Just a little after dawn at Elmshaven one clear, bright Sunday morning in June, Ellen White, after writing for some three hours, left the house to take a short walk in the garden. "As I walked in our garden path," she wrote, "I felt assured the Lord had heard my prayer."--Manuscript 124, 1906. She had awakened at 2:30 A.M. after "a good night's rest," and had dressed and walked down the hall to her writing room. There, presenting her case before the Lord in prayer, she pleaded that He would give her clearness of mind and preserve her eyesight. The almost constant writing, among other things, dealing with the many questions from Battle Creek, had caused painful eyestrain. She had repeated the promise "Ask, and ye shall receive."
"I believe, I believe Thy promises," she had told the Lord, and great peace filled her soul. She noted that she was free from the distressed feelings that had pressed upon her.
Now, as she walked along the garden path, admiring the roses and early flowering plants, the words of her morning prayer, "I cast my helpless soul on Thee, and I will trust in Thy promises," kept running through her mind. At the close of the day she could write in her diary:
I am so thankful that I am relieved of this last month's affliction. I know in whom I have believed. I suffer no pain.... The Lord has heard my prayer and I will praise the Lord. All day Sunday was a day of rejoicing.-- Ibid.
On Tuesday Ellen White made a thirty-five-mile trip to Healdsburg to attend an important meeting. A covered carriage, drawn by a span of young gray mares, conveyed the party of four: Ellen G. White; May White and her husband, W. C.; and Dores Robinson. W. C. was pleased to see that his mother withstood well the journey over on Tuesday and back on Wednesday, and was "of excellent courage" (30 WCW, p. 654).
The next morning in her home she joined officers of the California Conference, together with W. C. White, C. C. Crisler, and J. N. Loughborough, in an extended study of conference affairs. With renewed health and strength she dedicated her time for the following month to her heavy correspondence. The Battle Creek issues figured in this.
The Oakland Camp Meeting (July 19-29)
Ellen White considered it her duty to attend the camp meeting in northern California in Oakland (The Review and Herald, October 4, 1906), and accepted the invitation to assist with the meetings. As was her custom, she took several members of her office staff with her, prepared to carry on her regular work as time permitted.
The trip to Oakland in 1906 was quite different from what it is today when in little more than an hour the sixty-five miles may be traversed over paved highways and a bay-spanning bridge. Iram James, the farm manager, drove the traveling party the three miles to the Southern Pacific Railway station in St. Helena to catch the 7:30 A.M. train. At about nine o'clock they reached the line's end at Carquinez Strait. From here the passengers were shuttled by ferry to Crockett to catch an Oakland-bound train. The trip with all its connections took a little more than three hours.
A well-situated lot in Oakland on 41st Street, between Grove and Telegraph, was the site chosen for the camp meeting. It was easily accessible to travelers by steam train, electric train, and streetcars. It was in a residential area, so there was hope of a good attendance from non-Adventists. The 200 family tents, together with the big tent and other meeting tents, were in readiness as Ellen White and her party came onto the grounds early Thursday afternoon. She and her granddaughter Mabel settled in one tent, the others in a tent next to it. She was pleased that hers was conveniently close to the large meeting tent.
Her first appointment was on Friday; she thought she would speak three or four times during that camp meeting (Ibid.). When the meetings were over ten days later, she had spoken seven times, with some of the meetings running more than an hour. But to her surprise, and to the surprise of those close to her, these meetings seemed to be no drain on her strength. Of this she wrote:
After speaking before that immense congregation, not one phase of weakness was upon me; this was the greatest wonder to me. I was as one refreshed from the beginning to the close of the meeting. This was a new phase in my experience.
All who heard me, say that it was a miracle that my strength was sustained from beginning to end. Praise the Lord that He has given me His Holy Spirit.--Letter 250, 1906.
