Anyone for California?" asked James White. At the close of the General Conference session held in mid-May 1868, the ministers in attendance were given an opportunity to express their preferences as to the fields in which they would work during the coming year. California was as yet an unentered field as far as any denominational workers were concerned.
But eight years previously Merritt G. Kellogg had trekked with his family by ox team to California and worked in San Francisco as a carpenter. Then, as health reform was being promoted among Seventh-day Adventists, he returned to the East to take a medical course. He enrolled at Dr. Trall's Medical College, Florence Heights, New Jersey, where a few months later he was granted a diploma as a qualified physician and surgeon. He lingered in Michigan following his graduation, and at the General Conference session in mid-May made an earnest appeal for the General Conference to send a missionary to California to help him in his work in raising up a company of believers in San Francisco. The brethren agreed that in time such might be done.
But James was not ready to let it drop there. "Has no one had any impressions of duty with reference to the California field?" Up to this time J. N. Loughborough had remained silent; now he stood and spoke of his impressions and offered his services for work in the West.
Loughborough had come to the conference with the deep impression that he should go to California, but he had revealed this to no one. In no fewer than 20 dreams he seemed to be working there!
Loughborough reported on what followed:
Brother White then remarked, "When the Lord sent forth His servants, He sent them two and two, and it seems as though two ministers should go to that distant field." ... Then Elder [D. T.] Bourdeau arose and stated how his mind had been exercised, and that he had come to the meetings with his companion and all his earthly substance ready to go where the conference might say (Pacific Union Recorder, July 3, 1913).
White counseled, "Will Brethren Bourdeau and Loughborough pray over this together and separately until the day the Review goes to press, that they may be sure of the mind of the Lord in the matter?" (Ibid.).
At the appropriate time, when White called for their word, the two brethren replied, "California, or nothing." White then called for $1,000 to buy a tent and start the mission. At this time the rails extended only to the Rocky Mountains; the journey had to be made by ship to the Isthmus of Panama and then by another ship to San Francisco. For the next year and beyond, readers of the Review were thrilled by reports from the missionaries, first on the trip itself, and then on the tent meetings and the organization of churches in the valleys north of San Francisco.
They began their work in Petaluma, and from there worked northward. Soon they had established churches in Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Bloomfield, and other places.
Loughborough reported:
Shortly after our arrival in California we received a letter from Mrs. White, in which she related a vision given her in Battle Creek on Friday evening of June 12--a day that we had spent in Lancaster, New York, before starting for California. She had never been in California, and had no personal knowledge of the habits of the people. In fact, at that time she had never been west of the Missouri River. Any knowledge she possessed concerning things there was derived from what the Lord was pleased to reveal to her.
In the instruction in her letter, she delineated the liberal ways of the people of California, and what would be the effect of labor among them on a close, "pennywise" plan. In preaching to the people in California, they must be approached in something of the liberal spirit in which they work, and yet not in a spendthrift manner (GSAM, p. 385).
Looking back years later, Loughborough testified:
As I witness the results of following the instruction given, I can say that our cause advanced more in three months than it would have done in one year had we not been helped "in the work of the ministry" by the instruction received through the gift of prophecy. Up to the spring of 1871, as the result of the efforts in Sonoma County, five churches of Sabbathkeepers had been raised up (Ibid., 386).
James and Ellen eagerly looked forward to the time when they would be able to visit the brethren there and see for themselves how the work was progressing. In fact, a year later James was already talking about attending a camp meeting in California. But their trip was delayed a number of times. In the summer of 1872 they had planned to attend most of the Western camp meetings (Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota), and then join J. N. Loughborough in California for a camp meeting to be held in late September. But when the Iowa meeting closed, they saw that in their state of health the strain would be greater than they could bear. After a few days' rest they decided to go at once, thinking to arrive in California in late June. They had to have some rest.
A Surprise Vacation In The Rocky Mountains
It had been 25 years since Ellen had been with her older sister, Caroline Clough, who lived in Ottawa, Kansas. "Why not stop and make a brief visit on our way to California?" This they did. The reunion was a very happy one. In a letter to Edson, Ellen described her sister, 15 years her senior:
She is an understanding, intelligent woman, living, I think, up to the best light she has had. She is a powerful singer. This is as much her talent as speaking is mine. I think I never heard a voice that would thrill the soul like hers (Letter 10, 1872).
They had thought to remain for only two days, but Caroline had many ideas for their pleasure and for speaking, and insisted that they extend their visit.
Brother and Sister Clough informed us that they had four children in Colorado Territory, and expressed a strong desire that we should visit them. We decided to stop at Denver and spend a day or two with their daughter, Mrs. Walling (Ibid.).
When the party arrived in Denver, a city of 12,000 (WCW, in The Youth's Instructor, December, 1872), Willie was sent out to find the Walling home. He soon returned to the station in a carriage with Mr. Walling. At the Walling home the White party met two of Ellen's nieces, Mrs. Walling and Miss Mary L. Clough. She described Mr. Walling as "very free and kind," and engaged in a large, profitable lumber business. Being quite well-to-do (Letter 25, 1872), he spared no expense to please and entertain them. His lumber mills were some 40 miles west (64 kilometers), at the edge of the Rocky Mountains, but he had his home in Denver so that the children might have the benefit of a school. Instead of staying a couple days, the Whites accepted an invitation to remain for a while.
