Writing and book preparation was Ellen White's principal work in 1911, and it was undertaken with a sense of time running out. But as in other years, Ellen White's 1911 ministry was somewhat mixed. From time to time, writing was laid aside for important interviews, occasional speaking in nearby churches, trips to Loma Linda, and in a camp meeting ministry.
Then more general phases of her work were marked by the issuance of two pamphlets, Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 17, published late in July, and Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 17a, issued near the close of the year. The first was a warning on "The Unwise Use of Money and the Spirit of Speculation." The other was an encouragement to Seventh-day Adventists to step forward and aid in securing land at Loma Linda that would, in time, be needed by the institution. The story behind this comprised a portion of the preceding chapter.
Now here is the story behind the other pamphlet, a story involving an official of Mariposa County in California, Stonewall Jackson Harris. Mr. Harris was the county surveyor and a U.S. deputy mineral surveyor; he was also involved in a number of business enterprises, some of them highly speculative. He was a Seventh-day Adventist and was developing several investment ventures, designed to interest his fellow church members. These, he felt, promised large returns to the cause of God.
Early Monday morning, May 29, 1911, Mr. Harris called at the home of W. C. White and expressed a desire to see Ellen White, so that he might lay before her his plans of work and receive advice. When he was told that Mrs. White did not willingly enter into such matters as he had to present, he returned to San Francisco. However, Mrs. Harris and a friend remained, and a little later in the morning, arrangements were made for her to have a brief interview with Ellen White. This was held in the living room at Elmshaven.
Present for this interview were Mrs. White, W. C. White, Mrs. Harris, her friend Miss Gossard, Sara McEnterfer, Mary Steward, and Helen Graham, who made a stenographic report of what was said.
A letter Mrs. Harris had written earlier in the day addressed to Ellen White setting forth the situation was read by way of introduction. It stated:
My husband is very anxious to advance the cause of present truth, and is devoting 60 percent of the proceeds of his business to this purpose. He wants the direction of the Lord in everything he does, and decides his business affairs and all matters pertaining to his daily life by casting lots. His method is to toss up a coin.
I feel that it will lead him into serious error if he continues this course, and have tried to lead him to see that it is not wise, that we cannot be sure that the Lord answers him in this way; but he feels that he is right.
He has made successful land deals, and has been able to turn thousands of dollars into the work. In these deals he has sometimes been guided by the method above mentioned. His business affairs are assuming larger proportions, and greater sums of money are being involved. If he continues to depend upon this method of guidance, I feel that his affairs may end disastrously at any time.
The advice of his friends has no influence with him, for he is sure that he is led by the Lord. I know that in the past when the course of individuals has been detrimental to the work of the Lord, He has given light.
This morning my husband acknowledged that if he should receive a testimony condemning the course he is pursuing, he would stop his present method. So I lay the matter before you, earnestly praying that the Lord may send us some word of counsel.
To this Ellen White replied:
Here is a course of action that if it appears at all successful, will call in the talents of our people. The enemy of souls is very anxious to hinder the completion of the special work for this time by bringing in some erroneous transaction. He will bring it in under the garb of great liberality, and if those pursuing this course have apparent success for a time, others will follow. And the very truths that are testing our people for this time, and which, if clearly understood, would cut off such a course of action, lose their force.
Some will strike out into flattering speculative money-making schemes, and others will quickly catch the spirit of speculation. It is just what they want, and they will engage in lines of speculation that take the mind off from the sacred preparation that is essential for their souls in order for them to be prepared to meet the trials which will come in these last days.
W. C. White raised the question about deciding business and other matters by asking the Lord to answer Yes or No as a card was dropped to the floor. Ellen White's mind turned to experiences in the early days following the 1844 disappointment, and she cited similar instances in which people sought divine directions. Later as she looked over the transcript of the report of the interview, she added a more specific answer:
It is a haphazard method, which God does not approve. To men who have suggested such tests, I have said, "No, no." The sacred things which concern the cause of God must not be dealt with by such methods. God does not instruct us that we are to learn His will by any such way.
But W. C. White persisted:
Suppose it comes to a business transaction. I see a property that looks good to me. I ask the Lord to tell me whether to buy it or not. Then I adopt the manner of tossing up a piece of money, and if it comes one side up, I buy it; and if the other side comes up, I will not buy it.
To this, Ellen White replied:
God has given me the message that no such thing is to come into the work of His cause. It would lower it into the dust. This is how it was presented to me. It would divert the mind from God and His power and His grace, to commonplace things.
To be doubly sure, W. C. White stated that Brother Harris always prayed before he tossed up his coin. Would not that make some difference?
"Not a whit of difference," Ellen White replied. She cited several instances of supposed guidance in the early days. Following certain "signs," some men were led to exchange wives, others to put their hands on hot stoves. In one case a dead child was left unburied, for a "sign" had been given that it would be raised from the dead.
When asked whether she wanted to send any word to Mr. Harris, she responded:
I should say, Now, my brother, I have seen just the very same thing as your moving a piece of silver and its falling so and so, and I have seen how it ended with those who accepted this as indicating the mind of God. It is the Bible plan for a group of people to pray together and study His Word together for light, rather than that an individual shall follow his fancies supported by such methods.