In the days before public-address systems it was a real accomplishment to make a thousand people hear, but at the age of 78 she did this time after time. Reporting the experience in the October 4 Review and Herald, she made the simple statement "I was refreshed physically," and then told of how she was able also" to do much writing every day." The fact that many non-Adventists attended the evening evangelistic meetings thrilled her heart.
The Pacific Press Fire
Friday night a vision was given to her that she did not at first understand. But Sabbath morning just before going onto the platform--for she was to preach that day--word reached the campground that a fire at Pacific Press in Mountain View had destroyed the entire plant. The first flames were seen at about midnight. The cause of the fire, which apparently had started in the photo-engraving department, was never ascertained. The plans for the Sabbath-morning service in Oakland remained unchanged, but it was a solemn audience that listened to the messenger of the Lord that morning. When the announcement of the Pacific Press fire was made from the desk, many in the audience thought of the Review and Herald fire four years before. They remembered the warnings given and of how after the fire it was generally conceded among Adventists that the catastrophe was a judgment from God. Ellen White had stated this time after time.
What would she say when she stood in the desk to address the waiting audience?
The stenographic report of the Sabbath-morning meeting makes no mention of the fire. She spoke on "Love Toward God and Man." Basing her address on the story of the good Samaritan as recorded in Luke 10:25-37,she drove home the importance of compassion, tenderness, and love. "The Lord permits suffering and calamity to come upon men and women," she declared, "to call us out of our selfishness, to awaken in us the attributes of His character."--Manuscript 109, 1906 (The Review and Herald, September 13, 1906Ibid., September 20, 1906).
The Friday-Night Vision
Then, stopping short, she told the audience that many representations had passed before her the night before. Describing one scene, she told of being in a council meeting, with one after another finding fault with their brethren. There was great confusion. "The dress of the speakers was most undesirable," she said. It "was a representation of character." Christ Himself was present. Finally, after hearing one after another speak words of accusation, and when finally He could get the attention of those present, "He declared that the spirit of criticism, of judging one another, was a source of weakness in the church today." Christ picked up a standard that He held high. In burning letters was God's law, and He repeated the words "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." As she witnessed the scene, "the names of the faultfinders appeared before them," and by each name "the faults of the erring one." And the lesson: "All who love God supremely will love their neighbor as themselves."-- Ibid. Ellen White made no attempt to give more than a general application of the vision. Church leaders present breathed easier.
In conversation with some of the workers, she spoke of one interesting incident in the Friday-night vision. She saw many people rushing forward with criticism; some sought to lay the blame for the trouble and calamities on someone else. Then a large mirror was lifted up in which all saw themselves. Not only did they see their outward appearance, but the mirror reflected their inner character, as well. As different ones saw in the mirror their own condition, they turned away in silence.
W. C. White reported:
All of the leading laborers have united in presenting to our people on the campground the thought that this calamity is to teach each one to search his heart and see wherein we have gone astray.--30 WCW, p. 834.
On Monday in the ministers' meeting, Ellen White told how "the experiences of Job had been presented to her during the night season as a lesson to us for this time" (Ibid.).
In the absence of any direct testimony associating the calamity with grievous misdeeds of institutional managers, the stance set forth above became the prevailing concept.
The fire was indeed a major calamity. The Pacific Press, with a hundred employees, was the largest and best-equipped printing plant west of the Rocky Mountains. Except for a few typewriters, the records of accounts receivable, a portion of the Signs of the Times and Our Little Friend mailing lists, and some of the book plates, all was lost--a loss of between $200,000 and $300,000. Insurance provided $100,000, just enough to pay their debts (The Signs of the Times, August 8, 1906).
Ellen White's personal loss in book plates that were destroyed was estimated at $5,000.
Continued Camp Meeting Ministry
From day to day Ellen White filled speaking appointments. One was in the young people's tent. In spite of the fact that it was crowded with young men and young women, when some of the older folks on the grounds discerned that she was speaking there, they tried to crowd in. The Saviour seemed close to her and she spoke with freedom on the Christian experience to be gained from the ministration of the Holy Spirit.