It was Mr. Walling's business to furnish lumber for the houses, and timbers for the mines in this region. Walling's Mills, near Black Hawk, was not in a steep ravine but in an expansive area above. Here was a cottage that he made available to the White party, and here they lived, read, wrote, and took their walks.
Through the entire month of August the Whites vacationed. They hiked; picked raspberries as they ripened; visited interesting places, such as the stamping mills in which the ore was broken up and then processed; gathered samples of minerals for an exhibit they proposed to set up; and, of course, wrote.
"Mr. Walling is very earnest that we should go with him across the Snowy Mountain Range to what is called the Park, on the other side of the Snowy Range" (Letter 12, 1872). She saw in the proposed trip over the Snowy Range the needed incentive and opportunity for James to "be at liberty to enjoy the scenery, get tired, camp and rest, and become hardened for California" (Letter 13a, 1872).
In a letter to Edson and Emma, Ellen wrote on August 22:
Last night Father and I rode six miles [nine kilometers] on the Indian ponies, that we might get accustomed to riding. We have decided it would be better for Father to go up the mountains over the Snowy Range and be benefited with the exercise he would obtain in so doing than to go to California just now.... We feel much encouraged in regard to Father, but we dare not yet go to California (Ibid.).
Caravan to Hot Sulphur Springs
James White describes the start of the Snowy Range trip:
It was on Monday, 11:00 a.m., September 2, 1872, when we mounted our horses and ponies for the trip over the Snowy Range into Middle Park.... Our course lay along through Rollinsville, Boulder Park, up the mountains through Boulder Pass (The Health Reformer, January, 1873).
By midafternoon a heavy storm came up, and the travelers took refuge in an empty log shanty, where they built a fire in a big stone fireplace. By the time the storm was over, night had almost fallen. As they had brought all their gear in with them, they decided to spend the night there.
The four ladies were on ponies. Mr. Walling had the principal part of the baggage in a wagon drawn by two powerful horses, while Willie and his father were each on a good horse, ready to help in packing baggage up the sharpest ascents, or to assist the ladies in the most dangerous places (Ibid.).
Soon after starting the ascent again, Ellen White was involved in a bad accident. She had her pony well under control when the strap holding her bedding roll gave way. In a letter to Edson and Emma she described what followed:
As I was in the best of spirits, enjoying the scenery very much, my pack behind me became unloosened and dangled against the horse's heels. Your father had tarried behind to arrange his pack more securely.
I was between two companies--three of our company ahead and five behind me. I saw the situation of things, slipped my feet from the stirrup, and was just ready to slip from the saddle to the ground and in one moment should have been safe. But the pony was frightened and threw me over his back. I struck my back and my head. I knew I was badly hurt, but felt assured no bones were broken. I could scarcely breathe or talk for some time, but finally improved a little. I was in great pain through my head, neck, shoulders, and back, and bowels (Letter 14, 1872).
James White picks up the story: "We soon became satisfied that bones were not broken. Neither could we discover external injuries of any kind; but as breathing and speaking were so very difficult, we feared internal injuries." With towels that Mrs. Hall brought, and water, hydrotherapy was applied. James reported:
Patient improved, and was soon able to take the writer's arm, and walk a few rods from the company, where we asked the following questions: 1. Shall we pitch our tents here, and go into camp, let Mr. Walling return to his business, and we remain till we see how your case shall turn?
2. Or shall we apply to the Great Physician, and, by faith in the efficacy of prayer, move on our journey?
Mrs. White decided, as she frequently has done under circumstances alike trying, to go forward. As we bowed in prayer, evidences of Divine Presence caused us to weep for joy. And in a few moments we were in our saddles, moving joyfully, and yet solemnly, along, resolving that we would not leave camp another morning without first thanking God for mercies past, and imploring His care and protection for time to come (The Health Reformer, January, 1873).
Ellen's injuries were more extensive than at first fully sensed, and she suffered for many years. In 1907 she made reference to her left leg, which had troubled her long after the accident: "The ligaments were torn from the ankle." When she sought medical help, some time after the accident, the word was "You will never be able to use your foot, for it has been so long without close investigation that nothing can relieve the difficulty and unite the ligaments torn from the ankle bone" (Manuscript 156, 1907).
With the decision to continue the trip, the party was soon faced with a very steep climb, the steepest of the journey. The wagon was lightened of its supplies and equipment, and with difficulty the horses pulled it up the ascent, leaving tents, equipment, and supplies to be taken up piecemeal by James and Willie with their horses. At noontime they stopped by an old log shanty in a forest of pines. Here Ellen White took a warm bath and seemed to be improving. Just before reaching the timberline, they found a good camping spot for the night.
Crossing The Continental Divide
Pressing on early the next morning, they found it a steady climb to the 11,000-foot mark. "Here," wrote James White, "the air was so light that the climbing horses breathed and panted as though they would lose their breath; and their riders were frequently disposed to take a long breath, which did not seem to hit the spot, nor satisfy the usual demands of the breathing apparatus. This gave an excellent opportunity to expand the lungs and chest....
