing a human being does when he comes into the world is to breathe. This is what happened in Adam’s experience. God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul. Man breathes the breath of life into his nostrils eighteen times a minute. “Brethren,” declared Dr. Waggoner, “God is wonderfully near.”—Ibid., 57.

Waggoner went on:

When a man knows and recognizes that every breath he draws is a direct breathing of God into his nostrils, he lives in the presence of God, and has a Spirit-filled life.... Let a man breathe by faith, and he will be full of the Spirit of God.—Ibid., 58.

Continuing his discussion, the doctor introduced another illustration:

When Paul was stung by a viper, those standing by thought he would die. But he did not. Why? There was a power, a life, to resist, was there not?

We are continually breathing in germs. You cannot go on the street, at least in the cities, without breathing in germs of tuberculosis. But we do not all have tuberculosis. We may be exposed to typhoid fever, and yet escape.... Why? Because, you say, there was a vitality to resist.

But what is it that swallows up these germs? It is the life of God.— Ibid.

The air is God’s medicine, and good food is God’s medicine. There is power, life, in the pure water, because God’s life is in it.— Ibid.

He went on to discuss the matter of bread:

What do we put into the ground when we want corn? We plant the seed.... Now when you have a handful of good seed, that seed has the life of God in it.... When this is made into bread, life is in it still. We do not see the life, but it is there, and it is the life of God. It is His body, and we take His body and get life.— Ibid. [285]

Someone in the audience asked, “Is the life of God in the bread?”

“Yes,” Dr. Waggoner answered.

The questioner asked further: “What is the difference, then, between this and the position taken by the priest?”

To this Waggoner gave a rather devious answer, claiming that they were “diametrically opposite” (Ibid.).

Dr. Kellogg, in giving a report a day or two later on the design of sanitariums, reiterated these concepts:

As Dr. Waggoner was telling you the other day, we never eat anything good, but we are tasting God. It is a sacred thing to eat. This grows out of the fact that God is in everything.—Ibid., 1899, 119.

At this same meeting Dr. Daniel H. Kress spoke of the marvelous work in the healing of a wound:

The Lord is constantly at work. God works in us, constantly building up, repairing waste, and healing all manner of diseases. “I am the Lord which healeth thee.” But in addition to the fact that God is in every man, we must recognize that He is in everything—the food we eat, the air we breathe. These are a means of ministering life to man.—Ibid., 120.

Seeds of Error Carried to the World Field

Thus the seeds of pantheism were being sown at the General Conference session of 1899, and through the General Conference Bulletin they were carried to the church throughout the world. Somehow the peril of this teaching was not discerned. It seemed to be beautiful light; light that if adequately understood would lead to holy living: God is in the air; God is in water; God is in the corn; God is in the bread; and it is because God is in men and women that disease cannot take hold of them.

From time to time during the session, communications were received from Ellen G. White, who was in Australia, and certain meetings were set apart for the reading of these communications. One such was on Wednesday morning, March 1. The following Sabbath afternoon was also given over to “reading several Testimonies received since the opening of the session of the conference.” Elder G. A. Irwin read these. Significantly, the first [286] carried the title “The True Relation of God and Nature.” Ellen White spoke of the Fall of man and of the worship of the Athenians who erected their altars for the worship of nature on which they might well inscribe “To the unknown God.” “Nature is not God,” she said, “and never was God. The voice of nature testifies of God, declaring His glory; but nature itself is not God. As God’s created work, it but bears a testimony of His power.”—Ibid., 157.

She continued:

The ancient philosophers prided themselves upon their superior knowledge, but God has said of them: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.... Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator.”—Ibid., 157

Then she made a point that showed where the “new light” would lead.

Christ came to the world as a personal Saviour. He represented a personal God. He ascended on high as a personal Saviour, and He will come again as He ascended to heaven—a personal Saviour. We need carefully to consider this; for in their human wisdom, the wise men of the world, knowing not God, foolishly deify nature and the laws of nature.— Ibid.

In the following words she clearly sorted things out:

Those who have a true knowledge of God will not become so infatuated with the laws of matter and the operations of nature as to overlook or to refuse to acknowledge the continual working of God in nature. Deity is the author of nature. The natural world has in itself no inherent power but that which God supplies. How strange, then, that so many make a deity of nature! God furnishes the matter and the properties with which to carry out His plans. Nature is but His agency.— Ibid.

How interestingly these words of counsel dealt with presentations that had been made earlier in the session. But as far as the record reveals, the delegates seem to have made no connection [287] between those presentations and the messages that Ellen White sent from Australia. The timing, too, was significant, for she wrote nearly a month before the session opened and they arrived when truly needed. Those inspired messages should have forever buried the pantheistic teachings. But not so. They were forgotten, but pantheism was not. Dr. Kellogg and those who held views similar to his became even more bold in the presentation of pantheistic teachings. Such teachings threatened the principal doctrines that Seventh-day Adventists hold, particularly that of the sanctuary, with Christ ministering in the Most Holy Place. But the danger was not seen by most.

The pantheistic views became popular and were taught in Battle Creek College. They were taught in the Sanitarium, and as has been shown, they were defended by some physicians and some ministers.

Pantheism Rampant in Battle Creek

As Elder Daniells took up residence in Battle Creek as the leader of the church following the General Conference of 1901, he found these teachings rampant. For years he had been more or less isolated in Australia. He was amazed to hear the talk of God in flowers, in trees, in mankind. The expression was constantly heard: The acorn falls to the ground and a tree springs up. It was argued that one must say there is a tree maker in the tree. It was declared that the Creator, whatever He might be like, was in the things that were made, and therefore, man must look within for his maker and his God. And some boldly said that there is no great Being sitting on the throne in heaven, but God is in all nature.

This Daniells could not accept, because, as he declared: “I knew that the Bible says that there is a great Supreme Being who had created all things. So I never felt in harmony with this idea.”—DF 15a, AGD, “How the Denomination Was Saved From Pantheism,” copy A, p. 2.

Elder W. A. Spicer, who was serving with Elder Daniells in the General Conference as newly appointed secretary of the Foreign Mission Board, had spent years of service in India. He was astonished at this teaching that was being proclaimed around Battle Creek. He recognized it clearly as pantheism, which is the basis of [288] Hinduism. He asked himself, “Could it be that the philosophies of heathenism are being taught by leading men in the Seventh-day Adventist Church?”

On February 18, 1902, as noted in Chapter 11, the Sanitarium in Battle Creek burned to the ground, and the denomination was confronted with the matter of rebuilding. Dr. Kellogg came to the General Conference Committee and asked what the General Conference could do to help. Thinking of the effort being made in the selling of Christ’s Object Lessons to help clear the debts of the church’s educational institutions. Elder Daniells suggested that Dr. Kellogg write a simple book on physiology and health care that could be sold by Seventh-day Adventist throughout the United States. Perhaps they could sell half a million copies, and all income from the sale of this book could be used to help rebuild the sanitarium.

This appealed to Dr. Kellogg. But Daniells hastened to say:

“Now look here, Doctor, that book must not contain a single argument of this new theory you are teaching, because there are a lot of people all over the States who do not accept it. I know from what they say, and if it has any of what they consider pantheism they will never touch it.”— Ibid., 3.

And the doctor replied, “Oh yes, oh yes, I understand that.” And Daniells reiterated the point: “You must leave all that out.”— Ibid. Dr. Kellogg fully agreed. (As Kellogg tells the story, it was he who proposed the book for popular sale. Perhaps the idea originated in the minds of both leaders.) In the summer of 1902 Daniells took the matter to the union presidents, and they promised to support the wide sale of a book that would help to raise funds for the Sanitarium.

Dr. Kellogg was a tireless worker. He dictated a manuscript as quickly as he could, and it was sent to the Review and Herald office for the setting of the type. In the form of galley proofs the nascent book, to be called The Living Temple, came to Elder W. W. Prescott, General Conference field secretary, who was serving as acting leader in the absence of Elder Daniells, and to Dr. Kellogg, who was in Europe.

Elder Prescott called Elder Spicer’s attention to some of the [289] chapters. Spicer in turn mentioned his feeling to one of Dr. Kellogg’s medical associates, that wrong ideas were set forth in certain portions of the book.

The medical friend looked the matter over and wrote to Elder Spicer that it was his conviction that the matter in question was quite right and in harmony with the Advent message, however differently truths might be expressed from a scientific standpoint. He felt that the church ought to be ready to accept advancing light. To this Elder Spicer replied in a letter written June 5, 1902:

“A book to be used as it is purposed that this shall be, in order to pay debts on our sanitariums, must be altogether above question and controversy. It is not a question as to whether our people ought to take advanced light or not, but simply a question as to rallying everybody to undertake what at best will be a very difficult problem.”—DF 15c, W. A. Spicer, “How the Spirit of Prophecy Met a Crisis,” Copy A, p. 18.

Soon after Kellogg’s return to Battle Creek, Spicer was invited by the doctor to come to his home for a discussion of the book. The men spent an entire Sabbath afternoon together, and soon they were in rather bitter controversy, as the doctor explained that the teachings of the book presented his views in a very modest fashion, and it was his intent to teach that God was in the things of nature.

Later Spicer wrote of the exchange:

“Where is God?” I was asked. I would naturally say, He is in heaven; there the Bible pictures the throne of God, all the heavenly beings at His command as messengers between heaven and earth. But I was told that God was in the grass and plants and in the trees....

“Where is heaven?” I was asked. I had my idea of the center of the universe, with heaven and the throne of God in the midst, but disclaimed any attempt to fix the center of the universe astronomically. But I was urged to understand that heaven is where God is, and God is everywhere—in the grass, in the trees, in all creation. There was no place in this scheme of things for angels going between heaven and earth, for heaven was here and everywhere. The cleansing of the sanctuary that we taught [290] about was not something in a faraway heaven. “The sin is here ...[Dr. Kellogg said, pointing to his heart], and here is the sanctuary to be cleansed.”— Ibid., 19, 20.

As he left the doctor on that Sabbath afternoon, Spicer reported:

I knew well enough that there was nothing of the Advent message that could fit into such a philosophy. As I had listened, one light after another of the gospel message seemed to be put out. Religious teaching that to me was fundamental was set aside.— Ibid., 21.

Manuscript for The Living Temple Turned Down

When the General Conference Committee perceived the nature of the manuscript, a committee of four was appointed to give study to it and bring a report. As members of the committee read, they found such explanations as the following:

Suppose now we have a boot before us—not an ordinary boot, but a living boot, and as we look at it, we see little boots crowding out at the seams, pushing out at the toes, dropping off at the heels, and leaping out at the top—scores, hundreds, thousands of boots, a swarm of boots continually issuing from our living boot—would we not be compelled to say, “There is a shoemaker in the boot”? So there is present in the tree a power which creates and maintains it, a tree-maker in the tree.—JHK, The Living Temple, p. 29.

After the reading, two reports were prepared, a majority report and a minority report, a rather unusual procedure in the experience of Seventh-day Adventists. The reports were taken to the Autumn Council that year. The majority report stated:

“That, we find in the book Living Temple nothing which appears to us to be contrary to the Bible or the fundamental principles of the Christian religion, and that we see no reason why it may not be recommended by the Committee for circulation in the manner suggested.” A. T. Jones, J. H. Kellogg, David Paulson.—DF 15c, W. A. Spicer, “How the Spirit of Prophecy Met a Crisis,” Copy A, p. 27. [291]

The minority report was written by W. W. Prescott, and it read:

“I am compelled to say that I regard the matter, outside those portions of the book which deal with physiology and hygiene, as leading to harm rather than good; and I venture to express the hope that it will never be published.”— Ibid.

The General Conference Committee accepted the minority report. In the discussion that followed, according to the minutes, the author requested the privilege of withdrawing the book from consideration. It was not long, however, according to Elder Daniells, before Kellogg jumped to his feet and demanded an open hearing so that everybody from the Sanitarium and the Review and Herald could hear both sides of the matter. He pointed out it should not be confined to a small meeting of the General Conference brethren. So it was decided to hold such a meeting in the Review and Herald chapel. Daniells expected that only a relatively few people from the Review and Herald would be able to get off work to attend, although the chapel would hold a big crowd. However, when they met at eight-thirty in the morning, the room was packed to the anteroom and down the stairs. The meeting lasted until noon.

Elder Daniells reviewed the history of the church’s medical work, the steps being taken to bring the finances into line, and the pantheistic teachings in the galleys of The Living Temple. In the afternoon Dr. Kellogg presented his side of the story. Elder Daniells felt that he faced a real crisis in this situation and spent much of the night in study and prayer. The next morning as the Autumn Council attempted to proceed with its business, Dr. Kellogg was present with a big pile of books. He asked for a point of privilege that he might present the fact that “from the first, Elder James White, George I. Butler, and all ... your leaders have been absolutely opposed to this medical department of the denomination.”—DF 15a, AGD. “How the Denomination Was Saved From Pantheism,” Copy A, p. 13.

The brethren listened for a while. Finally one of the men stood and asked:

“Mr. Chairman, I rise to a point of order. I cannot sit here in this committee and listen to these harsh terms that Dr. Kellogg is [292] using against our venerable founder and leader [James White]. I wish the chairman to call him down.”— Ibid.

The chairman accepted the proposition and declared, “‘I will say to Dr. Kellogg, “We do not wish any more of this.” You will please terminate your subject.’”— Ibid., 13, 14. He did, but under protest.

Dr. Kellogg placed a personal order with the Review to print The Living Temple. About a month later the Review and Herald burned, and the plates for the book, which stood ready for the press, were destroyed by the fire.

Pantheistic Teachings and the General Conference of 1903

As leading workers approached the General Conference session, which was to open on March 27 in Oakland, California, the proposed book The Living Temple was a matter of deep concern. On March 16, Ellen White wrote to Dr. Kellogg:

You are not definitely clear on the personality of God, which is everything to us as a people. You have virtually destroyed the Lord God Himself.—Letter 300, 1903.

Again on April 5, while at the session, she wrote to the doctor: The specious, scheming representations of God in nature carry their charming, soothing influence as a peace and safety pill to give to the people, in the spiritualistic views [Note: This term does not refer to spiritualism as we speak of it today, but to spiritualizing certain truths.] that Satan has instituted in your theories.—Letter 301, 1903.

She wrote to him a second letter on the same day. In this letter she said:

Your ideas are so mystical that they are destructive to the real substance, and the minds of some are becoming confused in regard to the foundation of our faith. If you allow your mind to become thus diverted, you will give a wrong mold to the work that has made us what we are—Seventh-day Adventists.—Letter 52, 1903.

Early in the session, in one of her talks Ellen White had declared: [293] Those who stand as teachers and leaders in our institutions are to be sound in the faith and in the principles of the third angel’s message. God wants His people to know that we have the message as He gave it to us in 1843 and 1844. We knew then what the message meant, and we call upon our people today to obey the word, “Bind up the law among My disciples.”—The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 32.

On April 3 she had warned:

Spurious scientific theories are coming in as a thief in the night, stealing away the landmarks and undermining the pillars of our faith. God has shown me that the medical students are not to be educated in such theories, because God will not endorse these theories.

The most specious temptations of the enemy are coming in, and they are coming in on the highest, most elevated plane. These spiritualize the doctrines of present truth until there is no distinction between the substance and the shadow.

You know that Satan will come in to deceive if possible the very elect. He claims to be Christ, and he is coming in, pretending to be the great medical missionary.—Ibid., 87.

As mentioned in an earlier chapter, Ellen White fully intended on several occasions at the 1903 General Conference to meet pantheistic teachings explicitly and face to face in an open meeting where Dr. Kellogg and his views would be completely exposed. But in each case she was restrained from doing so. While at the session she was instructed in vision that she “‘must not say anything that would stir up confusion and strife in the conference.’”—DF 15c, W. A. Spicer, “How the Spirit of Prophecy Met a Crisis,” Copy A, p. 30.

That the General Conference session should come to a close without the issues being squarely met was a matter of deep perplexity to not a few, including her own son, W. C. White. Most came to see that somehow in the providence of God He does not always deal with such matters precipitously. He did not do so in dealing with Lucifer when he fell in heaven. Things must develop to a certain point before the issues could be met in a way that all would understand what they were and take a safe stand. And so it was seen in 1903 in the case concerning the pantheistic teachings. [294]

Chapter 22—“Meet It!”

It had been hoped that in connection with the destruction of the book plates in the Review and Herald fire, Dr. Kellogg would abandon the matter of publishing The Living Temple. But instead he sent the manuscript to a commercial printer in Battle Creek. Three thousand copies of the book were printed and began to make their way among Seventh-day Adventists.

When the book came from the press, discerning readers clearly saw that certain chapters were literally peppered with pantheistic teachings. Those in sympathy with the new philosophy held that this understanding of God would lead to holy living and to a deeper religious experience. As Seventh-day Adventist workers met, the conversation inevitably turned to the “new light” set forth in The Living Temple. Ellen White was still silent on the matter. The book was now in the field and being pressed upon the conferences with the urging that its sale would help to meet the costs of rebuilding the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

The leading officers of the General Conference, on July 31, 1903, wrote a letter to conference presidents, pointing out that the book had been considered at the 1902 Autumn Council, and that certain teachings in it were seriously questioned:

“It seemed to the Committee that while it was not a proper thing for a General Conference council to pass formally upon any question of religious teaching, it was likewise not a proper thing to recommend the circulation of literature so seriously [295] criticized.”—DF 15c, W.A. Spicer, “How the Spirit of Prophecy Met a Crisis,” copy A, p. 31.

In the meantime, the attention of many church leaders was much taken up with moving the Review and Herald and the General Conference headquarters. As mentioned earlier, in August they took possession of the property they had rented in Washington at 222 North Capitol Street, where they set up headquarters. Autumn Council had to be planned for, and it was decided that it should be held right there in Washington.

As Elder Daniells listed the important points to be considered at the Council, the matter of pantheism and The Living Temple was not included. He mentioned a number of progressive moves that he hoped could be made. He referred to the experience of the Autumn Council the year before in Battle Creek, which was disrupted by elements that made it impossible to do aggressive planning. This was likewise so, he said, of the General Conference session held in Oakland. Now he fondly hoped the meeting planned for October would be “a council of peace, harmony, and hard work” (AGD to WCW, October 23, 1903). He felt sure that in the quiet of Washington the leaders could get down to the business that needed to be done.

In his own heart Daniells hoped that the question of pantheism would not be brought up, but he did not mention this in the letter to the union presidents. He stated that while they were together in Washington they must give study to the work there, give attention to the various features that must be developed, and establish priorities. He wrote:

Every step taken thus far has been in obedience to the instruction the Lord has given us through His servant, Sister White. Every suggestion we have to make regarding the development of the work will be based on the same instruction. How fast and by what means we should carry out this instruction, which must eventually be fully obeyed, must be decided by the Committee in council.—AGD to General Conference Committee, September 4, 1903.

In due time in the summer of 1903 a copy of The Living Temple arrived at Elmshaven, but Ellen White did not look at it. This was not unusual, for often in a crisis she refrained from reading materials [296] that had a bearing on the situation, lest it be said she was influenced by what she had read. On the basis of the light she received from the Lord, however, from time to time she mentioned the book.

Finally, as the crisis developed, Willie suggested to her that perhaps she should read some of the passages. So on September 23 he sat down by her side and went over some of the statements dealing with theological matters (22 WCW, p. 219). This put her in a better position to speak more specifically in regard to the book.

When she was questioned as to why she had not spoken publicly about it earlier, she stated that she had assumed that those who were leading the church should have wisdom to know how to deal with problems of this character.

The 1903 Autumn Council

The Autumn Council of the General Conference Committee opened in Washington, D.C., according to plan on October 7, with meetings in the newly acquired M Street church. The brethren entered into their work with dedication and earnestness. In the early days of the Council, Dr. E.J. Waggoner, Elder A. T. Jones, and Dr. David Paulson arrived in Washington. Dr. Kellogg came Sabbath morning, October 17. As the men from Battle Creek presented themselves, it was evident to Elder Daniells and his associates that they would again be confronted with The Living Temple and the teaching of pantheism.

Although these elements were not included on the agenda for the Council, the regular work was laid aside and a day was given to the consideration of the pantheistic philosophy. The representatives from the field were confused. All day they wrestled with the matter. Some wavered and waffled. At about nine o’clock in the evening Elder Daniells considered it time to adjourn the meeting, but he did not dare call for a vote. People were too confused and uncertain, and he did not wish to take a step that would solidify any conclusions. So he dismissed the meeting, and the people started to their lodging places.

Dr. Paulson, who was strongly supportive of Dr. Kellogg, joined Daniells. As the two walked along they continued with the discussion of the day. Reaching the home where Daniells was staying, they stood under a lamppost and chatted for a time. Finally, [297] Dr. Paulson shook his finger at Daniells and declared:

“You are making the mistake of your life. After all this turmoil, some of these days you will wake up to find yourself rolled in the dust, and another will be leading the forces.”—AGD, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, pp. 336, 337.

Elder Daniells straightened up in his weariness and in his discouragement and replied firmly:

“I do not believe your prophecy. At any rate, I would rather be rolled in the dust doing what I believe in my soul to be right than to walk with princes, doing what my conscience tells me is wrong.”— Ibid., 337.

After parting, Daniells entered the home, where he found a group of people awaiting him. They seemed lighthearted and exclaimed: “‘Deliverance has come! Here are two messages from Mrs. White.’”— Ibid.

The Messages from Sister White

“No one can imagine,” recounts Daniells, “the eagerness with which I read the documents that had come in the mail while we were in the midst of our discussions. There was a most positive testimony regarding the dangerous errors that were taught in The Living Temple.”— Ibid. The message had come just at the crisis hour. As he read, his eyes fell on these words:

I have some things to say to our teachers in reference to the new book The Living Temple. Be careful how you sustain the sentiments of this book regarding the personality of God. As the Lord presents matters to me, these sentiments do not bear the endorsement of God. They are a snare that the enemy has prepared for these last days....

We need not the mysticism that is in this book. Those who entertain these sophistries will soon find themselves in a position where the enemy can talk with them, and lead them away from God. It is represented to me that the writer of this book is on a false track. He has lost sight of the distinguishing truths for this time. He knows not whither his steps are tending. [298]

The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth and error....

In the visions of the night this matter was clearly presented to me before a large number. One of authority was speaking.... The speaker held up Living Temple, saying, “In this book there are statements that the writer himself does not comprehend. Many things are stated in a vague, undefined way. Statements are made in such a way that nothing is sure. And this is not the only production of the kind that will be urged upon the people. Fanciful views will be presented by many minds. What we need to know at this time is, What is the truth that will enable us to win the salvation of our souls?”—Letter 211, 1903.

The entire manuscript of seven pages was devoted to the subject and may be read in The Review and Herald, October 22, 1903.

In another document received from Sister White addressed to “Leaders in Our Medical Work” and dealing with medical missionary work, the control of medical institutions, and pantheism, he read:

After taking your position firmly, wisely, cautiously, make not one concession on any point concerning which God has plainly spoken. Be as calm as a summer evening, but as fixed as the everlasting hills. By conceding, you would be selling our whole cause into the hands of the enemy. The cause of God is not to be traded away. We must now take hold of these matters decidedly. I have many things to say that I have not wanted to say in the past, but now my mind is clear to speak and act.

I am sorry to be compelled to take the position that I am forced to take in behalf of God’s people. In taking this position, I am placed under the necessity of bearing the heavy burden of showing the evil of the plans that I know are not born of heaven. This is the burden that many times in the past the Lord has laid upon me, in order that His work might be advanced along right lines. How much care and anxiety, how much mental anguish and wearing physical labor, might be saved me in my old age!

But still I am under the necessity of going into the battle, and [299] of discharging in the presence of important assemblies the duty that the Lord has laid upon me—the duty of correcting the wrong course of men who profess to be Christians, but who are doing a work that will have to be undone at a great loss, both financially and in the shaking of the confidence of the people.—Letter 216, 1903.

The Tide is Turned

The next morning church leaders assembled for their Council. After the prayer, Elder Daniells arose and told the brethren he had received two important messages from Sister White. Everyone was eager to hear them. They sat in thoughtful silence while he read. As statement after statement setting forth the falsity of the teachings of The Living Temple was presented to the assembly, many loud amens were heard and tears flowed freely. It was at that moment that the tide was turned.

So overwhelmed was Elder Daniells with these events that he could not refrain from mentioning them again and again in his correspondence in the days that followed. On Tuesday morning, October 20, he wrote to Ellen White:

We are in the midst of our Council, and I am terribly pressed with work, but I must take a minute this morning to tell you what a wonderful blessing your communications have been to our Council. Never were messages from God more needed than at this very time; and never were messages sent from Him to His people more to the point than those you have sent to us. They have been exactly what we have needed, and have come at just the right time from day to day in our Council. You can never know, unless the Lord Himself causes you to know it, what a great blessing your communication regarding The Living Temple has been to us. It came at just the right time exactly. The conflict was severe, and we knew not how things would turn. But your clear, clean-cut, beautiful message came and settled the controversy. I do not say that all parties came into perfect harmony, but it gave those who stood on the right side strength to stand, and hold their ground.—AGD to EGW, October 20, 1903.

In his letter he referred to specific documents received: [300]

But the most wonderful of all was the message we received yesterday morning, written August 4, and copied October 12, addressed to the leaders in our medical work. Dr. Kellogg had been with us two or three days. His attitude had brought more or less confusion in the minds of a number of our ministers—men who do not really know where they stand. Your message came on just the right day—a day earlier would have been too soon. I read it to the council yesterday, and it produced a most profound impression.— Ibid.

Daniells then stated:

At the close of the reading one of the ministers arose and stated that he felt impressed to ask all who proposed to take a firm stand with Sister White in this great struggle, to arise to their feet. Nearly every person in the room arose.— Ibid.

In touching terms Daniells referred to his own experience:

As for myself, when I received this last communication, I could only sit and weep. For a whole year I had been under a terrible mental strain. I had seen the evil thing, but had not dared to say all that I knew ought to be said. I could not surrender an inch of ground. I knew that it would be wrong to do so, and yet many of my brethren misunderstood me, and charged me with a hard, unyielding spirit, and with a desire to make war....

This communication, calling our brethren to take their stand, brought great relief to me, and the terrible load that had at times almost crushed me, has, in a measure, rolled off from me.— Ibid.

A few days later he wrote to W. C. White, opening his letter with these words:

It will be impossible for me to find language to state as clearly and forcibly, and I fear, as accurately as I would like the facts relating to the reception, presentation, and influence of the testimonies received from your mother during our recent Council. Never in my life have I seen such signal evidences of the leadership of an all-wise Being as I have seen in connection with the experiences referred to. Only the divine mind could have foreseen our condition and needs, and have sent us the exact [301] help we needed at precisely the right moment. I believe that this is the feeling of nearly every member of the Council.—AGD to WCW, October 23, 1903.

Why the Messages Came When They Did

On receiving these communications from Elder Daniells, Ellen White wrote to him explaining why he received the messages just when he did:

Shortly before I sent the testimonies that you said arrived just in time, I had read an incident about a ship in a fog meeting an iceberg. For several nights I slept but little. I seemed to be bowed down as a cart beneath sheaves. One night a scene was clearly presented before me. A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the lookout cried, “Iceberg just ahead!” There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic iceberg. An authoritative voice cried out, “Meet it!” There was not a moment’s hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg. With a crash she struck the ice. There was a fearful shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a noise like thunder upon the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the collision, but no lives were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond repair. She rebounded from the contact, trembling from stem to stern, like a living creature. Then she moved forward on her way.

Well I knew the meaning of this representation. I had my orders. I had heard the words, like a living voice from our Captain,“Meet it!” I knew what my duty was, and that there was not a moment to lose. The time for decided action had come. I must without delay obey the command, “Meet it!”

This is why you received the testimonies when you did. That night I was up at one o’clock, writing as fast as my hand could pass over the paper.

