There has never been a time," proclaimed James White in his editorial in the Review and Herald of September 12, "when the friends of the cause of Bible truth, and pure religion, have so much to encourage them as at the present. The cause, in all its branches, is being placed upon a footing that is truly gratifying." Ellen returned from the east with a good report of the camp meetings she had attended. James White had rather quickly passed through dark days that had led him to submit himself to the care of the physicians at the Health Institute. He and Ellen, in serious examination of their own souls, had rededicated themselves to the cause they loved. The outlook for both of them was encouraging and bright.
Two years before, it had not been so. He wrote that the Health Institute had then been seeing its darkest time:
Heavy debts were upon it. And in consequence of shaken confidence in its management, patrons were very few. At first we saw no other way than to sell out, and refund what was left to those who had taken stock. But on second thought faith revived, and by the grace of God we were able to declare that God would vindicate every appeal to His people in the several Testimonies for the Church respecting health reform and the Health Institute. We have worked in accordance with our faith, and with the blessing of God, and the cooperation of faithful friends at the institute, and also abroad, it has been gradually rising, and is now enjoying a full tide of prosperity.--Ibid., September 12, 1871
The "Hygienic Festival" of July 27, 1871
With the upturn of the affairs of the institute in the spring, it became necessary to make an addition to the main building and improve and refit the cottages. To James White and some others this had seemed to be a new beginning, appropriately calling for the rededication of the institution and its staff, climaxed by a meal together. What better opportunity could there be to acquaint the leading families in Battle Creek with the enterprise and for what it stood? The committee chosen to foster the event, chaired by James White, sent out printed invitations to the principal families in the city and community to participate in a "hygienic festival" on the grounds of the institution. The response was excellent. The Health Reformer reported:
The preparations for the occasion, made by the joint action of those directly connected with the Health Institute, and a large number of practical health reformers in the city and vicinity, were ample and in many respects truly beautiful and grand.--The Health Reformer, August, 1871 (see also The Review and Herald, August 22, 1871).
The dinner was an outstanding success. One of the guests, the Honorable George Willard, editor of the Battle Creek Journal, reported the proceedings:
On Thursday, July 27, on the spacious and beautiful grounds of the Health Institute in this city, there was held a Health Reform Convention or Hygienic Festival, which was attended by about eight hundred persons, chiefly assembled from Battle Creek and the towns in the vicinity. The day was one of the finest of the season, and as the people began arriving about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, they found the amplest preparations made for their reception.
On the south side of the grounds were five tables--each 128 feet in length, the total length being 640 feet--all set in the neatest style and appropriately decorated with vases of flowers, while on the north side a large platform had been fitted up for a speaker's stand, with seats arranged in front of it for the accommodation of the guests during the speaking....
Before the guests sat down at the tables, there were some speeches, of which Editor Willard reported:
There were addresses on health and dress reform by the Rev. James White, and also by Mrs. White. They were both listened to with close attention, as they with remarkable force and clearness set forth the new principles of hygiene, and presented the reasons for their adoption.
Willard noted that "she proceeded to discuss the topics which would naturally possess a special interest on the part of the ladies of her audience." He added:
The duties of the family and home circle were enforced with a practical eloquence, which must have convinced her hearers that many if not all of her admonitions and suggestions were worthy of serious attention, and that the world would be much better if they were carried out in actual practice in all the homes of the land.
When she had concluded her address, dinner was announced, and the crowd surged toward the five tables. Six hundred and seventy-five persons were served with a tempting meal. There were vegetables, of course, tastily prepared:
New ripe potatoes, green beans, green corn, beets, squash, green peas, baked beans.
There were breads and cakes:
Gems, raised bread, hard biscuit, buns, fruit cake (graham), sponge cake (graham), apple pie (graham), oatmeal pudding, manioca pudding with fruit, rice pudding with fruit.
As to fruit there were peaches; dried prunes, figs, and dates; apples; whortleberries [huckleberries]; and blackberries. The editor stated:
It is to be noticed that butter, grease of all kinds, tea, coffee, spice, pepper, ginger, and nutmeg were wholly discarded in the cookery and were not in use on the tables. Salt was provided for those who desired it.