"We hastened on, and up the sharp ascent, to the summit of the range, which we reached at 11:00 a.m.... From this grand range, the backbone of the continent, waters rise from springs, within a gunshot of each other, which flow, one to the Atlantic, and the other to the Pacific. We had now reached an altitude too cold for trees of any kind to exist" (Ibid., March, 1873).
At the top of the range the terrain was rather level but rough and "untrodden, rocky, mountain way." Then they must descend. Ellen White elected to ride in the wagon with Mr. Walling, but soon she found the jerking wagon seat so uncomfortable she chose to ride with the baggage, sprawled over and clinging to the big bundle of tents. Willie described the descent:
As we descend, the cold winds and snowbanks are left behind, but the roads are fearful. They go down so steep you are in danger of slipping over your horse's head, then through little marshes which are numerous near the top of the range, and where you must work sharp to keep your horse above ground, and the rest of the way over loose rocks and boulders, through creeks and over logs, up and down, but mostly down till we reach the park [Middle Park].
Lame and weary, we were glad to stop and camp in the edge of a thick forest surrounding a little meadow through which wound a crooked mountain brook, clear and cold, and full of speckled trout. As usual, we tied the horses where there was good grass, pitched the tents, cut spruce boughs for our beds, and then, building a big fire in front of the tents, retired to rest, and slept well till sunrise (The Youth's Instructor, January, 1873).
A Week at Hot Sulphur Springs
Now it was an easy trip across the valley to Hot Sulphur Springs, their destination. They picked wild strawberries as they traveled, adding to their dinner rations. An old hunter, Mr. Byers, known as "Buckskin," had leased the hot springs. He helped the newcomers find a good camping place, lent them a sheet-iron cookstove, and left them much to themselves. But not his Newfoundland dog, who soon challenged Lion, Mr. Walling's Newfoundland. Lion won the contest and was put in charge of guarding camp for the week they were there. They found 20 or 30 people camped near the hot springs, and people coming and going. In addition to the sulphur springs, people were attracted by the beautiful scenery and fishing and/or hunting possibilities.
Calls From California Cut Short The Vacation
The Whites hoped they might remain at Hot Sulphur Springs for three or four weeks, but on Thursday afternoon, September 12, after they had been there just a week, Mr. Walling came, bringing mail and the word that the California camp meeting, which had been postponed so the Whites might be present, would open on Thursday, October 3. They must be there. Friday morning they broke camp and started back to Black Hawk. Hardened to fatigue by camp life, they were able to make the return trip, which had taken four days in coming, in two traveling days. They spent the Sabbath en route, resting.
On Friday, September 20, they journeyed the 110 miles (176 kilometers) from Denver to Cheyenne, where they caught the Union and Central Pacific train bound for San Francisco. They were amazed at the railroad trestles spanning rivers and gorges, and the tunnels and snowsheds as they crossed the Sierras, then on to the broad Sacramento Valley. At last they had reached California.
The Whites Discover California
James and Ellen White received a most hearty reception when they arrived in California on Wednesday evening, September 25, 1872. At the end of the rail line in Oakland they were met by brothers Conkrite and Stockton, who ushered them to the San Francisco Ferry and on to the Rowland home. Mrs. Rowland was a well-to-do Scottish woman on the verge of taking her stand for the Adventist message. It was midnight when they reached this home. Ellen White wrote, "We met and were introduced to twenty brethren and sisters who greeted us as cordially as we were ever greeted in our lives. These friends had waited at the house of Sister Rowland until twelve o'clock at night to receive us. We did not get to rest until a still later hour" (Letter 16, 1872).
This was the beginning of the Whites' lifelong love affair with California. Such was their enthusiasm about the flowers, the scenery, the weather, the people, that they admitted privately:
James: "Nothing but stern duty will ever call us from this country."
Ellen: "We shall not neglect the work of God to view the work of nature."
James and Ellen White had their eyes on Santa Rosa and looked forward to meeting Elder and Mrs. J. N. Loughborough, who resided there, and to attend the camp meeting. They made the 37-mile (59-kilometer) ferry trip across the bay and up the Petaluma River to the city of Petaluma, then a 15-mile (24-kilometer) train trip to Santa Rosa. This was a route they would often travel as they moved about in northern California. They were cordially received at the Loughborough home in Santa Rosa, and attended the Sabbath morning service in the house of worship. James spoke on the reasons of Adventist faith, and Ellen followed for another 15 minutes. Then nearly all the congregation crowded onto the platform to shake hands with them (Letter 17, 1872).
The camp meeting was to be held in a grove at Windsor, a town 10 miles (16 kilometers) south, situated between Santa Rosa and Petaluma. James and Ellen White, together with Lucinda Hall and Willie, were on the grounds for the opening meetings, Thursday, October 3. James wrote:
We are now writing in a tent upon the California campground, near Windsor, Sonoma County, fifth-day, October 3, at the close of the afternoon service. The location is good and the weather is fine. It is as warm as August in Michigan, very much warmer than at any point since we crossed the plains the first of July.
Notwithstanding the brief notice of this meeting, there are, at the early stage of the meeting, thirty-three tents upon the ground, besides the large congregation tent and the provision stand.
