At the General Conference session held in mid-May, 1868, two promising ventures were given official status and two new ventures were launched. These were the Tract and Book Fund, the annual Adventist camp meeting, the Seventh-day Adventist Benevolent Association, and the mission to California. Each was enthusiastically received and each contributed to the progress of the church.
The Tract and Book Fund, later known as the Book Fund, was born in Battle Creek, Sunday morning, January 12, 1868. James White declared that he and Ellen had discovered during their two months' tour in the Eastern States that many members and prospective members had little familiarity with the literature of the church. He mentioned that only one in four of the families of Sabbathkeepers in Maine had read such Spirit of Prophecy books as Spiritual Gifts,, Testimonies for the Church, How to Live, Appeal to Mothers, and Appeal to Youth. He declared,
The work to be done, in which we appeal for help at this time, is to induce all Sabbathkeepers to read these works, and inform themselves as to the things taught in them.--The Review and Herald, January 14, 1868.
"It is much easier," he stated, "to fortify persons against heresy and rebellion than to reclaim them after they have thus fallen." He enlarged on the need:
The greatest cause of our spiritual feebleness as a people is the lack of real faith in spiritual gifts. If they all received this kind of testimony in full faith, they would put from them those things which displease God, and would everywhere stand in union and in strength. And three fourths of the ministerial labor now expended to help the churches could then be spared to the work of raising up churches in new fields.-- Ibid.
White proposed a program of several parts. Ministers would have on hand literature that they could encourage members to buy; they would receive credit for literature that they gave away judiciously. All members would contribute to a fund to supply free books and pamphlets as might be needed. Proper blanks would be supplied to enable the program to be handled in an orderly and economical fashion. James declared:
In our future labors we design to take with us a full supply of this kind of reading matter, and place in every family interested in our faith and hope full sets of Spiritual Gifts,, and How to Live, and in the hands of every Sabbath school scholar and youth, Appeal to Mothers, Appeal to Youth, and Sabbath Readings.-- Ibid.
James White told the audience that "in past times we have had the pleasure of leading off in such enterprises. We can hardly be denied the privilege at this time." He pledged $40; Ellen joined him with $30. This idea caught the imagination of the audience, and seventy others, in amounts of $1 to $25, quickly pledged $425, making a total of $495 (Ibid.). There was a like response from the field as word reached the readers of the Review.
An Annual Camp Meeting
Because of the success of the convocations held in Wisconsin and Iowa, there was some talk of holding a camp meeting whereby believers, leaving their farms and occupations, could come together to worship together for a few days, living in tents. The Methodists had done it successfully, and during the Advent Awakening in the early 1840s such meetings gave impetus to the heralding of the first angel's message and helped solidify the work. As it was discussed at the General Conference session a resolution calling for "a general camp meeting annually" was passed, and the General Conference Committee was authorized to execute the plan (Ibid., May 26, 1868).
Seventh-day Adventist Benevolent Association
Battle Creek church members joined the delegates at the General Conference session on Wednesday evening, May 13, and were invited to participate in the deliberations. The subject before them was:
What we may do for the Lord in the persons of His worthy poor, and in this, not so much to learn what our duty is, as to devise means whereby it may be discharged in a manner acceptable to God.--Ibid.
This was a matter that had been of deep concern to Ellen White for several months, particularly after the distressing experience involving Hannah More. As an unmarried missionary in Africa, Hannah had been dropped from her supporting organization when she accepted the seventh-day Sabbath. She came to Battle Creek to gain the fellowship of those of like faith, but they overlooked her. She was forced by circumstances to join a family she knew, isolated in a northern region and deprived of the company of Seventh-day Adventists, and there she had died. [For more on the story, see Testimonies for the Church, 1:666-680; Testimonies for the Church, 2:140-145, 332; Ibid., 3:407, 408.]
"In the case of Sister Hannah More," wrote Ellen White, "I was shown that the neglect of her was the neglect of Jesus in her person."--Ibid., 2:140. A little later she noted:
Sister Hannah More is dead, and died a martyr to the selfishness of a people who profess to be seeking for glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life. Exiled from believers during the past cold winter, this self-sacrificing missionary died because no heart was bountiful enough to receive her. I blame no one. I am not judge.--Ibid., 2:332.