We have all stood at our posts like faithful sentinels, working early and late to send to the council instruction that we thought would help you.—Letter 238, 1903. [302]

The Backup Work at Elmshaven

In crisis situations such as this Ellen White often began her work at midnight. When her workers came to the office in the morning, they began copying the sheets on which she had written. These were then passed to her for editing. In the meantime she had been writing still more, and all through the day they worked. Then secretaries worked all through the night to get the material ready so that it could be sent on the early-morning train.

They worked to the last minute, and when they heard the whistle of the train at Barro Station, to the north of Elmshaven, D. E. Robinson, one of the secretaries, jumped on a bicycle with testimonies in his pocket. He raced the train almost two miles to the crossing and then to the station to drop the letters in the mail car. Days later they arrived at their destination just at the hour they were needed. Everyone understood that God’s hand was in the work.

When the messages were read at the Council in Washington, Dr. Kellogg responded favorably, saying that he accepted the testimony and that he would modify the wording in The Living Temple dealing with theological matters. But his statements were rather erratic and changeable. His attitude alternated, and it finally turned out that the doctor never really changed.

Warnings Against the Threat of Pantheism

During the crisis of 1903 and into 1904, Ellen White wrote concerning pantheism, its threat to the church and to the religious experience of those who were drawn to it. On August 4 she wrote:

The doctor is ensnared in a net of specious deception. He is presenting as of great worth things that are turning souls from the truth into ... forbidden paths.—Letter 216, 1903.

On September 18 in a letter to Elder Daniells, she referred to Kellogg’s experience as a young man back in 1882:

The Lord presented this matter to me, revealing that the result of such teaching was a subtle beguiling of the mind, and that the doctor himself did not foresee this result of his extreme views in regard to God in nature.... I told him that the Lord was greatly dishonored by being thus represented, and that such [303] ideas would lead the people into spiritualism. [Note: As noted, this term was several times used in this setting to indicate a spiritualizing away of such basic truths as the personality of God.]—Letter 271a, 1903.

While Kellogg himself gave up the ideas at the time, Drs. W. B. Sprague and W. J. Fairfield, who were associated with him, were lost to the truth, most likely as the result of the doctor’s early interest in pantheism.

In another September 18 letter Ellen White wrote:

Dr. Paulson’s mind is becoming confused.... Extreme views of “God in nature” undermine the foundation truths of the personality of God and the ministration of angels. A confused mass of spiritualistic ideas takes the place of faith in a personal God.... Let Dr. Paulson take heed that he be not deceived. He may say, “Sister White’s own words are repeated in Dr. Kellogg’s teachings.” True; but misinterpreted and misconstrued.—Letter 271b, 1903.

Writing on October 2 to Dr. E. J. Waggoner, she said:

I am authorized to say to you that some of the sentiments regarding the personality of God, as found in the book Living Temple, are opposed to the truths revealed in the Word of God. ... Had God desired to be represented as dwelling personally in the things of nature—in the flower, the tree, the spear of grass—would not Christ have spoken of this to His disciples?

I have seen the results of these fanciful views of God, in apostasy, spiritualism, free loveism. The free love tendencies of these teachings were so concealed that it was difficult to present them in their real character. Until the Lord presented it to me, I knew not what to call it, but I was instructed to call it unholy spiritual love.—Letter 230, 1903.

In a letter addressed to Dr. Kellogg, but held, as she did at times in critical situations, until certain attitudes or situations developed, she wrote:

I have been given words to speak to you that I cannot [304] withhold. A portion of the matter that is printed in the book Living Temple is incorrect and misleading, and ought not to be placed before the people.... In regard to the book Living Temple, I have been instructed by the heavenly messenger that some of the reasoning in this book is untrue, and that this reasoning would lead astray the minds of those who are not thoroughly established on the foundation principles of present truth.—Letter 232, 1903.

Writing to Elders Prescott and Daniells on October 11, she compared The Living Temple to forbidden fruit, and stated:

Like Adam and Eve, who took the apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and ate it, our own sheep and lambs are swallowing the deceptive morsels of error offered them in the pages of this book. I am instructed to warn our brethren and sisters not to discuss the nature of our God.—Letter 224, 1903.

The principles involved were not new to Ellen White, as she disclosed in one of her letters on October 13:

Before I was 17 years old, I had to bear my testimony against them [sentiments regarding God such as are found in The Living Temple] before large companies. In New Hampshire, two prominent men, who professed to believe in the Lord’s soon coming, were active in disseminating ideas regarding God similar to those presented in The Living Temple.—Letter 217, 1903.

On the night of October 13, 1903, she had a vision regarding Dr. Paulson. She saw someone looking over his shoulder and saying, “‘You, my friend, are in danger.’” She warned him against trying to make it appear that the testimonies sustained Dr. Kellogg’s position, and revealed to him what she had seen at Oakland: “Angels clothed with beautiful garments, like angels of light, were escorting Dr. Kellogg from place to place, and inspiring him to speak words of pompous boasting that were offensive to God.”—Letter 220, 1903.

While the Autumn Council was in progress in Washington, she wrote: [305]

If a change does not take place during the council meeting... it may be that I shall have to go to Battle Creek, and bear a decided testimony for God and for the truth in behalf of God’s people.— Ibid.

The warnings and counsels continued into 1904. In Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, published that year, are these words on page 47:

That which has been said in the testimonies in regard to Living Temple, and its misleading sentiments, is not overdrawn. Some of its theories are misleading, and their influence will be to close the minds of those who receive them against the truth for this time. Men may explain and explain in regard to these theories, nevertheless they are contrary to the truth. Scriptures are misplaced and misapplied, taken out of their connection and given a wrong application. Thus those are deceived who have not a vital, personal experience in the truths that have made us as a people what we are.

On August 7, 1904, Ellen White wrote:

Separate from the influence exerted by the book Living Temple; for it contains specious sentiments. There are in it sentiments that are entirely true, but these are mingled with error. Scriptures are taken out of their connection, and are used to uphold erroneous theories.... It will be said that Living Temple has been revised. But the Lord has shown me that the writer has not changed, and that there can be no unity between him and the ministers of the gospel while he continues to cherish his present sentiments. I am bidden to lift my voice in warning to our people, saying, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.”—Testimonies for the Church Containing Letters to Physicians and Ministers Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists, 49 (Selected Messages 1:199).

I am instructed to speak plainly. “Meet it,” is the word spoken to me. “Meet it firmly, and without delay.” But it is not to be met by our taking our working forces from the field to investigate doctrines and points of difference. We have no such investigation to make. In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the [306] warning God has given.—Testimonies for the Church Containing Letters to Physicians and Ministers Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists, 50 (Selected Messages 1:200).

The issues were now in the open. Physicians, nurses, ministers, and church members, particularly in Battle Creek, were taking sides. How could the real issues be made clear? It was a life-and-death struggle for souls. What others did not see, Ellen White saw clearly, and it weighed heavily upon her.

To sound a warning to the church throughout the land, Ellen White hurried the production of Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, with its section on “The Essential Knowledge,” dealing with God and nature and a personal God. She dwelt at length on the danger of speculative knowledge, her message buttressed with abundant scripture evidence of a personal God. The book The Ministry of Healing was in preparation at this time; there was included in it also a section entitled “The Essential Knowledge,” dealing with speculative knowledge and the false and true in education. Thus Ellen White went on record with warnings that would continue to sound. [307]

Chapter 23—The Fall and Winter Work at Elmshaven

The summer of 1903 had been hot and dry, with no rain for nearly six months. This was not unusual for northern California.

The farm, under Iram James’s management for the second year, was doing well. W. C. White reported, “We do not bother our heads about it.” It produced eight and one-half tons of prunes in 1903. When dried, this yielded three and one-half tons of dried fruit. Several one hundred pound bags were sent as a gift to the Oakwood school for blacks in Alabama (23 WCW, pp. 167, 168, 258).

The grapes also yielded well. With the use of machinery purchased for the purpose, they were turned into grape juice; in 1903, 850 gallons were bottled and sold. Eventually a fruit-storage shed was constructed north of the barn to accommodate the business of the Home Fruit Company.

Ellen White, at Elmshaven, had followed the rapid developments in Battle Creek and Washington. From day to day, as the Lord impressed her mind, she wrote letters of counsel. She was perplexed because Elder A. T. Jones, in response to Dr. Kellogg’s invitation, and in spite of her warnings, had given up executive work in the California Conference and had gone to Battle Creek. She heard reports of the plans of Kellogg and Jones to reopen Battle Creek College, a plan she strongly opposed. This was in addition to the accelerating inroads of the pantheistic philosophies that Kellogg espoused, which have been noted at length.

Elder Daniells kept before her many questions concerning the work in Washington. Eager for prompt replies, Daniells asked W. C. [308] White to set aside one afternoon a week to consider the matters he presented. To this, White replied:

For more than a week Mother has been writing rapidly on the various issues mentioned in your letter, and all her helpers have been busy in copying these documents and getting packages ready to send to you, to A. T. Jones, and to Elder G. C. Tenney.... The facts are, my brother, that all of our book work has been laid aside by all of our helpers except Sister Davis, and that the whole force of our department has been devoted to the preparation of those testimonies which we thought would be of value to you and to our brethren in council at Washington.—22 WCW, p. 342.

Meeting the pantheistic crisis drained Ellen White’s strength and left her courage at a low ebb. The experience in Washington at the Autumn Council lifted the burden considerably, except for Dr. Kellogg. She now turned to work on The Ministry of Healing and Testimonies, volume 8.

Describing the workers and the work in the office, W. C. White reported:

Sister Davis is making excellent progress with The Ministry of Healing. Sister Hare is preparing copying general matter for Testimonies, volume 8. Brother Crisler is preparing [compiling from EGW materials] a series of articles for the Southern Watchman. Brother Robinson is largely occupied with writing out [copying] Mother’s original matter, and Helen Graham writes and copies, and helps all around.— Ibid., 919, 920.

On December 21, Elder Daniells wrote a letter and sent a diagram showing the proposed location of the buildings for the Sanitarium and the school on the fifty acres secured in Takoma Park. Ellen White read the letter twice and studied the plans. The plan showed three hundred feet between the buildings of the two institutions. W. C. White describes her reaction on that late December day:

She went out with me while I paced off three hundred feet from her house. We find that that is just the distance from the southeast corner of her house to the little bridge on the road to [309] my house. It seems to us to be a short distance to separate the main buildings of what will grow to be two large and important institutions.—23 WCW, p. 90.

He added:

Aside from this, your plans as proposed strike us very favorably.— Ibid.

November 26 was Ellen White’s seventy-sixth birthday. A dozen of her old friends came down from the Sanitarium to spend a pleasant hour celebrating, but such experiences reminded her that her years were running out and she must hasten on with her literary work.

Christmas at Elmshaven was a usual workday. W. C. White reported in a long letter to A. G. Daniells:

It is a bright, crisp, frosty, sunny morning: an ideal day for midwinter in California. If we had any time to be merry, we could make it a merry Christmas.— Ibid., 58.

Book work was being pushed by other members of the staff.

Developments in Takoma Park

At the Autumn Council the purchase of the Thornton property in Takoma Park just inside the District of Columbia line was approved. This would furnish building sites in the city of Washington for the Review and Herald and the General Conference. Elder Daniells reached out for Ellen White’s counsel on the moves that should be made, and it now seemed that his prophecy of July 23 would be fulfilled. He had written:

I am expecting that before spring you will feel it your duty to come to Washington to see our situation, and counsel with us regarding the work.—AGD to EGW, July 23, 1903.

As winter approached, there was a discussion at Elmshaven of a proposed trip to the East in March or April, a trip that might extend to six months or more as Ellen White and W. C. White, and possibly his family, temporarily made their homes in Washington. They carefully watched developments at the headquarters of the church. [310]

One factor—aside from the need to get book work done, and winter weather—that had a bearing on the timing of the proposed trip was the forthcoming biennial meeting of the Pacific Union Conference, scheduled for March 18-28. As the fledgling union conferences organized at the General Conference in April, 1901, held their first important meetings, Ellen White wanted to attend as many as possible. Of her burden, W. C. White wrote to Elder Daniells on December 27, 1903:

Mother suggests that it is essential to the health of all our union conferences that we shall encourage them to be self-governing. Let the officers of the General Conference be present at the Annual Conferences and at union conferences, teaching diligently the counsels and principles that have been presented again and again, and then leave the brethren in the union or local conference to choose their officers and shape their policy.... Mother says that in all our union conferences it might be well for the work now devolving upon the president to be shared by his assistants on the committee and by the vice-president, who could do some of the traveling and share some of the responsibilities of the president.—23 WCW, p. 84.

In addition to the meeting of the Pacific Union Conference, she hoped to attend the Lake Union session to be held in Berrien Springs in the early summer. She could not attend the session of the Southern Union. She prepared a series of six addresses to be read at sessions where she could not be present. W. C. White wrote Butler that he was free to publish as many as he chose to in the Southern Watchman (The Southern Watchman, 125).

The staff at Elmshaven followed with interest the plans to move the Pacific Press to Mountain View, a country town thirty-five miles south of Oakland. Five acres of land right beside the railway line had been given by the townsfolk as a site for this new industry.

Ellen White was also concerned that families from strong conferences “with their means, with their experience, with their ability,” should go “into the Southern States and into foreign countries, carrying the message” (Ibid., 84). There were correspondence and interviews concerning the possibility of securing for $4,000 the Potts Sanitarium property just south of San Diego. [311]

In an effort to conserve her strength for urgent book work, Ellen White, after conferring with W. C. White, frequently requested him to answer letters of inquiry that came to her.

Some of W. C.’s letters opened thus:

Mother has handed to me your letter to her of November 26, with the request that I write to you in her behalf.... Mother wishes me to say to you...—Ibid., 133.

Mother handed to me your letter of December 13, telling me that she was weary and heavily burdened with matters she was writing out for the Southern Union Conference, and she wished me to write to you answering as many of your questions as I could, and doing what I could to help you out of your perplexities.

We then read the letter together, and Mother made suggestions as to what I should write to you.—Ibid., 525.

Dear Sister,

Mother has permitted me to read your letter of December 16, in which you tell her of the sad experience in connection with your new book, Thought: Its Origin and Power. Mother has requested me to write to you in her behalf. She is sorry, so sorry, for this sad experience, and yet she would say to you, as she often does to our ministers and missionaries whose plans have been overthrown and their work apparently undone, “Be not discouraged. Trust in God. He has power to make that which appears to be only evil, work out for good in some way.”—Ibid., 119.

Testimonies, Volume Eight

There was the work on Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, which followed quickly on the heels of volume 7. The crisis over the pantheistic teachings at Battle Creek and the turn the medical work was taking under Dr. J. H. Kellogg’s leadership called for the early release of counsels Ellen White had written to meet the many different solutions, oftentimes in letters to individuals.

As work proceeded in assembling material to deal with the pantheistic issue, Ellen White instructed her staff “to leave out much of the personal matter,” “giving the cautions without naming individuals.” (Testimonies for the Church 8:85). An effort, she wrote, was made “to put [312] into this book those things that will be of the greatest help to our people” (Letter 7, 1904). In her articles on “A Personal God” and “A False and True Knowledge of God,” she drew in scores of Bible texts that showed the fallacy of the pantheistic philosophy.

W. C. White expressed the hope “that this book will do much to open up to our people an understanding of the peculiar situation that we are in, and to quiet the minds of those who are perplexed and confused because of conflicting views regarding the work at Battle Creek and Washington.”—23 WCW, p. 121.

Not all of that first selected could go into the book, the content of which was projected as 350 pages, and there was early talk of volume 9. The book in preparation, volume 8, carried five sections: one general in nature, one consisting of warnings to the Battle Creek church, one comprised of letters to physicians, one on centralizing and Battle Creek issues, and the last, of 81 pages, dealing with pantheism. The book came from the press in March, 1904.

Counsel on a Church School Problem

As already noted, in response to Ellen White’s pleadings, a church school had been started to serve the Sanitarium church, of which she was a member. Sarah Peck, a much-valued helper, had been released to assist in teaching. Three teachers taught the thirty-five children (Testimonies for the Church 3:79). In the initial school plans, however, no provision was made for the younger children, for it was argued Ellen White had counseled in the Testimonies that “parents should be the only teachers of their children until they have reached eight or ten years of age.... The only schoolroom for children from eight to ten years of age should be in the open air amid the opening flowers and nature’s beautiful scenery. And their only textbook should be the treasures of nature.”—Ibid., 3:137.

The Sanitarium church school proved to be a great blessing to the community, even though the nearby public school was taught by a Mr. Anthony, a faithful Adventist of experience.

Not infrequently, important council meetings were held in the living room of Ellen G. White’s Elmshaven home. General Conference administrators, union and local conference men, and men from the colleges, sanitariums, and publishing houses occasionally sought the privilege of discussing important matters [313] relating to the cause with her and her staff. Usually a record was made of the discussion, for C. C. Crisler or D. E. Robinson took shorthand notes and transcribed the interviews.

Early on Thursday morning, January 14, 1904, in harmony with previous arrangements, a meeting of the Sanitarium church school board was held at Elmshaven. As the fire crackled on the hearth, the seven-member board, seated in comfortable chairs about the living room, discussed with Ellen White whether the Sanitarium church school should provide schooling for children under the age of 10. The question was far-reaching.

On a church-wide basis, Seventh-day Adventists were just then beginning to establish schools to accommodate children below the ninth grade. The lower grades had been taught for years at Battle Creek and Healdsburg colleges, but, as noted earlier, up until 1898, little effort had been made elsewhere. As the concept began to sweep across the land, there were soon about a hundred church schools.

The problem of the age children should begin attending these schools was not confined to the Sanitarium school, and its study involved what was thought to be specific Spirit of Prophecy enunciated directives and how church members should relate to them.

Several in the group that morning at Elmshaven sensed that the discussion to take place would be far-reaching in its influence in establishing policies.

Iram James was in the chair. The other members were L. M. Bowen, business manager of the St. Helena Sanitarium; Elder C. L. Taylor, Sanitarium chaplain and pastor of the church; H. M. McDowell, Sanitarium steward and purchasing agent; Mrs. J. Gotzian, a lay sister of some means residing in the community; Miss Sarah Peck, now one of the church school teachers; and Brother Dennison, a layman employed in the community.

In advance of the meeting, Ellen White had been apprised that children under the age of 10 were being deprived of school privileges. There was a strong feeling on the part of some in the Sanitarium community that, on the basis of statements in the early Testimonies, no provision should be made in the newly established church school for children under 10 years of age. [314]

According to the twenty-five page stenographic report, [published in full in The Review and Herald, April 24, 1975, and in part in Selected Messages 3:214-226.] filed in the White Estate as Manuscript 7, 1904, Ellen White took the initiative in opening the discussion, saying:

For years, much instruction has been given me in regard to the importance of maintaining firm discipline in the home. I have tried to write out this instruction, and to give it to others.

She discussed the responsibilities of parenthood and the importance of right home influences. She dwelt on the responsibility of mothers teaching the children the lessons they should learn in early life. She stated that, according to the light given to her,

many who enter the marriage relation fail of realizing all the sacred responsibilities that motherhood brings. Many are sadly lacking in disciplinary power. In many homes there is but little discipline, and the children are allowed to do as they please. Such children drift hither and thither; there is nobody in the home capable of guiding them aright, nobody who with wise tact can teach them how to help father and mother, nobody who can properly lay the foundation that should underlie their future education.

Children who are surrounded by these unfortunate conditions are indeed to be pitied. If not afforded an opportunity for proper training outside the home, they are debarred from many privileges that, by right, every child should enjoy.

She was particularly concerned about the influences on the Sanitarium guests of children running loose, “sharp-eyed, lynx-eyed, wandering about with nothing to do,” and “getting into mischief.”

Under the circumstances of parental neglect she declared that according to the light given to her, “the very best thing that can be done is to have a school,” a “school for those who can be instructed and have the restraining influence upon them which a school-teacher should exert.”

She called for a lower department in the Sanitarium school where children as old as 7 or 8 could be instructed. “They will learn [315] in school that which they frequently do not learn out of school, except by association.” She said:

I want to know ... who it is that feels perfectly satisfied with their children, as they are, without sending them to the school—to a school that has Bible lessons, has order, has discipline, and is trying to find something for them to do to occupy their time.

She then went into the background of the statement about 10-year-old children:

When I heard what the objections were, that the children could not go to school till they were 10 years old, I wanted to tell you that there was not a Sabbathkeeping school when the light was given to me that the children should not attend school until they were old enough to be instructed. They should be taught at home to know what proper manners were when they went to school, and not be led astray. The wickedness carried on in the common schools is almost beyond conception. That is how it is.

She expressed her concern over what seemed to her an unreasonable application of the Testimonies:

My mind has been greatly stirred in regard to the idea,“Why, Sister White has said so and so, and Sister White has said so and so; and therefore we are going right up to it.”

God wants us all to have common sense, and He wants us to reason from common sense. Circumstances alter conditions. Circumstances change the relation of things.

Turning to the board after these opening remarks, she declared: “I shall not say so much now, because I want to understand just what I should speak on. I want the objections brought forth, why children should not have an education.”

Sarah Peck pointed out that “if we have any more children, we ought to have some extra help.”

To this Ellen White answered, indicating factors that should be taken into consideration:

I want you to take care of what I have said. First, understand [316] that. This is the light that has been given me in regard to these things.

Here are children that are quick. There are children 5 years old that can be educated as well as many children 10 years old, as far as capabilities are concerned, to take in the mother’s matters and subjects.

She thought that perhaps another room would have to be added to the school building, and declared, “Every one of us ought to feel a responsibility to provide that room.”

She held that

those mothers that want to keep their children at home, and are fully competent and would prefer to discipline them themselves, why, no one has any objection to that. They can do that. But provision is to be made so that the children of all that have any connection with this food factory and sanitarium and these things that are being carried on here, should be educated. We must have it stand to reach the highest standards....

I say, these little children that are small ought to have education, just what they would get in school. They ought to have the school discipline under a person who understands how to deal with children in accordance with their different temperaments. They should try to have these children understand their responsibilities to one another, and their responsibility to God. They should have fastened in their minds the very principles that are going to fit them for the higher grade and the higher school....

He wants this education to commence with the little ones. If the mother has not the tact, the ingenuity, if she does not know how to treat human minds, she must put them under somebody that will discipline them and mold and fashion their minds. Now, have I presented it so that it can be understood?

W. C. White explained that his interest was a broad one. With the rapid development of church schools he was concerned that a balanced work be done across the land and throughout the world as guidelines were being established. He stated:

My interest in this school lies in the fact that it is our privilege [317] to set a pattern. The successes and failures and the rulings of this school will affect our church school work throughout California and much farther, because of Sister Peck’s long experience as a teacher, and her work with you, Mother, in helping to prepare the book on education. All these things have put this school where it is a city set on a hill....

The world is doing a great work for the children through kindergartens.... And the ruling in this school here, and the reasons that have always been given me for this ruling, have been based on your statement that a child’s mother is to be its only teacher until it is 8 or 10 years old. I have believed that for the best interests of our schoolwork throughout the world, that it is our privilege to have such an interview as we have had this morning, and also to study into the principle which underlies such things.

The following paragraph sums up Ellen White’s comments on that occasion:

We must educate our children so that we can come up to the gates of the city and say, “Here am I, Lord, and the children that Thou hast given me.” We must not come up without our children to hear the words, “Where is My flock, My little flock, that I gave you—that beautiful flock that I gave you, where are they?” And we reply they have been left to drift right into the world, and so they are unfitted for heaven. What we want is to fit them for heaven so we can present the little flock to God, and say, “I have done my best.”—Manuscript 7, 1904.

No statement was published at the time, but the discussion in this meeting helped to establish a pattern that guided parents who were not so situated that they could teach their children at home till they were 8 or 10. Their children’s needs for a Christian elementary education could consistently be met. [318]

Chapter 24—The Extended Visit to Washington

From the day that the decision was made to purchase property in Washington, D.C., for the publishing house and the General Conference it was Elder Daniells’ hope and expectation that Ellen G. White would make a visit to the East so she could give counsel concerning the establishment of the work there. From time to time plans for such a trip were projected and discussed, and as the spring of 1904 neared they began to take shape. One thing held Ellen G. White in the West—she felt she could not go to Washington until after the first biennial session of the Pacific Union Conference. This was called for Healdsburg, California, March 18-27.

There was even some discussion of the possibility that Ellen White would make Washington her permanent place of residence. But this she felt she could not do. At Elmshaven she was in favorable circumstances for bringing out her books, and she felt she should not be called upon to move from place to place.

From time to time definite instruction was given to her in vision concerning the work in Washington. In fact, before the property was secured in Takoma Park, she had been shown that wherever the Review and Herald and the headquarters of the work were established, there should be a sanitarium and a training school. The leading brethren had not planned on this. With the decision to make Washington the center in the East, then, the first steps were to get these institutions under way. Church leaders felt they must now have Ellen White’s help. On March 1 she wrote to Edson in the South: [319]

I have received letters saying that if I could make my home in Washington for a time, the confidence of our people would be established in the work there.—Letter 105, 1904.

Later she wrote in her diary, “They want W. C. White and his mother to help them plan and put all the wisdom together.”—Manuscript 142, 1904.

The plans being formed would keep her in the East for about a year, making Washington her headquarters. But first there was the union conference session in Healdsburg, opening Friday, March 18. Ellen White made the thirty-five-mile trip by carriage. Her party passed safely through the canyon with its narrow road and steep cliffs. This passage was always a bit of concern when driving with a team of horses. She spoke Sabbath morning, March 19, to a large congregation, and then because of impaired health she was excused from other session appointments.

A storm hit the Pacific Coast, and it rained every day of the session. The weather was wet, cold, and miserable. But there was an earnest request from the townspeople that Ellen White speak at a meeting they could attend. This was arranged for Sunday afternoon, March 27. Even though there was a downpour of rain, “the large building was filled.”—The Review and Herald, May 5, 1904.

While in Healdsburg, Ellen White talked with Elders Daniells and Prescott in regard to the proposed visit to Washington. She told them it was a serious question whether she should go, but if she did go she would spend only a few months there. She said, “If we decide to go, we shall be on our way in about two weeks.”—Letter 121, 1904.

The return trip to Elmshaven was by train, for landslides had closed the road. The all-day trip was very tiring.

She got a new set of upper teeth so she would feel safe in making the trip to Washington. “I dare not,” she declared, “leave myself with only one set of upper teeth. Should I have just one set, and should anything happen to it, I would be in a bad fix.”—Letter 133, 1904.

Friday morning, April 1, she wrote in her diary:

I have not slept much the past night. The thought of change and the long journey fills me at times with dread, but then I will [320] remember the lovingkindness of the Lord. I will be of good courage and not look on the dark side, but looking unto Jesus reflect His image, and look in my Bible daily and read.—Manuscript 141, 1904.

As the time to leave drew near, she wrote to Willie that she could not go to Washington or any place where she “would be among believers who would lay their burdens on” her (Letter 161, 1904). Night after night in great distress she prayed, “Lord, I cannot go to Washington. If You have a work for me to do there, I beseech Thee to deliver me.”— Ibid.

She reports that “the Lord drew nigh. The change came instantly. The peace of Christ filled my heart, and my brain was entirely relieved. I was at rest.”— Ibid.

April 18 was the day set to leave for the East. Though on former trips she had traveled in the Pullman compartment to afford her as easy a journey as possible, this trip, for the sake of economy, would be made in a tourist sleeping car. Their car would go directly from northern California to Washington, D. C.

In Napa Valley the cherry and prune trees were in full blossom and Ellen White regretted having to leave just then. But, as planned, on Monday morning, April 18, she and those who would travel with her were on the train for Oakland. Here C. H. Jones met them and took them forty miles south to Mountain View to visit the new site selected for the Pacific Press. Plans were well under way for the publishing house to be moved. It was a rainy, cold day, and this disappointed Ellen White, but she saw the property and was pleased with the plans being laid. “The moving of the press is a right move,” she commented (Ibid.).

That evening in nearby San Jose they boarded the tourist sleeper and started their six-day trip East. In the party was Ellen White’s traveling companion and nurse, Sara McEnterfer, and one of her secretaries, Maggie Hare. W. C. White had gone on in advance to attend to some business matters in southern California and would meet them there. Clarence Crisler, her leading secretary, would also join the party in Los Angeles. Marian Davis was left behind to work on the manuscript for The Ministry of Healing.