Three tents are marked San Francisco; two, Green Valley; one, Sebastopol; four, Bloomfield; one, Mendocino County; three, Windsor; six, Healdsburg; nine, Santa Rosa; two, Petaluma; two, Woodland....We spoke in the morning upon the subject of the waiting, watching time, in answer to the question, Where are we? ... Mrs. White spoke in the afternoon, and Elder Cornell spoke in the evening (The Review and Herald, October 15, 1872).
After the camp meeting James and Ellen were eager to spend some time in San Francisco, having merely passed through the city. So, with Loughborough and Cornell, they went to San Francisco by train and by ferry on Thursday morning, October 10. On Friday Loughborough and Cornell took the tent by train to Woodland.
In San Francisco
The Whites were again cordially received in the home of Mrs. Rowland. Spending the afternoon there, Ellen had an opportunity to write a report to Edson and Emma of her impressions of the camp meeting and of California:
Our camp meeting was a success. We have not a doubt but that the Lord has directed our course to this coast, and we believe the cause of God will be advanced by our labors, which seem to be very necessary. Your father labored very hard during the meeting. He seemed to be full of matter and he could not restrain his labors. The people hung upon his words with intense interest.
I think I never saw a company together all so intelligent, so sincere, so exceptional in every way, as the company we met upon the campground. Twenty homes have been offered us already and such urgent, hearty invitations that we desire to gratify them all (Letter 18, 1872).
She wrote of a committee of five who had waited upon them at the camp meeting, urging them to make their headquarters in San Francisco; they also offered to hire a five-room house, furnish it, and turn it over to them for their home. Further, they would furnish all they needed to live on, and even provide domestic help.
Ellen reported: "We declined. We should not be prescribed in our liberty at all. We should go among the brethren just when we choose and stay one, two, or three weeks."
Making their home with Mrs. Rowland, they shopped some, did some writing, and from day to day visited the believers in the city. They had a glimpse into the situation of the Sabbathkeepers in San Francisco.
Tent Effort In San Francisco
Friday evening, November 8, James White opened the tent meetings in San Francisco. A good crowd attended. In early winter the weather in that area is usually pleasantly warm. On November 17 they had to raise the tent wall to be comfortable. After 18 meetings Loughborough reported of the interest:
Brother White has preached six times, Sister White seven times, and I have spoken five times. Our congregations have been both large and deeply attentive. The preaching has been about an even mixture of close, searching, practical discourses, alternated with the theory of the truth, presented in a clear, concise, solemn, and pointed manner, spiced with exhortation, and close appeals to the consciences (The Review and Herald, December 3, 1872).
During the winter months of December, January, and February the Whites moved about among the six California churches--San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Woodland, and Bloomfield.
Organization Of The California Conference
The California state meeting was held February 14-18, in Bloomfield, and of course the Whites were there. In his report for the Review, Loughborough stated:
Everything moved off with perfect harmony and good feeling, and it was the source of deepest gratitude to us all that we were favored in our deliberations and meetings with the presence of Brother and Sister White (Ibid., March 4, 1873).
During this formal meeting, with delegates present from the six churches in California, the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was formed, with a membership of 238. J. N. Loughborough was elected president; S. B. Bresee, also of Santa Rosa, secretary; and T. M. Chapman, of Petaluma, treasurer (Ibid., March 11, 1873).
Word had just been received that the General Conference session would be held in Battle Creek, opening on March 11. James, of course, would attend, but Ellen wanted to get on with her writing. She was working on the book The Spirit of Prophecy, volume 2, on the life of Christ. *
But when the next issue of the Review came it carried this note:
A Special Request: We deem it of the utmost importance that Brother and Sister White attend this meeting; and we therefore invite and urge, in the strongest terms, their attendance at this session of the General Conference, if their health will permit them to do so (The Review and Herald, February 11, 1873).
Ellen White would go East with her husband. It would be a full 21 months before the Whites would be able to return to California.
Interlude
During this period James and Ellen attended two General Conference sessions and enjoyed another vacation in the Colorado mountains.
Soon after their arrival in Battle Creek they were deluged with callers and fellow workers who came in for consultations and appointments for speaking. This was "par for the course," and became somewhat tiring as the years passed by.
At the eleventh annual meeting of the General Conference (1873) James was unanimously elected president of the SDA Publishing Association. At first he declined to serve, but finally gave in to pressure and agreed.
His great interest at this time was to get the denominational school going, so he divided his time between the interests of the publishing association and the school. 2 He also was one of the directors of the health institute.
Ellen, as usual, was deeply involved in writing testimonies, and when she could get at it, the life of Christ for Spirit of Prophecy, volume 2. They also were involved in selling their house and finding a place to work.
All this culminated in James having his fourth stroke of paralysis. He was anointed with oil, and prayer was offered for his recovery. "We felt assured," Ellen reported, "that by the blessing of the Lord he would recover. We moved to the institute. My husband feels cheerful and happy. He now is settled in regard to his duty to drop everything like burdens at Battle Creek and spend the summer in the Colorado mountains" (Manuscript 6, 1873).
They had not intended to remain long in Battle Creek. In fact, Ellen concluded that "every hour that they remained in Battle Creek was a positive danger to his life."