Going considerably into detail, the editor stated:
After the invocation of the divine blessing, the dinner was served in a most capital manner, and was relished and universally commended by the vast company of guests, most of whom for the first time sat at a public dinner got up on the hygienic plan.--Ibid.
Then there was a visit to the facilities of the institute, and the crowd gathered again to listen further to James and Ellen White. Willard concluded his report, stating, "The institute, it is needless to add, has gained greatly by this convention, in having its aims and objects, as well as its actual condition and prospects, brought more fully before the public at large."
This is precisely what the directors of the institute and the Adventist community had hoped for.
The New Review and Herald Building
Adding to the excitement of the summer, a new building was under construction to house the growing demands upon the Review and Herald. In early May the lot just east of the plant had been purchased, and a building, an exact duplicate of the one then in use, was erected. Wrote James White on August 22:
A second office building is nearly completed for the use of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, the size and form of the one now occupied. The brick are laid, and the roof is on. It will probably be ready for use by the first of October. The cost of the site and building properly furnished will be a little less than $10,000. This sum we propose to raise before January, 1872, in stock shares of $10.--Ibid., August 22, 1871
Special Healing Blessings Signal God's Power
In early September, when Ellen White returned to Battle Creek after her tour of camp meetings in the East, and James and Ellen had joined in soul searching and reconsecration to the cause of God, heaven had signaled a response in a special manner. James stated, regarding his personal experience:
We finally came to the point to decide that we would not fully leave the work at Battle Creek without the clearest providential proofs of duty so to do; but stand by the work there at all hazards till God shall raise up, and qualify, others to take the oversight of it. Since this decision has been made, we have enjoyed unusual freedom, and mental and physical embarrassments are rapidly disappearing.--Ibid., November 14, 1871
Ellen had been relieved from what had been a little-known but distressing situation, one that clearly evidenced the providence of God. In addition to the menopause through which she was passing, she suffered much from a painful growth thought to be cancer (Letter 28, 1872). For four days they sought God's healing. James wrote:
And Mrs. White, also, is sharing very largely the divine blessing. For two years past she has, most of the time, suffered from painful and discouraging evidence of a growing cancer in the breast. About the time we decided to never leave the work at Battle Creek, until the Lord and His people gave us unmistakable evidence that we were released, Mrs. White gave herself to the Lord anew in a covenant to trust in His power fully.
We bowed before God together in solemn covenant to be wholly His, and to labor on, trusting His providential hand to uphold, to direct, and to save. And the Lord has been very gracious to us. Mrs. White is free and happy, and has the best of evidence that the growing cancerous swelling, which had become large, and was very painful, is entirely removed. As we pen these lines, she is by our side, earnestly preparing her second volume of The Spirit of Prophecy for the press.--The Review and Herald, November 14, 1871.
Whether or not the diagnosis of the cause of her distress was accurate, healing brought both relief and courage.
The September Michigan Camp Meeting
The September 5 issue of the Review had carried, on the back page, the note from the physicians at the Health Institute endorsing the wisdom of James's proposed resignation from publishing responsibilities. It was anticipated that a replacement would be chosen on September 18 at the time of the Michigan camp meeting. To the surprise of everyone, the September 12 issue of the Review carried his enthusiastic editorial "The Cause" and its bright outlook, with no mention of his dropping out of the picture (Ibid., September 12, 1871).
So when the time came for the Michigan camp meeting at Charlotte and the special meeting of the SDA Publishing Association to select White's successor as president of the association, that matter was postponed until the next regular meeting. James White had not only made a very speedy recovery, but was one of the speakers at the camp. At this well-attended gathering he spoke five times and his wife three.
Uriah Smith, in describing the camp meeting setting, reported that there were, on the grounds,
fifty-seven tents, including the two large tents, arranged in one grand circle about thirty rods in diameter, [that] furnished temporary homes for nearly eight hundred Sabbathkeepers.... The preaching was with great freedom and power. This was the case with all the speakers. Brother White dwelt with much freedom on the subject of the Second Advent, and the work of reform in its bearing upon the preparation we are to make for that event, and our being overcomers at last.--Ibid., September 19, 1871
At the constituency meeting actions were passed that brought relief and courage to James White. Steps were taken to bring in much-needed help.