W. C. White did not miss an opportunity to secure fruit for the [321] long cross-country trip. He purchased a bushel of large oranges in Redlands and carried them onto the train. The conductor protested, but when Willie promised to share the oranges with the passengers, he relented, and the fruit was taken on board.

The routing was by the south to ensure comfort and to avoid the high altitudes that sometimes bothered Ellen White in travel. She rested quietly on the train, remaining in her berth for the entire trip. She did a little reading and a little writing, but mostly rested and watched the scenery. As they reached the eastern part of Texas, large sugar houses, lumber mills, and cotton gins began to appear. Great plantations flanked the tracks, and Willie noted that on the best farms the old-fashioned light plows drawn by a mule had been replaced by two-horse sulky plows, much to the satisfaction of the sharecroppers. The corn and sugar cane were about ten inches high; the cotton looked like garden beans just putting out their second leaves. Rice fields were under water.

Nearing New Orleans they passed through great swamps, where many varieties of palms were heavily festooned with moss. Just west of New Orleans, Elder S. B. Horton, president of the Louisiana Conference, and E. V. Orrell, secretary of the Southern Union, met the train, bringing a basket of fruit. This supplemented the provisions they had taken from home and from southern California for their meals—malted nuts for soup, zwieback, cream sticks, oranges, bananas, apples, applesauce, olives, nuts, jelly, turnovers, boiled eggs, and bread.

In New Orleans some of the party went sightseeing with the Adventist brethren who hosted them. Ellen White remained in the sleeping car. Then, under a full moon, the train started north and ran for many miles along the shore of Lake Ponchartrain.

The train stopped for a time in Atlanta, and the traveling party was surprised to see about twenty or thirty Adventist believers at the station awaiting them. They came on board for a few minutes. Fathers, mothers, and children gathered around to shake hands. They all wanted Sister White to stop at some future time and speak.

Ellen White wrote on Wednesday morning, April 27, “Here we are in Washington.” She mentioned that preparing for the journey had been a heavy drain on her and she was quite ill the first day or two. But she was happy that all in the car “seemed very much like [322] one family. Although at times there were between thirty and forty people in the car, there was no noise, no loud talking, no card playing. All seemed like acquaintances, each interested in the other. The passengers ... showed me much kindness,” she reported.

The conductor of our car was a quiet, nice-looking man of about 50 years. He seemed to understand his business well. At one station a man bought some beer at a saloon, and put it in a cupboard at the end of the car. The conductor heard of this, and promptly ordered the beer taken out, saying that he would allow no such thing on the car. During all the time we were on the train, I did not get one whiff of tobacco, excepting once or twice, when someone passed through the car with a lighted cigar in his hand....

We had many pleasant interviews with the passengers. As I talked with them, I felt an earnest desire to meet them again sometime.—Letter 141, 1904.

Describing their arrival at Washington’s Pennsylvania Station, she wrote:

We spent Sunday morning packing up our belongings and getting ready to leave the car. Our numerous bags and satchels were piled up in one seat, and when the train drew into the station, Clarence [Crisler] passed them through the open window to Willie, who put them on a truck.— Ibid.

Arrival in Washington

Ellen White was delighted to have Elder Daniells come into the car and greet them and conduct them out through the station into the city of Washington. The station was the one in which President Garfield had been shot not long before.

It was nearly noon, and the party looked forward to a little change in the rather monotonous six-day dietary program.

Elder Daniells escorted Ellen White and the party to a carriage, a two-seated surrey with a canopy top, and a large noble-looking horse named Charlie, very gentle and safe. Ellen White spoke of the promise that she would have the use of this horse and carriage while she was in Washington. She felt this was a great favor. [323]

Elder Daniells drove the visitors first past the nearby temporary General Conference headquarters at 222 North Capitol Street, and then over to the Memorial church at 12th and M streets to see the building for which Ellen White had helped to raise funds. Then he drove the seven miles out to Takoma Park to the Carroll Manor House, which had been rented for Mrs. White’s use. When they arrived, it was still full of people cleaning, repairing, painting, and furnishing, but a good dinner of tomato soup, hot boiled potatoes, and greens was ready.

Ellen White, of course, was eager to see the property that had been purchased. She had heard it described and had written about the work needed to be done there. As soon as dinner was finished, Elder Daniells, leaving Clarence Crisler and Willie White to tend to the baggage, hitched up Charlie again and took Ellen White, Sara McEnterfer, and Maggie Hare the half mile to see the site proposed for the college and the Sanitarium. Construction was to begin in a few days. Work had been held up some time for negotiations with the Takoma Park town council over the removal of a sewage disposal plant that stood near the property.

Seeing the land, Ellen White declared that the location “could not be bettered.” She added, “That which is most valuable of all is the clear, beautiful stream which flows right through the land.”— Ibid.

In another letter she stated:

The location that has been secured for our school and sanitarium is all that could be desired. The land resembles representations that have been presented before me by the Lord. It is well adapted for the purpose for which it is to be used.... The atmosphere is pure, and the water is pure. A beautiful stream runs right through our land from north to south. This stream is a treasure more valuable than gold or silver. The building sites are upon fine elevations, with excellent drainage.—Letter 153, 1904.

She was well pleased, too, with her new living quarters. This would be her home for several months. The eighteen-room house was a three-story building on about ten acres of land, and was built on the highest rise of ground in the area. The house was built shortly [324] before the Civil War by Maj. Gen. Samuel Sprigg Carroll. Willie White described it as “big, roomy, magnificent, and clumsy” (23 WCW, p. 854). After the war, Grant, Sherman, and McKinley often visited there.

On the first and second floors, on the north side, were two large rooms, sixteen by twenty-four feet. Ellen White occupied the second-floor room, with Sara and Maggie nearby. Describing her bedroom, she said:

I have a nice, comfortable room, almost as large as my office room at home. The room has four large windows, and is on the second floor. It has in it two bureaus, a washstand, a center table, several chairs, and a bed.—Letter 157, 1904.

Willie and Clarence each had rooms on the third floor, and there Clarence Crisler had his office. On the first floor was a small sitting room, a large dining room with a kitchen and pantry, and the large room directly beneath Ellen White’s bedroom. Willie White used this for his office. Committee meetings were frequently held there. Willie thought the house an excellent one for hot weather, since the ceilings were twelve feet high and there were verandas on three sides.

This year the season had been a bit slow. Washington was having its first warm days, and the trees were just beginning to put on their greenery. The buds on the lilac bushes were beginning to swell and soon they were in full bloom, filling the air with their fragrance. The cherry trees, which usually blossom in early April, were in full bloom (Letter 159, 1904).

But on this property there was no place for a vegetable garden where sweet corn and tomatoes and such things could be grown, as they had at Elmshaven. She missed these and also some of the comforts of the Elmshaven home.

Sara McEnterfer, who had been appointed cook, had a difficult time. She found the chimney was bad, the stove was worse, and the fuel was green jack pine soaked by three days of rain, which Willie described as “‘worsest’ of all” (23 WCW, p. 853). They found that the chimney was clogged by an old stovepipe that years earlier had been inserted on the second floor to provide a heating system.

The horse and carriage that Ellen White had described so [325] enthusiastically on the day of her arrival was a great blessing to them, but there were some problems. Charlie weighed about 1,400 pounds and held his head so high that the end of his nose was as high as Willie’s head, so he had difficulty trying to harness the horse. Although described as kind and intelligent, Charlie hated the trains that occasionally passed on the Baltimore and Ohio tracks less than a mile away.

There were two important benefits to Ellen White’s being in Washington at this time. First, her willingness to come, stay, and send out her letters and manuscripts with a Washington dateline added authority and prestige to the new Washington headquarters. This brought stability to the cause, as Adventists everywhere would turn their eyes eastward from Battle Creek. Second, construction was about to begin on the college buildings—the boys’ dormitory was to be the first. She was intensely interested and counseled that “every part of the buildings is to bear witness that we realize that there is before us a great, unworked missionary field, and that the truth is to be established in many places.”—Letter 83, 1904. There was to be no show or needless display.

The Lord’s messenger urged:

The buildings that you erect must be solid and well constructed. No haphazard work is to be done. The buildings are to be thoroughly presentable, but no extravagance is to be seen. We are not to make it possible for worldlings to say that we do not believe what we preach—that the end of all things is at hand.— Ibid.

Construction work was entrusted to an Adventist builder, A. S. Baird. The builders discovered that they could make their own large, solid concrete blocks, which would make a dry building. Sand and stone from the Sligo Creek could be used in the construction.

Ellen White took time to tour Takoma Park with Sara and to look over the tract of land straddling the District line that the brethren were negotiating to purchase from Mr. Thornton for the General Conference and the Review headquarters. As she described Takoma Park, she said:

A large part of the township is a natural forest. The houses [326] are not small, and crowded closely together, but roomy and comfortable. They are surrounded by thrifty, second-growth pines, oaks, maples, and other beautiful trees.

The owners of these houses are mostly businessmen, many of them clerks in the government offices in Washington. They go to the city daily, returning in the evening to their quiet homes. ... It seems as if Takoma Park had been specially prepared for us, and that it has been waiting to be occupied by our institutions and their workers.—Letter 153, 1904.

In another communication she observed that “there is no saloon in the town. Not one of the members of the Town Council drinks liquor, smokes or chews tobacco, or uses profane language.”—Letter 155, 1904. And then she exclaimed:

This place must now be worked. The situation here fills me with hope and courage. We know that the Lord desires us now to go forward as speedily as possible with the work before us.— Ibid.

Ministry in the Washington Churches

Ellen White was immediately drawn into services in the Washington Adventist churches. On the first Sabbath there, the last day of April, she spoke in Elder J. S. Washburn’s Memorial church (Manuscript 106, 1904). She spoke again a week later at the rededication of this church. She had planned to speak on the Sermon on the Mount, but writing of the experience, observed, “This was taken from me,” and John 15:1-17,“I am the true vine,” was impressed upon her mind (Manuscript 142, 1904).

The next Sabbath she spoke at the racially mixed First church on Eighth Street, pastored by Elder L. C. Sheafe, a black. Elder Sheafe also pastored an all-black church, the members of which he invited for the meeting conducted by Ellen White. With one all-black church, one all-white church, and one integrated church, there were potentials for some problems. In her ministry she endeavored to keep before the people the importance of unity.

Following the service she prepared for the return drive to Takoma Park. As “I stepped into the carriage to start home,” she reports: [327]

We were surrounded with white people and colored people so that we could not move on.... One after another introduced themselves as being formerly acquainted with me. A mother came with her two sons, very fine-looking men, and introduced them to me. Both expressed great satisfaction in listening to the discourse. The elder son grasped my hand and said, “My heart is melted within me. I never listened to such a discourse as you have given today. I never heard anything like it. It thrilled me through and through.” ...

Other noble-looking men and women crowded to the carriage, but I did not get their names. The colored came as well as the white; I shook hands with them heartily, and then we had to leave.—Manuscript 45, 1904.

The trip back to Takoma Park through the grounds of the National Soldiers’ Home was pleasant, and Ellen White declared that “this shall be the road I shall henceforth travel in reaching this meeting house in Washington.”

As they neared Takoma Park the clouds were gathering, and the sky grew darker and darker. They reached Carroll House just in time, for “no sooner had we entered the house than the shower came on.”— Ibid.

From the day they had begun to make definite preparation for the trip to Washington, Ellen White had her eyes on the plans for the biennial session of the Lake Union Conference. This was called to meet at Berrien Springs, Michigan, from May 17 to 26. Not only would she attend the conference but she would also for the first time see the newly established Emmanuel Missionary College. This left just three weeks for the first part of her stay in Washington, and there was much to do. She wrote of the “many things to be considered in locating our printing establishment and especially our sanitarium, that everything shall be according to the light given” (Manuscript 142, 1904).

As the construction work was about to begin, committee meetings were held from day to day in the large first-floor room in the Carroll Manor House. Ellen White participated in the discussion and gave counsel.

It was hoped that the enterprises in Washington could be started [328] without incurring large indebtedness, and it seemed that circumstances favored this. In February there had been a very destructive fire in Baltimore in which eighty square blocks of business and residential buildings were destroyed. Lumber had been shipped in by boat by various companies to meet the needs of rebuilding, and it seems that the market was oversupplied. Some of this lumber was redirected to Washington and was available at about one half its normal cost (Letter 237, 1904). The builder, Mr. Baird, was a very careful, economical man, and he was pleased to find they could secure low-cost building materials for the structures they were to erect in Takoma Park.

Except for reports of the services that she held in the churches and an occasional reference to her driving out through the town, enjoying the scenery and approving the general location, the records are rather meager for the initial three weeks Ellen White spent in Washington.

But now they had to be off to Berrien Springs, Michigan, to attend the Lake Union Conference session. This meeting held large importance. Dr. Kellogg and some of his supporters would be present. They were still in the throes of the pantheistic teachings. The Living Temple was being sold. The direction of the medical work and the control of the church’s medical institutions was a subject of controversy. The session would be a crucial meeting, and Ellen White was eager to attend. It proved to be the best-attended union conference session held in 1904. [329]

Chapter 25—The Crucial Meeting at Berrien Springs

Sunday evening, May 15, Ellen White, with the party traveling to the Lake Union session, boarded the cars in Washington en route to Berrien Springs.

In the group were W. C. White, A. G. Daniells, W. W. Prescott, and Ellen White and her helpers, Sarah McEnterfer and Maggie Hare. The train was an hour late leaving, which meant that they were late reaching Milford Junction, Indiana, where they were to change trains for Berrien Center. That caused a five-hour wait.

The waiting room in Milford Junction was filled with tobacco smoke, which was very annoying to Ellen White, so her son set out to find a home where his mother could rest and wait the five hours until the next train came through. It was late afternoon. About five minutes’ walk from the station he found the home of a Mrs. Muntz, who consented to allow the elderly traveler to come and spend a few hours in her home.

Ellen White, Sara, and Maggie made their way to Mrs. Muntz’s house and were made comfortable in the living room. The old-fashioned rocking chairs appealed to Ellen White. She described her hostess as an elderly lady, a Dunkard or German Baptist, a very pleasant woman, who seemed to enjoy talking with her visitors. She had a respect for all Christians, and when Ellen White told her she was a writer of books, Mrs. Muntz’s face brightened and she said her late husband would have enjoyed visiting Ellen White, for he had been a great reader. While they were visiting, a young woman came in with her child. She was the wife of the night operator at Milford Junction. It was soon discovered that the woman was a [330] Seventh-day Adventist, the only one in the community.

Another neighbor came in during the evening. During the course of the conversation this woman asked Ellen White whether she would explain to her about the Sabbath. She describes what then took place:

I began by reading a text in the first of Genesis. Then I read the fourth commandment. When I had read this, they said, “Yes, but Sunday is the seventh day.” I explained to them that Sunday is the first day, and that the day called Saturday by the world is the seventh day. Then I read the last six verses of the thirty-first chapter of Exodus, where the Sabbath is clearly specified as the sign between God and His people.

I had not time to say much, but what I read was sufficient, I hope, to lead them to search the Scriptures for themselves. I told them that Christ kept the Sabbath, and that the women rested on the seventh day, “according to the commandment,“and on the first day of the week brought spices and ointment to His sepulcher.

I read several other texts, and Mrs. Muntz wrote down all the references as I gave them. Before we parted, we had a season of prayer together, and they seemed to appreciate this greatly.—Letter 163, 1904.

At half past nine, with Mrs. Muntz carrying a lantern—for the night was dark and foggy—Ellen White, her two women helpers, and the two local visitors, walked to the station, where they bade farewell. Ellen White noted Mrs. Muntz’s invitation that if she were ever to come that way again she wished her to call at her home (Ibid.).

Rather than complaining of the delay, Ellen White observed, “This was our experience at Milford Junction. We think that perhaps our delay was in the providence of God. It may be the means of arousing an interest in the truth.”— Ibid.

They waited until eleven o’clock for the train to come through. Within half an hour it deposited them at Elkhart, Indiana, where they stopped at a hotel for the night. It was about noon the following day when they reached Berrien Springs. Ellen White and her traveling companions were taken to Professor Magan’s house, [331] where they were made comfortable. Professor Magan was at Kalamazoo at the time, nursing his wife, who was very ill. So the party had the use of the Magan home.

Soon after her arrival Ellen White was urged to speak each morning at eleven during the union conference session, and this she consented to do.

Mrs. White Begins Her Work at the Session

Weary from the journey, she retired early, then woke up at 10:00 P.M. Her mind turned to the subjects that she should present at the meeting. In vision she was instructed to speak clearly about the Living Temple controversy. The next morning she did just that. She declared:

I am so sorry that Living Temple came out as it did, and was circulated, and the worst of it—that which struck right to my heart—was the assertion made regarding the book: “It contains the very sentiments that Sister White has been teaching.” When I heard this, I felt so heartbroken that it seemed as if I could not say anything.—Manuscript 46, 1904.

She told of how she did not read The Living Temple when it first came out, even though she had it in her library, for it was not her custom to read controversial books. Finally Willie said to her, “‘Mother, you ought to read at least some parts of the book, that you may see whether they are in harmony with the light that God has given you.”’ She told of how they sat down together (this was on September 23, 1903) and read together some of the paragraphs that dealt with theology. When they had finished, she turned to her son and said:

“These are the very sentiments against which I was bidden to speak in warning at the very beginning of my public work. When I first left the State of Maine, it was to go through Vermont and Massachusetts, to bear a testimony against these sentiments. Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. The omega would follow in a little while. I tremble for our people.”— Ibid.

She told her audience that silence was eloquence when it came to discussing God, what He is, and where He is. “When you are [332] tempted to speak of what God is, keep silence, because as surely as you begin to speak of this, you will disparage Him.”— Ibid.

She mentioned the dangers of sending young people to Battle Creek for their education. She told how the dangers to youth were especially acute. “They [young people] delighted in the beautiful representations—God in the flower, God in the leaf, God in the tree. But if God be in these things, why not worship them?”— Ibid. Then she told about the iceberg vision and how it had changed her mind. She said that previously she had not intended to publish anything relative to the errors in the medical missionary work, but that vision had led her to send out and allow to be published the things that went to the Autumn Council in Washington in 1903.

She expressed her sympathy for the physicians associated with Dr. Kellogg and her sympathy for Dr. Kellogg, who had loaded himself down till the enemy found him easy prey. She declared:

Unless he changes his course, and takes an entirely different course, he will be lost to the cause of God.... I have lain awake night after night, studying how I could help Dr. Kellogg.... I have spent nearly whole nights in prayer for him. Week after week I have not slept till twelve o’clock, and then for weeks I have not been able to sleep past twelve o’clock.— Ibid.

She closed her address with a plea for unity:

My brethren, the Lord calls for unity, for oneness. We are to be one in the faith. I want to tell you that when the gospel ministers and the medical missionary workers are not united, there is placed on our churches the worst evil that can be placed there.... It is time that we stood upon a united platform. But we cannot unite with Dr. Kellogg until he stands where he can be a safe leader of the flock of God.— Ibid.

The union conference session moved forward in the usual way, with reports, committee work, and elections. But Ellen White’s concentration was on the crisis for the salvation of souls. On Thursday night, the nineteenth, she was again given a vision. The next day she wrote a message to Elders Daniells and Prescott in which she said that she had been strongly impressed that “now is our time to save Dr. Kellogg” (Letter 165, 1904). [333]

She said a determined effort must be made and urged that Dr. Kellogg be called to the meeting. In this letter she wrote:

Not one of us is above temptation. There is a work that Dr. Kellogg is educated to perform as no other man in our ranks can perform.... We are to draw with all our power, not making accusations, not prescribing what he must do, but letting him see that we are not willing that any should perish.— Ibid.

She asked, “Is it not worth the trial?” She said that Satan was drawing the doctor. In her visions she had seen someone slipping down a precipice; a company was looking on indifferently, making no effort to save him. But one hand, the hand of Christ, was stretched out and the man was rescued (Manuscript 52, 1904).

Then she heard Christ speaking, telling the ones who were watching that they must look to Him and not to this man (Kellogg), that they should take heed to themselves. She heard Christ appealing to Dr. Kellogg to put on Christ. She heard Kellogg exclaim, “‘I am sinful, but He hath covered me with His own righteousness, and henceforth I will go in the strength of the Lord God.’”—Letter 165, 1904. Then confessions by others followed. She saw Christ take the hand of W. K. Kellogg and the hand of the doctor and appeal to them and then to Elders Daniells and Prescott. “‘Unify,’” the divine Visitor implored. “‘Your unbelief and lack of unity have been a standing reproach to the people of God.... Press together, and heed every word of God that will create oneness. Avoid all faultfinding and dissension. Perplexing matters will adjust themselves if each one will walk circumspectly.’”— Ibid.

The letter was written on Friday, May 20, copied by Maggie Hare the same day, and on the same day copies were given to Elders Daniells and Prescott, as well as to David Paulson and Edson White. Dr. Kellogg was urged to come to Berrien Springs; he arrived on Sabbath, May 21.

Discussion on Pantheism

During the conference session Ellen White had advised Elder Prescott to go ahead with the presentation of the subjects that would have a bearing on the pantheistic teachings. This was done, and soon there was considerable confusion in the meeting. Different [334] ones were taking sides rather than concentrating on the great principles of truth. The records are not clear as to details, but personal situations were brought in and inadvisable moves were made.

Kellogg and his cohorts engaged actively in the discussions. What went on behind the scenes was opened up to Ellen White in vision while she was there, and of this she said:

In the scenes presented to me, I saw men talking together between the meetings about the mistakes and faults of their brethren. [Interlineation: Many things were not real mistakes, only in their own minds. They themselves were in darkness and being led by another spirit.] In the place of searching their own hearts, and praying and confessing their own mistakes, men seemed to be anxious that others should feel that they [interlined: their brethren] had acted unwisely. Angels from heaven, sent to minister wisdom and grace, were disappointed to see self pressing its way in, to make things appear in a wrong light. Men were talking and discussing, and conjectures were brought in that should have had no place in the meeting.—Manuscript 74, 1904.

Ellen White continued:

In some of the business meetings unwise words were spoken, which manifested suspicion and distrust of men bearing responsibilities. This aroused wrong feelings. Trifling things, looked at through the enemy’s magnifying glass, became larger and larger. A mote became a mountain. The Holy Spirit was grieved. The men who ought to have been seeking the Lord with subdued contrite spirits were bringing to the foundation material represented by wood, hay, and stubble.— Ibid.

It is often a case in matters of this kind that hindsight is much better than foresight. Following the session, Ellen White wrote:

A glorious victory might have been gained at the Berrien Springs meeting. Abundant grace was provided for all who felt their need. But at a critical time in the meeting unadvised moves were made, which confused minds and brought in controversy. [335]

The Lord was working upon minds. Angels of God were in the assembly, and had all heeded the message borne, very different results would have been seen. Had all freely confessed their own sins, laying aside all anxiety about the acknowledgments and confessions to be made by others; had all humbled their hearts before God, as on the Day of Atonement in the days of ancient Israel, the Lord would have come in, and great victories would have been gained.— Ibid.

W. C. White came under criticism, even from his own brother Edson, who was in sympathy with Dr. Kellogg. He intimated that Willie influenced his mother in some of the things she did and said. W. C. White did not deliver to certain men present a message his mother had placed in his hands for him to deliver. At a later time he was led to write of the experience at Berrien Springs:

Mother has no human help in the writing of the Testimonies. In the copying and preparation for the press, she has several helpers. And in the decision as to when and to whom she shall send the message written, she often takes counsel. When asked why she does not deliver every message as soon as it is written, she says, “I must deliver the message at the most appropriate time. Jesus said, ‘I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.’ Sometimes when I am about to send out a testimony, word comes to me, ‘Not yet, wait for matters to develop.”’

Sometimes she is given a message with instruction to deliver it if certain things take place. Therefore it becomes part of her duty to know what is transpiring, and that she may know, she reads the Review, and makes inquiry of leading workers by correspondence, and requests them to visit her and tell her of the progress of the work.

It often happens that Mother tells us that she intends to bear a certain testimony at a certain meeting. She takes her writings with the full intention of reading and speaking upon an important subject. But at the meeting she changes her plan. Some of the persons whom she expected to see are absent, and others who need a different message are present. Or the general tenor of the meeting calls for a different plan. [336]

Oftentimes I have been commissioned to carry testimonies to meetings to be read at the most appropriate time, or not to be read, as seemed best. Sometimes I have been given messages to leading workers to be delivered under certain conditions. Sometimes I have been given messages with instruction not to deliver them if conditions had changed, or if it seemed that the time had not come.—30 WCW, pp. 598, 599.

It would seem that such factors were at work at the Berrien Springs meeting.

Ellen White continued her eleven-o’clock meetings each day. Most of them were reported, with the subjects as follows:

May 18 The Foundation of Our Faith

May 20 Lessons From Colossians, First and Second Chapters

May 21 Lessons From Revelation Three

May 22 A Plea for Unity

May 23 Remarks Made at Berrien Springs

May 23 Take Heed to Thyself

May 24 A Change of Feeling Needed

The Death of Mrs. Magan

Adding to the confusion and problems at the Berrien Springs meeting was the death of Mrs. Percy Magan on Thursday.

When the conference opened, Ida Magan was very critically ill in a hospital in Kalamazoo; her husband stayed close by her side. The strain of starting a new college with little financial support to help make the enterprise go was arduous and had a bearing on the health of those involved, which included the Magans. But a much greater impact was made by a rumor that had been started soon after the 1903 General Conference session held in Oakland, California. It was reported that Ellen White had indicated that the management of the school at Berrien Springs was crooked and wrong, that there was a one-man power there that would crush everyone who did not conform.

The rumor was repeated and sent in letters to students at Berrien Springs.

Under the pressure of this criticism and the other tremendous burdens she was carrying, Mrs. Magan’s health broke, and she had [337] to be hospitalized. When Ellen White heard the false and devilish rumor, she wrote to Magan stoutly denying it and offering assurance of her continued sympathy and support (Letter 111, 1903). When Magan read the letter to his wife, she cried as if her heart would break, she appreciated it so greatly (P. T. Magan to EGW, July 1, 1903).

But Mrs. Magan’s condition continued to deteriorate. She contracted tuberculosis, and finally died in incredible suffering. The funeral was held on the Sabbath afternoon of the conference in Berrien Springs in what was then known as Memorial Hall. This hall had been built by a gift of $500 that Mrs. Magan had provided from her meager resources. Ellen White did not participate in the funeral, but in one of her talks she said:

Sister Magan worked with her husband, struggling with him and praying that he might be sustained. She did not think of herself, but of him. And God did sustain them, as they walked in the light.... But it seemed to her as if some of our brethren had not a heart of flesh.... His poor wife ... was informed that Sister White had taken a stand against her husband. Oh, why did anyone ever say such a thing? Sister White never turned against Brother Magan or against Brother Sutherland. But Sister Magan was so weighted down with sorrow that she lost her reason.... Now the poor woman has gone, leaving two motherless children. All this, because of the work done by unsanctified tongues.—Manuscript 54, 1904.

In striking words Ellen White declared that Mrs. Magan died as a martyr among her brethren. “My brethren,” she pleaded, “this work of hurting one another does not pay. May God help you to cleanse your hearts from this evil thing.”— Ibid. But so deep were feelings and so bitter were animosities that even this appeal from Ellen White failed to accomplish all it should, for now the rumors quickly changed. It was reported that Ellen White had virtually accused Elders Daniells and Prescott of being Mrs. Magan’s murderers (25 WCW, p. 230).

She admitted that Elders Prescott and Daniells had made mistakes, but they never had defied the Spirit of God and never had refused to be corrected. She then spoke in commendation of the two [338] men for their work in Washington and said the Lord had greatly blessed them at every step. In the same letter she wrote to Brethren Magan and Sutherland concerning Daniells and his relationship to the Spirit of Prophecy:

God has chosen Elder Daniells to bear responsibilities, and has promised to make him capable, by His grace, of doing the work entrusted to him....