The last Sabbath was the high day of the feast. Again Ellen White was the Sabbath-morning speaker. The tent was packed. Drawing lessons from the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Colossians, she set forth for forty-five minutes the privileges and responsibilities of the Christian life. She appealed to the church members to "rise to their opportunities" (The Review and Herald, October 4, 1906).
Elder G. B. Thompson followed her address and appeal by a call for "the unconverted and the backslidden," and all who had not made a full surrender, to come forward. There was a most gratifying response.
The next day there was a baptism. Sixty-five were added to the church. For Ellen White personally, it seemed that a new day had dawned. As the camp meeting neared its close, she declared:
I look upon this chapter in my experience in my seventy-eighth year as a miracle of Christ's working. We shall have peace and thanksgiving for the lines of work that were carried forward at this camp meeting. My soul is thankful, and I praise God with all my heart.--Letter 306, 1906.
Some time later, in a letter to Edson, she referred to the camp meeting experience in 1876 at Groveland, Massachusetts, when she spoke on a Sunday to an estimated 20,000 people (The Signs of the Times, September 14, 1876 [MR, p. 114]): "The Lord was with us then," she wrote, "but, Edson, I felt the power of God just as decidedly on the campground in Oakland, as I did in the earlier days of the message. The sweet peace of God was upon me, and I felt refreshed rather than wearied."--Letter 288, 1906.
Plans for a Continuing Evangelistic Thrust
Considering the gratifying attendance of non-Adventists from the community at the night meetings, it seemed well to church leaders to leave the big tent standing and continue with evangelistic services. Sister White encouraged this. It was a plan successfully followed in Australia. A twofold thrust was planned: Workers would remain encamped on the ground; an evangelistic meeting would be held every night, and during the day there would be house-to-house visitation.
Elder Haskell and his wife, who had assisted at the camp meeting but who had been working in San Bernardino, would be requested to stay on to conduct a "Bible training school" for workers and laymen while this special effort was being made in Oakland (The Review and Herald, October 4, 1906). The Haskells had perfected this effective manner of work.
During the mornings they would both lead out in conducting classes in the Bible and in methods of personal work. Bible instructors and literature evangelists would then fan out into the surrounding communities in the afternoons.
As Ellen White urged the Haskells to respond to the invitation, she declared, "There is to be no stone left unturned to lead souls to find the treasure, the hidden treasure of Bible truth."--Letter 254, 1906.
The conference committee also invited a successful evangelist in southern California, Elder W. W. Simpson, to come a little later and assist in Oakland.
Ellen White to Participate
With renewed strength and fired with evangelistic zeal, Ellen White determined to participate in the action. When she could, she would go down weekends to encourage and assist. It would mean a serious break in her literary work, for each weekend trip would consume three full days, and sometimes four, but soul winning was her lifework. Earlier, in wrestling with Battle Creek problems, she wrote, "I do not think that my labors should be mainly for our own people, but for those who have not yet had the light of truth."--Letter 195, 1904.
After two weeks at home, a time when the weather was very warm, she made her first weekend trip to Oakland, going down with Sara McEnterfer on Thursday, August 16. They stayed in the family tent she had occupied during the camp meeting. She spoke in the big tent Sabbath morning. Attendance was good as church members came in from Berkeley, Alameda, and San Francisco. She also spoke Sunday afternoon in the evangelistic meeting in the tent. She observed with satisfaction the work of the Haskells but could see that the time was ripe for Elder Simpson to come. She wrote to him, urging, "Now is the time ... to visit San Francisco and Oakland.... Nothing of an ordinary character," she insisted, "will be effective in awakening this community. A powerful message must be borne."--Letter 272, 1906.