Back To Colorado
It was 7:30 Wednesday evening, June 25, 1873, when James and Ellen White, Willie, and Lucinda Hall reached Denver. They were cordially received at the Walling home. Thursday and Friday they made preparation for the summer in the Rocky Mountains. To ensure comfortable beds, they arranged to have two hair mattresses made, and bought pillows. Mr. Walling came from the mountains Sabbath afternoon and found the visiting party in the city park enjoying the Sabbath rest. After the Sabbath they started out for Golden City, in the mountains (Manuscript 8, 1873). Late Sunday afternoon they were at Walling's Mills and getting settled in the cottage that was to be their home for the summer.
Following much the same program and enjoying the same activities as they had on their previous sojourn here, including a camping trip, James regained his strength. The several months spent in Colorado had given him an opportunity to stand back and survey the cause as a whole. As he did so he wrote several articles for the Review proposing daring and broad steps for advance.
He had escaped the constant day-to-day pressures of Battle Creek, but his own ambition to see the work of God advance filled his mind with pressures and ideas for broadening the work. In a series of articles for the Review, he proposed the following:
A branch office for publishing on the Pacific Coast
A health institute on the Pacific Coast
He called for the responsible men in Battle Creek to move ahead quickly with the development of the school there and for enlarging the health institute to accommodate 300 guests. He pointed out that there was a need for two new power presses in the Review office and more capital with which to operate. Then he made a bold proposal:
The General Conference should expend, before the close of 1874, the sum of $20,000 in the preparation, translation, and publication of works in the German, French, Danish, and Swedish languages. And the General Conference must extend its missions to Europe, to the Pacific, and, in fact, in all directions, as far as the calls can be supplied (An Earnest Appeal, p. 29).
Rested and strengthened after their four months in Colorado, the Whites looked forward happily to continuing their journey to California. There were several days of anguish trying to decide whether to attend the session or go directly to California, taking Lucinda Hall and the two Walling children with them. They decided for California.
This decision having been made, that evening, Thursday, November 6, they took the train in Denver for Cheyenne, Wyoming, presumably to catch the train the next day for San Francisco. But that night, feeling impressed that they should follow another course, James went to the front of the coach to meditate and pray. Of the experience he wrote:
We felt a power turning our mind around, against our determined purpose, toward the General Conference to be holden in a few days in Battle Creek.
In our mind we debated the probabilities of another shock of paralysis which would doubtless prove fatal, and decided that we would not count our life too dear to risk all in doing the will of God. And with this consecration, we became very happy before our train reached Cheyenne.
It was then midnight, and after a few hours' sleep at the depot hotel, we laid the matter before Mrs. White, who for the first time seemed willing to risk another journey to the scene of our toils, trials, sicknesses, and sufferings. And in a few hours we were repacked, Sister Hall on her way to San Francisco to make ready for us at Santa Rosa in about ten days, as we supposed, and we ticketed and checked for Chicago. At Battle Creek we were greeted heartily, not only by our denominational friends, but by businessmen and leading citizens (Ibid., December 30, 1873).
When the twelfth annual session of the General Conference opened on Friday morning, November 14, at 9:00, James and Ellen White were there. They stayed throughout, not continuing their journey to California until December 18.
At Home In Santa Rosa
James and Ellen arrived in San Francisco on Sunday evening, December 28. They were met the next day by J. N. Loughborough, president of the California Conference, now living in Woodland. He accompanied them to Santa Rosa, where Lucinda Hall had set up housekeeping for them in a commodious rented home.
Loughborough had called the officers of the California Conference to meet here for a two-day council. Isaac and Adelia Van Horn had traveled west with the Whites, and they joined the worker group meeting in Santa Rosa. Everyone rejoiced in the reports of the victories won in Battle Creek. James's bold proposals envisioned during the Colorado interlude would bring forth fruit.
He wrote to the Review, "There is good evidence that the Guiding Hand turned our course at Cheyenne, from the most desirable route to San Francisco, to the General Conference at Battle Creek" (Ibid.).
The whole experience brought great relief and freedom to James.
During the Whites' previous stay in California--the six months when they had made the Rowland home their headquarters--they enjoyed being guests and visitors. But when they arrived in Santa Rosa in December 1873 they settled down as residents.
Ellen reported in a letter to her children: "We have plenty of house room and all the furniture we need. We are comfortably situated" (Letter 8, 1874).
Their home seemed to be a center of attraction to many visitors and a place where the state conferences were held. On one occasion she reported, "We had thirty for dinner, lodged eighteen and fed them straight through. The meeting passed off very pleasantly" (Letter 10, 1874).
But as the winter rains dragged on, they were hindered from riding out and visiting as they wished. But they kept busy. Loughborough reported:
We esteem it a great privilege to have in our midst Brother and Sister White, who during the rainy season are vigorously prosecuting their writings, and are even now giving us good counsel and aid in the work here; and when spring opens, and they have the opportunity of speaking to our people in different places, as the providence of God may indicate, they are prepared to greatly help our people (The Review and Herald, February 24, 1874).
They followed with great interest the work that Cornell and Canright were doing. These brethren studied plans for an evangelistic thrust with the California tent, being inclined to work the smaller towns.