Voted, That Brethren H. W. Kellogg and Charles Russell move to Battle Creek to help sustain Brother White in the work.-- Ibid.
Further, the three laymen, Ira Abbey, J. F. Carman, and S. H. King, appointed earlier at the General Conference session, were named again to work with the General Conference Committee in arranging for families who could strengthen the work to move to Battle Creek (Ibid.).
The Tour Through New England
In August, when it was time for James and Ellen White to leave for the New England camp meetings, he had been greatly disappointed to find himself confined to Battle Creek as an invalid, taking treatments in the Health Institute. Now steps were being taken to ease his load. This, with his remarkable recovery in health, caused him to turn his eyes again to New England. He made an appointment to commence work there, meeting with the South Lancaster church November 4, and in Boston November 11 and 12 (Ibid., October 31, 1871). This tour took them into Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont. His first report, written from the Haskell home in South Lancaster, had a buoyant tone:
It is not alone the bracing air of New England that has driven away our gloom and made us free and hopeful. The exhilarating influence of change, of meeting friends, old and new, of seeing many new faces, has done us much good. And the hope of better health, freedom from double care, and the prospect of being able to fill calls to different parts of the wide field, where we can now and then stop and find retirement to write for a few weeks, makes us feel that we are almost in a new world.--Ibid., November 21, 1871
They continued on to eastern Maine, where James's ministry had begun. With renewed enthusiasm he announced that it was their design to spend much of 1872 in Maine:
Our proposition to spend much time in Maine the next year, where we can be free from the cares at Battle Creek, that we may write several books, and speak to the brethren in different places on the Sabbath, meets their hearty approval. We design to give appointments for Maine soon.--Ibid., December 12, 1871
As to Ellen White, he could rejoice in reporting:
Mrs. White is in the enjoyment of excellent health, and is in good spirits, and is making considerable progress on her second volume. This will be far the most interesting and important book she has written. We are having a jubilee. Our greatest embarrassment is our inability to comply with the many calls in different parts of New England, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, et cetera.
But they had to be on their way back to Battle Creek to attend the tenth annual session of the General Conference in late December, and the dedication of the new Review and Herald building the following week. En route they met with the Bordoville, Vermont, church on Sabbath and Sunday, December 9 and 10.
Vision at Bordoville, Vermont
The Bourdeau brothers, A. C. and D. T., reported the happenings of Ellen White's visit there. James, on account of a severe cold contracted in an uncomfortable visit to the Washington, New Hampshire, church, could not attend. Here is the report:
There were eight meetings held in Bordoville. Three of them were preaching meetings and five were social. Sister White labored especially for the church. One interesting feature of the meetings was that though Sabbath afternoon nearly one hundred persons came forward to the anxious seats for prayers, yet the evening following, at a meeting held to continue the same work, we came to a halt where neither preachers nor people could cause the work to progress; at which point special testimonies were given to individuals present; and as these were endorsed, light and freedom broke in.--Ibid., December 26, 1871
As Ellen was about to leave late Sunday afternoon, two young men who had grown careless but who had attended the meetings came to bid her Goodbye. The Bourdeau report continues:
At this point, Sister White felt the real burden of their cases, and a special yearning after them for their salvation, and gave them rich instructions. She then kneeled down with them, and prayed for them with great earnestness, faith, and tenacity, that they might return unto the Lord. They yielded and prayed, promising to serve the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord drew nearer and nearer. Sister White was free, and soon, unexpectedly to all, she was in vision. She remained in this condition fifteen minutes. The news spread, and soon the house (A. C. Bourdeau's) was crowded. Sinners trembled, believers wept, and backsliders returned to God.--Ibid.
There was an unusual and very interesting corollary. The experience in the Bourdeau home was simultaneously being shared by some others in their own homes. The report continues:
The work was not confined to those present as we have since learned. Some who had remained at home were powerfully convicted. They saw themselves as they have never done before. The angel of God was shaking the place. The shortness of time, the terrors and nearness of coming judgments and the time of trouble, the worldly-mindedness of the church, their lack of brotherly love, and their state of unreadiness to meet the Lord were strongly impressed upon the minds of all. A reform is started; hearty confessions are being made; brethren are coming together.-- Ibid.