Hannah More was not the only one known to the believers to be in need, but her case brought the situation into focus. There was first a General Conference session action, followed by a definitive statement signed by the General Conference Committee, opening with the following words:
An association was formed during the session of the General Conference, having for its object the relief of widows and orphans, and of such other persons who may be worthy of assistance.... To raise ...means, it is decided to fix the payment of the sum of $10 as a condition of membership, and besides this, to ask donations from all who approve the object of the society.--The Review and Herald, May 26, 1868.
One hundred and fifty persons pledged $10 each; many paid their pledges at once, leading to the declaration that "the society is therefore already under way."--Ibid. Further organization was quickly effected.
The Mission to California
Merritt G. Kellogg, elder son of Battle Creek businessman J.P. Kellogg, had in 1859, with his family, trekked to California by ox team. He worked in San Francisco for eight years as a carpenter. Then, as health reform was being promoted among Seventh-day Adventists, he returned to the East to take a medical course. He enrolled at Dr. Trall's Medical College, at Florence Heights, New Jersey, where a few months later he was granted a diploma as a qualified physician and surgeon. [In succeeding years kellogg took more advanced training.] He lingered in Michigan following his graduation, and at the General Conference session in mid-May made an earnest appeal that the General Conference should send a missionary to California to help him in his work in raising up a company of believers in San Francisco. The brethren agreed that in time such might be done.
J. N. Loughborough had come to the conference with the deep impression that he should go to California, but he had revealed this to no one. In no less than twenty dreams he seemed to be working there! At the meeting the ministers were given an opportunity to express their preferences as to the fields in which they should labor during the coming year. After most had expressed themselves, James White asked, "Has no one had any impressions of duty with reference to the California field?" Up to this time Loughborough had remained silent: now he stood and spoke of his impressions and offered his services for work in the West. Loughborough reported on what followed:
Brother White then remarked, "When the Lord sent forth His servants, He sent them two and two, and it seems as though two ministers should go to that distant field." ...Then Elder [D. T.] Bourdeau arose and stated how his mind had been exercised, and that he had come to the meetings with his companion and all his earthly substance ready to go where the conference might say.--Pacific Union Recorder, July 3, 1913.
White counseled, "Will Brethren Bourdeau and Loughborough pray over this together and separately until the day the Review goes to press, that they may be sure of the mind of the Lord in the matter?"--Ibid.
At the appropriate time, when White called for their word, the two brethren replied, "California, or nothing." White then called for $1,000 to buy a tent and start the mission. At this time the rails extended only to the Rocky Mountains; the journey had to be made by ship to the Isthmus of Panama and then by another ship to San Francisco. For the next year and beyond, readers of the Review were thrilled by the reports from the missionaries, first on the trip itself, and then on the tent meetings and the organization of churches in the valleys north of San Francisco.
Work on Life Incidents
James and Ellen White remained in Battle Creek for a few weeks following the General Conference session. After the notable vision of June 12, 1868, they returned to Greenville to continue in the program they had inaugurated there. This involved caring for the farm, writing, and visiting the churches. They took with them Uriah Smith, editor of the Review. From Greenville Smith soon reported:
June 15, Brother White took us into his carriage at Battle Creek, for a journey of seventy miles north, to his home in Greenville, Montcalm County. This journey has given us the opportunity of beholding some of the nice farming lands that lie between these points, as evinced by the thrifty fruit trees, the luxuriant fields of grass and grain, and perhaps as much as anything, by the uncleared tracts of primitive forest, with their dense growth of lofty and massive trees.--The Review and Herald, June 23, 1868.
This was Smith's first journey so far north, and he enjoyed both the brief release from the office and the opportunity to gain an acquaintance of the country. "The journey has been a good recreation. Fine weather, the cheerful and promising garb of nature, the sweet-scented fields, and conversation on the great themes of present truth, upon which none are better prepared to speak than Brother and Sister White." He added,
Here we are now at the spacious and hospitable home of Brother White, to spend a few weeks assisting him in the preparation of Life Incidents for the press, for the double object:
1. That this important work may, with as little delay as possible, be in the hands of the brethren; and
2. That Brother and Sister White may the sooner be at liberty to visit the churches which are everywhere waiting for their labors.--Ibid.