Years ago, before Ellen had come to California, she had been impressed that methods of evangelism in California should be different from those in the East. She had written Elder Loughborough that the people in California must be approached in the liberal spirit in which they work.
On the night of April 1 a dream was given to Ellen White. She wrote:
I dreamed that several of the brethren in California were in council, considering the best plan for labor during the coming season. Some thought it wise to shun the large cities, and work in smaller places. My husband was earnestly urging that broader plans be laid, and more extended efforts be made, which would better compare with the character of our message.
Then a young man whom I had frequently seen in my dreams came into the council. He listened with interest to the words that were spoken, and then, speaking with deliberation and authoritative confidence, said:
"The cities and villages constitute a part of the Lord's vineyard. They must hear the messages of warning.... You are entertaining too limited ideas of the work for this time" (Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 208, 209).
At the quarterly meeting that began in Bloomfield on April 24, Ellen urged the workers "not to pitch their tents in the smallest places." Writing to Edson and Emma about the meeting, she said, "We wished to know whether they would hug the shore or launch into the deep and let down their nets for a draught of fish in the deep waters.... San Francisco and Oakland, Santa Clara, San Jose (which is pronounced Sanas A) are large, influential cities.... We have a great and important work before us" (Letter 23, 1874).
The ideas of our brethren have been too narrow and the work too limited. We told them if they were not calculating to do more the present tent season than heretofore, we wished to return east and attend the camp meetings. They should not pitch their tents in the smallest places, but imitate the example of Christ. He placed Himself in the great thoroughfares of travel where people were going to and from all nations of the world, and here in a most impressive manner did He give His lessons upon important truth (Ibid.).
Ellen White had called for something to be done "now." Her appeal set the workers on fire for God. A few days later James and Ellen were on their way to Oakland, prepared to set up headquarters there. Thursday the tent was up in the heart of the city, and that night Cornell preached on spiritualism. There was a keen interest in the subject because of spirit manifestations in the city. James White had rented the "Fountain Farm" four miles (six kilometers) from the city, and Ellen White and two young men were giving the eight-room house (Letter 19h, 1874) a thorough cleaning. Friday afternoon, May 1, they moved in. Lucinda Hall and the Walling children were with them (Letter 19f, 1874).
A few days later Ellen White, in a letter to Willie, described their rented residence:
We are now getting settled in our new home four miles [six kilometers] from the city. It is rural here. There was once a very good "water cure" upon this place. The large three-story house is standing desolate, shattered and dilapidated. We live in a neat square house a few rods from this building. We have not got settled as yet, but we shall soon. This is a very pleasant place to live. There are trees and flowers; no fruit, but our neighbors have fruit in abundance, so we can purchase of them (Letter 26, 1874).
The First Issue Of The Signs Of The Times
James White had a double interest in moving to Oakland in late April. The idea of a weekly paper published on the Pacific Coast had been conceived by James White while he was in the Rocky Mountains in the summer of 1873. He had made the proposal in an article in the Review, and at the General Conference session in November. Now in Oakland, in connection with the evangelistic meetings, he moved ahead in starting the journal. He did so on his own responsibility, not waiting for formal committee authorization or promise of sound financial support. He worked through May in getting the first copy of Signs of the Times edited, set in type, and printed. It appeared on June 4, 1874.
The paper was to be evangelistic in nature but also a means of communication among Seventh-day Adventists in the West. Now that the journal was under way, there were questions as to how it would be managed and supported. And James White envisioned something additional. If the project was to succeed, and if the church in the West was to have inexpensive literature for its use, it must have a publishing house at its command.
But how could James gain both the moral and financial support of the constituency east of the Plains? He felt he could not go east and leave the newly started journal unattended. The Whites agonized in prayer over this matter.
While [we were] bowed before God in prayer in an upper chamber, the blessing of the Lord came upon us in such a manner that duty was made plain. It was as if an audible voice said, "Go [east] to the churches and solicit money from those whom I have made stewards of means" (Manuscript 62, 1895).
James and Ellen had rarely been separated. Here was a crisis indeed! But now they were convinced it was the will of God for Ellen to travel east, seeking support. James wept aloud and said, "Ellen, you must go. I dare not withstand the Lord. You must go. But what shall I do without you?" (Ibid.).
Preparations for the trip across the continent were hasty and brief:
All that there was cooked were a few gems. I put these in a paper box, the horses were harnessed, and I was on my way for the cars. My husband said, "If I had not given my consent, I would now say it is inconsistent. I cannot have you go. I cannot be left with these terrible responsibilities" (Ibid.).
Starting on such short notice, Ellen could not secure a berth in the sleeping car, so she had to make the trip in the chair car. This made it necessary for her to change trains both in the day and in the night. The handling of the baggage, checking it here and there, was a new experience for her.
I had never traveled alone, but I took this long journey of eight days alone, and attended the camp meetings in the States alone until Willie White met me at Wisconsin and accompanied me.
On that journey I set forth our situation, and money was raised at every meeting. I told them that California would return their loan sometime in the future, for I had been shown that prosperity would attend the work done there, that there were many souls that would be added to the church, and we should see the salvation of God (Ibid.).
From one camp meeting to another Ellen White went, telling her story and appealing for support for the struggling but promising work in California. Those attending the camp meetings were overjoyed when she arrived on the grounds, and, of course, she was pressed in for full service in the speaking schedules. She thrived on it.