The Tenth Annual Session of the General Conference
The tenth annual session of the General Conference opened in Battle Creek, Friday morning, December 29, 1871. It was a meeting that to a degree would see the fruition of James White's determination to strengthen the base of the work to ensure its future and give him needed relief. It was a meeting of encouraging reports and the laying of long-range plans. The Publishing Association was prospering, having increased its assets by nearly $11,000 during the past ten months and erected a new building that was to be dedicated in a few days. The Health Institute was doing well; it was managed by Ira Abbey, the first of the "picked men" to join the business forces in Battle Creek. But James and Ellen White were spent; it was clear that they must get away from the burdens that inevitably rolled upon them when they were in Battle Creek.
Fourteen delegates attended the first meeting. Those from out of the city were entertained at the Health Institute in its recently enlarged building and renovated cottages. Some were there for a week, and some for two weeks. "It seemed," wrote James White at a later time, "to be the highest pleasure of the physicians and helpers to make all feel at home, and to make the occasion a happy one." He commented:
The opportunity for the interchange of thought by those who had intelligently and conscientiously adopted the principles of the great health reformation was excellent, and each seemed to
be delighted with the important facts in each other's experience.--Ibid., August 20, 1872
Nor was the contribution made by James White to the financial stability and improved situation of the institute overlooked. Early in the session an action was taken recognizing this:
Resolved, That we express our gratification with the prosperity and future prospects of the Health Institute, in respect to its financial management, its excellent order, its success in the treatment of disease, and its moral and religious influence. That we consider that this favorable state of the institute is, under the blessing of God, owing to the interest taken in its behalf by Brother White, to the care and labor of the trustees, and to the faithfulness of the physicians and helpers.--Ibid., January 2, 1872
Another resolution recognized also James White's untiring efforts in behalf of the Publishing Association. This was followed by one that called for him to be relieved of the burdens entailed in its interests, but that his strength be cherished "as a counselor and minister." Before the conference was over, the following interesting action was passed:
Resolved, That the time has now come when it is clearly the duty of the association to perform an act of justice in paying Brother White the full value of what he freely gave into the hands of the association in transferring the Review to that body.--Ibid.
However, in his report of the session Uriah Smith noted that White declined to accept reimbursement.--Ibid., January 16, 1872
Young Men Called to the Ministry
A need frequently mentioned prior to the conference session was that of recruits to the ministry. Resolution No. 10 read:
That we cordially invite our young men who have the cause of God at heart, and who are constrained by the love of Christ so to do, to present themselves as candidates for the ministry.--Ibid.
This laid the foundation for perhaps the most important development in the year 1872--the call for, and opening of, a denominational school in Battle Creek.
Another far-reaching action called for the formation of Tract and Missionary societies, the forerunners of the Home Missionary departments (later variously called Lay Activities and Personal Ministries) and the Adventist Book Centers of local conferences. S. N. Haskell had pioneered this type of activity in the New England Conference. He was the delegate from that field, and he was asked to work with a committee of five.--Ibid.
George I. Butler Replaces James White
When the nominating committee brought in its report, no one was surprised that the name of George I. Butler, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, president of the Iowa Conference, stood at the head of the panel. It was imperative that White surrender the burden of the presidency of the General Conference if he were to survive. Uriah Smith would continue as secretary and Adelia Patten Van Horn as treasurer. James White did accept reelection to the position of president of the Publishing Association. That was his cherished child. In this position he would receive $12 a week, the same as did Uriah Smith, the resident editor (managing editor) of the Review.
