A Desperate Need
As early as the Whites' first visit to Dansville, Ellen had been impressed with the desirability of a health institution for Sabbathkeeping Adventists. Instead of the rapid advance of the message expected at this time, the work was crippled by the illness of many of the leading workers.
James White was incapacitated by illness. But he was not the only one. Because of their poor health, Elders J. N. Loughborough, D. T. Bourdeau, A. S. Hutchins, J. B. Frisbie, and John Byington had been doing little or no field work during the year. All three children of Elder O. C. Taylor had been taken by death, and also one each in the families of Elders R. J. Lawrence and J. N. Andrews.
In the April 17, 1866, issue of the Review, Uriah Smith described the sad situation:
Instead of an increase of laborers, many of the more efficient ones then in the field have been either entirely prostrated or afflicted in some way calculated to dishearten or cripple them. And as in times of prosperity it is proper to enumerate our blessings, so now in this time of adversity and humiliation let us enumerate our calamities.
Smith listed 13 cases of illness, death, and other misfortune. He declared:
All this has intervened since our last conference, and what is the meaning of it all? If God is by these things designing to teach us an important lesson, we should not be slow to learn it (Ibid.).
Not only was there a need for a health institution but a need for a change in the health habits of the believers.
For a year the church had had before it an outline of the basic health principles, in the six How to Live pamphlets.
When the General Conference session of 1866 met in Battle Creek in May, the matter of health reform was uppermost in the minds of the leaders. James White was not able to attend on account of illness. John Byington was asked to preside.
Sensing the need for immediate help from God, the General Conference Committee appointed a four-day season of fasting and prayer, beginning Wednesday, May 9, and continuing to the close of the following Sabbath. Meetings were to be free from discussions, and characterized by humiliation, fasting, and prayer on the part of the church. Business was to be suspended; the members of each church would meet at 1:00 on weekdays, and both morning and afternoon on Sabbath. The following counsel was given concerning the fast:
During these days of prayer we recommend on the part of all a very abstemious and simple diet, Daniel 10:3, while some may more or less abstain from food as their health may permit, or their feelings prompt (Ibid.).
The churches responded well. J. N. Loughborough reported:
The praying seasons for the reviving of God's people, and the restoration of His servants, were especially refreshing, so much so that it seemed evident to all that the Lord by giving us freely of His Spirit said to us, "Yes, I accept you, and will work for you" (The Review and Herald, May 15, 1866).
On the last Sabbath Ellen White spoke twice in the Michigan tent, which was pitched on the west side of North Washington Street, about half a block from the publishing house.
Referring to the vision given her on December 25, 1865, at Rochester, she said:
I was shown that the work of health reform has scarcely been entered upon yet. While some feel deeply and act out their faith in the work, others remain indifferent and have scarcely taken the first step in reform....
The health reform, I was shown, is a part of the third angel's message and is just as closely connected with it as are the arm and hand with the human body (Testimonies for the Church, 1:485, 486).
Church Challenged To Build A Health Institution
Ellen White was shown that:
Our Sabbathkeeping people have been negligent in acting upon the light which God has given in regard to the health reform, that there is yet a great work before us, and that as a people we have been too backward to follow in God's opening providence as He has chosen to lead us (Ibid., 1:485).
Our people should have an institution of their own, under their own control, for the benefit of the diseased and suffering among us who wish to have health and strength that they may glorify God in their bodies and spirits, which are His. Such an institution, rightly conducted, would be the means of bringing our views before many whom it would be impossible for us to reach by the common course of advocating the truth (Ibid., 1:492, 493).
Doubtless, some in the audience questioned how this small people with limited resources could ever start a medical institution. The audience, including J. N. Loughborough, was startled.
Since James was at that time in a critical condition of health and could not undertake such an enterprise, the matter seemed to fall upon the Michigan Conference, of which Loughborough was president.
Loughborough drew up a subscription paper, and went first to J. P. Kellogg, one of the most prosperous businessmen among the Adventists in Battle Creek, and father of J. H. and W. K. Kellogg. Loughborough said to him:
Brother Kellogg, you heard the testimony that Sister White read to us in the tent. A few of us have decided to make an investment for the purpose presented to us in that testimony, "sink or swim." We thought we would like to have your name at the head of the list, as you have more money than any of us (Pacific Union Recorder, January 2, 1913).
Kellogg replied, "Let me take that paper." In a bold hand he wrote, "J. P. Kellogg, $500." "There it is," he said, "'sink or swim.'" Others were quick to follow with pledges: Ellen G. White, $500; J. M. Aldrich, $250; James White, $100; J. N. Loughborough, $50; et cetera. The committee followed the counsel of competent lawyers, and the emerging institution developed as a business enterprise on a dividend-paying share basis. Each share sold for $25, with the promise of returns to the investor from the earnings. Before long, however, on Ellen White's counsel, this was turned around. While the capital was built up on the basis of the purchase of shares, which provided voting rights, profits from the investment were plowed back into the enterprise.