The Separation Ended
The Michigan camp meeting, during which the General Conference session would be held, would open on Thursday, August 6, and the word was that James White would arrive a little after midnight on Tuesday, the fourth. Although usually retiring early, Ellen stayed up to greet him. She busied herself in writing to Edson and Emma, whom James had called to Oakland to help with the new paper. While she was writing, her eyes grew heavy and she dozed off. On hearing a familiar voice, she awakened with a start to greet her beloved husband, James. Likely he had walked the few blocks from the station to their home.
How she rejoiced that at long last they could be together again and unite their lives and their labor.
Evidently James's health had improved during his months alone in California. Throughout the 11 days of meetings he preached six times and spoke with "great power and clearness." Uriah Smith reported.
Never, we believe, did he make better points, or present the great truths of this message with more clearness and force. The involuntary response of many hearts was Thank God for the freedom He gives His servant, and the physical strength that is granted for the ardent labors into which his truth-inspired soul is constantly leading him (The Review and Herald, August 18, 1874).
Of course, James White brought an encouraging report of the work on the Pacific Coast. He told of his commencing to publish Signs of the Times, and of his vision for a publishing house to be established soon in the West. It was his hope to return shortly with the full endorsement of the General Conference and the promise of support for what was being done there.
Among other actions taken at this General Conference was one that supported the tract enterprise and that called for drawing its interests together into a general organization to be known as the General Conference Tract and Missionary Society of Seventh-day Adventists. An action of renewed consecration also was taken, and one relating to the thrust that would shortly be made in missionary endeavor in sending J. N. Andrews to Europe as soon as practicable.
Other actions taken brought an unexpected and complete change in the life of both James and Ellen White. When the nominating committee brought in its report, James's name headed the list, calling for him to be president of the General Conference.
By what reasoning could he accept this great responsibility? He had recently refused responsibilities because of his poor health. In the Review that carried the report of the General Conference, he presented his reactions to the sudden changes and challenges that this action would bring to them.
1. He recognized the marked indication of providence. "We now resign all to the will of God and the choice of His dear people" (Ibid., August 25, 1874).
2. Within the past year, in the providence of God, his health had improved greatly in body and mind. He had gained 25 pounds (nine kilograms). This, he said, was because of "the practice of continued cheerfulness and courage in God, and by ignoring Satan's dark schemes to discourage and dishearten me."
3. Then, turning more particularly to the interests in California with which he had been so closely linked, he explained:
i. The General Conference has approved of what steps we have taken in establishing the press upon the Pacific, and take the responsibilities as well as the liabilities off our hands. They send Elder Butler to the California camp meeting to counsel with that conference as to the proper steps to be taken to advance the cause on the Pacific.... We shall ever cherish the tenderest regard for our dear people on the Pacific Coast.... But for the present we must heed the calls of those who have greater claims upon us (Ibid.).
4. The greater responsibilities: Now, with others to share James's special interest in the California work--the Signs of the Times, a publishing house in the West, and evangelism--James would turn his attention to the needs of the church as a whole:
the development of the denominational school the Health Institute the need of workers in new fields at home and overseas the organization of the General Conference Tract and Missionary Society the publication of literature in other languages continuing the preparation and publishing of Ellen's writings
Accepting this challenge of leadership meant drastic changes in their own plans and lifestyle. Battle Creek would now be their base of operations. But with his usual zeal James made no delay in shaping up his plans and adapting his schedules.
James White Again In The Saddle
The Whites postponed their return to California, and moved immediately. The outgoing General Conference treasurer, to whom they had rented their home in Battle Creek, vacated it, and they moved in. But they were somewhat uncertain concerning the immediate future. Ellen White felt very comfortable living in Battle Creek, but their hearts were in California.
The Eastern camp meetings were scheduled to open in Vermont on August 20, and run till September 28 in Indiana. It had been James White's hope, and that of the believers in the several states, that both he and his wife could attend. But the duties in Battle Creek were too pressing; therefore Ellen White, accompanied by Lucinda Hall, started out with the second eastern meeting at South Lancaster. There would be many times when they felt the necessity of going their separate ways and working alone.
A few weeks after attending the dedication of the school in Battle Creek on January 4, 1875, they left for California to assist in forming a publishing association and locating and putting up a publishing house.
We were very happy to find in Oakland and San Francisco two active and well-united churches of about seventy-five members each. In our younger days Mrs. White always attended the same service with us, at which we would take turns in speaking; but the situation of things in the two cities seemed to demand that we should divide our efforts, so that we have generally occupied both stands, alternating, when not laboring in other churches.
We have both labored at Petaluma, Napa, and Santa Clara, and Mrs. White, with our son, W. C. White, has spent one week with the church at Woodland....
Besides speaking, we have had the general care of the Signs office, and have written considerable for our papers. Add to this the labors of the principal duties which called us to this coast last winter (Ibid., April 29, 1875).
Back In The East For Camp Meetings
After three months in California James and Ellen returned to the East.