Elder Daniells is a man who has proved the testimonies to be true. And he has proved true to the testimonies. When he has found that he has differed from them, he has been willing to acknowledge his error, and come to the light.... The Lord has given Elder Daniells reproof when he has erred, and he has shown his determination to stand on the side of truth and righteousness, and to correct his mistakes....

I know that Elder Daniells is the right man in the right place.—Letter 255, 1904.

The Monday-Night Vision

On Monday night Ellen White was given a vision of what would yet take place at Berrien Springs. She wrote it out in a letter, which W. C. White read to the session on Wednesday, the last day of the meeting.

Last night matters were presented to me, showing that strange things would mark the conclusion of the conference in this place unless the Holy Spirit of God should change the hearts and minds of many of the workers. The medical missionaries especially should seek to have their souls transformed by the grace of God.—Manuscript 58, 1904.

She concluded her work at the session on Tuesday and left on Wednesday morning before it closed. As Ellen White looked back in time, she was led to write:

Had each one felt that he had done more to be forgiven by the Lord than he could realize, a wonderful change would have come into the meeting. [Interlineation: The Holy Spirit would have been revealed.] The representation given me of the Berrien Springs meeting is similar to the picture presented in the third [339] chapter of Zechariah. “He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.”—Manuscript 74, 1904.

Ellen White had looked for a break in the situation over pantheism and Dr. Kellogg, but the matter had not turned out as she had hoped. The experience was a dark and disappointing one. Of this she wrote to Elder Daniells:

The outcome of the meeting at Berrien Springs, as far as Dr. Kellogg is concerned, was not as we had hoped it would be; but we will put our trust in the Lord. I know that the enemy will try at every turn to discourage and disappoint us.... We will leave with the Lord all the sad things with reference to Dr. Kellogg. If we can do him good in any way, let us show that we do not want to hurt him, but to help him. Let us avoid everything that would provoke retaliation. Let us give no occasion for contention.—Letter 195, 1904.

After the Berrien Springs meeting there was a strong effort on the part of Dr. Kellogg to draw some of the leading workers to Battle Creek for continued discussions on the question of The Living Temple. W. C. White and A. G. Daniells resisted anything of this kind, and Ellen White supported them in that resistance (24WCW, pp. 24, 25; 25 WCW, pp. 280-282). [340]

Chapter 26—A Trip Into the South

On Wednesday, May 25, near the close of the Lake Union Conference session, Ellen White left Berrien Springs for a trip into the South. With her were Edson White, Sara McEnterfer, Maggie Hare, and Dr. and Mrs. David Paulson.

During the six-hour layover in Chicago, Dr. Paulson arranged to take her out to Hinsdale to the site where plans were being laid to open a new sanitarium. She found Hinsdale something like Takoma Park. She thought the surroundings were perhaps even more beautiful and she felt that it would make an excellent place for a medical institution.

Back in Chicago in the later afternoon, with Edson and her two women helpers she boarded the train for Nashville. The overnight trip was comfortable, and in the morning they were met by W. O. Palmer, one of Edson White’s close helpers. He drove them to the plant of the Southern Publishing Association and then to Edson’s home nearby. She made this her headquarters for the next six weeks.

During the Berrien Springs meeting both Professor Sutherland and Professor Magan had resigned from their positions of leadership at Emmanuel Missionary College. They expressed their determination to go into the South, find a tract of land, and begin a self-supporting school. From Nashville they set out in various directions in search of a suitable property within their financial capability. They found one in particular—the Fergusen-Nelson place—but the quality of the land fell short of their desires. Then [341] plans were developed for quite a large party to make a trip up the Cumberland River on the Morning Star, to continue the search for a school site. They would wait until W. C. White had closed up his work in the North and joined them in Nashville before making the trip.

Ellen White and all her party would be on the boat. She had been on the Morning Star in 1901 as she passed through Vicksburg, but had not traveled on the boat. A full week would be spent on the trip up the Cumberland River, and besides, she would be with her son and his wife. She eagerly looked forward to this.

While the Morning Star was being readied, she rested in Edson’s home. He earnestly hoped that his mother should have an enjoyable experience living on the boat, and craved her counsel as he sought a site for another school for blacks near Nashville.

Recounting the experience, she spoke of the bountiful supply of good things from Edson’s garden—green peas, strawberries, potatoes, sweet corn. She felt that the good ten-acre tract of land that had been secured for the publishing house was a favorable one.

As the Sabbath neared, some thought perhaps it would be better if Ellen White did not try to speak that day in Nashville, but she said, “‘I have a message to bear.’”—Letter 183, 1904. She tells of how the Lord strengthened her, and “I bore a straightforward testimony. Maggie reported what I said. Afterward I was told that even had I known the real condition of things in the church, which I did not, I could not have spoken more to the point.”— Ibid.

Tuesday, June 7, was the day set for boarding the Morning Star and beginning the trip up the Cumberland River. That morning she wrote to her granddaughter Mabel:

We are just about to leave here for a trip of six or seven days up the Cumberland River in the Morning Star. Our party will consist of Brethren Magan and Sutherland, your Uncle Edson and your Aunt Emma, your father, your grandmother, Sara, Brother Crisler, who returned from Graysville yesterday, Maggie, Edson’s stenographer, and several others. We expect to start about noon today.—Letter 191, 1904.

Although the main objective for the trip was to find land for a self-supporting school, everyone looked forward to a change and a [342] little vacation. Brethren Sutherland and Magan had heard that land was available for $5 to $10 an acre near Carthage, Tennessee, some ninety direct miles north of Nashville.

They did not get away at noon as they had expected, for some repairs had been made on the boat, which called for an inspection before they could leave. Nonetheless they boarded late Tuesday afternoon to be ready to go as soon as the boat was ready.

Edson had served as pilot on the Mississippi River and had license papers for that. But he did not have pilot’s papers for the Cumberland River, so he secured the services of an accredited pilot. He was eager to learn all he could about the navigation of this river so that he could pilot the boat on it in the future.

Ellen White was delighted to find the rooms aboard pleasant and convenient. The boat had apparently been tied up for some time, and was not refitted. Upon coming on board the party rededicated the boat. In a season of prayer they pleaded with God that in all its service it should be an agency to accomplish much good in various ways, bringing light to many places that otherwise could not be reached. In its earlier service the Morning Star had been used as a meeting house and as a dwelling for Edson White and his wife.

The Trip North on the Cumberland River

Wednesday morning they pulled out into the river and started the trip north. “I shall enjoy the trip,” wrote Ellen White, “for I have much to say to our party—especially to Brethren Sutherland and Magan, upon the school problem. This opportunity I must improve.... I retired early to my bed.”—Manuscript 143, 1904.

In addition to those who were named by Ellen White as being in the traveling party there were the pilot, Will Palmer; Mr. Judd, who was Edson’s stenographer; a fireman; an engineer; a cook; and a general hand. Several of these were blacks. Passengers and crew numbered sixteen in all. As they traveled north they stopped occasionally, sometimes for repairs, sometimes to purchase produce and milk or buttermilk from the farms they passed. From time to time they stopped to look at the land.

In her diary Ellen White recorded, “I am so glad I could give satisfaction to my children in accompanying them on this tour of inspection of lands suitable for schools for both colored and white.” [343] She described the scenery as being beautiful and said, “It is a grand outing for us all.” From time to time they passed large rafts of logs floating down the river to be cut into lumber. On Friday they came to Rocky Bluffs, where they saw deep caves. At the entrance of one they saw a young goat, the color of a deer. Ellen White declared, “We would have been pleased to have had that little precious treasure in our home in California, but God has a care for these wild creatures in their own birthplace among the rocks.”— Ibid.

Friday evening, June 9, the Morning Star tied up at Hartsville, ready to spend the Sabbath. Ellen White wrote in her diary:

I felt very thankful to our heavenly Father that mother and her children could be on the boat together. This is the first time I have had the privilege of riding on the steamer Morning Star. The scenery has been very beautiful. It is God’s nature’s own adorning—a wonderful formation of ledges of rock piled one above another.— Ibid.

She observed that “we glide along without disagreeable motion. We go on about twenty or thirty miles to Carthage. We are looking for land.” But she was not in full harmony with the plans to locate a school at such a great distance from centers of population. She wrote:

We are told land can be purchased cheaply. But I do not consider it wise to locate schools far off from Nashville, for one party of workers will be strengthened by another party of workers in or near Nashville. If these schools are to become strong and efficient they must at times unite their wisdom and their forces and help one another.— Ibid.

Also, she felt they should be close enough to Nashville that the contacts could lead to practical missionary activities.

On the trip most of the men slept on the lower deck on double-wire camp meeting cots. The women slept on the upper deck, and the pilot slept in the pilothouse. The dining room also was on the upper deck. Each morning Clarence, Willie, and several others put on their bathing suits, which Ellen White described as “very becoming,” and had a swim. The current was too strong to swim upstream, so they would dive off the front of the boat, swim [344] along its side, and climb up on the framework around the paddlewheel (25 WCW, p. 315-318).

On Sabbath, instead of having a church service, Willie, Edson, Will Palmer, Sutherland, and Magan climbed a nearby mountain and spent the morning in prayer and fellowship. Mrs. White recorded in her diary that “this precious Sabbath was a day long to be remembered by the passengers on this boat. I believe that all are being benefited.”—Manuscript 143, 1904. She found it was a delightful change and rest. In fact, she always enjoyed traveling on the water, on oceans as well as rivers and lakes.

Sunday morning they were on their way north again, nearing Carthage, the most distant point of the journey, some 170 miles north of Nashville by boat.

No Cheap Land

By this time it had become apparent that the main object of the journey to find land at reasonable prices was not going to be accomplished. The land that was expected to be available for $2 or $3 an acre, or $8 or $10, was running about $60 an acre. Willie concluded that the low prices he had heard about were those offered twenty or thirty years earlier. But nobody seemed to mind too much. Ellen White became more and more emphatic that any schools they would establish should be near Nashville. So on Monday morning the Morning Star started back down the river. Much better time was made with the river current carrying them along. In a letter written that day to Elder Daniells, she outlined their plans:

Tomorrow morning we shall reach Edgefield Junction, which is only twelve miles from Nashville. We shall stay there for the rest of the day, for we wish to visit a farm which is for sale at Madison, about seventeen miles from Nashville, and two and a half miles from the railway. It is said that this farm contains nearly 100 acres of good bottom land, more than 100 acres of second-quality agricultural land suitable for grain and fruit, and about 200 acres of pasture land. We think that it can be purchased for about $12,000. It is said that there are on it over $2,000 worth of stock and farm implements. [345]

I desire to look at this farm, and if it be the will of the Lord, I shall do so tomorrow afternoon. The farm has a roomy house, barns, and other buildings, and two and a half miles of good stone fence. Considering its advantages, its price is less than anything else we have seen in this part of Tennessee.—Letter 195, 1904.

She elaborated a bit about its general relationship to Nashville:

I have been instructed that the lands on which our school shall be established should be near enough Nashville for there to be a connection between the school and the workers in Nashville.— Ibid.

Tuesday, on looking over the Fergusen-Nelson place, near Madison, Ellen White was pleased and thought it would serve well for the new school. Brethren Sutherland and Magan were considerably less optimistic. They had hoped for something better for less money. Ellen White reports that “I felt so thoroughly convinced that it was a favorable location for the work that I advised our brethren to make the purchase.”—Letter 215, 1904.

The price with standing crops was $12,723. The professors, as they recounted the story in later years, told of how, when they witnessed Ellen White’s certainty about this matter and remembering the experience in Australia with the Avondale school, they felt they must move in this direction. So that Tuesday they made their decision to purchase.

But it proved to be anything but a simple transaction. Mrs. Fergusen, who had to sign the papers, at first refused to sell the farm to men from the North, declaring, “I’ll never sell to a Yankee.”—Ira Gish and Harry Christman, Madison, God’s Beautiful Farm, p. 23. After several interviews and many prayers, and a demand from Mrs. Fergusen for an extra thousand dollars, she put her signature by her husband’s, and the contract was made secure.

There was some hesitation about the extra thousand dollars, and some took it as an omen that they should withdraw. But Ellen White exclaimed, “Do you think I’d let the devil beat me out of a place for a thousand dollars? Pay the extra thousand. It’s cheap enough. This is the place the Lord said you should have.”— Ibid., 27.

With the property bargained for, the men hurried North to find [346] friends who would help meet the purchase price. Writing to a friend, Ellen White reported on the four-hundred-acre place:

The size of the farm, its location, the distance that it is from Nashville, and the moderate sum for which it could be purchased seemed to point it out as the very place needed for our school work here. The house is old, but it can be used until more suitable buildings can be erected.—Letter 215, 1904.

Rather exuberantly she noted:

Included in this sale are a number of horses, cows, and other stock, carriages and farming implements, also a house, that would be of use to the school. There are many beautiful cedar trees on the place. Fifty acres of the land is under cultivation, and the crops are in a flourishing condition. Portions of this land can be sold to those connected with the school for dwelling houses.—Letter 249a, 1904.

In another letter she explained the cherished plans and objectives of Brethren Sutherland and Magan:

The plan upon which our brethren propose to work is to select some of the best and most substantial young men and women from Berrien Springs and other places in the North, who believe that God has called them to the work in the South, and give them a brief training as teachers. Thorough instruction will be given in Bible study, physiology, the history of our message; and special instruction will be given regarding the cultivation of the land.

It is hoped that many of these students will eventually connect with schools in various places in the South. In connection with these schools there will be land that will be cultivated by teachers and students, and the proceeds from this work will be used for the support of the schools.—Letter 215, 1904.

Visiting Institutions in the South

While negotiations for the Madison property were under way, Ellen White and her party left on Wednesday, June 15, for a [347] week-long tour of several institutions in Tennessee and Alabama. The first was Graysville, where there was a school and a sanitarium. On Sabbath she spoke in the church and noticed that there were in her audience three ministers from other Protestant churches. On Sunday she made a grand tour of the school buildings, the farm—where she discovered peaches and corn and strawberries—and the Sanitarium, where she urged that the pine trees be preserved, for there is healing in the pines. In their travels by carriage they stopped by homes of Adventists and met the families. She wrote of it: “Whole families, father, mother, and children, came out to speak to me, and I shook hands with each one, not forgetting the children.”— Ibid.

Their travels took them west by train to Huntsville, Alabama, to visit the Oakwood school, which had been established for blacks ten years before. They arrived there Monday afternoon at 1:00 P.M. After looking over the farm, she spoke to the few students who were there for the summer. She told them she wanted one hundred students in the school the next year, and urged them to appeal to their friends to come to Oakwood. She told these students how pleased she was that they were training for service. She said she wanted to encourage them because she knew they had a battle to fight and strong prejudice to work against. She pointed out that the church needed them to work in places where racial hostility prevented whites from working. She assured them of God’s help and told them if she never saw them again on this earth she hoped to see them in the kingdom of heaven (Manuscript 60, 1904).

On June 22 she returned to Nashville, where she spent another couple of weeks resting, writing, speaking, and encouraging the workers in the area. During this time she went out to take another look at the Madison property. When the work for the new school was organized, Ellen White accepted an invitation to serve on the board of directors—the only time she ever served in such a capacity. She watched the developments at Madison with deep interest.

On Friday night, July 1, she was given the important vision recorded in Testimonies 9, 28, 29, in which she saw great balls of fire falling from the sky.

While in Nashville she also attended the Southern Union Conference session, which began on July 4. [348]

Chapter 27—Another Month in Washington, and the Trip Home

On Friday, July 8, Ellen White and those traveling with her arrived back in Washington, where she would stay for another month, in the Carroll Manor House. She was pleased that the construction of the college was under way. The basement for the boys’ dormitory was about completed, as well as the excavating for the dining hall. Mr. Baird was managing the construction work well.

Almost every day Ellen White and Sara drove out with the horse and carriage. She enjoyed these little journeys. One day while they were driving through Rock Creek Park they were approached by an impressive-looking carriage traveling in the opposite direction. As they came closer they recognized Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States. Ellen White, reporting the meeting, said simply, “He bowed to us as we passed him.”—Letter 357, 1904.

Mr. Baird resided in the house just across the street from the Carroll Manor House. A number of the workers who assisted him in building stayed in his home, many of them young men who would be students at the school. Each morning at half past five the workers gathered in the large room on the first floor of the Carroll Manor House for morning worship. After a period of singing, Scripture reading, and prayer, Ellen White talked with them for about fifteen minutes. On Sabbaths she spoke in nearby churches or to the group in Takoma Park, who worshiped in Takoma Hall, near the railroad station.

While living in the Carroll Manor House, Ellen White received a vision in which she seemed to be in a large company. “One not [349] known to those present stepped forward” and sounded a message of warning to Dr. Paulson and Dr. Sadler, urging them to break their bonds with Dr. Kellogg and to be careful not to spoil their experience with philosophy and vain deceit. “Cut loose, cut loose is my message,” she wrote in a letter to the physicians.—Letter 279, 1904. The text of the letter was much the same as in the letter addressed to Elders Jones and Waggoner, who were now associated with Dr. Kellogg in Battle Creek. The messenger who was speaking to them indicated that these men were in a mist and a fog, unaware of the seductive sentiments in The Living Temple. She quoted 1 Timothy 4:1,“Be not deceived; many will ‘depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.’” She added, “We have now before us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature.”—Letter 263, 1904. She also wrote to Dr. Kellogg, commenting on the Berrien Springs meeting and its aftermath:

You might have gone from the Berrien Springs meeting a very different man had you understood the real situation, had you realized that Satan in a masterly way was playing the game of life for your soul. Had you seen your peril as it was presented to me, you would have fallen on the Rock, and been broken. Your only hope is to fall on the Rock. If you do not, it will fall on you, and will break you beyond remedy.—Letter 271, 1904.

In this letter she also reproved Dr. Kellogg for boasting that while in Berrien Springs, Elder Prescott had made confession but that he and his followers had not.

The four final weeks spent in Washington were devoted to giving counsel about the developing work, speaking in the several churches on weekends, and in writing. She described a meeting held there during that time:

Last Sunday an all-day grove meeting was held on the school grounds. The weather was beautiful, and about 240 people came. In the morning Brother Bland, Brethren Sutherland and Magan, Willie, and Brother Thompson spoke. I had been sick, and it was feared that I could not speak. But the appointment was given out, and in the afternoon, with fear and trembling, I took my stand before the people. The Lord gave me tongue and utterance, and I spoke for an hour. [350]

Oh, I was so glad that I could speak to the people on this occasion. Quite a number of those not of our faith were present, and their interested faces showed their pleasure and satisfaction.—Letter 357, 1904.

Starting Home

Ellen White and her helpers left Washington on Thursday, August 11, for the trip home, which would take them through New England, Michigan, Nebraska, and points west.

After a weekend stop in Philadelphia, where she spoke on the Sabbath, they went to the New England Sanitarium in Melrose, Massachusetts, arriving on Monday, August 15. They spent a little more than a week there, relaxing and enjoying the breathtaking beauty of the place. She wrote of the institution, “As far as the sanitarium itself is concerned, I have traveled extensively, and have seen many sanitarium sites, but I have never seen a place more nearly perfect than this one at Melrose.”—Letter 305, 1904.

The Sanitarium was situated on Spot Pond, which at the time supplied Boston with some of its water. Because of this, the surrounding area was restricted; it had been only by God’s providence that it was possible to locate the Sanitarium there. Just at the opportune time the way opened to buy land; then the matter closed up and no more of the park had been sold since. Ellen White said:

The situation of the sanitarium property is one of the most favorable that I have ever seen for this work. The spacious lawns, the noble trees, the beauty of the scenery all around, answer to the representations shown me of what our sanitariums ought to be.... The roads through the park are very well kept, and the scenery is lovely. I rode out every day, and I cannot find words to describe the beauty of what I saw. I enjoyed looking at the many different kinds of trees in the park, but most of all I enjoyed looking at the noble pine. There are medicinal properties in the fragrance of these trees.—Letter 293, 1904.

She recalled how James White would say as they were driving among pine trees, “‘Life, life. Breathe deep, Ellen; fill your lungs with the fragrant, life-giving atmosphere.’”— Ibid. [351]

While she was at Melrose an older sister, Mary Foss, who was then 83 years of age, came down from her home in Maine and visited with Ellen a few days. May Walling had been sent up to bring her.

The Central New England camp meeting opened on Thursday evening, August 25. Ellen White had tarried at the Sanitarium to be present. The tent was pitched about a mile from the Sanitarium and she spoke five times during the camp meeting. She had to contend with a rather erratic church member who was on a crusade to save Seventh-day Adventists from the belief that the world is round. He sought her support for the flat-earth theory. Her answer was:

I have a message to this people in regard to the life they must live in this world to prepare them for future life which measures with the life of God. We have nought to do with the question whether this world is round or flat.—Manuscript 145, 1904.

She noted in her diary:

Last night the Lord gave me words to speak to the people. Satan has a multitude of questions to bring in through various minds and ingenuity as all-important. Take the Word plainly.— Ibid.

Early in September she left Melrose for Middletown, Connecticut, and the Southern New England camp meeting. She found the place rich in nostalgia, and in her letters and in her diary she recalled the visit she and her husband made to Middletown in 1848 to attend the first of the Sabbath conferences. She recounted their work there of writing and publishing in 1849. She spoke four times during the week.

Early Sunday morning two ministers came to her tent to apologize in advance for what they thought would be a sparse attendance on Sunday. They explained that Connecticut Sunday laws were quite rigid and some people might consider it a sin to come to an Adventist meeting on that day.—Letter 380, 1904.

Ellen White told them, “‘Instead of talking unbelief, let us tell the Lord how greatly we desire that the people may hear the truth.’”—Letter 293, 1904. When she spoke that day, the tent was filled to overflowing, and “several young men were kept busy [352] bringing extra seats from the smaller tents” and placing them in the aisles. Describing the meeting, she said that she carried the subject of temperance strongly, yet the interest did not flag (Ibid.).

Monday, September 5, she was on the train on her way to Battle Creek. She arrived there on Tuesday and was given one of the best rooms in the Sanitarium. This was her first visit to Battle Creek since the fire and the building of the new sanitarium. She spoke the next morning to the patients in the parlor, dealing with basic Christian principles and the power of Christ to transform those who come to Him in simplicity and faith (Ibid.). After the talk, Dr. Kellogg introduced her to several of the guests; she was surprised to see how powerfully the Word spoken in simplicity and earnestness had affected them. Ellen White reported that that night she received a special blessing from God.

The next morning she spoke in the gymnasium to a group of about three hundred, composed mainly of physicians, nurses, and other workers. Her topic was the love of Christ, how He showed His love in good works, and how these good works begat love in the hearts of others (Ibid.).

At the last minute it was decided that she should try to speak in the Tabernacle that afternoon. As there was not much time to get word out, she expected rather a slim attendance. To her surprise, the Tabernacle was crowded with 2,500 people and seemed to be as packed as it had been at the 1901 General Conference. Again her sermon was a simple exposition of Christian faith. Ellen White warmed to the subject, speaking for more than an hour (Ibid.; Manuscript 90, 1904).

Just before the service began, Elder A. T. Jones asked her whether she would be willing to stay over the weekend. He urged her, she consented, and during the meeting he announced her decision. But that night W. C. White who had been in Canada, arrived in Battle Creek and pointed out that already they were committed to Sabbath meetings at the Omaha, Nebraska, camp meeting. So she promised to return to Battle Creek after the Omaha appointment.

One of the chief purposes of the Battle Creek visit was, of course, to help Kellogg, if that were at all possible. She had received letters from him at Melrose indicating some softening of his attitude. In [353] writing from Battle Creek to W. C. White in Canada, she said she knew that Kellogg was like a blind man with a cane, striking about to find the road, but everything so far appeared to be surface work. But she said she must do her best to speak in Battle Creek. After her talk to the workers on Wednesday morning, the seventh, Kellogg did make a brief attempt at confession. He declared:

I want you to know that I feel in my heart to accept all the reproofs and all the instruction that the Lord has sent me through Sister White. I do not want to have any ambiguity about my position and attitude.

The Lord has sent Sister White here, and she has given us instruction this morning for our good, and I hope the Lord will help us all to take this to our hearts and profit by her instruction.—24 WCW, p. 325.

But Dr. Kellogg had become a very vacillating man, and the repentant attitude was shallow and short-lived.

Friday, September 9, Ellen White and W. C. White reached Omaha. She was feeling a little stronger than she had for the past few days and was pleased to observe that at the Omaha station she could walk through the large waiting rooms and up and down stairs as easily as ever (Letter 283, 1904). Unfortunately, she took a cold on the trip and was afraid she might have difficulty speaking on the Sabbath. However, she went ahead and spoke anyway.

In order to be heard by the audience of 1,500 in the tent, she found that she had to breathe deeply and speak slowly. There were no amplifying systems in those days. “Were I to speak quickly,” she said, “my throat and lungs would suffer. And when I speak slowly, the hearers are given an opportunity to take in sentence after sentence, and to gather up ideas that would otherwise be lost.”—Letter 287, 1904.

It was here at this Omaha meeting that one of the laymen, Jasper Wayne, sought an interview with her. He presented his newly developed plan for soliciting funds from non-Adventists by calling at their homes and leaving with them a church paper. This was the inception of what came to be known as the Harvest Ingathering Plan (later simply Ingathering), which has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars to help advance the work. [354]

She spoke three times in Omaha, then went on to College View, where she and Willie were given rooms in the Nebraska Sanitarium, situated on the crest of the hill near Union College.

Then it was back to Battle Creek to fulfill her promise to be with the people there on Sabbath. She was given a hearty welcome and spent five days there. She spoke three times in the Tabernacle to large congregations, once to the medical students, and once to sanitarium workers.

An Unguarded Statement

An interesting event occurred at one of the Tabernacle meetings. On Sunday, October 2, Ellen White addressed an audience of 2,500, including many Battle Creek citizens. She took this occasion to talk about herself and her work, and she spoke without notes. Reminding them that they had heard her speak many times, she declared that she bore exactly the same message now as she always had—the same message she had written in her books. “The truth that we proclaim today,” she said, “is the same truth that we proclaimed for the last fifty years.”—Manuscript 140, 1905. Then she startled her hearers by saying:

“I am not, as I said yesterday, a prophet. I do not claim to be a leader; I claim to be simply a messenger of God, and that is all I have ever claimed.”—DF 108a, W. E. Cornell report, in AGD to WCW, May 23, 1906.

Her reference to the Sabbath meeting was to words she used in speaking of the appellations people had applied to her. Here are her words from the Sabbath meeting:

They say she is a prophetess, they say she is this and that and the other thing—I claim to be no such thing. I will tell you what I want you all to know, that I am a messenger that God has taken from a feeble, very feeble child, and in my girlhood gave me a message, and here you see the effects that made me what I am, a cruel stone thrown by a hand and broke my nose, and thereby I have been made an invalid for life.... Now I want to tell you this, that Mrs. White does not call herself a prophetess or a leader of this people. She calls herself simply a messenger.... [355]

Some who are not belonging to our church ... listen to Mrs. White, and you know what my testimony has been though, and the same testimony has been borne from that time that you have heard, and long before, to the people. I have not gone back on one sentiment on temperance, not one sentiment religiously. It is just the same, and that is why I was to write it, that it should go to the people, and that it should live all through the half century.— Ibid.

What she said in the Sunday meeting was this:

I want you [“those who have got the books that God has bidden me to write when that hand trembled so that it seemed an impossibility”] to read the books—Patriarchs and Prophets (I expected to have them here on the stand before us), Great

Controversy, Desire of Ages, Ministry of Healing[, which] is nearly done, and a great many other books. I am not, as I said yesterday, a prophet. I do not claim to be a leader; I claim to be simply a messenger of God, and that is all I have ever claimed.— Ibid.