Seventh Day Baptist Delegate
As Uriah Smith reported the conference session he mentioned, "This year as last, a pleasant feature of the occasion was the visit of the S. D. Baptist delegate." Immediately following the seating of the regular delegates on Friday morning, December 29, J. H. Waggoner announced that Nathan Wardner, a representative of the Seventh Day Baptists, was present, on the invitation of church leaders, and he was seated as a delegate to the session. At this point and others he spoke of the interest held in common on the vital truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. In the conference resolution welcoming Wardner it was stated, "We rejoice that there is even one religious body in our land that we are able to meet on common ground on the important subject of the Sabbath of the Lord our God."--Ibid. On Wardner's invitation, James White was appointed as a delegate to represent Seventh-day Adventists at the next conference of the Seventh Day Baptists. Waggoner was named as an alternate.
The Dedication of the New Review Building
The dedication of the new Review and Herald office building was an important item on the agenda for the session. This took place on January 1, 1872. Smith described this occasion of special interest:
The central room on the second floor, occupying the entire body of the main building, was closely seated and filled to its utmost capacity. The exercises were opened with singing and prayer. Brother White gave a brief sketch of the rise of the publishing department of this work from its commencement in feebleness and obscurity, to its present extended and prosperous condition. Interesting remarks were also made by Elders Andrews, Wardner, and Waggoner. With a closing hymn and prayer, the exercises concluded.
Thus another building is dedicated to the work of sending forth the light of truth among the people. The office is finished in a neat and substantial manner. The workmen have done their duty faithfully and conscientiously. It elicits the unqualified praise of all who behold it.--Ibid., January 16, 1872
The Seventh-day Adventist School
In January, 1869, James White had proposed through the Review the starting of a school in Battle Creek, and he called for pledges for such an enterprise (Ibid., January 12, 1869). But the idea did not catch fire. Then he proposed a lecture series to follow the General Conference session in 1870, and made a similar attempt the next year, without significant response. The need of qualified men in the ministry led to the action taken at the General Conference session at the turn of the year, 1872, calling for young men to present themselves for the ministry. Finally, in early April, 1872, James and Ellen White called the Battle Creek church together to give serious study to establishing a school there. Among the questions asked were:
Shall we take hold, as a people, of the subject of education, and form an Educational Society?
Shall we have a denominational school.... to qualify young men and women to act some part, more or less public, in the cause of God?
Shall there be some place provided where our young people can go to learn such branches of the sciences as they can put into immediate and practical use, and at the same time be instructed on the great themes of prophetic and other Bible truth?--Ibid., April 16, 1872
It was proposed that with shares costing $10 each, the church form a society "to raise funds for the purpose of renting, purchasing, or erecting school buildings, and procuring school apparatus." Steps were taken to determine what the interest was and what support could be expected. A standing committee consisting of Uriah Smith and E. W. Whitney was formed to foster the interest. With James White joining this committee, the following definite and significant steps were taken:
"Resolved, That we invite the General Conference Committee to employ suitable teachers for the contemplated school, to take such steps as they may deem proper to raise the necessary means for the support till it becomes self-sustaining, and to take the general oversight of this enterprise."
This being a movement in behalf of the cause at large, the General Conference Committee are the proper persons to act in the premises. In accordance with the foregoing resolution, its management will hereafter be in their hands.
It is now decided to commence the school on Monday, the third of June next. A place is provided, and teacher engaged. The first term will continue twelve weeks, to August 26. Tuition from $3 to $6, according to studies taken.
The chief object has been stated to aid those who contemplate becoming public laborers in the cause of truth. Of course, those who have no such object in view, but who wish merely to acquire an education under the advantages and in the society here offered, are at perfect liberty to attend. Let all come who can, in season to be here at the commencement, and others as soon thereafter as possible.--Ibid., May 14, 1872
The above appeared as an unsigned note on the back page of the Review. As James White was editor, it is assumed that it was his announcement.
Two weeks later readers of the Review were informed that, judging from letters received, there was a good degree of interest in the proposed school (Ibid., May 28, 1872). Meanwhile, Butler, the new president of the General Conference, quickly joined in support of the school idea. On May 22 he wrote:
From recent references in the Review the readers of the paper have become acquainted with the fact that a school was to be started June 3 in Battle Creek having some connection with our denomination, the General Conference Committee having the supervision of it. As one of that committee, I wish to say a word in reference to this subject so that all may know my feelings concerning the matter.