James White had already begun work on the proposed book in preparing a series of articles beginning in the February 11, 1868, Review and Herald. Ten had been published by May 5, when the project came to a standstill because of the General Conference session. James White had told the story of his life in connection with the Advent movement, up to the disappointment of October 22, 1844. Now with Uriah Smith's help, the work would be hurried to completion. They added a third more material, carrying the account through the second and third angels' messages, concluding sketchily with Seventh-day Adventists' "Present Position and Work." Copies would be ready for the proposed camp meeting, scheduled for late August.
Smith was pleased to go with the Whites from Greenville to Wright for meetings the weekend of July 4 and 5, and he was with them as plans were discussed for the camp meeting. There was a strong leaning toward holding it right there in Wright (Ibid., July 14, 1868). When Smith returned to Battle Creek in mid-July, he carried with him the revised and amplified manuscript for Life Incidents.
In a back page note in the Review of August 4, James White explained:
Life Incidents. This book is nearly ready. It will contain 376 pages.... Do you want your friends to know why you are a Seventh-day Adventist? Let them have this book to read. Do you wish them impressed with the great fact that God has been in the great Advent movement? Let them have an opportunity of reading the book.
In this work I have connected experience with theory, showing that the position of Seventh-day Adventists is based upon the Word of God, and is also sustained by the deepest and most valuable Christian experience.--Ibid., August 4, 1868
The book was to sell for $1 per copy, "free to the poor," in which case the book fund would be charged 60 cents. He expected that "thousands of copies will be given to those who have not sufficient interest in the subject to purchase, or money to pay for, the book." The initial printing was 5,000 copies.
Ellen G. White Busy Writing
While Uriah Smith was staying at the White home in Greenville Ellen was busy writing. So much had been opened up to her in the vision of June 12. She wrote scores of personal testimonies. Some were soon included in Testimony Nos. 16 and 17. At this time Edson was with them in their Greenville home. On July 27 she wrote a birthday letter to him, who would be nineteen the next day. It opens:
My dear Son,
I write this for your nineteenth birthday. It has been a pleasure to have you with us a few weeks in the past. You are about to leave us, yet our prayers shall follow you.
Another year of your life closes today. How can you look back upon it? Have you made advancement in the divine life? Have you increased in spirituality? Have you crucified self, with the affections and lusts? Have you an increased interest in the study of God's Word? ...As you enter upon a new year, let it be with an earnest resolve to have your course onward and upward.--Letter 17, 1868 (see also Testimonies for the Church, 2:261).
The twelve-page handwritten letter closes with these observations and admonitions:
A new year of your life now commences. A new page is turned in the book of the recording angel. What will be the record upon its pages? Shall it be blotted with neglect of God, with unfulfilled duties? God forbid. Let the record be stamped there which you will not be ashamed to have revealed to the gaze of men and angels.--Ibid. (see also Ibid., 2:268).
She handed the carefully penned letter to Edson on his birthday, and as he left a few days later for Battle Creek, where he was continuing his education, he took it with him. Then, as she thought more of it, and how it might be a help to other young people, on August 11 she called for it back, that she might make a copy. She included it in Testimony No. 17, published in February, 1869.
The Camp Meeting at Wright, Michigan
When plans for an annual camp meeting were seriously considered in mid-July, the first thought was that there was not enough time to arrange for such a meeting that year. But then the leaders felt it could be done if they worked quickly. On the back page of the August 11 Review, under the heading "General Camp Meeting," readers were informed:
It is now decided to hold a general camp meeting in the town of Wright, Ottawa County, Michigan, August 26-31.
Other notices and instructions followed quickly. Because of the closeness of time, the meeting was deferred a week, to open Tuesday, September 1, and run to Monday, September 7. On the editorial page in the Review of August 18, the General Conference Committee informed prospective comers:
This meeting has not been appointed for the purpose of spending a few days in recreation and vanity. Nor has it been appointed as a novelty, for the purpose of calling out the idle and the curious who might not otherwise be reached. Nor do we by this means merely seek to gather a large concourse of people, that we may thereby make a display of our strength. We have a very different object in view.
