Much of the year 1908 Ellen White spent at her Elmshaven home engaged in her book work, involved in entertaining and interviews, concerned with the finding of a new location for Healdsburg College, and maintaining a heavy correspondence. At times she broke away to attend California camp meetings and to visit the three sanitariums in the south. Some involvements carried over many months, climaxing in 1909 or 1910.
At the Elmshaven home, as the new year dawned, the Metcalfe Hare family, just in from Australia, were being entertained. Brother Hare had been connected with the development of the Avondale school and later with the manufacturing of health foods.
In early February, she mentioned that "Brother Metcalfe Hare and Elder Haskell and his wife have for a few days been members of my family."--Letter 50, 1908.
In late March she wrote of another visitor: "Brother Sutherland [of the Madison School] is with us, and will remain for some days."--Letter 92, 1908.
The little cottage to the east, between the house and the barn, was the temporary residence of a longstanding friend who with her daughter-in-law and grandchildren had been given refuge. The husband and father of the family, a physician, had abandoned them. At Ellen White's invitation they had come some months earlier. "There was no other place to which they could go," she wrote, "and we made them as comfortable as we could. They remained with us over a year, and we supplied their needs."Letter 146, 1908.
Elder W. W. Prescott, in the Review and Herald of February 27, wrote of his appreciation of "the hospitality of her home" and of his pleasure in finding "Sister White enjoying a reasonable degree of health" as she continued her work. Prescott, whose home base was Washington, D.C., was in the West to attend the biennial session of the Pacific Union Conference, held in the chapel at St. Helena Sanitarium, January 17-25. J. N. Loughborough who had long labored on the West Coast, wrote in his report of this "powerful and harmonious meeting":
Sister White was able to speak to us with great power on two occasions. In the first of these she set forth the importance of the work in the cities, and in the Southern field of the United States. In her second talk she set before us the aid of temperance in the carrying out of a true spirit of patience, godliness, and brotherly kindness.--The Review and Herald, February 27, 1908.
In his days at Elmshaven following the session, Prescott was one of several ministers who met at the Elmshaven office to discuss a question coming into prominence--the meaning of the "daily" brought to view in Daniel 8. As will be noted in a later chapter, this subject would come into more prominence over the next two or three years.
As the time approached for the regular session of the California Conference, January 31 to February 5, Ellen White had counseled that changes in leadership should be made, and suggested that Elder Haskell might well be called to serve as president. As the president in his report at the opening of the session suggested, "A change in the conference management must take place." Haskell was elected (Pacific Union Recorder, February 20, 1908).
One of Haskell's first moves toward bringing unity and spiritual uplift in this important conference with a membership of 4,350 (Ibid., February 13, 1908) was to call a Bible institute in Oakland for the first two full weeks of March. Ellen White was invited to participate and, although she was "not in as good health" as she could wish, she went down to Oakland the day before the institute opened (Letter 84, 1908). She spoke six times during the two-week meeting, including the Sabbath-morning sermon on March 14, in the newly constructed Oakland church.
Often during the hours of the night, visions were given to Ellen White involving many subjects. One such was given to her on the night of January 15. Of this she wrote in her diary:
The past night I was speaking decidedly to a large number assembled in council meeting. I seemed to be in Washington. The meeting was one of special solemnity and interest. Every soul is to place himself individually in right relation to life and health and become a fruitbearing branch of the True Vine. I was bearing a very close, straight testimony. What a work is to be done! There will continue to be hindrances and the wheels of true reform will be blocked.--Manuscript 126, 1908.
But it was not until March 29 that she wrote to Elder Daniells appealing for "a true reformation" "among the believers in Washington in the matter of healthful living" (Letter 162, 1908). As this letter largely formed the basis of her address on "Faithfulness in Health Reform" at the 1909 General Conference session, the account will be left until the narrative reaches that point.
Healdsburg College
One time-consuming matter into which Ellen White was drawn and in which she would be involved over a period of nearly two years was the moving of Healdsburg College to a location more favorable to its welfare and success. The town had grown about the college. Enrollment in 1908 was down--in grades nine and upward it was 125. The faculty consisted of fourteen teachers (Pacific Union Recorder, February 13, 1908). Finances were in serious condition. At a meeting of the Pacific Educational Association held at the college on March 19, action was taken that because of adverse circumstances the college should be moved to a suitable location in the country. It was hoped that a property with buildings suited to school purposes could be found in the price range of from $15,000 to $25,000, and the plan was that no debts would be incurred (Ibid., April 2, 1908). Ellen White would soon be involved in the search for a suitable location.