If the Lord is working for us, He does it in His own order. He does not step out of His order to adopt methods of such an earthly character....
I would say to Brother Harris, Let your movements be guarded. God does not place His approval on any such movement as this.... I shall never consent to anything of this kind coming in among our people. It must not be permitted.--Manuscript 3, 1911. (see also Sp. T, Series B, No. 17).
The historical record indicates that Harris found devious reasons for not heeding the counsel given in the interview. In a subsequent letter, written June 7, Ellen White declared:
I am instructed to say to you that God is not leading you in your large plans and speculations.... That which you suppose to be light from the Lord is a device of the enemy.--Letter 28, 1911.
On June 22, 1911, Harris published full-page advertisements in the San Francisco Call and the San Francisco Evening Bulletin. This led the California Conference to publish a repudiation of any claims he had made that would tie the church to his financial ventures, from a railroad that would not run trains on the Sabbath, to the development of a town inhabited only by Sabbathkeepers, to most promising oil-well and gold-mine schemes (DF 258).
The experience provided the basis of a line of warning needed by Seventh-day Adventists. There were others in central California who were intrigued with large and attractive investment schemes in real estate and mining. Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 17, the pamphlet published to meet these financial threats, contained Ellen White's counsel to Harris, the heart of which is found in Selected Messages 2:325 to 328. Stonewall Jackson Harris soon dropped from prominence.
Ellen G. White and Her Sons
Sometime during 1911 Ellen White made known certain matters that had been revealed to her years earlier but that she, on God's instruction, had discreetly withheld from all, both family and church officials. This had to do with the interrelationship between the mother and her two sons, Edson and William. In this connection, the angel instructed her:
"This matter is not to be opened to your children, for both are to be proved. The time will come when you may have to speak all that I shall give you."--Manuscript 56, 1911.
In the earlier years of her ministry, although not influenced by her husband, she had, in her writing and sermons, leaned upon him for encouragement, counsel, and support. She also sought his aid in preparing her writings for publication. Of this she wrote in 1906:
While my husband lived, he acted as a helper and counselor in the sending out of the messages that were given to me. We traveled extensively. Sometimes light would be given to me in the night season, sometimes in the daytime before large congregations. The instruction I received in vision was faithfully written out by me, as I had time and strength for the work. Afterward we examined the matter together, my husband correcting grammatical errors and eliminating needless repetition. Then it was carefully copied for the persons addressed, or for the printer.--DF 107g, The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the Church, p. 4 (Ibid., 1:50).
After James White's death in 1881, she had leaned more and more on her son William to assist her in her travels and to counsel her. In this, church leaders were pleased. Unselfishly and tirelessly he stood by her side with a good understanding of what was expected of him, not to influence or attempt to guide, but to assist. He was oblivious to frequent criticisms that came as the result of this working arrangement. But what gave Ellen White confidence was the word that came from the Lord to her regarding the trustworthiness of William and the manner in which he was guided by the Holy Spirit. He had proved himself, and as Ellen White neared the close of her work it was appropriate that she should disclose what she had held in her heart. In fact, she was instructed to do so.
In this disclosure both sons are brought to view. What is revealed can best be understood in the light of the events through the years, some of which have been brought to the fore in this biography. The document she has left us seems to be more of a "memorandum" than a testimony:
"I will appoint both your children that they shall strengthen your hands in sound judgment. But your youngest son shall carry the work with you....
"I will be his wisdom, I will be his judgment, and he shall work out in connection with his mother the important matter to come before the people....
"Both will be your helpers, in perfect agreement in conducting different lines in missionary work, standing firmly, unitedly, for great battles are to be fought.
"Your sons are of different temperaments. Your youngest will be your dependence, but the eldest shall be My minister to open the Word to very many people and to organize the work in various lines.
"Temptations will come to the eldest that preference in judgment shall be given to him above the youngest. But this cannot be. Both are to be guided by the light given their mother, and stand in perfect harmony....
"Let no jealousy come in because of the position I have appointed the youngest. I have put My Spirit upon him, and if the eldest will respect the position given the youngest, both shall become strong to build up the work in different lines. The eldest must be standing as ready to be counseled by the youngest, for I have made him My counselor. There is to be no contention, no strife, no division, because I have given him from his birth special traits of character which the eldest has not." ...
The Lord said, "I will prove them both, but both must stand distinct and separate from influences which will be brought to bear to break up the plans I have marked out. But the youngest is fitted for a work that will make him counselor, receiving the words from his mother. Both must carefully consider matters that I shall give....
"These things are not to be revealed to either until I shall instruct you, for both are to be proved. The time will come when you may have to speak all that I shall give you....
"There will be a determination on the part of Satan to disarrange and break up My plan. A constant, ever-increasing confidence in the Word of God, and in the light given My servant, will keep these two workers blended; but the younger must be counselor, when needed, to the elder....
"Now you are at this period to open this matter to your sons. The instruction given, if obeyed, will be able to place things on the right bearing. You as a mother have suffered much, but you have not failed nor been discouraged.
