xxiv
Counsels for the Church
The Life and Work of Mrs. E. G. White
Ellen G. Harmon and her twin sister were born November 16,
1827, at Gorham, Maine, in the northeastern part of the United States.
When nine years of age, Ellen was involved in an accident in which a
stone was thrown by a thoughtless classmate. The severe face injury
nearly cost her life and left her in a weakened condition so that she
was unable to continue her schooling.
At the age of eleven she gave her heart to God. When she was
fourteen years old, she was baptized by immersion in the sea and was
received as a member of the Methodist church. With other members
of her family she attended the Adventist meetings in Portland, Maine,
accepting fully the views of the nearness of the second advent of Christ,
presented by William Miller and his associates.
One morning in December 1844, while she was praying with four
other women, the power of God rested upon her. At first she was lost to
earthly things; then in a figurative revelation she witnessed the travels
of the advent people to the city of God and the reward of the faithful.
With fear and trembling this seventeen-year-old girl related this and
succeeding visions to her fellow believers in Portland. Then as oppor-
tunity afforded, she recounted the vision to companies of Adventists in
Maine and nearby states. In August, 1846, Ellen Harmon was united
in marriage with James White, a youthful Adventist minister. Through
the next thirty-five years, her life was closely linked with that of her
husband in strenuous gospel work until his death, August 6, 1881.
They traveled extensively in the United States, preaching and writing,
planting and building, organizing and administering.
Time and test have proved how broad and firm were the foundations
James and Ellen White and their associates laid, and how wisely and
well they built. They led out among the sabbathkeeeping Adventists in
inaugurating the publishing work in 1849 and 1850, and in developing
church organization with a sound system of church finance in the
late 1850s. This was culminated by the organization of the General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in 1863. The year 1866 marked
the beginning of our medical work, and the great educational work of
the denomination had its inception in the early seventies. The plan of
holding annual camp meetings was developed in 1868, and in 1874
Seventh-day Adventists sent out their first overseas missionary.
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