She made nine weekend trips to the Bay Area in August, September, October, and November. She spoke in Oakland on seven weekends, first in the big tent and then in the Congregational church rented for Sabbath meetings, and twice in San Francisco. Usually she spoke in the afternoons so as not to disturb the Sabbath-morning services in the local churches. The Oakland church had been sold, and plans were under way to build again; hence their use of the rented building.
Evangelist Simpson's Effective Ministry
Elder Simpson came to Oakland as a new voice, and it was thought well to choose a new location for his meetings. A place was found for the large tent in the business part of the city, near the post office. Sister White took satisfaction in helping to fold the handbills announcing the meetings.
The weather was remarkably good, and Elder Simpson's meetings were well attended. He had an audience of about 500 every evening. Of his methods Ellen White wrote:
Brother Simpson is an intelligent evangelist. He speaks with the simplicity of a child. Never does he bring any slur into his discourses. He preaches directly from the Word, letting the Word speak to all classes. His strong arguments are the words of the Old and the New Testaments. He does not seek for words that would merely impress the people with his learning, but he endeavors to let the Word of God speak to them directly in clear, distinct utterance. If any refuse to accept the message, they must reject the Word.--Letter 326, 1906 (Evangelism, 204).
Simpson dwelt especially on the prophecies of Daniel and of John in the book of Revelation. His unique methods gripped the audiences:
He has large representations of the beasts spoken of in these books. These beasts are made of papier-mache, and by an ingenious invention, they may be brought at the proper time before the congregation. Thus he holds the attention of the people, while he preaches the truth to them. Through this effort hundreds will be led to a better understanding of the Bible than they ever had before, and we trust that there will be many conversions.-- Ibid.
His manner of work reminded Ellen White of the work done in 1842-1844. He used the Bible, and the Bible alone, to prove his points, presenting a plain "Thus saith the Lord" (Letter 350, 1906 [Evangelism, 204]). As to his speaking, she wrote that "not one careless or unnecessary word escapes his lips. He speaks forcibly and solemnly."
More Than One Right Way To Work
What church leaders soon learned was that two good, dedicated soul winners, with very different methods of work, found it difficult to recognize that there was more than one right way to accomplish a task. In this particular case, both men were uncomfortable working in the same city, as urgent as the need was for all kinds of talents to accomplish the Lord's work (Mrs. S. N. Haskell to EGW, October 14-17, 1906). Many of the San Francisco believers had attended the camp meeting in July, and some had enrolled in the classes being taught by Elder and Mrs. Haskell in their Bible school. As they pressed for a similar work, arrangements were made for the Haskells to labor in San Francisco, across the bay from Oakland. Some weeks later they returned to San Bernardino.
Ellen White, enjoying the best health she had had in years (Letters 342 and 346, 1906), took great satisfaction in her weekend visits to the Bay Area cities. On a very few occasions she found it necessary to cancel appointments. It was so in late August.
Two Sabbaths in November she spoke in the San Francisco church. Then there was another trip to Oakland in mid-December. Elder Simpson, in closing his Oakland meetings, was to speak on the Spirit of Prophecy and have his final baptism. He wanted Ellen White to be there and address the new converts, so that they might become personally acquainted with her.
This she did, speaking Sabbath afternoon. She also witnessed the baptism on Sunday at the Piedmont Baths. Thirty-two were buried with their Lord (Letter 386, 1906). Others would soon follow.
Shortly thereafter Elder Simpson returned to the Southern California Conference, which had lent him for the work in Oakland.
Now the Haskells were badly needed again in Oakland. In writing to them Ellen White acknowledged making a mistake in judgment in consenting to their leaving the Bay Area. Note her words:
I am sorry that I gave my consent to your leaving. A mistake has been made, and I feel that I am partially to blame. Precious golden opportunities have been lost that, had they been improved, might have advanced the work decidedly. You both would have been doing the very work that God has given you to do.