We desire to call out as many of our brethren, both preachers and people, as we can, and also as many of our unconverted fellowmen as we may be able to interest in this meeting, that we may do them good. We want all who shall come to this meeting to come for the purpose of seeking God. We want our brethren to come for the purpose of seeking a new conversion. We want our preachers to set them in this an example worthy of imitation.
We desire also to see many of our fellowmen who have no interest in Christ, or at least no knowledge of the present truth, converted to the Lord, and rejoicing in the light of His truth.--The Review and Herald, August 18, 1868.
Directions were given on how to reach the campground, on the farm of E. H. Root, with the promise that "a beautiful grove will be prepared with seats for three thousand persons." Two sixty-foot round tents would be pitched on the grounds, one of them new, and the hope was expressed that there would be many small living tents. James and Ellen White would have theirs, and the Review of August 18 carried instruction on the construction at home of simple tents to serve families and churches.
The Hasty Trip to Battle Creek, and a Dream
To be sure that all announcements and directions in the Review were just as they should be, James made a hasty trip to Battle Creek, taking Ellen with him (Ibid.). While there, she had what she spoke of as an impressive dream, in which it seemed that they, along with part of a large body of people, started out with heavily loaded wagons prepared for a journey. The road seemed to ascend; on one side there was a deep precipice, and on the other, a high, smooth wall. As they journeyed, the road narrowed, causing them to leave their wagons and then their horses. As the perilous path narrowed, they took off their shoes. However, along the way they found ropes, representing faith, let down; these increased in size as they progressed. Finally they reached a chasm, beyond which was a beautiful field of green grass. To get there, they had to rely wholly upon the ropes; by these they could swing to the other side. In whispers the travelers inquired, "To what is the cord attached?" Hesitating and distressed, they heard the words "God holds the cords. We need not fear." James first swung across the abyss and Ellen followed, and they were safely on the other side, praising God and perfectly happy (Testimonies for the Church, 2:594-597). "The dream needs no comment," she stated as she told it. She felt the scenes were such she could never forget.
The Camp Layout
After about a week in Battle Creek the Whites returned to Greenville to get ready for the camp meeting at Wright (The Review and Herald, August 25, 1868). As the people began to assemble for the meeting on Tuesday, September 1, they found the site to be in a beautiful grove on the Root farm. Meetings were to be held in a natural amphitheater, the ground gently sloping to the speaker's stand. Two sixty-foot tents had been erected, one well supplied with good clean straw with which to fill their bed ticks, and in which some of the men could sleep. Water came from a spring on the nearby crest of the incline, which furnished water for the livestock on the Root farm.
As the wagons drove up, family and church tents were unloaded and pitched in a circle about the speaker's stand--twenty-two in all. Many of these were quite large--sleeping quarters were divided off by blankets or quilts, providing shelter for several families. Nineteen tents were from Michigan, one from New York State, and two from Wisconsin (Ibid., September 15, 1868). There would have been more had there been more time between the announcement and the opening of the meeting.
The first brief meeting was held Tuesday morning at 11:00 A.M., but it was limited to a season of prayer. The rest of the day was given to pitching tents and getting settled. Cooking was done on small open fires. The meeting area in front of the stand was seated with planks on logs. Close by was a bookstand well supplied with the products of the SDA Publishing House: Spiritual Gifts,, Volumes I-IV; Testimony pamphlets; Life Incidents; How to Live; Thoughts on Revelation; and the newly issued Uriah Smith book--The Visions of Mrs. E. G. White, et cetera. There were also many, many, pamphlets. The youthful John Corliss tended the bookstand, with 14-year-old Willie White assisting.