Monday, the newspapers at Battle Creek heralded the news: The woman the Adventists had believed in all these years as a prophet had now come straight out and said she was not a prophet after all! This naturally brought questions from Adventists as well. Ellen White and church leaders found that an explanation must be made. She took opportunity on several occasions to explain carefully the thoughts she intended to convey by her statement. W. C. White observed in a way that throws considerable light on the matter, as follows:

When she spoke these words she had in mind the ideas of the people regarding a prophet as one whose chief office was to predict events, and she wanted them to understand that that was not her place in the world. I am fully persuaded that John the Baptist cherished the same idea when he denied being “that prophet.”—WCW to A. M. Taylor, July 6, 1933 (see DF 108a).

Within a few weeks Ellen White recalled for the readers of the Review what she said, and gave the following clarification: [356]

Sunday afternoon I spoke again in the Tabernacle. The meeting had been advertised, and there were present many citizens of Battle Creek who were not of our faith. At this meeting I assured my hearers that we held the same principles of truth that we had so many times set before them in past years....

I said that I did not claim to be a prophetess. I have not stood before the people claiming this title, though many called me thus. I have been instructed to say, “I am God’s messenger, sent to bear a message of reproof to the erring and of encouragement to the meek and lowly.” With pen and with voice I am to bear the messages given me. The word given me is, “You are faithfully to reprove those who would mar the faith of the people of God. Write out the things which I shall give you, that they may stand as a witness to the truth till the end of time.”—The Review and Herald, January 26, 1905.

But there was a continued misuse of her unguarded statement, and further explanations were called for. She prepared an article entitled “A Messenger,” which was published in the Ibid., July 26, 1906. In this she explained:

When I was last in Battle Creek, I said before a large congregation that I did not claim to be a prophetess. Twice I referred to this matter, intending each time to make the statement, “I do not claim to be a prophetess.” If I spoke otherwise than this, let all now understand that what I had in mind to say was that I do not claim the title of prophet or prophetess.

I understood that some were anxious to know if Mrs. White still held the same views that she did years ago when they had heard her speak in the sanitarium grove, in the Tabernacle, and at the camp meetings held in the suburbs of Battle Creek. I assured them that the message she bears today is the same that she has borne during the sixty years of her public ministry. She has the same service to do for the Master that was laid upon her in her girlhood. She receives lessons from the same Instructor. The directions given her are, “Make known to others what I have revealed to you. Write out the messages that I give you, that the people may have them.” This is what she has endeavored to do.—Ibid., July 26, 1906 (Selected Messages 1:35). [357] Further explanations appear in this article, now published in full in Ibid., 1:31-35. We refer to some:

Some have stumbled over the fact that I said I did not claim to be a prophet; and they have asked, Why is this?

I have had no claims to make, only that I am instructed that I am the Lord’s messenger; that He called me in my youth to be His messenger, to receive His word, and to give a clear and decided message in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Early in my youth I was asked several times, Are you a prophet? I have ever responded, I am the Lord’s messenger. I know that many have called me a prophet, but I have made no claim to this title. My Saviour declared me to be His messenger. “Your work,” He instructed me, “is to bear My word.”...

Why have I not claimed to be a prophet? Because in these days many who boldly claim that they are prophets are a reproach to the cause of Christ; and because my work includes much more than the word “prophet” signifies....

God has made plain to me the various ways in which He would use me to carry forward a special work. Visions have been given me, with the promise, “If you deliver the messages faithfully and endure to the end, you shall eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and drink of the water of the river of life.”—Ibid., 1:31-33.

After describing the breadth of the work she was commissioned to do, she declared:

To claim to be a prophetess is something that I have never done. If others call me by that name, I have no controversy with them. But my work has covered so many lines that I cannot call myself other than a messenger sent to bear a message from the Lord to His people, and to take up work in any line that He points out.—Ibid., 1:34.

I am now instructed that I am not to be hindered in my work by those who engage in suppositions regarding its nature, whose minds are struggling with so many intricate problems connected with the supposed work of a prophet. My commission embraces the work of a prophet, but it does not end there. It embraces much more than the minds of those who have been [358] sowing the seeds of unbelief can comprehend.—Letter 244, 1906, addressed to elders of Battle Creek church (Selected Messages 1:36).

Journey Across the Plains and the Mountains to California

Ellen White left Battle Creek on Monday, October 3. Because of delays she was unable to reach St. Helena by Sabbath, so she stayed over on Friday and Sabbath in Reno and spoke to the people there. Her granddaughters Ella and Mabel were in Reno; Ella taught church school and Mabel engaged in other work. After a pleasant weekend, Ellen White and her party hastened homeward. As she passed through Oakland, she found the workers at Pacific Press busily packing up the last of their things to take them to Mountain View. “The empty buildings at Pacific Press look lonesome,” confessed Willie; he had known them since 1877 (24 WCW, p. 370).

When they reached home, they found Marian Davis desperately ill at the St. Helena Sanitarium. Illness which could be traced to a cold contracted during the 1903 General Conference led to tuberculosis. During Ellen White’s trip in the East she grew progressively weaker, although she continued with her literary work. This situation was exceedingly painful to Ellen White. For twenty-five years the two had worked together.

Although Marian rallied a bit when Ellen White returned, she passed to her rest early in the afternoon of Tuesday, October 25. On October 26 she was buried in the St. Helena Cemetery where Elder J. N. Loughborough and a number of other early workers await the call of the Life-giver. Of her and her work, Ellen White wrote:

For twenty-five years Sister Davis had been a most faithful helper in my work. She was greatly appreciated by me and by all who were acquainted with her and her work, and we miss her very much. Of her it can truthfully be said, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord ..., that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”—Letter 29, 1905. [359]

Chapter 28—Sanitariums in Southern California

When Ellen White returned to the United States from Australia in 1900, she carried in her heart the memory of visions given her in which she was shown that the time had come to establish sanitariums in southern California. With a widening knowledge of the advantages of southern California from a health standpoint because of its sunshine and warm climate, the area was becoming more and more popular for those who sought relief from the cold winters of the East and from their physical ailments.

After she reached America, visions relating to this matter were repeated to her. On October 13, 1902, she wrote:

I have been instructed that the work in southern California should have advantages that it has not yet enjoyed. I have been shown that in southern California there are properties for sale on which buildings are already erected that could be utilized for our work, and that such properties will be offered to us at much less than their original cost.—Letter 157, 1902 (Special Testimonies, Series B 14:6).

In these places, away from the din and confusion of the congested cities, we can establish sanitariums in which the sick can be cared for in the way in which God designs them to be.— Ibid.

She wrote of the light that had been given her concerning the confusion and violence and crime that would increase, especially in the cities. She declared: [360]

There is much to be said on this point. Instruction is to be given line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. And our physicians and teachers should be quick to see the advantage of retired locations for our sanitariums and schools.— Ibid.

In August, 1901, as she was attending the Los Angeles camp meeting, this matter had weighed upon her mind, and she began to think in practical terms of securing properties. In a vision of the night, she seemed to be in a council meeting in which consideration was being given to establishing a sanitarium in southern California. She wrote of the vision:

By some it was urged that this sanitarium should be built in the city of Los Angeles, and the objections to establishing it out of the city were pointed out. Others spoke of the advantages of a country location.—Testimonies for the Church 7:85.

She described what she saw and heard in this vision and made mention of one who often instructed her at such times. “There was among us One who presented this matter very clearly and with the utmost simplicity. He told us that it would be a mistake to establish a sanitarium within the city limits.”— Ibid.

Her Instructor continued:

A sanitarium should have the advantage of plenty of land, so the invalids can work in the open air. For nervous, gloomy, feeble patients, outdoor work is invaluable. Let them have flower beds to care for. In the use of rake and hoe and spade they will find relief for many of their maladies. Idleness is the cause of many diseases.

Life in the open air is good for body and mind. It is God’s medicine for the restoration of health. Pure air, good water, sunshine, the beautiful surroundings of nature—these are His means for restoring the sick to health in natural ways.— Ibid.

Ellen White envisioned sanitariums in the country “surrounded by flowers and trees, orchards and vineyards. Here it is easy for physicians and nurses to draw from the things of nature lessons teaching of God. Let them point the patients to Him whose hand has [361] made the lofty trees, the springing grass, and the beautiful flowers, encouraging them to see in every opening bud and blossoming flower an expression of His love for His children.”—Ibid., 7:85, 86.

During the camp meeting itself, where she spoke daily, as noted earlier, she went out with some of the brethren to look at two prospective properties. She was instructed that not only in various sections of Los Angeles but in San Diego and in other tourist resorts in southern California, health restaurants and treatment rooms should be established.

This visit sparked the revival of concern for the medical missionary work throughout the world, but especially in southern California. It was not long until Ellen White and her staff at Elmshaven were working on drawing together counsel already given, and she prepared new counsel for the Testimonies for the Church, volume 7. Section Two, comprising fifty-nine pages, is given over to consideration of sanitarium work. Section Three, with twenty-eight pages, is devoted to the restaurant and health-food work.

Again, in September, 1902, Mrs. White was in southern California, attending the camp meeting. She was still interested in looking for properties that could be obtained at reasonable prices and used for sanitarium purposes. She went to San Fernando, where a property had been secured for school purposes at a reasonable price. After the camp meeting she went down to San Diego and twice visited the Potts Sanitarium property, six miles south of the city. The buildings had stood idle for years and the property was available for only a fraction of the original cost.

The Paradise Valley Property

Dr. T. S. Whitelock, who practiced in San Diego, had discovered this place in the spring of 1902. There were twenty acres of land and a building with nearly fifty rooms. The whole place could be obtained for $20,000. He eventually succeeded in getting the price down to $15,000. Officers of the Southern California Conference had visited this property and one at Pacific Beach, but felt that the Potts institution was the better buy. Nonetheless, they were not ready to devote conference funds to purchase it. In September, 1902, the manager of the Land and Town Company of National City became [362] interested in the sanitarium project and took up correspondence with a Mr. Harrison in New York City, who held mortgages on the Potts property. They were able to reduce the price to $12,000.

This was the same month that Ellen White visited the property for the first time. She declared, according to Dr. Whitelock, “‘If this place were fixed up, it ...[would look] just like what was shown me of the Lord.’”—DF 2a, T. S. Whitelock, “History of the Paradise Valley Sanitarium,” p. 2.

Ellen White returned to her home at Elmshaven with no decisions made and no steps taken to secure the Potts property. The conference brethren felt they were not prepared to move forward.

At that time the Southern California Conference included all the southern part of the State south of the Tehachapi Mountains. The church had 1,100 believers there, but as the result of poor management a debt of $40,000 hung over the conference. Also, this was during the period when consideration was being given to the ownership, control, and management of sanitarium properties throughout North America. Those that had already been established were under the control of the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, over which Dr. Kellogg was so influential. With rifts developing at Battle Creek, it did not seem a good time to become involved in the securing of more sanitarium properties. However, Ellen White continued to watch the developments with interest and urged that appropriate steps be taken. Possibly the delay of the brethren was in the providence of God, for in June, 1903, the mortgages on the Potts property were offered to the church for $8,000 (Ibid., 3). To some, the hesitancy of the brethren to secure this property was the occasion for great distress. Leaders came and looked at it and declared that it was good, but went away with grave doubts concerning the future of that part of California, which was suffering a prolonged, severe drought. Properties were being offered at almost giveaway figures.

In January, 1904, Dr. Whitelock visited the property again. While he was there, a woman drove up and met them in the buildings. She introduced herself as a friend of the Mr. Harrison who held the mortgages. When Dr. Whitelock gave his name, she said, “You are the very one I wanted to see. I have been requested by Mr. Harrison to see you and get an offer on the mortgages.” Then she intimated [363] that she thought if church leaders were ready to buy, probably $6,000 would close the deal.

Still, the conference felt it could not invest money in the enterprise. When word reached Ellen White, she consulted with a close friend, Josephine Gotzian, who had some means, and then telegraphed Dr. Whitelock to offer $4,000 for the mortgages. On January 25 this offer was telegraphed to New York; on the twenty-seventh an answer was returned accepting the offer. A down payment was made to hold the property until the titles could be thoroughly investigated.

It was later learned that another party had offered Mr. Harrison, by letter, $6,000; the letter reached him in New York City only a few hours after the telegraphed offer of $4,000 had been accepted. The Potts property now belonged to Seventh-day Adventists, but not to the Southern California Conference.

Wrote Ellen White:

We are now beginning to see carried out the purposes of the Lord for this field.... For a long time, however, the medical missionary work in southern California was at a standstill, because of the unbelief of some. Suitable properties were found, but the brethren in responsibility would not advance.

A special opportunity came to us in the form of a property a few miles south of San Diego known as the Potts Sanitarium. The Lord had manifestly prepared the way for us to begin sanitarium work at this point; and when the wheel of providence turned in our favor, and the property came within our reach, we felt as if we must act without further delay, notwithstanding the hesitancy of brethren in responsibility, who should have been quick to discern the advantages of this place as a center for medical missionary work.—Special Testimonies, Series B 14:4, 5.

Ellen White Describes the Property

Now we will turn to Ellen White for a description of the property:

Here was a well-constructed, three-story building of about fifty rooms, with broad verandas, standing upon a pleasant rise of ground, and overlooking a beautiful valley. Many of the rooms are large and airy.... Besides the main building, there is a [364] good stable, and also a six-room cottage, which can be fitted up for helpers.

The property is conveniently located, being less than seven miles from San Diego, and about a mile from the National City post office. There are twenty-two acres of land. About one half of this had once been planted to fruit trees, but during the long drought that this country has suffered, all the trees died except the ornamental trees and shrubbery around the buildings, and about seventy olive trees on the terraces.... I never saw a building offered for sale that was better adapted for sanitarium work. If this place were fixed up, it would look just like places that have been shown me by the Lord.— Ibid., 8, 9.

Ellen White had borrowed her $2,000 share of the investment from the St. Helena Bank at 8 percent interest. Mrs. Gotzian had provided the other $2,000. The two women “clasped hands in an agreement to unite in helping to purchase the Potts Sanitarium (Letter 97, 1904). With funds that were put into the enterprise by Prof. E. S. Ballenger and his parents, they paid $300 in back taxes and used $800 to buy eight acres of needed land adjoining the property. There were other expenses that brought the total cost of the property to $5,300. Of course, the two women and the Ballenger family had no intention of keeping the property as theirs. Nor did they have any intention of making it a matter of financial speculation. They purchased it to hold it until the business could be organized and the conference could take control.

But with the property in their hands, the next step was to find someone to manage and develop it. For fifteen years it had been unoccupied, and there was a good deal to be done. Ellen White speaks of the next step:

Having secured the place, we needed a manager, and we found one ready for the work. Brother E. R. Palmer and his wife, who had spent the winter in Arizona, were in San Diego.... They were willing to take charge of the work of fitting up the sanitarium building for use.—The Review and Herald, March 16, 1905; (see Special Testimonies, Series B 14:10, 11).

The Palmers, whom Ellen White had known in Australia, arrived [365] to take charge on April 18, 1904, the day Ellen White departed Elmshaven for her extended trip to Washington, D.C. From long range she watched with eagerness the reports of the developments in San Diego. Elder Palmer arranged to have the building wired for electricity and had it cleaned up and painted outside. Then he began to assemble furniture for the new Sanitarium.

He discovered that wealthy businessmen who went to California for the winter would rent a place and buy good-quality furniture for their use. When they wished to return to their homes in the East, the furniture was made available at very reasonable prices. Thus Palmer was able to secure furniture, some of it bird’s-eye maple, for furnishing at least a portion of the new institution.

The New Well

A well and windmill furnished a limited supply of water, but it was known from the outset that the system could never supply the needs of a sanitarium. Palmer described the water situation: “The twenty-acre tract of land on which the building stands was as dry as the hills of Gilboa, with only a remote prospect for water underground.”—DF 2a, E. R. Palmer, “The Paradise Valley Sanitarium.”

Palmer and his fellow workers knew from their contacts with Ellen White that it was in the providence of God that the institution had been bought. They were confident that God would find a way to meet their needs. Still, through the summer of 1904 they suffered severely from the drought—a drought that had lasted eight or nine years (W. L. Johns and R. U. Utt, eds., The Vision Bold, p. 147). They watched the trees wither and die, and Ellen White wrote: “The poor, drying up, dying trees are beseeching us by their appearance for refreshing streams of water.”—Manuscript 147, 1904. Palmer refers to their source of confidence in these words: “The Lord had spoken concerning these points, and His servants responded by purchasing the estate.”—DF 2a, E. R. Palmer, “The Paradise Valley Sanitarium.”

Ellen White recommended that Palmer obtain the services of a good Adventist well digger of her acquaintance, Salem Hamilton, who was then living in Nebraska. Accordingly, he was called west to dig the well. As Palmer related: [366]

With what anxiety we surveyed the ground and tried the wizard water stick and discussed the possibilities....

Finally we chose a place and began digging down through the dry earth where the dust flew more than twenty feet below the surface.—Ibid.

The site selected was in a hollow just below the institution. Deeper and deeper Mr. Hamilton and his helpers continued to dig.

Ellen White, who was eager to be close to the Sanitarium activities, was able to pull herself away from Elmshaven and travel south, arriving at the Potts property on Monday, November 7. Hamilton had reached a depth of eighty feet on the well. From day to day she listened with interest to reports of progress, and frequently talked with Hamilton. One day she asked, “‘What are you going to do, Brother Hamilton?’

“‘I have a question to ask you,’ he answered. ‘If you will answer that, I will give you my answer. Did the Lord tell you to buy this property?’

“‘Yes! Yes!’ Ellen White replied. ‘Three times I was shown that we should secure this particular property.’

“‘All right,’ Mr. Hamilton said, ‘I have my answer. The Lord would not give us an elephant without providing water for it to drink.’”—Johns and Utt, eds., op. cit., p. 146. He declared that he would go on digging.

By now he was well past the eighty-foot level and there still was no sign of moisture. But one day Hamilton thought he heard the sound of a stream of water in the gravel at the bottom of the well. When Palmer visited the site and looked down the well, Brother Hamilton called up, “‘Mr. Palmer, would you be afraid to come down? I think there is water not far away.’” Palmer did go down, and he heard it distinctly, “‘like the tinkle of a bell or the sound of a small waterfall in the depths of a forest’” (Ibid., 146, 147).

Hamilton had tunneled in one direction, but to no avail. He now tunneled in another direction and with a vigorous blow his pick broke through the clay into a fine stream of water as large as a man’s arm. The well quickly began to fill. There wasn’t even time to get all the tools out. That night the water rose fifteen feet in the well (Ibid.).

Excitedly E. R. Palmer and W. C. White hastened to Ellen [367] White’s room to announce the good news. Writing of it the next day to her grandchildren, she said:

“Yesterday morning Brother Palmer came to my room in company with your father ... and told us there was fifteen feet of water in the well. This morning there is twenty feet of water and their tools at the bottom of the well. I cannot express to you how glad we all are made. Plenty of water for all purposes! This cannot be estimated by gold or by silver. Water means life.... The Lord has answered all our expectations, and we shall have reason for thanksgiving.... I want to praise the Lord with heart and soul and will.”— Ibid., 147.

Ellen White wrote in her diary:

The water is now a certainty. The trees shall have their refreshing portion. Brother Palmer was so pleased. He expressed his gratitude to God for this great blessing, that labor and money invested for machinery for the water plant had brought returns.—Manuscript 147, 1904.

Moving Forward Under Difficulties

At that time there were only four Seventh-day Adventist churches in the lower part of southern California, and not much support from the Conference as a whole to start a medical institution. The group at the Sanitarium set about to solicit the support of those churches—San Diego, Paradise Valley (a very small church), San Pasqual, and Escondido, where there were a number of Adventist farmers.

On the Thursday before the breakthrough in the well, W. C. White, E. S. Ballenger, H. E. Osborn, and Mrs. Josephine Gotzian drove twenty miles up to San Pasqual. Friday they visited some families, and Sabbath they held three services in the San Pasqual church. Sunday they went over to Escondido and again held three services, in which the providences of God in the starting of the Paradise Valley Sanitarium (as it was then called) and the needs were placed before the believers. Monday they spent visiting families in Escondido. They were able to raise $1,600 in cash to help carry the enterprise forward. Half that amount they were able to [368] take home with them. They had also solicited material help that the farmers could provide from their land. They were very glad for the cash because in anticipation of a prosperous well Palmer had purchased an engine, pipes, and pumps, and he needed money to pay the overdue bill.

When the party returned from Escondido on Tuesday, they were met by the cheering report that the well diggers had found an abundant flow of pure water. A few days later a four-horse team drawing a large, heavy wagon drove up to the Sanitarium, bringing gifts from the churches of San Pasqual and Escondido. This timely donation included potatoes, squash, and canned fruit. Of special importance, the gift included two fine “Jersey cows” (Ibid., March 16, 1905).

That evening Sara McEnterfer told Sister White that two new “patients” had arrived. Somewhat in surprise Ellen White exclaimed, “‘Where will they put them?’”

To this Sara replied, “‘In the barn, I guess.’”—Letter 319, 1904. Then she explained the nature of the new four-footed guests.

One pump was not able to lower the level of the water in the well and so a second pump was brought in. The two large-capacity pumps were required to empty the well sufficiently to get the tools out and to dig just a little more to provide a reservoir for the water that poured in at a fantastic rate. What a blessing the well was!

While the leading workers of the new institution were discussing whether they should open its doors the last week in November or the first week in December, a Mrs. Julia Ulrich came unannounced on November 23 and insisted on staying. Ellen White noted:

Others came before we were ready, and patients continued to come till there were twenty, and our workers were kept so busy that there has been no time as yet for a formal opening.—The Review and Herald, March 16, 1905.

The class of patients who came to the institution was described by E. S. Ballenger:

A large proportion of them were people of culture and influence. Among them were judges, Senators, civil and army officers. These people are hungry for something they cannot find [369] in the world and there is no better means of reaching them with the message than to gather them into our sanitariums where the Spirit of God prevails, where they may attend family worship, prayer meetings, and Sabbath services.

For the first two months after patients were admitted, all the treatments were given in a small room only about eight by thirteen feet. At times we were so crowded that some of the patients were obliged to wait until ten o’clock at night. These inconveniences were cheerfully endured as long as the guests knew we were unable to provide better, and knowing that we expected to build new bathrooms as soon as we were able.—DF 2a, E. S. Ballenger, “The First Patients at the Paradise Valley Sanitarium.”

As to the organization for handling the business of the newly established Sanitarium, various propositions were made and discussed, and counsel was sought of the conference brethren. It was finally decided to establish a stock company, not for profit but for managing the business and to encourage those who could do so to make an investment in the institution. This plan was followed with some adjustments during the next two or three years until the Southern California Conference was in a position to take over the management and responsibility of the Paradise Valley Sanitarium.

Thus Ellen White, through the insights that came to her through the visions, through her persistence, through her soliciting, the cooperation of those who had confidence that the Lord was speaking through her and through heavy personal financial investment, led out in the establishment of this first Adventist sanitarium in southern California.

During the last three nights of her stay at Paradise Valley, she was given instruction by God in the visions of the night concerning the work in that part of the state:

During the last three nights of my stay at this institution, much instruction was given me regarding the sanitariums which for years have been greatly needed, and which should long ago have been equipped and set in working order. Medical missionary work is to be to the third angel’s message as the right hand to the body. [370]

Our sanitariums are one great means of doing medical missionary work. They are to reach the people in their need. The workers connected with our sanitariums are to be sympathetic, kind, and straightforward in their dealings with one another and with the patients. Their words and deeds are to be noble and upright. They are ever to receive from Christ light and grace and love to impart to those in darkness. By their efforts the sick, the sinful, the prodigals who have left the Father’s house are to be encouraged to return.

God’s word to these workers is, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” “Fear not, neither be discouraged: for I am thy God.”—Special Testimonies, Series B 14:13.

Ellen White’s seventy-seventh birthday came on Sabbath, November 26, when she was still at the Paradise Valley Sanitarium. In her journal she wrote,

I have not been able to sleep after 1:00 A.M. It is Sabbath.... I am this day 77 years old. I have thinking to do and I have reason to thank the Lord that He has spared my life. I am pleased that the Lord has favored me with His encouraging grace.... My labors have been quite taxing and the Lord has greatly blessed me.—Manuscript 147, 1904.

Then she wrote of what had been shown her, prefacing her statement with these words:

During the night season we were in council. After we were planning what we should do, there was One who spoke with clearness and laid out the work.— Ibid.

This Spokesman stressed that Ellen White’s special energies and capabilities were to be used in getting out the books that were essential for these last days, and that she was to place herself in the best possible position for health. According to her Instructor:

We must gather every distinct ray of light that will substantiate the truth, bearing aloft the banner for these last days, the third angel’s message. The churches need to be set in order, the door of unbelief to be closed. The seducing power of Satan we are told will increase in such proportions that if it is [371] possible he will deceive the very elect.— Ibid.

In sadness she recorded the words:

Some are not making straight paths for their feet, and in consequence the weak will be turned out of the way. Let every soul take the warning....

There were many words spoken. Some words do not come to my mind until special occasions, then the words of caution and warning come. I shall have these warnings come to my mind with great power and force to rescue souls that are in peril but do not see themselves in any spiritual danger.— Ibid.

A few days later she recorded:

I cannot sleep this morning after twelve o’clock.... I am drawn out in prayer to my heavenly Father for increased strength that I may present to the people the most precious and essential truth for this time and entreat all to preserve the old landmarks that have been searched out and under the demonstration of the Holy Spirit proclaimed to the world.— Ibid.

Her mind turned back to 1848 when the foundations of the truths proclaimed by Seventh-day Adventists were drawn together in a body of teachings at the Sabbath conferences:

Many wonderful miracles have been worked in the searching for the truth as for hidden treasure, and the golden treasures of the Word have been substantiated by such remarkable demonstration of the Holy Spirit that all who have had an experience in the work of God since the Bible was opened to our understanding would be sinning against the Holy Ghost to deny the truth.— Ibid.

A small army of painters invaded the main building at Paradise Valley to paint the entire interior. Ellen White felt that in the interests of her health she should leave. She decided to spend a few days at the Glendale Sanitarium, which had not yet opened. On her way to Paradise Valley in early November she had spent a weekend in Los Angeles, and while there had visited the new Glendale Sanitarium. She was delighted with what she found. [372]

Chapter 29—Glendale, a Sanitarium Near Los Angeles

At Glendale, Elder J. A. Burden was leading out in the establishment of a second sanitarium in southern California. He was the manager of the St. Helena Sanitarium when Ellen White returned from Australia in late 1900. Shortly, however, he responded to a call to Australia to help lead out in the establishment of institutions there.

Dr. Daniel Kress was in charge of the church’s Australian medical work. His wife, also a physician, worked by his side. The Kresses had some strong opinions as to how the medical work of Seventh-day Adventists should be conducted, and it seems that this was not quite the perspective that the Burdens entertained. There was some friction, and in the third year of his service in Australia Ellen White wrote to Elder Burden that although she did not have any special light on the question, he could, if he felt his work in Australia was done, be used in southern California (Letter 252, 1903).

The Burdens returned to the States in February, 1904. He picked up the words from Ellen White’s pen that “a sanitarium should be established near Los Angeles” and “it is the expressed will of God that this shall be done.”—Letter 211, 1904. To Burden, this was a challenge. He knew that she had also written:

I have been unable to sleep after half past eleven at night. Many things, in figures and symbols, are passing before me. There are sanitariums in running order near Los Angeles.... As in the vision of the night I saw the grounds, I said, “O ye of little [373] faith! You have lost time.”—Manuscript 152, 1901.

On April 26, 1904, two days after her arrival in Washington, D.C., she declared:

Light has been given me that a sanitarium should be established near Los Angeles, in some rural district. For years the need of such an institution has been kept before our people in southern California. Had the brethren there heeded the warnings given by the Lord, to guard them from making mistakes, they would not now be tied up as they are. But they have not followed the instruction given. They have not gone forward in faith to establish a sanitarium near Los Angeles.—Letter 147, 1904.