Soon after arriving in Battle Creek to attend camp meetings, James White declared his general plan for working:
We hope to be able to attend all the camp meetings the coming season with Mrs. White. We shall come to our brethren, not to do the work, but to help them do it in the name and strength of the Lord. We have neither strength nor disposition to labor as we have done. It is important to be in season. We have many suggestions to make, and we think it important at this early date to call the attention of the preachers of the several conferences to the fact that if duty calls them from important labor to the camp meeting, it calls them to labor at these meetings and not depend on those from abroad to do all the work (Ibid., April 8, 1875).
The Whites did not spare themselves, but put in an active season attending camp meetings in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont, Maine, and New York. Their participation was heavy. Often the burden of preaching was borne largely by James, Ellen, and Uriah Smith.
"To say that we are weary only faintly expresses our physical condition," remarked James on one occasion. "But we are not weary of the work," he added, "and we are filled with hope, courage, and faith" (Ibid., September 23, 1875).
The Fourteenth Session Of The General Conference
As the delegates met together on August 10, 1875, they were cheered by the presence of James White back in the chair after an absence of several sessions.
The business was quite routine, but handled with dispatch. In his Review and Herald report of the General Conference session and the Michigan camp meeting, Uriah Smith stated:
A greater amount of business was transacted during the seven days of this meeting than during the fourteen days of the meeting of 1874; and yet there was a fair proportion of time to devote to religious services, which were not without their interest and good results.
The happy disposal of so much business was due to the energy and tact of Brother White, who took hold to lift in every direction, and whose executive ability, when his way is clear from any serious hindrances and drawbacks, is equal to the occasion (Ibid., August 26, 1875).
Some far-reaching resolutions were passed. There were resolutions recognizing the school and its contributions; on health reform, recognizing the benefits of following its principles and calling for greater energy in the promulgation of its truths; and on the work on the Pacific Coast, urging strong support in the development of the Pacific SDA Publishing Association.
An action was taken calling for marked advance in Europe and in other parts of the world:
Resolved, That we recommend the Executive Committee to take immediate steps to establish a printing office in Europe, to issue periodicals and publications in the French and German languages, and also to enter the openings presenting themselves in Great Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Hungary, Africa, and Australia (Ibid.).
Naturally, James and Ellen White were eager to get back to their new home in Oakland and to the publishing house now in operation, stocked with the machinery and supplies purchased by James White in New York City and sent by train to Oakland. Before leaving for California, however, they attended camp meetings in Vermont, Maine, and New York.
After an absence of five months they reached Oakland on the evening of September 24 and spent the night at their own home on Eleventh Street. The carpenters had begun construction of this house when they had left in April. The next thing that attracted their attention was the office building on the same block, commenced some weeks after they had left, and brought nearly to completion about a month previously.
In an article published in both the Signs of the Times and the Review and Herald, titled "How We Found Things," James gave a glowing report:
The appearance of this building from the outside is fine. The arrangement inside from the basement to the attic is admirable. The room in the basement is valuable. The several rooms of the two stories of the building are next to perfection in arrangement and conveniences. And there are four valuable finished rooms in the attic. In the rear of the main building and separated from it the distance of eleven feet is the brick engine house.
And all will cost less than first calculated, and are much better than first expected, owing principally to the ability and faithfulness of Brother O. B. Jones, who took successful charge of our three printing houses and our college building at Battle Creek, Michigan (The Signs of the Times, October 7, 1875).
We found the Cottrell and Babcock, first-class, four-roller, air-spring, drum-cylinder printing press, and the Universal job press in the new building in complete running order, driven by the New York safety engine from Babcock and Wilcox. Only six weeks before these were doing good printing on the Pacific Coast they were lying at the freight warehouse across the continent in New York City waiting for shipment (Ibid.).
He reported that friends of the cause in California were meeting their pledges, and it was his hope that by New Year's enough would have come in to pay for both the office building and the building site. He added:
Our eastern brethren have come nobly up to the work of raising means to furnish the Oakland office with presses, engine, types, binders' machinery, et cetera. We have already two presses, engine, paper cutter and book trimmer, standing press, and types and material sufficient to print the Signs. These are all paid for at a cost, including transportation and setting up, of $6,500, and there are eastern funds on hand to purchase more material, and more pledged by our liberal eastern people to make the Signs office a complete book and job printing office where as good work may be done as anywhere on the continent (Ibid.).
Looking Ahead
As James White looked ahead, it was with courage. His heart was in the publishing of the Signs of the Times. Addressing the readers of the journal, he declared:
With the new year the Signs starts in to make its weekly visits to its patrons, and to all who may become such during the year. Its prospects of success are cheering....
We commence the series of articles setting forth the reasons of our faith and hope in this number, with the article on another page upon the millennium. These articles will continue in proper order quite through the year. Sketches of the life of Mrs. White will also continue, and will be very important to those who should know the facts of her remarkable experience.
And we shall very soon commence a series of articles under the caption "The Matter Reversed, or Christ in the Old Testament and the Sabbath in the New." We design to thoroughly ventilate the question (Ibid., January 6, 1876).
As White was editor of both the Signs of the Times and the Review and Herald, both journals had been replete with his editorials and articles through 1875. Ellen had made large contributions also: 14 major articles in the Review and 29 in the Signs. Both James and Ellen were enjoying good health and seemed to be at the apex of vigor and vitality. The new year held great promise.