Mid-April, with its warming spring weather, seemed to offer a good time to make a long-anticipated trip into Lake County, just to the north. There, fifty-two miles from Elmshaven, lived the Hurlbutts, who were involved in operating an orphanage with money Mrs. Hurlbutt inherited from her mother, and she sought Sister White's counsel. Ellen White felt she needed a break from the steady grind ever with her of preparing materials for print.
The way to the Hurlbutt home was over tortuous mountain roads. Sunday morning, April 19, at four-thirty, the party left Elmshaven with Ellen White and Willie riding in a comfortable one-seated buggy behind a large bay horse borrowed for the trip. The rest of the party--Sara McEnterfer, Iram James, and Professor E. A. Sutherland from the Madison school--traveled in a platform spring wagon drawn by the two young, gray workhorses. At five-thirty they passed through Calistoga, nine miles north, and were soon climbing Mount St. Helena on a "mountain road that was very steep and narrow." "The air," wrote Ellen White, "was bracing, and made fragrant by the budding pines and hemlocks and wildflowers."--Letter 122, 1908.
At nine o'clock they stopped by a beautiful brook for breakfast. A tablecloth over a blanket on the ground served as the breakfast table. There was an hour's rest, and then they pressed on through Middletown, stopping again at two o'clock to eat and rest. Then it was on north to Kelseyville and the Hurlbutt place, two miles beyond. They were glad to make the journey in one day, but were prepared to stop at a hotel if the trip seemed a little too much for Sister White (Letter 124, 1908).
Monday and Tuesday morning were spent with Mrs. Hurlbutt, seeing the orphanage and certain properties in which their hosts were interested. Tuesday afternoon they started back, spending the night at a hotel in Middletown.
Camp Meetings
Camp meeting season opened early in California, with the first of five meetings held May 1-10 in the central part of the State at Lodi. The attendance was not large, for the Adventist population in this farming area was somewhat limited. The 150 members of the Lodi church formed the nucleus for the meeting; about seventy-five people camped on the grounds. The Pacific Union Recorder, on its back page just before the meeting, carried an attendance-getting item under the heading "Special Camp Meeting Notice": "Word just received from Elder Haskell is to the effect that Mrs. E. G. White will be at the Lodi camp meeting during the entire time."--April 30, 1908. She was, and she spoke six times.
Pioneer evangelist, missionary, and executive J. N. Loughborough was the first to order a tent for the camp meeting. He reported later that "in many respects this was one of the best camp meetings I ever attended in California."--The Review and Herald, June 4, 1908. Ellen White was particularly pleased with the "good outside interest" (Letter 146, 1908).
To Elder A. J. Bordeau, who had worked in Europe, one event stood out as he made his report in the Review and Herald:
One touching incident at one of the meetings was the testimony borne by a Swiss brother, who testified to the uplifting influence and power of Sister White's message to him many years ago in Switzerland, when he was a little bootblack. He had not seen her for many years, and with tears in his eyes, he witnessed to the truth of her message, imploring all the youth present to heed it, even as he had done when a boy. He is now a consecrated Christian, the father of a large family, and lives in this State.--July 16, 1908.
The Oakland camp meeting, with about 200 family tents on the ground, was held June 4-14. It was reported to have been "large and profitable" (The Review and Herald, June 18, 1908) with Ellen White speaking six times "with as great clearness and power as in early times" (Ibid., July 9, 1908).
Delegates from the churches took up the matter of moving the school at Healdsburg and gave full endorsement to steps being taken. Search for a suitable site was undertaken in earnest.
Two months later Ellen White attended the Los Angeles camp meeting from August 6 to 16, even though the long, hot summer had left her somewhat debilitated and wondering whether she should go.
Plans announced in June for this meeting listed Ellen White's name first as one of "a strong corps of workers from abroad" (Pacific Union Recorder, June 18, 1908). Early in the week of the planned journey south she explained her feelings:
For some reasons I have dreaded this journey to Los Angeles. Yet I am glad the people there will have another opportunity of hearing the message of warning. The end of time is rapidly drawing near.... Yet to many it is coming as a thief in the night. Again and again I ask myself the question, What shall I do, that I may fully act my part in giving this last note of warning?--Letter 234, 1908.
This was the largest of the 1908 camp meetings, with 321 family tents. Several times she spoke to large audiences in the big tent; at times there were 1,200 people (36 WCW, p. 333). Concerned that all should hear her well, she was relieved when "several who sat on the outskirts of the crowd" reported to her that they heard every word spoken (Letter 236, 1908). She was pleased that a number of women from the Women's Christian Temperance Union attended some of the meetings. While speaking to the ministers, she urged that the evangelistic thrust of the camp meeting be continued for another week of evening meetings.