On June 30, while in Tennessee visiting Edson, she wrote that it was “the expressed will of God” that a sanitarium should be established near Los Angeles. She observed:

Why this work should be delayed from year to year is a great mystery.... Had the light given by God been followed, this institution might now be in running order, exerting a strong influence for good. Arrangements could have been made to utilize for sanitarium work buildings already erected.—Letter 211, 1904.

In response to her urging, Burden looked around for likely properties in southern California that could be secured at a reasonable sum. In the late 1880s many establishments had been built for tourists and health resorts, but the businesses had failed.

The building that now seemed most likely to provide what was needed was the castlelike Glendale Hotel, built in 1886 and situated on a five-acre tract of land bordered by dirt roads. At that time Glendale was a country settlement of five hundred inhabitants, eight miles from Los Angeles.

A seventy-five room, unfurnished structure that had cost $60,000 was available. Because of the business failures in southern California, it had never been used as a hotel. It served for four years as an Episcopal school for girls; then in 1901 and 1902, before the Glendale High School was built, it was used as a public high school. [374]

On the property were shade trees and orchards. Around it were chicken ranches and a scattering of modest homes. In 1904 a real-estate developer, Leslie C. Brand, controlled the property. The asking price was $26,000, which Burden knew was far out of his reach.

As he sat in his buggy looking over the hotel grounds, Burden decided that if he could buy it for $15,000 he would regard this as a sign of divine approval. Taking several of his brethren with him, he approached Mr. Brand and explained, “‘Our money will have to come from church members. Can you help us by reducing the price?’”

Brand thought a moment and then asked, “‘How does $12,500 sound?’” Burden responded that it sounded fine. He took out a $20 bill and gave it to Brand as a deposit on the purchase (Johns and Utt, eds., The Vision Bold, p. 163).

At the conference headquarters Burden was dealing with the same administrators who had hesitated so long about investing in the Paradise Valley Sanitarium. Mention has already been made of the small memberships and heavy indebtedness of the conference. The conference lacked even the thousand dollars needed for a down payment on the Glendale property. The president of the Pacific Union Conference had made it very clear to the local conference administration that there must be a stop to increasing indebtedness, and there must be a turnaround in financial affairs of the Southern California Conference.

Burden took the matter to the constituency at the camp meeting in September, 1904, and to his disappointment, they rejected the purchase for lack of money.

At last Elder Burden was able to enlist the help of Elder Clarence Santee, the Conference president. The two men decided to advance the money for the down payment out of their own pockets. Just at this time Sister White sent a message urging in strong terms the purchase of the property, and Elder Santee read it to the conference delegates in session.

“Why is this work delayed?” she asked. She also persuaded two of the church members to advance a thousand dollars each toward the purchase of the institution. The delegates rallied and pledged $5,200 to buy the Glendale Hotel. A cash payment of $4,500 was [375] made, and a three-year mortgage was agreed upon for the balance. A board of trustees was set up with Elder Santee as chairman, which took steps at once to develop the institution.

Ellen White’s Visit

This was the situation when Ellen White stopped at the new Glendale institution. She went through all the rooms of the new Sanitarium, many of which were freshly painted. She wished there were more land than the five acres connected with the building, but she observed, “It is certainly in the country for there are no buildings very near it. It is surrounded by large fields of strawberries, and by orange orchards.”—Letter 311, 1904.

In spite of the fact that men were painting here also, Ellen White decided to stay over the weekend. On Monday, December 5, she went over to Redlands, some sixty-five miles to the east. Elder E. S. Ballenger, pastor of the new church that had been raised there as the result of an evangelistic effort, had invited Ellen White to come. She stayed in the Ballenger home for a few days and there completed some Review and Herald articles.

Sabbath morning she spoke for about thirty minutes in the Redlands church, which was about as much as she dared venture in her state of health. She later observed that “just such places [as Redlands] had been presented to me in vision as places to which we must give special attention.”—Manuscript 30, 1905. Describing her visit there in a letter to her friend, Mrs. Crawford, she remarked, “I wish that a small sanitarium could be started there.”—Letter 349, 1904.

She noted, “The climate in this valley is very good.”—Letter 321, 1904. Sunday morning Mr. Boles and his wife took her and Sara the eleven miles to Riverside, where Mrs. White was to speak in the new church. On the way they passed through one orange grove after another. She spoke for half an hour and then went for a treatment at a nearby treatment room operated by Dr. J. R. Leadsworth. After resting a time, she returned to Redlands and then back to Glendale and headed for her home in the north.

As Ellen White traveled north, she was not able to meet as large a number of speaking appointments as she ordinarily would have. Her health had not been good. On the trip south she had spoken at Fresno on Sabbath, and then was invited to go down to the [376] Hanford-Lemoore District, where she agreed to fill appointments every afternoon for four days at missionary meetings being held in nearby towns. Going on to Los Angeles, she stayed Sabbath and Sunday and spoke on both days in a large tent in which Elder W. W. Simpson, a successful evangelist, had been holding meetings. Sabbath there were twenty-five hundred people present and Sunday there were a thousand (Letter 311, 1904).

While staying at the Paradise Valley Sanitarium and really not well, she was urged by the members of the San Diego church to hold a meeting there. So on a Sunday morning she drove six miles to San Diego, but after speaking for fifteen minutes she found that she could not go on. She had to give up and return the six miles to Paradise Valley Sanitarium. This was a very unusual experience for her. Many times the Lord had given her special strength to meet her speaking appointments, but this time was an exception, and she and her audience were disappointed. Then there was the speaking appointment in Redlands and the one on Sunday at Riverside.

On her trip back home to St. Helena, she made a stopover at Mountain View to consult with the brethren. She wrote in her diary while there:

I am strongly impressed that my family shall locate here to be near the printing establishment, but the Lord must direct us, for it means a great deal to us to uproot and to resettle and perhaps have to build. St. Helena has been my refuge, but I have much printing to be done. May the Lord spare my life to do His work before I shall rest in the grave is my prayer.—Manuscript 147, 1904.

W. C. White, Sara McEnterfer, and Maggie Hare had been with Ellen White on the trip. They were all glad to be home, arriving on Tuesday, December 20. Later she wrote, “We are home again, and I am in my own room, writing to you.”—Letter 341, 1904.

Seven months of the year 1904 Ellen White had spent away from home (Letter 349, 1904).

Completion of the Ministry of Healing Manuscript

Back in her home environment she and her helpers took up the work of completing the manuscript for the health book to be called The Ministry of Healing. [377]

This book was long in the planning stage. For a decade or more it had been Ellen White’s hope to produce a book that presented the health message in its fullness—a book not for the reading of Adventists only, but for the general public.

In 1864 she published her first writing on health, presenting it in a thirty-one-page chapter in Spiritual Gifts, Volume IV. This was a resume of what was revealed to her in the June 6, 1863, vision. A year later she prepared six articles on the main phases of healthful living for publication in the six pamphlets entitled Health: or How to Live. In the following years she presented various phases of healthful living in chapters of the Testimonies and articles in the Health Reformer, Review and Herald, and Youth’s Instructor.

In 1890 a compilation was made from materials appearing in these sources and the unpublished E. G. White manuscripts available, for the book Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene. The first part, “Christian Temperance” (156 pages), was from her pen; the “Bible Hygiene” section (105 pages) was from James White’s editorials and articles in the Health Reformer.

“The work of compilation,” the preface denotes, “has been done under the supervision of Mrs. White, by a committee appointed by her for the purpose, and the manuscript has been carefully examined by her.”

Dr. J. H. Kellogg, who served on the committee and wrote the preface, declares that the compilation of Ellen White’s teachings was prepared for “those for whom they were specially intended”—in other words, Seventh-day Adventists. The book had wide distribution. Portions, and some chapters, are found today in Counsels on Health and Fundamentals of Christian Education.

In 1897, while Ellen White was in Australia, the medical missionary board of Battle Creek, Michigan, published, under the title Healthful Living, a 284-page compilation of “the various teachings upon the subject of health, health reform, and allied matters, which are to be found in the writings of Mrs. E. G. White” (p. 3). This was described as being in “the most concise and condensed form possible’’ (Ibid.). Dr. David Paulson led out in arranging this reference work, which presented her teachings in selected numbered paragraphs, with appropriate source references. It was somewhat of an encyclopedic work, and was much loved by [378] health-minded Seventh-day Adventists. This book, prepared in Ellen White’s absence, came short of being a book for the general public and served for the reading of the rank and file of Seventh-day Adventists.

Not until her return to North America could consideration be given to a new comprehensive book on health, and even then it must await the preparation of the book Education. In a letter to Elder Daniells written June 24, 1901, she mentions the “temperance book” that “should ... be published” (Letter 55, 1901). As that project neared reality, she wrote in September, 1903, “My next book is to be on temperance and the medical missionary work.”—Letter 209, 1903.

Twelve months later she told of how “Marian [Davis] is collecting that which I have written and placing it in order to frame the book now being prepared, The Ministry of Healing.”—Manuscript 144, 1904.

How the Work was Done

Ellen White had written extensively on health. For forty years following the health-reform vision of 1863, she had made repeated presentations. So, with the help of Marian Davis, who had assisted her for nearly twenty-five years, the writings on health had been drawn together and placed in an effective sequence.

Though all the material was drawn from writings portraying the light given to her, Ellen White welcomed the opinions of her working staff on the selection and arrangement of materials and the relative amount of space a particular topic should be allowed, and even in the choice of words used. She was eager that the important truths on health should be set forth in the clearest, most appealing, and most effective manner. But her word was final as she painstakingly read and reread the chapters as they were being compiled. While Mrs. White’s literary assistants drew matter together, arranging it carefully, at no time did they attempt to augment the E. G. White text. Ellen White worked closely with Marian Davis, filling in here and there what was needed to round out the subject.

The plan for The Ministry of Healing was a broad one and called for much painstaking work. The first section of nearly one hundred [379] pages was released as a series of articles in the Pacific Health Journal while the overall manuscript was in preparation.

On February 1, 1905, she reported, “I have been reading the matter prepared for Ministry of Healing, and I feel much relieved to think that the book is ready for publication, and that it will soon be in circulation.”—Letter 73, 1905.

At another time she reported that “the manuscript will go to press as soon as I can give it a final critical reading.”—Letter 303, 1904.

But there was more to do than prepare the manuscript. Denominational publishers in 1904 were not in any position to make the large investment called for in typesetting, illustrating, and plate making for such a book as The Ministry of Healing. These expenses would run about $3,000. Ellen White herself approached Seventh-day Adventist acquaintances for loans to help capitalize the project.

To a sister in the faith who possessed some means, she wrote on July 11, 1904:

Sister Marian, I have a request to make. Can you lend me one thousand dollars? I need money to help me in getting out my books. I have one book, The Ministry of Healing, which is almost ready for the printer.—Letter 231, 1904.

A week later she approached a brother in the faith:

I now wish to ask you if you could lend me one thousand dollars, to be used in bringing out some important books.... The Ministry of Healing is now almost ready for the printer.—Letter 247, 1904.

Not a few Seventh-day Adventists were pleased to lend Ellen White money to assist her in book publication and as an interest-bearing investment in her books.

Then there were the illustrations. The Ministry of Healing was planned as a book for sale to the general public. W. C. White arranged with Adventist artist W. A. Reaser to serve as art director and do the sketches for the book. Another Adventist artist, Pedro Lemos, designed the texts and mottos.

Now another element was interjected. Even though in debt, Ellen G. White four years earlier had made a gift of the book Christ’s [380] Object Lessons to aid in lifting the debts resting heavily on the denomination’s educational institutions. More than $300,000 was brought in as publishers, ministry, and laymen cooperated in the effort (Letter 102, 1908).

Now Ellen White proposed to make The Ministry of Healing available for a similar effort to assist the sanitariums, but she reserved the privilege of designating the institutions that would benefit. In 1907 she wrote:

It was God’s purpose that by the sale of Ministry of Healing and Christ’s Object Lessons the necessary means would be raised for the work of our sanitariums and schools, and thus our people be left free to donate of their means for the opening of the work in new fields.... Wherever the work of selling Christ’s Object Lessons has been taken hold of in earnest, the book has had a good circulation. And the lessons that have been learned by those who have engaged in this work have well repaid their efforts. Our people should all be encouraged to take a part in this missionary effort.... Christ’s Object Lessons and Ministry of Healing ... are books which contain precious truths, and from which the reader can draw lessons of highest value.—Letter 276, 1907.

She felt clear on this even though she was carrying an indebtedness of $20,000. [381]

Chapter 30—With the Lord’s Messenger in Early 1905

The year 1905 was only one hour old when Ellen White rose on a Sunday morning and made her way to her writing room. She reports:

It is a cool morning. Built my fire. Bowed before the Lord in prayer. I have so many things burdening my mind. I ask the Lord Jesus to direct me, to guide me. What shall I trace with my pen this morning ...?

I need the Great Guide to control my mind. What shall I trace with the pen first? ... Oh, how much I feel that I need the guidance of the Holy Spirit!—Manuscript 173, 1905.

It was to be a momentous year. At the very hour she was writing, a part of the Melrose Sanitarium in New England was being ravaged by fire. She would learn of this later, of course. Two new sanitariums in southern California, started in response to her urgent calls, were struggling to their feet, and she would soon call for a third. The denomination was still in the throes of agony over the defection of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his associates. The growing work in the South faced many needs. The General Conference session would be held in Washington in May, and Ellen White had been urged to attend. There were bills pending in Congress that if passed would put the District of Columbia under Sunday laws, which caused her no small concern. Work must be finished on the manuscript for The Ministry of Healing, and there was the constant burden of writing testimonies to individuals, to institutional leaders, and to conference officers. [382]

As she turned to her writing that Sunday morning, the Holy Spirit led her mind to the students at Oakwood College. In a four-page testimony she asked whether they were making the most of their privileges, and urged cooperation with the teachers. She stated that they should ask themselves, “Why am I obtaining an education?” She dealt with character development and assured them that angels were ever ready to help them (Letter 1, 1905).

Before the day was over she penned a newsy, informal letter to Sister Bradford, a friend of earlier years living at Dartmouth, near Fairhaven, Massachusetts. But most of the letters written in January were messages of counsel, caution, and encouragement.

On January 4 she wrote a letter of caution to C. H. Jones, manager of the Pacific Press, newly moved from Oakland to Mountain View, California. There was a letter the same day to the church in Reno, Nevada, giving counsel in response to their inquiry as to whether they should start a sanitarium there. She advised them to move cautiously.

On January 5 she wrote to the workers in the Pacific Press and penned a letter of counsel to “The Leading Men of the Pacific Press.”

On January 10 her mind was on the South as she addressed “Those Assembled in Council in Nashville.” Another letter of counsel was written to Elders Haskell and Butler, giving advice concerning their attitude toward certain problems in Nashville.

Three letters were written on Wednesday, January 11: “To the Leaders of Our Work at Takoma Park,” “To Our Workers in Washington, D.C.,” and “To the Workers in the Washington Publishing House.”

Five days later she was writing to Elders Prescott and Colcord, workers carrying heavy responsibilities in Washington. The next day, Tuesday, January 17, having received full information regarding the Melrose Sanitarium fire, she wrote to Dr. and Mrs. Nicola, physicians working there. Only a portion of the structure was destroyed; always looking for the bright side, she saw the fire as a blessing in disguise, for “the part of the building that burned was objectionable in many ways” (Letter 23, 1905). “The Lord is good,” she wrote; “praise His holy name.... He has mercifully saved every life, and has taken away an objectionable part of the building. I am glad it has come about in this way. Had a proposition been made to [383] tear that part of the building down, some would have regarded it as a great waste. Now you can have a suitable addition put on to the building.”— Ibid.

Dealing with an Infatuated Doctor and His Nurse

Wednesday, January 18, she used her pen to trace words of warning and appeal to a physician of her acquaintance who had become infatuated with one of the nurses in the institution where he served as chief physician. She wrote:

My Brother, I have a few words to speak to you. In the past you and your wife have been very happy together. You have loved your wife and have treated her very kindly. She has not lost her love for you, because she has loved you sincerely; and for years the heavenly angels bent over you, pleased at your unity. But you have lost the balance of your mind, and you will be inclined to write and speak unjustly, and to say and do that which, were you in your right mind, would greatly shock you. You have lost your wisdom and judgment.

It is time that you placed yourself in a right position. Through the grace of God, I have been the instrument, by means of the testimonies given me, of saving several, yes, many, who were passing through an experience similar to that through which you are now passing. Do not try to work out some plan by which you can escape the reproach which, unless you change, you will be the cause of bringing upon the work of God. Only by falling upon the Rock Christ Jesus can you escape this reproach.—Letter 27, 1905.

She warned in no uncertain terms:

Talk no more of love to any woman besides your wife. Such a love is base. It has in it nothing of true love. Love is too sacred a word to be used in such a connection. Lust is the word, not love. It is the lust of the mind, the fruit of corrupt thoughts.

I shall call things by the right name. For Christ’s sake, for your own soul’s sake, and for the sake of those who would cheapen themselves to respond to your expressions of love, I send you this warning. I ask you to read and study the fifth [384] chapter of First Thessalonians....

A strange spell is upon you. You cannot reason correctly, and you need help. I am instructed to say that the Lord will heal your soul of its disease if you will make thorough work for repentance, and forever rely upon His power and grace. Do not imperil your soul by continuing in Satan’s snare, under his instruction. The principles of the Christian religion call upon you to break away from your sins, and place yourself under the influence of the Holy Spirit.— Ibid.

To the young woman who made no effort to resist what was taking place, she wrote a most earnest five-page letter of appeal, making a number of points: “How could you,” she asked, “give the least encouragement to familiarity to a married man, one whose wife was doing a noble work as a physician, in connection with her husband?” “This is no trifling matter,” she declared, and she reminded her that “we must one day individually give an account of our actions to Him who reads the heart. You cannot afford to transgress God’s holy law.... In no case are you justified in receiving the affections of a man who is married to another.”—Letter 33, 1905. She continued:

I ask you now to cut the last thread that binds you to Dr.---. You should endeavor to realize how such a course of action as you have been following will affect you in the future. What kind of an influence do you think you could exert spiritually? Your course would ever be a weight to keep you from any advancement in religious lines....

I say to you, my sister, that you are entirely wrong in accepting the love which belongs to another. Are we to conclude that the truth has lost its power over you? Will you not break away from this satanic snare, confess your sins to the Lord and to those whom you have so deeply wronged, and will you not turn to God with all your heart? He is of a great compassion, and He will abundantly pardon.— Ibid.

In words of encouragement she wrote:

God will pardon you, if you now step out of the path in which Satan has been leading you. But your work and that of Dr.--- [385] must ever be in different places, that this temptation may forever end. Never again should you work in the same institution. God knows the weakness of the resolution of a man who has once been led astray. Yet Dr.--- is a man whom God loves, a man to whom He has given power to do a good, pure, and solid work in connection with our institutions. He desires us to do all in our power to save this man for whom Christ has died, from making a shipwreck of faith....

And the Lord has not rejected you. He pities and loves you, and He calls you now to come to Him and receive His spirit of purity and holiness and His everlasting love. Cast aside every suggestion that you are unworthy to be called a child of God. Come just as you are to Jesus, make a true heart-work of repentance, receive His forgiveness, and never again be led to repeat such an experience as calls this letter from me.— Ibid.

A copy of this letter of appeal was sent to the infatuated doctor.

But the writing of letters was not her main concern. Book manuscripts were in preparation: “We are very busy just now,” she wrote to Elder and Mrs. E. W. Farnsworth in England, “with Ministry of Healing. I am so glad that this book will soon be ready to place in the hands of the many who will appreciate its contents.”—Letter 63, 1905.

There had been the hope that the book would be ready by the opening of the General Conference session in Washington, D.C., on May 11, 1905, but just a month before this date she reported, “I have just finished reading over the proofs of Ministry of Healing.... The work on my book goes very slowly.”—Letter 109, 1905.

It was published in August.

Prayer for the Sick, and Operating Sanitariums

Earlier chapters have revealed Ellen White’s intense interest in the development of sanitariums in southern California and her earnest hope that they be so established as to do the most effective work. She carried this burden continually, and it was to intensify throughout 1905. In late January a letter was received at Elmshaven from Elder E. W. Farnsworth, an old New Englander now working in Great Britain. He had read in the church papers of the Melrose Sanitarium fire on January 1, and he wondered “if God is not trying [386] to teach us a great and needed lesson in these calamities.” He asked:

Are we not as a people drifting into the idea of depending on sanitariums for the healing of the sick, more than we are depending on God to do that work? ... My mind leans heavily toward the healing by divine power.—E. W. Farnsworth to WCW, January 20, 1905.

When Ellen White read this letter, she wrote in reply:

Dear Brother and Sister Farnsworth,

Your interesting letter was handed to me today, and I will begin a letter to you at once, lest other matters come before me, and I forget.... We are very busy just now with Ministry of Healing....

I wish to write particularly about one point in your letter. You speak of the burning of the Melrose Sanitarium, and ask why the sick should not be healed by the prayer of faith, instead of there being so many sanitariums established. There is more to this matter than at first strikes the mind. The Lord has given instruction for years that sanitariums should be established, and that advantage should be taken of opportunities to purchase at a reasonable price desirable properties out of the cities. The Lord has shown me that there should be sanitariums near many important cities.

When we have shown the people that we have right principles regarding health reform, we should then take up the temperance question ... and drive it home to the hilt.

Suitable places must be provided to which we can bring the sick and suffering who know nothing of our people, and scarcely anything of Bible truth. Every effort possible is to be made to show the sick that disease may be cured by rational methods of treatment, without having recourse to drugs. Let the sick be separated from harmful surroundings and associations, and placed in our sanitariums, where they can receive treatment from Christian nurses and physicians.

Should all the sick be healed by prayer, very few would improve their opportunities to become acquainted with right ways of eating, drinking, and dressing. Those connected with our sanitariums should realize the duty resting upon them to [387] give the patients an education in the principles of healthful living.

The sick have their lesson to learn. They must be denied those preparations of food that would retard or prevent their recovery to health. They must learn the science of self-denial, eating simple food prepared in a simple way. They should live much in the sunlight, which should find its way to every room of the building. Lectures on health topics should be given. These lectures will open the blinded understanding, and truths never before thought of will be fastened on the mind.—Letter 63, 1905.

She elaborated on these matters in a letter written to Elder J. A. Burden, who was pushing ahead with the establishment of the Glendale Sanitarium near Los Angeles:

The remark is often made, by one and another, “Why depend so much on sanitariums? Why do we not pray for the miraculous healing of the sick, as the people of God used to do?”

In the early history of our work many were healed by prayer. And some, after they were healed, pursued the same course in the indulgence of appetite, that they had followed in the past. They did not live and work in such a way as to avoid sickness. They did not show that they appreciated the Lord’s goodness to them. Again and again they were brought to suffering through their own careless, thoughtless course of action. How could the Lord be glorified in bestowing on them the gift of health?

When the light came that we should have a sanitarium, the reason was plainly given. There were many who needed to be educated in regard to healthful living. A place must be provided to which the sick could be taken, where they could be taught how to live so as to preserve health. At the same time light was given that the sick could be successfully treated without drugs. This was the lesson that was to be practiced and taught by physicians and nurses, and by all other medical missionary workers.—Letter 59, 1905.

Then she discussed at some length the work that was to be done in sanitariums:

Our sanitarium work is not to be done in mammoth buildings [388] in a few places. Every large city should if possible have a small sanitarium, in the outskirts, where the air is not contaminated by the smoke from many chimneys, and where the noise and confusion of the streets cannot be heard.

The nurses connected with these institutions should be prepared to exert a soul-saving influence. Those who are not rooted and grounded in the truth should not be employed. Let them first become established in the truth. Then let them learn to be ever on guard, ever seeking to make the right impression on the minds of the sick. We need to study the true science of healing....

Nurses should have regular Bible instruction, that they may be able to speak to the sick words that will enlighten and help them. Angels of God are in the room where the suffering ones are to take treatment, and the atmosphere surrounding the soul of the one giving treatment should be pure and fragrant. In the lives of the physicians and nurses the virtues of Christ are to be seen. His principles are to be lived. Then by what they do and say, the sick will be drawn to the Saviour. We need the saving grace of God.

It is to save the souls, as well as to cure the bodies of men and women, that our sanitariums are at much expense established. God designs that by means of them, the rich and the poor, the high and the low, shall find the bread from heaven and the water of life.

I will thus explain the reason why we have sanitariums. It is to gather in a class of people who will become intelligent upon health reform, and will learn how to regain health and how to prevent sickness by following right habits of eating and drinking and dressing. As a part of the treatment, lectures should be given on the different points of health reform. Instruction should be given regarding the right choice and preparation of food, showing that food may be prepared so as to be wholesome and nourishing, and at the same time appetizing and palatable. These lectures should be diligently kept up as a means of teaching the patients how to prevent disease by a wise course of action. By means of these lectures the patients may be shown the responsibility resting on them to keep the body in the most [389] healthful condition because it is the Lord’s purchased possession.— Ibid.

In the following definitive statement Ellen White presents the role of the Christian nurse:

An experienced Christian nurse in the sickroom will use the best remedies within her knowledge for restoring the sufferer to health. And she will pleasantly and successfully draw the one for whom she is working to Christ, the healer of the soul as well as of the body. The lessons given, line upon line, here a little and there a little, will have their influence....

Those who have no love for God will work constantly against the best interests of soul and body. But those who awake to the responsibility and solemnity of living in this present evil world will be softened and subdued. Tenderness and love for Christ will fill their hearts. Christ imparts His wisdom.... He is their Friend. In many cases the realization that they have such a Friend means more to the suffering ones in their recovery from sickness than the best treatment that can be given. But both lines of ministry are essential. They are to go hand in hand....

I think that I have answered the question, “Why do we not pray for the healing of the sick, instead of having sanitariums?’” The education of many souls is at stake. In the providence of God, instruction has been given that sanitariums be established, in order that the sick may be drawn to them, and learn how to live healthfully. The establishment of sanitariums is a providential arrangement, whereby people from all churches are to be reached, and made acquainted with the saving truth for this time.

It is for this reason that we urge that sanitariums be established in many places outside of our cities.— Ibid.

The points set forth in these letters pervaded Ellen White’s thinking as she earnestly engaged in opening sanitariums in 1905.

Tithe Money and Its Use

As mentioned in an earlier chapter, Ellen White recognized that the broad work to which she was called as God’s messenger as [390] far-reaching and multifaceted. In a statement addressed to the elders of the Battle Creek church she said:

My commission embraces the work of a prophet, but it does not end there. It embraces more than the minds of those who have been sowing the seeds of unbelief can comprehend.—Letter 244, 1906 (Selected Messages 1:36).

A specific example of her special commission was set forth in an article in the Review and Herald:

I was charged not to neglect or pass by those who were being wronged.... If I see those in positions of trust neglecting aged ministers, I am to present the matter to those whose duty it is to care for them. Ministers who have faithfully done their work are not to be forgotten or neglected when they have become feeble in health. Our conferences are not to disregard the needs of those who have borne the burdens of the work.—The Review and Herald, July 26, 1906 (Selected Messages 1:33).

The ramifications of carrying out such a special commission are more than those seen on the surface. Not only was she to stand as an advocate for the neglected or oppressed ministers—the church had no retirement plan in those days [the sustentation plan, which made provision for aged or incapacitated workers, went into effect in 1911. It has since been modified as a retirement plan]—she was also to engage in ministering relief. In doing so, she worked quietly, feeling that publicity was uncalled for.

At times tithe money was entrusted to her by fellow Adventists for appropriation in the Lord’s work as in the providence of God she saw best. She sent it on to bring relief and aid to worthy ordained ministers who were in special need. Once in a great while, some of her own tithe was so employed.

This matter was given more or less general exposure following the writing of a letter she penned January 22, 1905, while attending important meetings at Mountain View, California. But before recounting that situation, we should review the principles regarding the tithe and its use.

Nothing is plainer in the E. G. White writings than the [391] instruction concerning the faithful payment of tithe and the fact that it is reserved for support of the ministry. This is attested to in all Ellen White’s statements that have a bearing on this question.

The tithe is sacred, reserved by God for Himself. It is to be brought into His treasury to be used to sustain the gospel laborers in their work.—Gospel Workers, 226.