But we will not now mourn over the past. Let us move intelligently in the future.... The work in Oakland must not be cut short.--Letter 380, 1906.
The shortened workweeks because of the frequent visits to Oakland and San Francisco meant less time for her book work, but she was involved as always in the varied interests of the cause.
"All my life," she wrote on July 17, "has been a life of discipline in the solemn, sacred work of being His messenger to give warnings that are to be given to the world.... Woe would be unto me if I should suffer my mind to be turned away one jot or tittle from the testing truth for this time."--Manuscript 125, 1906.
Loma Linda Interests Again
The Los Angeles camp meeting opened Thursday, August 16. Ellen White deemed this an appropriate time to set the needs of a special educational work at Loma Linda before the officers and believers of the Southern California Conference. On Sunday, August 19, before returning to St. Helena from an Oakland weekend, she penned a most earnest appeal addressed to Elder G. W. Reaser, the conference president, and the executive committee of the conference. It opened:
Dear Brethren,
I am very anxious that Brethren Reaser and Burden, and their associates, shall see all things clearly.... Be very careful not to do anything that would restrict the work at Loma Linda. It is in the order of God that this property has been secured, and He has given instruction that a school should be connected with the Sanitarium.--Letter 274, 1906.
Then she specified the work that should be done in training young men and young women to be efficient medical missionary workers. "Means must be raised," she wrote, and urged that no one should act a part in influencing the people not to give. It was a tremendous appeal that not only called for money but announced to everyone a phase of the work that was to be developed at Loma Linda--a school.
How glad she was after the camp meeting to learn that there was a response in the amount of $12,500 to the call for funds for Loma Linda (Pacific Union Recorder, September 13, 1906). Somehow the conference had been especially blessed since taking steps in 1905 to purchase the property. In addition to the gift to Loma Linda, $5,000 of surplus tithe went to establish mission stations in Uganda and India; $4,594 in offerings was sent outside the conference for special enterprises; and $4,250 was given for the San Fernando school.
Her Correspondence
Ever calling for Ellen White's attention was her correspondence. Many of the letters she answered quickly. Some letters that sought counsel from her she deferred in answering. To S. M. Cobb, president of the New Zealand Conference, she wrote on August 22, "I must prayerfully consider the contents [of your letter] before I can go into the matters of which you speak."--Letter 270, 1906. Likewise to G. I. Butler, president of the Southern Union, she wrote on October 30, the day his letter came to her, "I shall not try to answer your letter now, for there are questions in it that require a thoughtful rereading."--Letter 348, 1906.
But before she laid her pen down, she had written what turned out to be eight double-spaced pages in typewritten form. In this letter she dealt with some delicate matters. A copy was sent inadvertently to a literature evangelist with whom she corresponded. Often it was her custom to send copies of newsy, nonsensitive letters to acquaintances and friends, and one such was supposedly what she had sent. When she discovered that a confidential letter had been sent by mistake, she fired off a retrieval letter:
My Dear Brother,
I wish to say a few words to you. I placed the wrong copy of a special testimony in your hands. The one I supposed I had let you have, written to Elder Butler, was one that could be freely circulated anywhere. But special testimonies that deal in special subjects are not to be brought out before any and every party.
I suppose this that is in your hands is my special personal property, and matter that mentions names should not go into your hands. Now please return that private copy to me and let it not be made public....
Enjoin on all who have read this matter or heard it read, that it is too sacred a matter to be treated as common property at this period of time. It may have to come, but it is not to be made known at present. Will you return these copies to me as soon as possible and do not read this matter to anyone? ...
I can write no more now. It is near the Sabbath, and I must close up this matter.... The personal letter to Elder Butler was not designed to be made public. Return it to me if you please and keep no copy of the same. I will expect this to be done.--Letter 353, 1906.