It is of interest to note that in one report of the camp meeting, in which ministerial help from northern California is listed, we find the words "Mrs. E. G. White and her company." Her "company" consisted of Sara McEnterfer; W. C. White; Clarence Crisler and his wife, Caroline; Miss Hannaford, the new housekeeper; and Minnie Hawkins. Ellen White and several of her helpers stayed in a nearby cottage, which, she noted, had the convenience of a bathroom.
No matter where she was, she could not lay aside those tasks that came to her as the messenger of the Lord--not only sermons but interviews, manuscript preparation, and correspondence.
Following the camp meeting in Los Angeles, Ellen White visited the sanitariums at Glendale, Paradise Valley, and Loma Linda. On the Loma Linda farm she reported to Edson: "We saw large patches of melons, strawberries, asparagus, tomatoes, and corn."--Letter 258, 1908. Ellen White was always interested in agricultural pursuits and intrigued by food production.
Back at home after the four-week trip to the south, she complained of how calls to minister in the field hindered her and her workers at Elmshaven from doing what they wanted to do. "I cannot do my writing if I keep traveling," she wrote on September 11, and declared," We are striving with all our powers to get out my books."-- Ibid.
Among those in preparation were Prophets and Kings; Testimonies, volume 9; and something on her "early experiences" (Letter 264, 1908), which finally became a part of Life Sketches.
On September 23, writing to her granddaughter Mabel, she referred to her part in the work and the constant pressure upon her:
There are many manuscripts to look over, and some straight testimonies to be borne. All my time is fully occupied.... I should not be bound down to so much examination of manuscript. I am asked to read every part of the selections made. I realize that it is wonderful that the Lord blesses me with such clearness of mind, and I am grateful.--Letter 274, 1908.
Five days later she referred again to book preparation and the work of her assistants: "My workers are doing all in their power to forward the work on my books, and I am kept continually at work."--Letter 280, 1908.
Physical discomfort, which just at this time she suffered, did not deter her, and she wrote:
All through the day I have important writings to examine. I find so much that ought to come before the people, and we are trying to prepare these writings as fast as possible. At times my eyes are severely taxed, but no one but myself can do this first work, to judge of their importance and to decide which should come before the people.--Letter 292, 1908.
The Ralph Mackin Visit
Much of Thursday, November 12, was spent in an interview with a Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Mackin, who felt they had had a special experience of being favored by the impartation of the Holy Spirit. They eagerly sought Ellen White's confirmation of the genuineness of their experience. The interview was reported by Clarence Crisler (see Selected Messages 3:363-378). It takes on importance to the church today because of the Mackin claim to have the gift of tongues, the gift of prophecy, and of being able to cast out devils. In the discussion Mackin asserted that receiving the Spirit today will have "the same physiological effect" as it did on the disciples at Pentecost (Manuscript 115, 1908 [The Review and Herald, August 17, 1972]). "If we are in a delusion," Mackin said, "we are honestly there. But if this is from the Spirit of God, we want to follow it."-- Ibid. In a letter to Elder Haskell, president of the California Conference, Ellen White wrote some two weeks later, November 26, 1908:
Two weeks ago today, while I was writing, my son W. C. White came into my room and stated that there were two persons below who wished to speak with me. I went downstairs into our sitting room, and there met a man and his wife who claim to follow the Word of God and to believe the Testimonies. They have had an unusual experience during the past two or three years. They seemed to be honest-hearted people.
I listened while they related some of their experiences, and then I told them something of the work we had to do, in meeting and opposing fanaticism, soon after the passing of the time when we expected to see our Lord. During those trying days, some of our most precious believers were led into fanaticism. I said further that before the end, we would see strange manifestations by those who professed to be led by the Holy Spirit. There are those who will treat, as something of great importance, these peculiar manifestations which are not of God, but which are calculated to divert the minds of many away from the teachings of the Word.
In this stage of our history, we must be very careful to guard against everything that savors of fanaticism and disorder. We must guard against all peculiar exercises that would be likely to stir up the minds of unbelievers, and lead them to think that, as a people, we are led by impulse, and delight in noise and confusion accompanied by eccentricities of action.
In the last days the enemy of present truth will bring in manifestations that are not in harmony with the workings of the Spirit, but are calculated to lead astray those who stand ready to take up with something new and strange.
I told this brother and his wife that the experience through which I passed in my youth, shortly after the passing of the time in 1844, had led me to be very, very cautious about accepting anything similar to that which we then met and rebuked in the name of the Lord.