It [the tithe] is to be devoted solely to support the ministry of the gospel.—The Review and Herald, May 9, 1893 (Counsels on Stewardship, 81).

God has not changed; the tithe is still to be used for the support of the ministry.—Testimonies for the Church 9:250.

The tithe is to be brought into the “storehouse,” and from there is to be dispersed:

It is part of the minister’s work to teach those who accept the truth through his efforts, to bring the tithe to the storehouse, as an acknowledgment of their dependence upon God.—Gospel Workers, 370.

They [tithes and offerings] are to be placed in His treasury and held sacred for His service as He has appointed.—Testimonies for the Church 9:247, 248.

The tithe, unlike freewill offerings, is not controlled by the discretion of the one who gives.

The portion that God has reserved for Himself is not to be diverted to any other purpose than that which He has specified. Let none feel at liberty to retain their tithe, to use according to their own judgment. They are not to use it for themselves in an emergency, nor to apply it as they see fit, even in what they may regard as the Lord’s work.—Ibid., 9:247.

Clearly God has had one plan for all time:

A tithe of all our increase is the Lord’s. He has reserved it to Himself to be employed for religious purposes. It is holy. Nothing less than this has He accepted in any dispensation. A neglect or postponement of this duty, will provoke the divine displeasure. If all professed Christians would faithfully bring [392] their tithes to God, His treasury would be full.—The Review and Herald, May 16, 1882.

How and Why Ellen White Dispensed Tithe Funds

That Ellen White in her special ministry handled some tithe funds has perplexed some. A few have felt it gave them license to disregard the plain teachings on tithe paying cited above, and use their tithes in their own way. The following details and quotations should be carefully noted.

First should be established Ellen White’s personal relationship to the tithe and the manner in which she paid her tithe. In an early pamphlet published in 1890 she stated:

I pay my tithe gladly and freely, saying, as did David, “Of thine own have we given thee.”—Manuscript 3, 1890.

The preceding sentence indicates clearly that she paid her tithes in the regular way into the conference treasury.

Unworthy ministers may receive some of the means thus raised, but dare anyone, because of this, withhold from the treasury and brave the curse of God? I dare not.—Ibid.

But back to the special commission God gave her and the burden this placed on her. As a denominational worker she knew from experience what it meant to face illness in the family with no provision for financial assistance. When James White, while serving as president of the General Conference, was stricken with paralysis, and in the absence of provision for such an emergency, she had to take up the carpets from the floor—rag rugs of her own making—and sell them, as well as the furniture, to secure means for the care of her husband. So the instruction that in a special manner she was to watch out for ministers who might be in need was significant to her.

Through vision her attention was often called to the cases of ministers or their families who were being neglected. In many cases she gave financial assistance from her own personal income, or from funds in her control, for at times her personal resources were inadequate. Of this experience, and of the inadequacy of funds, W. C. White wrote: [393]

When we pleaded with her that her income was all consumed in the work of preparing her books for publication, she said:

“The Lord has shown me that the experience which your father and I have passed through in poverty and deprivation, in the early days of our work, has given to me a keen appreciation and sympathy for others who are passing through similar experiences of want and suffering. And where I see workers in this cause that have been true and loyal to the work, who are left to suffer, it is my duty to speak in their behalf. If this does not move the brethren to help them, then I must help them, even if I am obliged to use a portion of my tithe in doing so.”

In harmony with this, Mother has many, many times made request of our conference officers, to give consideration to the necessities of humble but faithful workers whose needs were by some means overlooked.

In many instances her requests have been responded to, and the needed help given. But in some cases the lack of funds and the absence of appreciation of the worthiness and the necessities have left the needy workers without help, and have left her to face the burden.

Then she has said to me or to the bookkeeper, “Send help as soon as you can, and if necessary take it from my tithe.” In many cases we found it possible to respond to her requests by gifts from her personal funds, and in some cases a portion of her tithe has been used.

These experiences relate mostly to the years we were in Europe and Australia, and to the years 1900 to 1906, in behalf of the work in the Southern States.—DF 113b, WCW statement in “Ellen G. White and the Tithe.”

W. C. White then clearly declares:

During the greater part of the time since my connection with Mother’s business in 1881, a full tithe has been paid on her salary, to church or conference treasurer. Instead of paying tithe on the increase from her books, there has been set apart an amount greater than a tithe from which she has made appropriations from time to time in accordance with the instruction mentioned above.... [394]

In view of the extraordinary and exceptional responsibilities placed upon her as a messenger of God having special light and special responsibility in behalf of the needy and the oppressed, she says she has been given special and exceptional authority regarding the use of her tithe. This authority she has used in a limited way as seemed to be for the best interests of the cause.—Ibid.

What called for the January 22 letter written from Mountain View was that in the latter part of 1904 an agent of the Southern Missionary Society (the conference-recognized organization fostering work among the blacks in the South), while visiting in the State of Colorado, received as a gift from one church the sum of about $400 to assist in the work of the society. These funds came to his hands in response to his appeal for help in evangelizing the South. Some of the money was tithe. Elder W. C. White, familiar with the details of this matter, informs us:

The officers of the Southern Missionary Society did not use this money to pay their own wages. They did not use it in any way for their own personal benefit. Neither did they pay it to the support of men whom the conferences in the South thought to be unfitted or unworthy. Neither was it paid to men who were carrying on an unauthorized work of their own devising.

The money was placed in the treasury of the Southern Missionary Society and was paid out in a regular and economical way to approved laborers who were engaged in regular denominational work.—Ibid.

But the action was irregular on the part of the agent who received the money, and the church that paid it to him. This action was considered by the officers of the Colorado Conference to be not only irregular but wrong and censurable. The matter became known to Sister White, and from Mountain View she wrote a letter to the conference president, dated January 22, 1905. Here is her letter to the conference president in its entirety:

My brother, I wish to say to you, Be careful how you move. You are not moving wisely. The least you have to speak about the tithe that has been appropriated to the most needy and the [395] most discouraging field in the world, the more sensible you will be.

It has been presented to me for years that my tithe was to be appropriated by myself to aid the white and colored ministers who were neglected and did not receive sufficient, properly to support their families. When my attention was called to aged ministers, white or black, it was my special duty to investigate into their necessities and supply their needs. This was to be my special work, and I have done this in a number of cases. No man should give notoriety to the fact that in special cases the tithe is used in that way.

In regard to the colored work in the South, that field has been and is still being robbed of the means that should come to the workers in that field. If there have been cases where our sisters have appropriated their tithe to the support of the ministers working for the colored people in the South, let every man, if he is wise, hold his peace.

I have myself appropriated my tithe to the most needy cases brought to my notice. I have been instructed to do this; and as the money is not withheld from the Lord’s treasury, it is not a matter that should be commented upon, for it will necessitate my making known these matters, which I do not desire to do, because it is not best.

Some cases have been kept before me for years, and I have supplied their needs from the tithe, as God has instructed me to do. And if any person shall say to me, Sister White, will you appropriate my tithe where you know it is most needed, I shall say, Yes, I will; and I have done so. I commend those sisters who have placed their tithe where it is most needed to help do a work that is being left undone, and if this matter is given publicity, it will create a knowledge which would better be left as it is. I do not care to give publicity to this work which the Lord has appointed me to do, and others to do.

I send this matter to you so that you shall not make a mistake. Circumstances alter cases. I would not advise that anyone should make a practice of gathering up tithe money. But for years there have now and then been persons who have lost confidence in the appropriation of the tithe who have placed [396] their tithe in my hands, and said that if I did not take it they would themselves appropriate it to the families of the most needy ministers they could find. I have taken the money, given a receipt for it, and told them how it was appropriated.

I write this to you so that you shall keep cool and not become stirred up and give publicity to this matter, lest many more shall follow their example.—Letter 267, 1905.

It should be noted that as Mrs. White speaks of the use of the tithe in this and similar cases, it is always in the setting of money that was to be used for the support of the ministers. Any tithe money she handled was used as tithe money should be used. The one whom the Lord used as His messenger, and to whom had been given special enlightenment regarding the necessities of worthy laborers, at a time when there was inadequate provision for these ordained ministers, was authorized to meet those necessities, even to the use of her tithe.

But there is not one phrase or sentence in this letter that would neutralize or countermand the clear and full instruction concerning paying tithe or its use. Any such use of the letter addressed to the conference president is a misuse.

Ellen White did not make a practice of gathering up tithe funds, and she never requested that tithe be placed in her hands.

At times a certain veteran colporteur sent a portion of his tithe to Mrs. White to be used properly in the Lord’s work. How she handled such tithe is reflected in a letter she wrote to workers in the South explaining the source of some $500 that she was hastening on to them in response to an urgent need made known to her. She related that a large part of this was money given when she made an appeal for the work in the South at a large gathering. A part of it was tithe money place in her hands by this colporteur. Of this portion she wrote:

I have seventy-five dollars from Brother---, tithe money, and we thought that it would be best to send it along to the Southern field to help colored ministers.... I want it specially applied to the colored ministers, to help them in their salaries.—Letter 262, 1902.

But in writing to this man at another time she revealed not only [397] her course of action but her attitude toward such matters, urging confidence in his brethren and the regular manner of handling the tithe:

You ask if I will accept tithe from you and use it in the cause of God where most needed. In reply I will say that I shall not refuse to do this, but at the same time I will tell you that there is a better way.

It is better to put confidence in the ministers of the conference where you live, and in the officers of the church where you worship. Draw nigh to your brethren. Love them with a true heart fervently, and encourage them to bear their responsibilities faithfully in the fear of God. “Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”—Letter 96, 1911.

Great changes have come into the work of the church since the things that are mentioned in the letter to the conference president happened. Such needs as that letter referred to are now well cared for by conference organizations. [398]

Chapter 31—The General Conference of 1905

The General Conference session of 1905 was due to open on May 11 in Washington, D.C., and Ellen White questioned whether she should attend. In her correspondence she intimated that she probably would not make the trip. The work on her books called for her attention, and she felt that she should stay by this. Yet, as the time for the session approached, she began to plan to go if it seemed her duty to do so.

Night after night in visions she seemed to be either speaking to large congregations or attending important committee meetings. She wrote of how she had had “presentations regarding the deceptions that Satan is bringing in at this time” (Letter 99, 1905). She called for the reprinting of articles published in church journals in former years, written by the pioneers and testifying to the certainty of the message, and she predicted: “There will be constant warfare with seducing spirits that will bring in theories to counteract the truth of God.”— Ibid.

Was she referring to the recent disclosure in correspondence that Elder A. F. Ballenger, a worker in England, was teaching views on the sanctuary truth that would nullify the well-founded understanding of Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary? Was it the intensification that was to come of the Kellogg views, which she once declared “virtually destroyed, the Lord God Himself” (Letter 300, 1903)? Could it be the growing apostasy of A. T. Jones?

When A. G. Daniells, president of the General Conference, learned that there was some question in Ellen White’s mind as to whether she would attend the conference, he wrote to her: [399]

I did not know there was any question at all about your coming.... The members of the General Conference Committee located in Washington, and the leading brethren living here, desire that you shall attend this meeting, and we send you a hearty invitation to come.—AGD to EGW, April 19, 1905.

As Daniells continued his appeal, he disclosed in what high esteem church leaders held the Spirit of Prophecy:

Here is our large conference coming on. This will be an important meeting. We are longing and looking for a special blessing from the Lord. There has never been a time in our history when we have needed clear views of our work, our responsibilities, et cetera, more than just now. We have confidence in the voice of the Spirit of Prophecy that has been with this cause from the first day, and I know that all the delegates will greatly appreciate having you present at the coming conference.

As I fully expect you will come, I will not write more regarding this matter. We shall make the best arrangements we know how for your entertainment.— Ibid.

By this time it seemed that she must attend the session, and she wrote:

If I have to bear the burden of the perplexities here at home, and I must write constantly to the brethren assembled, I feel that I would prefer to be on the field of battle rather than where it takes two weeks to write and receive a reply. I only desire to do the will of my heavenly Father. If it is according to His will, I am willing to go. But it is a problem what to do with the matters here at home.—Letter 111, 1905.

The matters “here at home” to which she referred included the fact that Mrs. Nelson, for several years her housekeeper, had just left to complete the nurses’s course; Lucinda Abbey Hall, whom she considered closer than a sister, was called East because of the illness of her family; Sara McEnterfer, her faithful traveling companion and nurse, was undergoing treatment in San Francisco for a serious eye affliction and could not make the trip East. Ellen White felt lost [400] without Sara as a traveling companion, for Sara understood her needs and wants so well.

Then Dores Robinson, one of her secretaries, came up with a proposed solution. He was engaged to be married to Ella White, W. C. White’s oldest daughter, and he suggested that their wedding plans be advanced and they marry before the party should leave for the East. Then he and Ella would take care of W. C. White’s children, Henry, Herbert, and Grace, leaving May, W. C.’s wife, free to travel East with Ellen White.

The proposal was accepted by all concerned, and arrangements were made for the wedding on Monday afternoon, May 1. It was planned for outdoors, but rain threatened, so the ceremony took place in the Sanitarium chapel. Ellen White offered the prayer and made appropriate remarks.

With the most difficult hurdles out of the way, she was ready to make the trip East. “If the Lord will,” she wrote on Sunday before the wedding, “I shall join the party leaving Wednesday morning [May 3] for the General Conference.”—Letter 133, 1905.

The Southern route was chosen for the trip, and there would be twenty to twenty-five people traveling together, their party almost filling the tourist car that would carry them to Washington.

At the Los Angeles railroad station Elder J. A. Burden came into the car, met Ellen White, and hastily told her of a beautiful property he had found near San Bernardino and Redlands that might be suitable for sanitarium work—Loma Linda. He suggested that as the train went by she look out the window on the right side and see the building. But her berth was on the left, and there is no record that she noticed Loma Linda as the train passed the property.

The trip was pleasant and rather uneventful. On Sabbath and Sunday the Adventists joined in song services, and Elder Corliss spoke to the group on Sunday morning. All in the car, including a few non-Adventists, listened attentively.

Accompanying Ellen White was her son W. C. White, his wife, May, and Maggie Hare. The party arrived at the Washington station on Tuesday morning, May 9, at ten o’clock. After staying overnight at the little temporary sanitarium being opened in Washington in a rented building, the party moved to the newly completed boys’ dormitory, where four rooms were given over to them. Two rooms [401] were for Ellen White (a bedroom and a working room); there was one room for W. C. White and his wife, and another for Maggie Hare.

Ellen White was pleased to witness the development of the work at the school. When she left Washington in mid-August, 1904, construction was just getting under way. Now this building was completed, and work was progressing on others.

She reported that she had “stood the trip remarkably well, and was stronger when I left the cars at Washington than when I got on board at San Francisco.” And she declared:

I can but feel that the Lord is in my coming to Washington at this time. I have a message to bear. God helping me, I will stand firm for the right, presenting truth unmixed with the falsities that have been stealthily creeping in. Those who are on the Lord’s side will refuse to be drawn astray by false science, which makes a jingle of the true word of prophecy. May the Lord give me much of His grace, that in every work and act I may reveal the light of truth.—Letter 135, 1905.

Elder Daniells planned that this General Conference session would be deeply spiritual. He saw the importance of upgrading the ministry; plans were laid for a ministerial institute to run through the session, with an hour each day devoted to the presentation of appropriate topics. It was also a time when he looked forward to the rounding out of the work of the newly formed General Conference departments. Departmental meetings would be held throughout the session. But it was the spiritual interest of the cause that weighed most heavily on his heart. This is reflected in the opening meeting, at 10:30 A.M. on Thursday, May 11.

The 1905 Session Opens

Elder Daniells took Ellen White onto the platform with the group of ministers who were to open the important session. A spirit of solemnity pervaded the assembly as they gathered in the large tent pitched near the new college building. Many had the feeling that this would be “one of the most important gatherings of God’s people ever assembled on the earth” (The Review and Herald, May 18, 1905). For days almost everyone had been praying that the meeting might be [402] attended by the power of the Holy Spirit and that there might be given to the work such an impetus as to hasten the message to all parts of the earth and bring an end to the long controversy between truth and error. The report is that “the Lord did not disappoint His people.”— Ibid.

Elders Loughborough and Farnsworth led in the opening prayers, and then the meeting took an unexpected turn. “No special business was transacted,” but rather “the presence and power of the Lord filled all hearts, and the time was devoted to a praise service, in which many expressed their confidence in the speedy triumph of the message.”— Ibid.

In that morning meeting Ellen White addressed the session. She emphasized the need of repentance and humiliation before God and one another. In this last day of the great day of atonement it is time to make sure that every sin is confessed and forgiven. She urged that “all through this meeting should be heard voices proclaiming, ‘He has pardoned my transgressions, He has made me clean from my unrighteousness.’ ‘Clear the King’s highway’ is the word to us now. ‘Gather out the stones, that a path may be made clear for the Holy Spirit to go through our midst, that the blessing of God may come to us in this conference. Depart from iniquity, and the Lord will make your feet to stand upon high and holy ground.’”— Ibid. She told of how the night before in vision she seemed to be giving that message.

In her address she pointed out that:

Some pass over their wrongdoings, or, if they have confessions to make, they think that they will not confess, because to do this would lessen the confidence that their brethren have in them. God wants us to look to Him, and to Him alone, and have everything straight between our souls and God. We need to seek the Lord with all our hearts, that we may find Him; we need to come into close relation with the cross of Calvary.... If you have confessed your sins, if you have planted your feet on vantage ground, and are sorry for your sins, so sorry that you will not repeat them, you will receive pardon.— Ibid.

In the afternoon the conference moved into its regular business proceedings. Elder Daniells was pleased to report that the General Conference departments were operating very successfully. These [403] were: Education, Publishing, Religious Liberty, Sabbath School, and Young People’s. Earlier he had expressed the urgency of organizing a Medical Department and also a Home Foreign Department to care for the increasing number of believers in the United States who preferred to worship in languages of their homelands.

In 1901, when the General Conference departments were arranged for, the medical work of the church was strong, but dominated by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. In the four years since, a change had come. The medical work was veering off in independence; it was clear that there should be a Medical Department in the General Conference. This matter would come up for early consideration.

At the opening of the Friday-evening service Elder Daniells remarked that the camp seemed to be a holy and sacred place. There was rejoicing that the counsel to hold a conference in the open air had been followed. Sabbath morning dawned a “perfect day of rest.” At the eleven-o’clock service Ellen White, although 77, spoke to a packed tent with “old-time clearness and power.” Using Philippians 2:1-11 as her text, she urged church members not to be on the negative side but on the affirmative side with God. His word to His people “‘Advance! Forward! pressing together unto victory.’” She urged that the words of His people should “‘be of a character to comfort and bless,’” and that Christ’s followers should begin to educate their voices “‘to speak kindly and pleasantly.’” She pointed out that “‘there is a heaven to win and there is a hell to shun.’”—The Review and Herald, May 18, 1905 (see The Desire of Ages, 636).

At the ministerial institute, which was held each day at eleven o’clock, many valuable papers were read. Some noted how refreshing it was “at this meeting to see and hear the work of the gospel ministry given the place which God has ordained that it should fill” (The Review and Herald, May 25, 1905).

On several evenings during the conference large meetings were also held in downtown Washington in the Pythian Temple. Elders Conradi, Gilbert, and Prescott presented topics of interest to the general public. Elder Conradi told of his experiences in Russia.

Arrangements were made also for a delegation from the session to call on President Theodore Roosevelt to pay him the church’s [404] respects and to express to him the denomination’s views and attitude toward civil government (Ibid.). The delegation of twenty ministers reported a satisfactory and profitable interview with the President. He expressed his appreciation for a parchment bearing an address from the session. He read it carefully while the delegation was there. The public press carried a copy of the message, which appeared also on the cover of the June 1 Review and Herald.

Divergent Teachings on the Sanctuary Truth

But behind the scenes, and not mentioned in the Review and Herald in the formal report of the session, a number of important things were taking place. One of these was three early morning meetings in which church leaders heard Elder A. F. Ballenger present his views on the sanctuary. Ellen White was to address herself in a somewhat veiled way to these views in her talks, and more specifically in a face-to-face confrontation.

In her Tuesday-afternoon address to the session on “The Work for This Time,” she discussed a number of subjects, among which was the work developing in Washington:

I want those present at this meeting to realize that it has meant a hard struggle to bring the work in this place to its present state of advancement. The Lord God has been at work. My brethren, instead of criticizing what has been done, save your speech for the great cities that have not yet been worked, such as New Orleans, Memphis, and St. Louis....

I ask you never to find fault with what has been done here, for I have seen the angels of God working here, encouraging the workers, and leading them to lift up their eyes to see their Redeemer and be strengthened. I have seen the angels of God on this ground with the youth and with the other workers. I have seen the power of God at work here, and I wish to tell you that I want this meeting to be an everlasting cure of your faultfinding and murmuring and trying to find someone to criticize. May God help us all to humble our hearts before Him and be converted.— Ibid.

Her mind turned to the teachings on the sanctuary truths that [405] were being quietly met by church leaders. She told of how in the early days errors crept in, and how the Lord sent her into the field to meet fanaticism and misleading teachings. She declared:

We shall have to meet these same false doctrines again. There will be those who will claim to have visions. When God gives you clear evidence that the vision is from Him, you may accept it, but do not accept it on any other evidence; for people are going to be led more and more astray in foreign countries and in America. The Lord wants His people to act like men and women of sense.— Ibid.

Then she came to the point, making a prediction:

In the future, deception of every kind is to arise, and we want solid ground for our feet. We want solid pillars for the building. Not one pin is to be removed from that which the Lord has established. The enemy will bring in false theories, such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary. This is one of the points on which there will be a departing from the faith. Where shall we find safety unless it be in the truths that the Lord has been giving for the last fifty years?— Ibid.

In her closing remarks she reminded the audience:

Do not think that Satan is not doing anything. Do not think that his army is passive. He and his agencies are on the ground today. We are to put on the whole armor of God. Having done all, we are to stand, meeting principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. And if we have on the heavenly armor, we shall find that the assaults of the enemy will not have power over us. Angels of God will be round about us to protect us.— Ibid.

In an obvious reference to Elder A. F. Ballenger and some of his friends attending the session, she said, “I am praying that the power of the Saviour will be exerted in behalf of those who have entered into the temptations of the enemy.”— Ibid.

The Ballenger Teachings

Elder A. F. Ballenger, a brother of E. S. Ballenger in southern [406] California, for a time was a minister in Great Britain. Associated with him in the work in Britain were such men as Elder E. W. Farnsworth and E. E. Andross. The latter, in a series of talks given in 1911, gave a little of the background of the Ballenger experience:

[In early 1905] A. F. Ballenger was over in Great Britain while I was there, and he had not been very thoroughly instructed in some points of the faith. He had been preaching around over the country on certain practical points of the faith, and had had considerable success in that line, but he had not been thoroughly grounded in the doctrinal points of the faith. One night while laboring with me in London, it came his turn to preach on the subject of the sanctuary. He did so, but he was very much discouraged over his effort on the subject of the sanctuary that night. And then he said, “If the Lord will help me, I will never preach again until I know what I am preaching. “I am not going to get it from our books. If our brethren could obtain it from the original sources, why can’t I? ... I will go to the books or commentaries and all these various sources from which Elder Uriah Smith obtained light on the subject of the sanctuary, and I will get it from the same sources that he did. I will not know it because Elder Uriah Smith knew it, but I will know it because God is teaching it to me directly.”—DF 178, E. E. Andross, “Bible Study No. II,” July 13, 1911, pp. 13, 14.

Elder Andross then explained that Ballenger did not realize the source from which Elder Smith obtained the sanctuary truth. There was earnest Bible study by the pioneers of the Advent Movement, and with them was the messenger of the Lord. As the brethren continued their study, there was in their midst one through whom the Spirit of God was able to point out what was truth and what was error.

But as to Ballenger, Elder Andross explained in his 1911 statement:

The result was, he developed a theory with reference to the sanctuary that is very subtle, and resulted in his being disconnected from the work entirely since 1905 at the General Conference.— Ibid., 14 [407]

Elder Ballenger considered his discoveries as new light and he presented them at a meeting of the British Union Conference held in London in early 1905. Elder E. W. Farnsworth reported this experience by letter to the General Conference president, who in turn conveyed the information to W. C. White on March 16, 1905.

Elder E. W. Farnsworth’s Report on the Ballenger Position

Here is Farnsworth’s contemporary summation:

“There was another feature of the meeting which was really sad to me. Brother Ballenger has got into a condition of mind which would seem to me to unfit him entirely to preach the message. He has been studying the subject of the sanctuary a good deal lately, and he comes to the conclusion that the atonement was made when Christ was crucified and that when He ascended He went immediately into the Most Holy Place and that His ministry has been carried on there ever since.

“He takes such texts as Hebrews 6:19 and compares them with twenty-five or thirty expressions of the same character in the Old Testament where he claims that in every instance the term “within the veil” signifies within the Most Holy Place. He says the outer veil or the door of the tabernacle is never called the veil of the tabernacle ...[except] once, and then by implication (Hebrews 9:3), and does not think that one instance should be so construed as to practically overthrow the rest.

“He sees clearly that his view cannot be made to harmonize with the testimonies, at least he admits freely that he is totally unable to do so, and even in his own mind, as far as he is able to see at present, there is an irreconcilable difference. This, of course, involves the authenticity of the Testimonies and practically upsets them—I mean, in his mind.

“It also upsets our views concerning the sanctuary and its work, though he does not really think that way. It also involves to a greater or lesser extent our views of the two covenants, and how much more I was not able to ascertain.”—E. W. Farnsworth to AGD, in AGD to WCW, March 16, 1905. [408]

Farnsworth reported that a number of Adventist ministers in Great Britain were taking up these new views on the sanctuary, and confusion was coming in. He declared to Elder Daniells, “‘You will readily see from this condition of things that it was not all real sunshine for us at the conference. Somehow this dark cloud of apostasy made it hard for us.’”— Ibid.

In his 1911 talks at the Oakland camp meeting Elder Andross carefully traces through various texts that were employed by Ballenger in support of his views. Then he traces through the interpretation of these texts as held by Seventh-day Adventists, a position strongly supported by the repeated testimony of Ellen White as having been given to her in confirmation of truth in the early days of studying doctrinal points.

Early in the 1905 session Ballenger laid before the leading brethren what he felt was new light, but they were unable to accept his reasoning and pointed out the errors in his application of Scripture.

Ellen White Speaks Out on the Ballenger Views

At about this time Ellen White met Elder Ballenger in the hallway of the dormitory where she was staying. Writing of the experience, on May 20 she says:

As I spoke to him, it came vividly to my mind that this was the man whom I had seen in an assembly bringing before those present certain subjects, and placing upon passages in the Word of God a construction that could not be maintained as truth. He was gathering together a mass of scriptures such as would confuse minds because of his assertions and his misapplication of these scriptures, for the application was misleading and had not the bearing upon the subject at all which he claimed justified his position. Anyone can do this, and will follow his example to testify to a false position; but it was his own.—Manuscript 59, 1905.

She told Elder Ballenger that he was the minister that the Lord had presented before her in vision in Salamanca, New York, in 1890, as standing with a party who was “urging that if the Sabbath truth were left out of the [American] Sentinel, the circulation of that paper would be largely increased.” [409]

In her account of the experience, as recorded in her journal, she tells of how Ballenger accepted the testimony back in 1891 and took a right position. She says:

Now again our Brother Ballenger is presenting theories that cannot be substantiated by the Word of God. It will be one of the great evils that will come to our people to have the Scriptures taken out of their true place and so interpreted as to substantiate error that contradicts the light and the Testimonies that God has been giving us for the past half century.— Ibid.

Continuing her account, she explains why she had to come to Washington:

I declare in the name of the Lord that the most dangerous heresies are seeking to find entrance among us as a people, and Elder Ballenger is making spoil of his own soul. The Lord has strengthened me to come the long journey to Washington to this meeting to bear my testimony in vindication of the truth of God’s Word and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in confirmation of Bible truth. The Word is sure and steadfast, and will stand the test. Human investigations will be brought in, but the Lord lives, and He will bring to naught these inventions.