Activities and Speakers
The camp meeting had its real beginning when at five o'clock in the afternoon those on the grounds assembled under the sugar maple trees facing the speaker's stand. Ellen White gave what we might call the keynote address. Uriah Smith reported:
Sister White spoke in reference to the wants of the churches, and the objects for which we had assembled in the tented grove. These were plainly set forth, and served to put the brethren upon the right train of thought at the very commencement. Those who before had not seen the need of such a gathering, if any such there were, must have seen it, when its objects were thus clearly set forth.--Ibid., September 15, 1868
Joseph Clarke (a layman engaged in farming), in writing of the camp meeting, focused on this opening meeting:
Sister White's testimony was such as to cause us to feel somewhat as the disciples did when they queried, "Lord, is it I?" It was full of warning. She stated that she never felt as fearful for this people as at this moment; and at the opening of this meeting she exhorted us not to converse, at this time, of loss and gain, but to speak of heavenly things.--Ibid., September 22, 1868
We are not informed who spoke at the evening meeting, but most likely it was James White. At nine o'clock, as the people made their way to their tents, they found the grounds lighted by wood fires in mounted boxes of earth, providing, as it were, streetlights. As the people were retiring, J. N. Andrews made the round, pausing at each tent to inquire, "Are you all comfortable for the night?" (A. W. Spalding, Origin and History of SDAs, vol. 2, p. 12).
Wednesday morning the first service was a social meeting [Defined at one time by Uriah Smith as a meeting "characterized by spirited and soul-cheering testimonies, the beaming eye, the voice of praise, the earnest and stirring exhortation, and often the falling tear--scenes in which faith and love flame up anew" (Ibid., May 23, 1865).] where believers recounted their experiences, praised the Lord, and in some cases confessed their wrongs. There were two or three such meetings each day. Through the week of meetings, sixteen discourses were given, six by James White, five by Ellen White, four by Andrews, and one by Nathan Fuller. Wrote Smith:
We doubt if a series of more stirring, earnest, vehement, and pointed discourses were ever consecutively given. They were all aglow with the fire of present truth. The Spirit of the Lord is evidently calling the minds of His servants to the special duties and dangers of the church at the present time.--Ibid., September 15, 1868
The weather was good, meetings were held under the trees through Sabbath. Three hundred people tented on the grounds. It was estimated that there were a thousand Sabbathkeepers there most of the time, many staying in the homes of church members in the Wright area. Some thought that on Sunday there might be as many as three thousand on the grounds as people from the surrounding country came in, but Sunday morning a hard rain fell, and there were only two thousand people in attendance. Meetings were held simultaneously in the two big tents. Sunday afternoon as the sky was clearing, Ellen White spoke. Tracts were distributed freely to the crowd. Then in the evening, James White spoke from the stand on the law and the gospel. Meetings continued through Monday, the evening meeting bringing the camp meeting to a close. Smith reported of the week-long convocation that "best of order reigned throughout, and no disturbance was experienced from any quarter."--Ibid. Clarke declared in his report:
The order and regularity observed at this meeting was unusual for a meeting of this kind. If all camp meetings could be conducted as this was, we should hear of glorious results.--Ibid., September 22, 1868
Two More Camp Meetings Planned for 1868
So successful was the Wright camp meeting that before it closed, plans were laid for two more, one at Clyde, Illinois, September 23 to 30, for the Wisconsin Conference, and the other at Pilot Grove, Iowa, October 2 to 7. The Whites and Andrews were at both. Attendance was rather limited.
At these meetings, James White and his brethren worked in close common interest, and mutual confidence was restored. The Battle Creek brethren urged them to return and to reside in the city, that the work of the cause might be carried on more efficiently and that they might have the pleasure of closer association. This was tempting, and as they journeyed from Wright to the camp meeting in Clyde, Illinois, they stopped in Battle Creek, selected a building lot, and got plans under way for putting up a house. Also they announced through a back page Review note, signed by both James and Ellen White, that after the two camp meetings they would attend the annual conferences in Ohio and New York. En route to these meetings, they stopped again in Battle Creek. It is clear from the following report in the Review that James White was quickly becoming much involved with Battle Creek interests.
Involved Again in Important Interests at Battle Creek
Returning from the West, we reached Battle Creek, October 13, and spent one week with Brother Andrews in matters of importance relative to the Health Institute, the Publishing Association, the Battle Creek School, religious meetings, besides our own personal interests in book matters, house building, and fitting up winter clothing. It was a busy week.