No greater harm could be done to the work of God at this time than for us to allow a spirit of fanaticism to come into our churches, accompanied by strange workings which are incorrectly supposed to be operations of the Spirit of God.
As this brother and his wife outlined their experiences, which they claim have come to them as the result of receiving the Holy Ghost with apostolic power, it seemed to be a facsimile of that which we were called to meet and correct in our early experience.
Toward the close of our interview, Brother Mackin proposed that we unite in prayer, with the thought that possibly while in prayer his wife would be exercised as they had described to me, and that then I might be able to discern whether this was of the Lord or not. To this I could not consent, because I have been instructed that when one offers to exhibit these peculiar manifestations, this is a decided evidence that it is not the work of God.
We must not permit these experiences to lead us to feel discouraged. Such experiences will come to us from time to time. Let us give no place to strange exercisings, which really take the mind away from the deep movings of the Holy Spirit. God's work is ever characterized by calmness and dignity. We cannot afford to sanction anything that would bring in confusion, and weaken our zeal in regard to the great work that God has given us to do in the world to prepare for the second coming of Christ.--Letter 338, 1908.
On the day of the interview Ellen White had sounded cautions, but refrained from giving positive word one way or the other. Late in the interview Mackin proposed that they would continually pray to the Lord, asking Him to give Ellen White light in regard to their experience. Leaving his address, he said, "If you have anything for us after this, we shall be glad to receive it." (Manuscript 115, 1908 [The Review and Herald, August 17, 1972]).
The interview drew to a close at about noon. Ellen White shook hands with her callers and declared: "I want the Spirit of the Lord to be with you, and you, and me. We are to be just like God's little children."-- Ibid. On leaving Elmshaven, the Mackins reported to friends and sympathizers that they had had an interview with Sister White and had something good to report.
Then on December 11, a vision was given to Ellen White that clearly defined the Mackin experience. As promised, she communicated with them, stating:
Recently, in visions of the night, there were opened before me some matters that I must communicate to you. I have been shown that you are making some sad mistakes. In your study of the Scriptures and of the Testimonies, you have come to wrong conclusions. The Lord's work would be greatly misunderstood if you should continue to labor as you have begun.... You are deceiving yourselves and deceiving others.
You have even supposed that power is given you to cast out devils. Through your influence over the human mind, men and women are led to believe that they are possessed of devils, and that the Lord has appointed you as His agents for casting out these evil spirits.
As she neared the close of her message to the Mackins, she declared:
My brother and sister, I have a message for you: You are starting on a false supposition. There is too much self woven into your exhibitions.... Satan will come into these exhibitions. It is high time you called a halt.... I do not want you to be found on a false track. You are certainly there now, and I beg of you, for your souls' sake, to imperil no longer the cause of the truth for these last days.--Letter 358a, 1908.
Because the Mackins were visiting some of the churches in California, Ellen White addressed a message of warning to all church members to be on guard, and to give no encouragement to such demonstrations. This was published in the Pacific Union Recorder, December 31, 1908. The Mackins quickly dropped out of sight, but the counsels and warnings given in connection with this experience have served the church well.
Trying to Find Money for the Work
While the General Conference gave Ellen White a salary equivalent to that paid a General Conference executive--which by the time of her death had risen to $22 per week--and for many years she was given $2.50 for each article furnished the Review, the Signs, or the Youth's Instructor, and also received a modest royalty on the sale of her books, the expenses to her in book preparation, typesetting, illustrating, and platemaking far outstripped her current income.
Knowing well that her years were running out, she felt she must press on, and in due time after her death the income from the continuing sale of her books would provide funds to care for all obligations incurred because present expense exceeded the income. She reached out to some Seventh-day Adventists of means, inviting them to make an investment in the production of her books with money they would loan her at a reasonable rate of interest. A number of people responded to her appeal for help. In a letter to an old acquaintance, Marian Stowell Crawford, she on November 4 made an explanation:
My business is not running behind. There is a little gain every year. I have been instructed that it is best for me to own the plates of my books and this is why so much money is required in bringing out new publications. If the printing houses owned the plates of my books there might be times when some of them were slighted; but while I own the plates I can transfer the work from one house to another in case of necessity.
There is an understanding between me and the officers of the General Conference that when I die, my book work passes into the hands of trustees appointed by the General Conference so that the earnings from my books after paying all debts shall go to the production of new books in many foreign languages.--Letter 328, 1908. (Italics supplied.)
Before her death, she appointed the trustees. All debts at the time of her death were, in time, liquidated, with interest, as she had planned from incomes yielded by the sale of her property and book royalties.