We are to proclaim the full truth of the Word of God with decision and unalterable firmness. There is not truth in the explanations of Scripture that Elder Ballenger and those associated with him are presenting. The words are right, but misapplied to vindicate error. We must not give countenance to his reasoning. He is not led of God. Our work is to bind up the Testimonies God has given, and seal the law among His disciples.— Ibid.

Ellen White added:

I am instructed to say to Elder Ballenger, Your theories, which have multitudes of fine threads, and need so many explanations, are not truth, and are not to be brought to the flock of God. The good that you and your associates might have received at this meeting you have not received. God forbids your course of action—making the blessed Scriptures, by grouping [410] them in your way, to testify to build up a falsehood. Let us all cling to the established truth of the sanctuary.— Ibid.

Little wonder that as Ellen White addressed the session on Tuesday, May 16, she was led to recount early experiences. It was in this connection that she repeated a statement first made two years earlier concerning the development of doctrinal truths:

After the passing of the time in 1844 we searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with the brethren, and we studied and prayed earnestly. Often we remained together until late at night, and sometimes through the entire night, praying for light and studying the Word. Again and again these brethren came together to study the Bible, in order that they might know its meaning, and be prepared to teach it with power.

When they came to the point in their study where they said, “We can do nothing more,” the Spirit of the Lord would come upon me. I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages we had been studying would be given me, with instruction as to how we were to labor and teach effectively. Thus light was given that helped us to understand the Scriptures in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood. A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the city of God, was made plain to me, and I gave to others the instruction that the Lord had given me.

During this whole time I could not understand the reasoning of the brethren. My mind was locked, as it were, and I could not comprehend the meaning of the Scriptures we were studying. This was one of the greatest sorrows of my life. I was in this condition of mind until all the principal points of our faith were made clear to our minds, in harmony with the Word of God. The brethren knew that, when not in vision, I could not understand these matters, and they accepted, as light directly from heaven, the revelations given.—The Review and Herald, May 25, 1905.

On Wednesday, May 24, in a message titled “A Warning Against False Theories,” Ellen White addressed herself to the subject in a document that most likely was read to a rather limited group. A copy was placed in Elder Ballenger’s hands: [411]

I am bidden to bear a message to our people. In the name of the Lord I am bidden to warn our ministers not to mingle erroneous theories with the truth of God. Pure Bible truth is to stand forth in its nobility and sanctity. It is not to be classified and adjusted according to man’s wisdom. The ministers of the gospel are to present truth in its simplicity through the blessing of God, making the Scriptures profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. “Rightly dividing the word of truth”—this is the word that should be spoken of all our ministers.—Manuscript 62, 1905.

And she warns:

Our message does not need that which Brother Ballenger is trying to draw into the web. He draws out certain passages so fine that they lose their force. Let our ministers be content to take the Word as Christ has given it....

In clear, plain language I am to say to those in attendance at this conference that Brother Ballenger has been allowing his mind to receive and believe specious error. He has been misinterpreting and misapplying the scriptures upon which he has fastened his mind. He is building up theories that are not founded in truth. A warning is now to come to him and to the people, for God has not indited the message that he is bearing. This message, if accepted, would undermine the pillars of our faith. Brother Ballenger does not discern what he is doing.— Ibid.

Midway in this presentation she declared:

Let not any man enter upon the work of tearing down the foundations of the truth that have made us what we are. God has led His people forward step by step, though there are pitfalls of error on every side. Under the wonderful guidance of a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” a truth has been established that has stood the test of trial. When men arise and attempt to draw away disciples after them, meet them with the truths that have been tried as by fire.— Ibid.

Then Ellen White points out in no uncertain terms:

Those who seek to remove the old landmarks are not holding [412] fast; they are not remembering how they have received and heard. Those who try to bring in theories that would remove the pillars of our faith concerning the sanctuary or concerning the personality of God or of Christ are working as blind men. They are seeking to bring in uncertainties, and to set the people of God adrift, without an anchor.— Ibid.

In plain language she declares:

If the theories that Brother Ballenger presents were received, they would lead many to depart from the faith. They would counterwork the truths upon which the people of God have stood for the past fifty years. I am bidden to say in the name of the Lord that Elder Ballenger is following a false light. The Lord has not given him the message that he is bearing regarding the sanctuary service.

Our Instructor spoke words to Brother Ballenger: “You are bringing in confusion and perplexity by your interpretations of the Scriptures. You think that you have been given new light, but your light will become darkness to those who receive it.... Those who receive your interpretation of Scripture regarding the sanctuary service are receiving error and following in false paths. The enemy will work the minds of those who are eager for something new, preparing them to receive false theories and false expositions of the Scriptures.— Ibid.

Ellen White then calls upon those of experience to stand firmly for the truth:

When men come in who would move one pin or pillar from the foundation which God has established by His Holy Spirit, let the aged men who were pioneers in our work speak plainly, and let those who are dead speak also, by the reprinting of their articles in our periodicals. Gather up the rays of divine light that God has given as He has led His people on step by step in the way of truth. This truth will stand the test of time and trial.— Ibid.

Unlike his immediate and hearty response to the testimony of correction in 1891, Elder Ballenger this time turned from the message and appeal of Ellen White and the counsel of his brethren [413] and held tenaciously to his cherished views. This led to his being dropped from the ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was a bitter experience for all concerned.

He went forth to labor among his former brethren, introducing views that the Lord through His servant declared were not sound. He was instrumental in time in winning his father, Elder J. F. Ballenger, and his brother Elder E. S. Ballenger, educational secretary of the Southern California Conference, to his views. At no time did he gain a following of more than a few dissidents from Adventist ranks. But the time came when, in sadness, he spoke of how he would cherish words of encouragement from Sister White if they could be given, and of how he longed for association with his former brethren where he could “‘appear again in the great congregation, and we would weep and pray and praise together as before”’ (DF 178, E. E. Andross, “Studies in the Sanctuary No. III,” July 16, 1911, p. 15a). [414]

Chapter 32—Last Days of the 1905 General Conference

The work of the 1905 General Conference session continued at an even pace. Ten times Ellen White addressed the session including once during the first Sabbath morning and on each of the two following Sabbath afternoons.

“The Lord has helped me,” wrote Ellen White near the close of the session, “to make the discourses impressive.... I still have a work to do on the grounds, for certain individuals.”—Letter 149, 1905. One of these was Elder A. T. Jones, still a member of the General Conference Committee but now closely associated with Dr. J. H. Kellogg and in full sympathy with him.

Sometime during the session a vision was given Ellen White in which “Elder Jones’s case was again presented to me.”—Letter 116, 1906. This led her to have an extended interview with him in which she discussed the peril of his being in Battle Creek in close association with Dr. Kellogg. But the interview was unproductive, for Jones felt he was in no danger. His presence at this meeting marked the close of his connection with the church in an official capacity—a connection that in its earlier years was marked by outstanding contributions.

Elder A. T. Jones

At the age of 23 Alonzo T. Jones, an officer in the United States Army, became a Seventh-day Adventist. An earnest, studious, self-made man, he qualified himself for the ministry, which he entered in 1885. He soon distinguished himself as an associate editor of the Signs of the Times. Soon he was joined by a [415] physician-turned-minister, Dr. Ellet J. Waggoner. At the General Conference of 1888, the two led out in the presentation on righteousness by faith. They carried the strong support of Ellen White as advocate of this precious truth. When she could, she traveled and worked with them for two years following the session, carrying the message to churches, ministerial institutes, institutions, and camp meetings.

Elders Jones and Waggoner were catapulted into the position of the leading Bible expositors in the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists, a role they held through much of the 1890s. Jones attended all General Conference sessions, and it was not uncommon for each of the two men to lead out in ten to twenty or more consecutive Bible studies. Jones spent much time in Battle Creek and stood as a prominent leader, holding several important positions.

But Elders Jones and Waggoner, so highly honored of God because of their wide influence for good, became the special point of attack of the great adversary. The Ellen G. White communications to both men through a fifteen-year period following 1888 reveal that each had weaknesses in his experience, each was confronted with dangers, and each made mistakes. This, however, did not disqualify them to do God’s service.

Ellen White had occasion in April, 1893, to caution Elder Jones regarding his extreme views in his presentation of the relation of faith and works (see Selected Messages 1:377-380). Again the following year she reproved him for giving wholehearted support to Anna Rice Phillips, who claimed the gift of prophecy (see Ibid., 2:85-95). From time to time Ellen White counseled him to exercise caution in his manner of speaking and writing so as to avoid giving offense.

In February, 1897, Jones was elected as one of the thirteen members of the General Conference Committee, and eight months later was installed as the editor of the Review and Herald, a position he held for four years. With this arrangement it was stated that “instead of speaking to comparatively few of our people in annual gatherings, he will address all of them every week.”—The Review and Herald, October 5, 1897. Through a portion of this time he was chairman of the board of the Review and Herald Publishing Association.

In a most unusual fashion, while still editor of the Review, Jones, offended when mildly reproved by the president of the General [416] Conference for treating his fellow workers harshly, resigned as a member of the General Conference Committee. A testimony to him had referred to “‘an evil spirit to cast drops of gall into his words’”(quoted in A. V. Olson, Through Crisis to Victory, p. 305).

Jones took a prominent place at the 1901 session of the General Conference, and urged that in the reorganization of the General Conference there be “no kings.” He was influential in developing a constitution that did not provide for the election of leading General Conference officers by the delegates, but left this responsibility to the Executive committee of twenty-five. As noted earlier, this proved to be a serious weakness, and was corrected in 1903.

Reappointed to the new General Conference Committee in 1901, Jones was assigned to general work that took him to the summer camp meetings in the West. After persuading local conferences in the Northwest to follow the lead of the General Conference and elect no presidents, he himself accepted the presidency of the California Conference. This conference, except for Michigan, was the largest and strongest local conference in the world.

His harsh domineering spirit soon cost him the confidence of those with whom he worked. Ellen White labored with him diligently, and he promised reform, and with her encouragement was in 1902 elected to a second term.

In the summer of 1903, at a time when affairs in the California Conference were most uncomfortable, he had an interview with Ellen White at Elmshaven, in which he told her that at the request of Dr. J. H. Kellogg he was planning to go to Battle Creek to teach Bible in the American Medical Missionary College. He hoped to be able to help Dr. Kellogg. She counseled him not to go. He promised her that he would be guarded. She had been warned in vision that such a move on his part would lead to his downfall. She wrote of it thus:

In vision I had seen him A. T. Jones under the influence of Dr. Kellogg. Fine threads were being woven around him, till he was being bound hand and foot, and his mind and his senses were becoming captivated.—Letter 116, 1906.

Ellen White reported this to Brother Jones just before he went to Battle Creek; she could see “that his perceptions were becoming confused, and that he did not believe the warning given. “She said, [417] “The enemy works in a strange, wonderful way to influence human minds.”—Ibid. But Jones, a man with a great deal of self-confidence, was sure that he would not fall by the way.

Ellen White watched the inevitable results and agonized for his spiritual welfare. His plan to stay in Battle Creek only one year was soon forgotten as he became more and more entrenched there.

Call to Labor in Washington, D.C.

In February, 1905, church leaders in Washington were confronting attempts to introduce Sunday legislation in the District of Columbia and to teach religion in the public schools. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Ellen White saw an opportunity to call Jones from Battle Creek to join forces with men in Washington to make strong thrusts along religious-liberty lines. These efforts would be associated with evangelistic endeavors in unentered territories. She had the hope that in working to save others, he might save himself.

On Monday, February 13, she wrote to Elder A. T. Jones:

My Dear Brother,

The light given me is that you should be in Washington just now. Go there, and offer your help. The Lord has a work for you to do in Washington in connection with the workers there. Stand in the place of your appointment. Again and again it has been presented to me that you would be one who, in connection with your brethren, would proclaim the message in Washington. The time has come for you to do this.

Washington and Baltimore are very close together, and in both of these places a decided interest is to be aroused. You should now be putting forth earnest efforts in Washington.—Letter 65, 1905.

In this letter she discusses the evangelistic thrust that should be made “east and west, north and south.” “The Lord calls for action,” she wrote.

The Sabbath question is being agitated in Washington, and while minds are stirred, there is an opportunity for our people everywhere to sow the seeds of truth. Should we neglect to take advantage of this time, we should miss a great opportunity for [418] letting light from God’s Word shine forth. The trumpet is to give a certain sound.—Ibid.

In January she had written to Elders Prescott and Colcord, men giving the lead to religious-liberty efforts in Washington:

Dear Brethren,

One night we seemed to be in a council meeting, and One of acknowledged authority was telling us that now is our time to press to the front in Washington. A decided testimony must be borne to the people in the national capital, and this work must not rest upon a few. Those who engage in this work must exert themselves to the utmost of their ability to proclaim the truth with clearness and energy....

A most important work is to be done in Washington, and I inquire whether you do not need the help of those who in years past have stood prominently for religious liberty. Can it not be arranged for Elder A. T. Jones to work with you for a time in Washington, and for someone to take his place in Battle Creek? Elder Jones can help you. It may do him a world of good to have a part in this work now.—Letter 21, 1905.

To the leading men in Washington the proposition of Jones joining them seemed strange and unworkable. Even while serving as president of the California Conference, Jones, in the crisis of the fall of 1902 and later as a member of the General Conference Committee, had sided with Dr. Kellogg in his unreasonable positions and demands, and he broke with the General Conference Committee (AGD to EGW, February 22, 1905). Daniells had made several attempts to hold Jones steady, but the latter had severed himself in heart and distance from church leaders. It was clear that he was in Dr. Kellogg’s camp in opposition to steps being taken to put the denomination in the best position to fulfill its divine commission.

Daniells responded to Ellen White on February 22, and the same day wrote to A. T. Jones. To Ellen White he reflected the response of leading men in Washington upon reading her letter to Jones:

The brethren who have heard the letter read are united in extending to Elder Jones an invitation to come to Washington, and work in harmony with the counsel you have given.—Ibid. [419]

He pointed out that he did not know how “he can unite with some of us in this work without an entire change of views and feelings. But,” he continued, “the counsel is plain, and it is the duty of everyone to act in harmony with it.”—Ibid.

The same day Elder Daniells wrote to A. T. Jones, inviting him to come to Washington in harmony with Ellen White’s letter. He then stated clearly his position and in so doing revealed his attitude toward the Spirit of Prophecy:

It is a fact, Brother Jones, that during the last two years we have differed very widely regarding some matters with which we have been dealing. This has made it difficult if not impossible for us to work together with the harmony that should characterize the ambassadors of our blessed Lord. I know not how we can ever unite without a change of views, and I do not know how this change can be made. But all things are possible with God, and also to him that believeth.

I believe that the Lord is speaking to us through the Spirit of Prophecy, and we know that voice plainly declares, and repeats the declaration, that you should be in Washington now, joining the rest of us in the work to which we are called. I accept that, and place myself as well as I know how, where I can do my part in helping to arrive at the oneness among the brethren for which Jesus prayed.

I know it is safe to walk in the counsel of the Spirit of Prophecy, and that it is perilous to reject that counsel.

During the last fifteen years I have had opportunities to follow my own judgment independent of the instruction given through the Spirit of Prophecy, and at times I have done this too much. But I have found that this always lands me in difficulties. On the other hand, the most careful, faithful obedience to the light given through this channel has made me free and led me in a good way. I have never been led into a trap by the Spirit of Prophecy. For this reason, whether or not I fully understand the counsel that comes, I know that the right thing to do is to act in harmony with that instruction.—AGD to A. T. Jones, February 22, 1905.

Elder Jones joined the forces in Washington and, working with [420] Elder Prescott, took a prominent part in important gatherings in setting forth the denomination’s religious-liberty positions. Daniells reports that “both speakers handled their subjects in a masterly fashion.”—AGD to WCW, March 21, 1905.

But the united work was short-lived, and this attempt to save Jones collapsed. On the pretext of being needed at home in Battle Creek, he asked to be excused from working in Washington. Daniells’ suggestion that he move his family to Washington did not meet with favor. So by mid-April, A. T. Jones was back in Battle Creek, working full tilt in developing plans to start a “university” in connection with the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where young people could enroll in a diversity of fields of study and work their full way at the Sanitarium. It was later learned that Jones had confided to friends in Battle Creek that he did not intend to stay long in Washington, so apparently he had not gone and taken up duties there in good faith.

The Interview with Ellen White at the 1905 Session

Now, a month later and back in Washington as a delegate to the 1905 General Conference session, Jones was engaged in the extended interview with Ellen White. His case had been presented to her in vision only a day or two before. She reported that “I pointed out his danger. But he was self-confident.”—Letter 116, 1906. He maintained that there was no change from earlier years in Dr. Kellogg’s attitude toward the visions.

Ellen White had been shown in vision what Jones’s attitude would be and now she witnessed it. In “place of receiving the warnings, he was full of self-confidence” (Ibid.).

“I warned Elder Jones,” wrote Ellen White, “but he felt that he was not in the least danger. But the fine threads have been woven about him, and he is now a man deluded and deceived. Though claiming to believe the testimonies, he does not believe them.”—Ibid.

To watch a man who had been used mightily of God rejecting light and spurning every appeal weighed heavily on the heart of the Lord’s messenger and deeply troubled church leaders. In this experience at the 1905 General Conference session, A. T. Jones took an important step in his apostasy. Matters reached such a point that [421] in 1909 it seemed necessary to drop his name from the church rolls. [For further documentation on A. T. Jones’s apostasy, see olson, op. cit., pp. 304-312.]

Important Session Actions

But back to the three-week-long session. Two new departments in the General Conference were formed—the Medical Department; and the Foreign Department, to care for the interests of the various language groups in North America. A far-reaching action was taken that made the General Conference session quadrennial instead of biennial. One of the reasons for this was explained to the constituents of the Pacific Union Conference:

Our union conferences have now taken up nearly all the work of the General Conference that pertains to the administration of affairs in the United States and the other organized fields in the world, so that what must be done at these large gatherings must be entirely of a general nature for the advancement of the work in the unentered fields.—Pacific Union Recorder, June 1, 1905.

Elder L. R. Conradi was reelected as a vice-president; he would continue his work in Europe, where he had labored for twenty years. Elder G. A. Irwin was called back from Australia to serve as the general vice-president, standing by Elder Daniells’ side.

The fund of $100,000 dedicated to the college, the General Conference office, and other Washington interests, was made up as conferences and individuals gave liberally to establish a debt-free work.

The daily ministerial institute meetings were fruitful in giving the gospel ministry the “place which God has ordained that it should fill” (The Review and Herald, May 25, 1905). The certainty of the Advent faith and the surety of the triumph of the Advent Movement seemed to be the underlying theme of the session, sounded again and again. On the second Sabbath Elder Haskell spoke, recounting early experiences and the certainty of the sanctuary truths (Ibid.).

Ellen White’s afternoon meeting emphasized the importance of holding fast “the truth that was wrought out amid demonstration of the Spirit and of power in the early days of the Advent Movement” (Ibid.). [422]

Elder Butler’s sermon on the last Sabbath morning called for the manifestation of love and unity that should prevail in the church. The spirit of division had to be put away (Ibid., June 1, 1905).

The Review and Herald, reporting the session, declared that:

The one all-absorbing theme which seems to rest upon the heart of every delegate is how this great message which has been committed to this people, and for which they have been sacrificing for a half century, can be speedily carried to all the world, and the glorious day of God be ushered in.—Ibid., May 25, 1905.

As the session closed, Ellen White reported:

I came to the conference with fear and trembling, but determined to do my best. I have spoken ten times, and have done considerable writing.... The conference has called forth very weighty testimonies, and I am pleased with the appreciation shown to these testimonies.—Letter 155, 1905.

J. L. Prescott, who accepted the Advent truth in 1838, felt that the session carried the spirit in the meetings of 1844 (The Review and Herald, June 1, 1905). W. C. White declared the session to be “the most hopeful of the kind that I ever attended” (Ibid., June 8, 1905).

And so the 1905 General Conference came to a close on Tuesday, May 30, having occupied three weeks less one day.

Defections Deeply Concerned Ellen White

On that final Tuesday morning Ellen White spoke concerning Dr. Kellogg and Battle Creek problems. In her address on these sensitive points, she stated:

It has been presented to me that in view of Dr. Kellogg’s course of action at the Berrien Springs meetings [May 17-26, 1904], we are not to treat him as a man led of the Lord, who should be invited to attend our general meetings as a teacher and leader.—Manuscript 70, 1905.

The feelings of distress and some of the burdens she carried because of the defections of Dr. J. H. Kellogg and Elders A. T. Jones [423] and A. F. Ballenger she could not lay aside. She had seen that Kellogg’s pantheistic views, because they took away the personality of God and Jesus Christ, undercut the sanctuary truth, the cornerstone of the message, so precious to the pioneers. Now with Ballenger’s direct attack on this point, there was occasion for added concern.

Two days after the close of the session she wrote words that forecast distressing times ahead:

The Lord now calls upon me to make plain to others that which has been made plain to me.... I have no liberty to withhold any longer the matters that I have written. There is much that must be brought out.—Letter 319, 1905.

The Magnitude of the Threat Revealed in Vision

Concerning the magnitude of the threat to the very existence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as shown to her in vision, she wrote a few months later:

Had the theories contained in Living Temple been received by our people, had not a message been sent by the Lord to counteract these theories, the third angel’s message would no longer have been given to the world, but pleasing fables would have been proclaimed everywhere. Men would have been led to believe a lie instead of the truth of the Word of God. An army of those who take pleasure in unrighteousness would have sprung into action.

The roll was spread before me. The presentation was as though that against which the Lord was warning His people had actually taken place. I shall not attempt to describe the presentation, but to me it was a living reality. I saw that if the erroneous sentiments contained in Living Temple were received, souls would be bound up in fallacies. Men would be so completely controlled by the mind of one man that they would act as if they were subjects of his will. Working through men, Satan was trying to turn into fables the truths that have made us what we are.—Letter 338, 1905.

In document after document in the months that followed the [424] 1905 General Conference session, she not only wrote of the threat of the Kellogg teachings but dealt explicitly with the error of Ballenger’s positions on the sanctuary truth, basing her warnings on repeated visions. [See Appendix for excerpts from documents aggregating more than fifty pages of letters and manuscripts.] She made it clear that if there was one fundamental truth that had come to the pioneers by Bible study and revelation, it was the sanctuary truth, and she indicated that Satan would bring one attack after another on this fundamental point. [425]

Appendix—Solemn Warnings Repeated

The following excerpts sample Ellen White’s warnings concerning the kellogg-ballenger errors:

Warned That Heresies Will Be Brought In

Takoma Park, Washington, D.C., May, 1905

We need to walk humbly before the Lord. His truth is to be substantiated and magnified. We are warned that heresy of every kind will be brought in among the people of God in these last days. One heresy leads to many other heresies in the explanation of the word of God....

the Lord would have us at this time bring in the testimony written by those who are now dead, to speak in behalf of heavenly things. The holy spirit has given instruction for us in these last days. We are to repeat the testimonies that God has given his people, the testimonies that present clear conceptions of the truths of the sanctuary, and that show the relation of Christ to the truths of the sanctuary so clearly brought to view.

If we are the Lord’s appointed messengers, we shall not spring up with new ideas and theories to contradict the message that God has given through his servants since 1844. At that time many sought the Lord with heart and soul and voice. The men whom God raised up were diligent searchers of the scriptures.

And those who today claim to have light, and who contradict the teaching of God’s ordained messengers, who were working under the holy spirit’s guidance, those who get up new theories, which remove the pillars of our faith, are not doing the will of God, but are bringing in fallacies of their own invention, which, if received, will cut the Church away from the anchorage of truth, and set them [426] drifting, drifting, to where they will receive any sophistries that may arise.—Manuscript 75, 1905. (Italics supplied.)

Truths That are to Stand Forever

Sanitarium, california, December 11, 1905 I have been pleading with the Lord for strength and wisdom to reproduce the writings of the witnesses who were confirmed in the faith and in the early history of the message. After the passing of the time in 1844 they received the light and walked in the light, and when the men claiming to have new light would come in with their wonderful messages regarding various points of scripture, we had, through the moving of the holy spirit, testimonies right to the point, which cut off the influence of such messages as elder ballenger has been devoting his time to presenting. This poor man has been working decidedly against the truth that the holy spirit has confirmed....

We are not to receive the words of those who come with a message that contradicts the special points of our faith. They gather together a mass of scripture, and pile it as proof around their asserted theories. This has been done over and over again during the past fifty years. And while the scriptures are God’s word, and are to be respected, the application of them, if such application moves one pillar from the foundation that God has sustained these fifty years, is a great mistake. He who makes such an application knows not the wonderful demonstration of the holy spirit that gave power and force to the past messages that have come to the people of God.

Elder Ballenger’s proofs are not reliable. If received, they would destroy the faith of God’s people in the truth that has made us what we are.

We must be decided on this subject, for the points that he is trying to prove by scripture are not sound. They do not prove that the past experience of God’s people was a fallacy. We had the truth; we were directed by the angels of God. It was under the guidance of the holy spirit that the presentation of the sanctuary question was given. It is eloquence for everyone to keep silent in regard to the features of our faith in which they acted no part. God never contradicts himself. Scripture proofs are misapplied if forced to [427] testify to that which is not true. Another and still another will arise and bring in supposedly great light, and make their assertions. But we stand by the old landmarks.—Letter 329, 1905 (Selected Messages 1:160-162).

Truths Received Under the Demonstration of the Holy Spirit

Elmshaven, January 30, 1906 the truths given us after the passing of the time in 1844 are just as certain and unchangeable as when the Lord gave them to us in answer to our urgent prayers. The visions that the Lord have given me are so remarkable that we know that what we have accepted is the truth. This was demonstrated by the holy spirit. Light, precious light from God, established the main points of our faith as we hold them today. And these truths are to be kept before the mind....

We are in conflict with the errors and delusions that have to be swept away from the minds of those who have not acted upon the light they already have. Bible truth is our only safety. I know and understand that we are to be established in the faith, in the light of the truth given us in our early experience....

We accepted the truth point by point, under the demonstration of the Holy Spirit. I would be taken off in vision, and explanations would be given me. I was given illustrations of heavenly things and of the sanctuary, so that we were placed where light was shining on us in clear, distinct rays.

All these truths are immortalized in my writings. The Lord never denies his word. Men may get up scheme after scheme, and the enemy will seek to seduce souls from the truth, but all who believe that the Lord has spoken through Sister White, and has given her a message, will be safe from the many delusions that will come in these last days.

We have had a plain and decided testimony to bear for half a century. The positions taken in my books are truth. The truth was revealed to us by the holy spirit, and we know that brother Ballenger’s position is not according to the word of God. His theory is a deceiving theory, and he misapplies scriptures. Theories of the kind that he has been presenting, we have had to meet again and again.

I am thankful that the instruction contained in my books establishes [428] Present Truth for this Time. These books were written under the demonstration of the holy spirit. I praise the Lord with heart and soul and voice, and I pray that he will lead into all truth those who will be led. I praise him that he has so wonderfully spared my life up to this time, to bear the same message upon the important points of our faith that I have borne for half a century.—Letter 50, 1906 (Gospel Workers, 302). (Italics supplied.)

Overwhelming Views of the Sanctuary Given to Ellen White

Sanitarium, California, July 4, 1907 any man who seeks to present theories which would lead us from the light that has come to us on the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary should not be accepted as a teacher. A true understanding of the sanctuary question means much to us as a people. When we were earnestly seeking the Lord for light on that question, light came. In vision I was given such a view of the heavenly sanctuary, and the ministration connected with the holy place, that for many days I could not speak of it.

I know from the light that God has given me that there should be a revival of the messages that have been given in the past, because men will seek to bring in new theories, and will try to prove that these theories are scriptural, whereas they are error which if allowed a place will undermine faith in the truth.

We are not to accept these suppositions and pass them along as truth. no, no; we must not move from the platform of truth on which we have been established.—Manuscript 125, 1907.