The Health Institute is prospering. God's blessing is there. The church is still settling into the work. And the prospect is very encouraging for the establishment of a good school at Battle Creek, where not only the sciences may be taught, but the principles and spirit of the religion of Jesus may be impressed upon the children and youth who may attend it.... We left Battle Creek in company with Brother Andrews, the twenty-first, for the New York State Conference.--Ibid., November 17, 1868
Just before leaving, Ellen White wrote to Mrs. Lockwood, apparently living in Greenville:
The work is ahead of anything that has ever yet been in Battle Creek. May the Lord pity and save His people. Our staying here or removing will depend upon the course the church takes here.--Letter 22, 1868.
Then, anticipating the setting up of housekeeping on their return from the East, she noted:
Brother Sawyer will spend the winter in Greenville. He will go with a load of goods the last of this week and will bring a load back. Please see that all my forks and spoons and knives are brought. I would like those two large brown dishes; also all my bedding, my mattresses, all my clothing, especially the little trunk and contents. Put in some of the best dishes. The old plants and odds and ends might as well remain. Send one of the best bedsteads.--Ibid.
They left Battle Creek with a somewhat open schedule, intending after the State meeting in New York to spend several weeks visiting the churches in that state. But as October was turning to November they received word of the rapidly failing health of Ellen's sister, Sarah Belden, in Connecticut, who was dying of "quick consumption" (tuberculosis). After two impressive dreams of being there, the Whites changed plans quickly. Appointments in New York were canceled, and on November 4 they were on the eastward-bound train. Letters indicated that Sarah's situation was critical (Letter 28, 1868), and now Ellen was on her way "to comfort her in the conflict she must have in giving up her children, five in number, the eldest, one year and a half younger than Willie." She added, "As she is reconciling herself to laying down her life's burdens, I may make the struggle less severe and soothe and heal the lacerated heart."--Ibid. One of the five children was Frank E. Belden, who later became a writer of scores of well-known Adventist hymns. Ellen spent a week with her sister, who died a few days after their visit.
An Eastern Tour
Once that far east, James and Ellen would capitalize on the situation. After the Sabbath meeting at Kensington, Connecticut, near her sister's home, they began to fill weekend appointments announced through the Review, at Norridgewock and Portland, Maine, then Rhode Island, and South Lancaster, Massachusetts.
Several weeks were spent in Maine, giving them an opportunity to do a good deal of visiting with Adventist families. As they journeyed from Norridgewock to Portland, they turned east to visit James White's birthplace and a number of points connected with his early ministry in 1843. Here and in Portland they visited for the first time in twenty-five years. Two of Ellen's sisters joined them in Portland for a few days. Here first-day Adventists opened their hall for her to speak to a large congregation (The Review and Herald, December 15, 1868).
They spent one night at the Howland home in Topsham, and in Boston "spent some time" in "looking for and purchasing good books," for James White wrote, "Our young people need good books."--Ibid., December 22, 1868. The balance of the year was spent on this tour, closing with the four-day Ohio State meeting held at Bowling Green, December 25-28. This had been postponed until James and Ellen could attend (Ibid., December 15, 1868).
In her letters to her children written on this trip, she several times mentioned the new home being constructed in Battle Creek. Their purpose, she wrote, was, after this tour, "to enter our new home at Battle Creek and get our dear children home, that our family again be united."--Letter 28, 1868. As the tour neared its close, on December 16 she wrote to them:
We are anxious to meet you again and enjoy the society of our children. We have not seen our new home but will be prepared to enjoy it with you when we shall return.--Letter 26, 1868.
According to plan, they reached Battle Creek on Wednesday, December 30, and took up life in Battle Creek again. Of this, James wrote:
We found a convenient and pleasant house built at Battle Creek for us, and partly furnished with goods moved from our [Greenville] home in Montcalm County. This place seems like home. Here we find rest in several senses of the word. We had become tired of meetings, tired of traveling, tired of speaking, tired of visiting, and tired of the business cares incident to an absence from home, living, as it were, in our trunks nearly one third of the year. Here we find quiet for the present.--The Review and Herald, January 12, 1869.
There were sixty letters awaiting them--to be opened and attended to.--Ibid.