Health Institution Opened
Within days after the call for such an institution, the residence of Judge Graves was purchased. This comprised nine acres [three hectares] of land, three short blocks north of the publishing house. A two-story structure for treatment rooms was added. Tanks were installed on the roof of the treatment rooms to hold water pumped by windmill from a nearby well. Loughborough reported:
On the fifth of September, 1866, the institution was formally opened for patients and boarders, having Drs. Lay and Byington as physicians, two helpers, and one patient.... We had room for twelve patients. Ere a month passed, the rooms were filled with patients, and we had to increase our help, and provide more room (Ibid.).
Denominational leaders were venturing into a new field that offered unique opportunities but was fraught with many perils. Ellen White shortly placed before them this caution:
The health reform is a branch of the special work of God for the benefit of His people. I saw that in an institution established among us the greatest danger would be of its managers' departing from the spirit of present truth and from that simplicity which should ever characterize the disciples of Christ (Testimonies for the Church, 1:560).
It would have been well if the health of James White had been such that he could have used his cautious managerial experience, and Ellen could have been in a position to give closer attention to the project. In the absence of this, men in all sincerity but with limited experience moved ahead, sometimes inadvisably.
The enthusiastic response from the general public led to premature plans for the rapid enlargement of the institution to accommodate all who applied for admission as patients.
James and Ellen White, in northern Michigan, watched the rapid developments with growing concern. It was clear to them that plans for expansion of the health institute were premature, and the way in which materials from Ellen White's pen were being used brought particular distress, for the testimonies written to bring the institution into being were now being used to support the plans for immediate enlargement.
Plans were drawn, an excavation was made, a stone foundation was laid, and materials were purchased for proceeding with the proposed enlargement. James and Ellen White watched at long range through the letters, the Review, and reports that reached them, and were greatly distressed. They were convinced that the denomination lacked much of what would be needed in skill, experience, and finance.
Then, by vision, God gave direction. Of this Ellen White wrote later:
I was shown a large building going up on the site on which the Battle Creek Sanitarium was afterward erected. The brethren were in great perplexity as to who should take charge of the work. I wept sorely. One of authority stood up among us, and said, "Not yet. You are not ready to invest means in that building, or to plan for its future management." At this time the foundation of the Sanitarium had been laid. But we needed to learn the lesson of waiting (Letter 135, 1903).
Ellen White knew she faced a difficult situation with those who were proceeding so enthusiastically in enlarging the health institute. The Whites knew they were already under considerable criticism, although they did not know just why.
The Crucial Weekend At Battle Creek
They met with the Battle Creek church on Sabbath, September 14, 1867, and entered upon the work they dreaded, establishing restraints on the premature enlargement of the health institute. They had come to Battle Creek "with trembling" to bear their testimony, and this they did. Ellen White reviewed some of the high points in the call for, and the rapid development of, the institute.
She pointed out that physicians might fail, through sickness or death or by some other cause; money might not come in as needed to put up the larger buildings; and there might be an insufficient number of patients, resulting in a lack of means to carry on. She had confidence that with proper efforts put forth in a "judicious manner, and with the blessing of God, the institution will prove a glorious success" (Testimonies for the Church, 1:559).
In the evening after the Sabbath James White came forward and gave his counsel as a careful church administrator. This was the first meeting he had attended in 20 months. He spoke again Sunday morning at a well-attended meeting in the church.
A Wholesome Response
The days spent in Battle Creek were difficult, crucial, but successful. However, the large building was given up for the present. Hammers, saws, and trowels were laid aside, and church leaders were determined to follow the counsel given.
James was put on the board of directors, which helped to establish confidence. To hold things on an even keel, he told of plans that would make it possible for the institute to continue its activities within its resources. He assured everyone that the business was sound and urged them to manifest a gracious attitude toward those responsible for the current problems.
Four years later he was happy to report that:
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 (The Review and Herald, September 12, 1871).
It was finally on a sound financial basis, under good management, and with four physicians on the staff. Enlargement of the main building was about finished, and the cottages had been refurbished; it seemed that there should be a rededication of the facilities. This would offer an opportunity to acquaint the city and surrounding community with the institution. A committee was formed to foster such a program, and the back page of the July 18 Review carried an announcement of a health convention to be held Thursday, July 27, with plans for a banquet. James White, as chairman of the committee on arrangements, signed the notice.
A Gala Festival
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, and the dinner was an outstanding success. One of the guests, the Honorable George Willard, editor of the Battle Creek Journal, made the following statement:
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 [39 meters] in length, the total length being 640 feet [195 meters]--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 accommodation of the guests during the speaking (The Health Reformer, August, 1871; quoted in The Review and Herald, August 22, 1871).
Before the guests sat down at the tables, there were some speeches from both James and Ellen White. They were listened to with close attention as they presented with force and clearness the new principles of hygiene.
After the invocation of the divine blessing and dinner was announced, the crowd surged toward the five tables. Six hundred 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 (Ibid.).
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 (Ibid.).
As to fruit there were peaches, dried prunes, figs, 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 (Ibid.).
Going considerably into detail, the editor stated:
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: "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" (Ibid.).
This is precisely what the directors of the institute and the Adventist community had hoped for, and was a prelude to a long and interesting future that really put the name of Battle Creek on the map.
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 previous 10 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.