I fully believe it is in the order of God that we should have a school started in connection with the other institutions which are growing up there. And I expect to see this comparatively small beginning which is now being made amount to something very important before the message shall close. I believe this because it is something that is necessary to meet a want that exists among us.--Ibid., June 4, 1872
Butler addressed himself to the great need of a school and the type of school it should be, in the light of many of the institutions of learning in the land. He stated clearly:
We want a school to be controlled by our people where influences of a moral character may be thrown around the pupils which will tend to preserve them from those influences which are so common and injurious in the majority of the schools of the present day; and in this school we want a department in which those who would labor in the ministry, or in other public positions of usefulness, may receive the instruction which will qualify them for the duties of those positions.--Ibid.
Announcement of the opening was made the next week in the June 11 issue, under the heading "The S.D.A. School." The announcement opened with the words:
This school commenced in Battle Creek at the time appointed, June 3, with twelve scholars, Brother G. H. Bell, teacher. Two have since joined. This is a better beginning than we had ventured to anticipate, in view of the brief time taken to commence the enterprise, and the short notice that was necessarily given.--Ibid., June 11, 1872
Those who might feel that this was a small beginning were reminded of the parable of the mustard seed.
George I. Butler came in quickly with a second article, titled "Mental Culture and the Pulpit," in which he emphasized the importance of those who stand in the highest and noblest work God has committed to man, being prepared by a proper education to do the greatest amount of good possible for him to do.
At midterm there were twenty-five regular students, but the grammar class, which was held in the evenings so Review employees could attend, numbered between forty and fifty. The school was well on its way (Ibid., July 16, 1872).
Eyes to the West
The first camp meeting of the 1872 season was to open at Aledo, Illinois, on May 31. James and Ellen White were to be there. In mid-May they had left Battle Creek to have a period of rest at their Washington, Iowa, home. They there remained through the early summer, getting away to attend only two camp meetings--the Illinois meeting and the Iowa meeting, which opened June 6. While they were in Washington, Testimony No. 21, a paperbound volume of two hundred pages, came from the press, priced at 25 cents (Ibid., June 18, 1872).
On May 20, 1872, Ellen White wrote to Willie in Battle Creek about their Washington home.
We are very pleasantly situated here and I am very well persuaded that this place in Washington should be our headquarters. Father works in the garden much of his time and rests well nights. He has been writing quite a lengthy piece for the Reformer. There are many things to interest and take his mind--the trimming of trees, improvements to be made....
I think this is just the place for Father. We are trying to rest up for camp meetings.... This is a beautiful place. I shall feel at home here.... I have not been very well. Hope to improve and be ready for camp meeting.--Letter 6, 1872.
Writing to Edson and Emma four weeks later, in mid-June, Ellen mentioned the flowers in blossom around the home.
We are in the midst of flowers of almost every description, but the most beautiful of all is to be surrounded with roses on every hand, of every color and so fragrant. The prairie queen is just opening, also the Baltimore bell. Peonies have been very lovely and fragrant, but now they are fast going to decay. We have had strawberries for several days.--Letter 5, 1872.
In the same letter, she penned a few lines concerning the wives of ministers who are called from home in their ministry.
An Encouraging Word for Wives Whose Husbands Must Travel
Asceneth [Smith Kilgore] came here yesterday with her sewing machine and her baby to help us prepare for our journey. Her babe is one of the sweetest and best-natured children I ever saw. It seems like a sunbeam wherever she is....
Asceneth acts a noble, self-denying part. She lives alone some distance from any house and takes care of her two prairie flowers and gives up Robert [her husband], a noble fellow, to go out and labor for the salvation of souls.
These companions who deny self for the truth and sake of Christ will not lose their reward. God will tenderly care for them, and when the Chief Shepherd shall reward the undershepherds for their unselfish labor, these self-sacrificing women who yield up their husbands to labor in the vineyard of the Lord will be rewarded with the crown of glory and the blessed commendation Well done, good and faithful servants, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
How encouraging to know that every good work will be rewarded. Our kind heavenly Father faithfully cherishes every kind act prompted by pure, unselfish motives. Not one deed of goodness and self-denial is forgotten. All is written in the book and will receive its just recompense.--Ibid.