"The eldest son has been sorely tempted and if he had closed his ears and heart to unwise counselors, he would have stood a strong man. Now after he knows My purpose, the eldest must be transformed and the youngest must stand in the counsel of the Lord. He has borne his test wisely, and the Lord will help him to continue the work appointed."--Manuscript 56a, 1911.
The instruction molded Ellen White's attitude toward her sons and when revealed was an encouragement to W. C. White. It would continue to be so in the days that followed, some of them difficult days. As questions were raised on inspiration, some of them sparked by the work done on the 1911 edition of The Great Controversy, W. C. White could stand in strength in his positions and attitudes molded by a closeness to his mother's work and subject to the influence of the Spirit of God. The effect on Edson was less noticeable. He continued to the close of his life to make a contribution to the cause of God, the last of which was in the production of evangelistic visual materials.
Routine Work at Elmshaven
Ellen White's work continued, usually beginning early in the day. Her correspondence had dwindled to a trickle. There were not many new issues, and most questions coming in to her and her staff could be answered by materials written earlier. In the midst of writing a letter to Elder and Mrs. Haskell, who were conducting evangelistic work in Portland, Maine, she interjected the words, "The bell is ringing, calling me to worship and breakfast; so I will stop." She had just expressed her pleasure in receiving their encouraging reports, and had written:
I hope to visit Portland again. I would like to be there now, but it seems too great a risk to go just as the cold season is coming on.--Letter 74, 1911.
At Elmshaven there was a new development that especially interested a proud grandmother. Her twin grandsons, Herbert and Henry, now 15 years of age, were becoming interested in printing, perhaps not strange in view of the family history and tradition, for James White had started what had become two large publishing houses in the United States, and Edson had started a third.
From Nashville Edson sent the boys, as a present, a little printing press he no longer had use for. When it arrived in late 1910, it was in somewhat less than usable condition. But the anticipation of receiving the little press had set in motion dreams of a new venture that not even the poor condition of the equipment could dampen. In fact, some have said that the Whites had "printer's ink instead of blood in their veins." At any rate, hope could not be repressed, and the grandmother, who had a decade earlier given Willie seven acres of land as a homesite with the instruction that it was to be the children's schoolroom and playground, was now prepared to encourage the new line of developing interest in the new generation of Whites.
William, so heavily involved in the interests of the cause of God that he was seemingly only seldom at home with his family, was deprived the privilege of working closely with his boys in this new development. But the trusted Clarence Crisler, who had some printing experience, was drawn into the situation. In San Francisco he bought, at Ellen White's expense, a little printing press and basic printing equipment. The secondhand Chandler and Price press, operated by foot power, was purchased for $125. Type, ink, and printing supplies cost another $500 or more.
In mid-October, as Crisler was working in Mountain View seeing The Acts of the Apostles through the press, Herbert joined him for a day. He received instruction from the foreman, watched the photoengraving process from start to finish, worked in the typeroom and the job pressroom, "rode" a Miehle press for two hours, and watched makeup on the rotary press. That evening was spent in one of the large newspaper offices in San Francisco watching a daily paper put together. That did it. From that time on, Herbert had an obsession to print. Henry, much interested, would join him in this very natural White family venture.
A portion of the fruit shed, just north of the big barn at Elmshaven, was partitioned off and the printing equipment moved in. Soon over the door were seen the words "Elmshaven Press."
From the start, the job printing done by the Elmshaven Press was of high quality. It was an after-school activity, but the business grew, and before long the entire first floor of the fruit shed was occupied by the printing office. Ellen White was pleased with the development, which became the means of meeting school expenses for the boys and their sister Grace. When the twins were ready for college, they sold the business to nearby Pacific Union College with the understanding that they would manage the growing enterprise and teach printing. The College Press has since provided both employment and training to thousands of young people, some of whom would be distinguished by high editorial and executive positions.
College finished, both Herbert and Henry were called to mission service in China, Herbert as superintendent of the Signs Publishing Company in Shanghai and Henry to school administration farther north.
Another Visit to Loma Linda
In November Ellen White was at Loma Linda for some important meetings relating to the development of the medical school. She and her helpers were given pleasant rooms on the third floor of the Sanitarium building, Sara McEnterfer and Minnie Hawkins occupying the room next to hers. Ellen White basked, as it were, in feelings of thankfulness to God for His guiding providences in securing and developing the property.
On November 19, while at Loma Linda, she received from Pacific Press the first copy of the newly published The Acts of the Apostles. It was a day of rejoicing. Later in the week she returned to her Elmshaven home.
Sunday, November 26, was Ellen White's eighty-fourth birthday. She celebrated by sending copies of her latest book to nearly a hundred of her friends. They were accompanied by a little printed message, each copy of which she signed.
Neither her decreasing strength, nor what could be discouragements in the progress of the Lord's work, nor the perversities of human hearts dampened Ellen White's spirits, and she could write with a sincere heart near the close of the year 1911:
I am very thankful that the Lord has given me the privilege of being His messenger to communicate precious truth to others.--Letter 80, 1911.