Rebuilding the Pacific Press
The loss of the Pacific Press on July 21 set in motion many lines of activity. For a time neighboring printing establishments printed Signs of the Times and Our Little Friend. The Review and Herald was asked to help meet the needs of the literature evangelists for large message-filled books. This was especially true of The Great Controversy. The loss of the stock of books in Mountain View led to the hastening of certain revisions, in that book, particularly in its format, chapter headings, illustrations, and the appendix. The new edition appeared in 1907. Some badly worn printing plates had to be repaired or replaced. There was no change in the text of the book.
Ellen White was drawn into the planning for the future of the publishing house. At a stockholders' meeting she attended in Mountain View on September 10 and 11, the decision was reached to rebuild the plant in Mountain View on a much smaller scale, and to eliminate all commercial work. She spoke on both of the two days, making earnest appeals for dedication, loyalty, and consecration (Manuscript 71, 1906; Manuscript 73, 1906). At the close of her second talk, she endorsed fully the plans for rebuilding in a modest fashion.
A Second Granddaughter Marries
William C. White and his mother returned to Elmshaven in time for the wedding of her granddaughter Mabel to Wilfred Workman, who was connected with Healdsburg College. Mabel was 19 and Wilfred 26. The ceremony was held Wednesday evening at 7:30, on the south lawn at Elmshaven. The Women's Improvement Society of St. Helena had loaned fifty Japanese lanterns to light the lawn, and chairs and seats of different kinds provided space for the 150 friends who came. The Sanitarium orchestra and choir provided the music. While the party waited for the bride and groom, Willie told of the camp meeting in Boulder, and Dores told about the Pacific Press stockholders' meeting--not very romantic, perhaps, but a recital of denominational history in the making and probably of interest to most of the guests. W. C. White performed the ceremony, and Ellen White offered prayer, just as she had at Ella's wedding.
After the congratulations and more music, the guests walked around to the west side of the home--between the main house and the office--where, under the big live oak tree, a tent was standing in which the wedding gifts were displayed. Near the tent a little rockery was arranged with ferns concealing three large bowls of fruit punch from which the guests drew refreshments as from a mountain spring. Wedding cake was also served.
The bride and groom went to Healdsburg, Mabel to be assistant matron and Wilfred to work in the business office (32 WCW, pp. 143, 145, 159).
Ellen White Begins to Await Her "Summons"
In the months before her seventy-eighth birthday in late November, more frequently than in the past she referred to the possibility that her life might soon close. To her older sister, Mary Foss, she wrote:
My sister, you are older than I, and we are the only members of our family who are spared.... I am waiting my summons to give up my work, and rest in the grave.... I believe I shall meet you when our warfare is accomplished.--Letter 112, 1906.
She referred to this in a letter to Frank Belden, her sister Sarah's son:
The Lord gives me strength continually to go straight forward. But my work is nearly completed. I am "only waiting till the shadows are a little longer grown." But my books will testify when my voice shall no longer be heard.
The truths committed to me, as the Lord's messenger, stand immortalized, either to convict and to convert souls, or to condemn those who have departed from the faith and have given heed to seducing spirits.--Letter 350, 1906.
Before her birthday, November 26, she told her family she did not want to receive presents or have any demonstration in her honor. Her wishes were acceded to (Letter 370, 1906). Rather, she ordered sizable shipments of dried prunes from the bountiful crop to be sent to Oakwood College, the Madison school, and to F. E. Rogers, who was in charge of the mission in Vicksburg, Mississippi (32 WCW, p. 263).
Ten days later Ellen White wrote to a sister in the faith who was in straitened circumstances, expressing thankfulness for the "beautiful letter" that the sister had written her. In closing Ellen White asked some meaningful questions:
Have you all my books? Tell me those that you have, so that I can send you those you have not. And which of our papers are you taking? Do you get the Review and Herald, Signs of the Times, and The Youth's Instructor? Let me hear from you soon after you receive this letter.
Be of good courage in the Lord, and be joyful in God.--Letter 392, 1906.