As the work proliferated, Ellen and James faced the problem of where they should most profitably devote their time and add their presence. They could not be in Battle Creek and California at the same time. They could not be in New England and pioneer the work in Texas and Kansas. No wonder Ellen on their caravan trip questioned, "Was all this necessary and in the line of duty?" And no wonder James inquired again and again, "Where are the men to do the work?"
They had not been in the West since 1878. Now reports were coming from California that since Loughborough had been assigned to the newly opened work in England proper provision had not been made for the growing work in the West. Help was needed. It was thought advisable to send S. N. Haskell and
W. C. White to spend a few months in California. Two weeks later these men, accompanied by Ellen White, were on their way to California.
James remained in the East to care for the many administrative duties he had willingly accepted at the General Conference session, to pastor the church and to push ahead with such publishing interests as the issuance of Life Sketches of James and Ellen White.
After her arrival in Oakland, Ellen threw herself into the program of strengthening the church. She spoke that first Sabbath in the Oakland church, and the San Francisco members were invited to attend.
Two camp meetings were planned for late spring in the North Pacific Conference, which comprised the state of Oregon and the Washington Territory. The first was to be east of the Cascade Mountains at Milton, May 20 to 31; the second, west of the mountains, June 9 to 15, in the vicinity of Salem. "Mrs. E. G. White will be present at both our camp meetings," read the notice in the April 22 issue of the Signs of the Times. "It will be a most favorable opportunity for all our brethren and sisters to become acquainted with her, and receive the valuable instruction she is able to give." After wrestling with the matter of the proposed trip for some days, she wrote to James:
If the Lord places the burden on me, I must go however unpleasant I may regard the matter. I do not want to move one step farther than the Lord shall direct by His Holy Spirit. I fear sometimes it is a cowardly dread of the water that makes me not decide at once to go to Oregon. But I mean not to study my will but the will of God.... Oh, I tremble for myself, lest after I have preached to others, "I myself should be a castaway" (Letter 22, 1880).
The Lord did place the burden on her. Three days later she wrote: "I shall go to Oregon the sixth of May--shall remain two months unless I see more clear light" (Letter 24, 1880). She made the trip, accompanied by Mary White and S. N. Haskell. They sailed from San Francisco on the steamer California, Thursday, May 6, arriving at Portland Sunday morning, May 9 (The Signs of the Times, May 13, 1880). Then they hastened on up the Columbia River to eastern Oregon and Walla Walla. For a few days she and Haskell held meetings there, speaking Sabbath and Sunday, May 15 and
16. She also spoke in Walla Walla on three nights. Other meetings followed--one at Milton, Oregon, and another at Salem. Haskell then returned to California. Ellen and Mary left a few days later. Between meetings she was busy writing.
Return To Battle Creek (1880)
For several weeks Ellen White ministered in northern California, speaking several times in the tent in Chico. In her mind she debated as to whether she should remain in California or return East to attend the later camp meetings. Then she received a letter from James, written July 21:
My dear wife, the enclosed is a sample of the appeals that are coming to me for you to attend our camp meeting. Such appeals are coming to me from Maine to Dakota, and from Michigan to Kentucky. I have nothing to say, only that it seems to me that our testimony was never needed so much in the wide field as at the present time.
From Oakland she responded by telegram that she expected to be in Battle Creek August 4. That would be on a Wednesday (The Review and Herald, July 29, 1880).
With Lucinda Hall she took the train for the trip east on Monday, July 26. Traveling by "slow train"--it cost less--they were nine days on the way, arriving Wednesday noon (The Signs of the Times, August 26, 1880). Then at 8:00 she, with her husband, caught the train for a two-hour trip to Jackson. They spent the night at the Palmer home and the next morning were on the train for Alma in central Michigan, arriving just before dark. Both immediately entered into the usual arduous camp meeting labor, Ellen speaking the night they arrived.
The Eastern Camp Meetings
The next trip took them to the province of Quebec, Canada, where at Magog a camp meeting opened on Thursday, August 12. They did not arrive till Friday evening. James reported the grounds good, the weather fine, and non-Adventist attendance large and orderly (Ibid., September 2, 1880). About 2,000 heard Ellen's address on temperance Sunday afternoon. On Tuesday, the last day of the meeting, with 100 believers present, Elder White led out in organizing "The Seventh-day Adventist Conference of the Province of Quebec."
James's Last Year
On August 15, 1880, while at the Magog camp meeting in Quebec, James wrote an item for the Review:
The past fifteen years of our life have been marked with labor, care, and periods of illness and despondency. But God has been gracious. When we have fallen under affliction, His hand has lifted us up. When we have erred in our efforts to advance the cause of truth, the Lord has corrected in love and has reached down His arm to point the way and to sustain. God is good. Christ is worthy of all praise. We are unworthy of the care, love, and mercy of the Lord during the past fifteen years, which enables us to say, to the praise of God, August 15, 1880, we are free from pain and feebleness, and have been able to do as much work during the last as at any year of our life.
James did not know it, but he was entering the last year of his life. He was almost 59; Ellen was 52.
It was a time of mellowing for James, but not always at an even pace. He sensed that he must lay off the burdens of leadership. His sometimes erratic movements and statements, and the light given to Ellen in vision, as well as her own judgment, indicated clearly that the time had come. And he really tried.
Through the rest of August and September James and Ellen went from camp meeting to camp meeting, spending three to five days at each, but always including Sabbath and Sunday: Waterville, Maine; West Boylston, Massachusetts; Morrisville, Vermont; Hornellsville, New York; Clyde, Ohio; Rochester, Indiana (attended by E. G. White only); and the national camp meeting at Battle Creek, Michigan, October 2 and 9.
Although James was theoretically in agreement with the idea that he should step aside and let others carry the burden of leadership in the church, it was not easy for him to stand back and have no say in what should be done and how. He was distressed when he saw moves made in administrative lines that he felt could result in failure or would injure the cause.
As the time neared for the General Conference session with its election of officers and committees, the White household experienced some tense moments. James was trying to divest himself of responsibilities. Before the session opened, Ellen reported to the children in California, "Father has already sent in his resignation of every office except in connection with the publishing work. I think there will be no disagreeable issue" (Letter 42, 1880).
The national camp meeting opened on September 28. The first meeting of the General Conference session was held on Wednesday afternoon, October 6.
As president of the General Conference, James White was in the chair. Twenty delegates were present, and by vote of the conference their number was increased to 38 by drawing in from those present several from conferences who had limited delegations. The appropriate committees were appointed.
Monday morning, October 11, the nominating committee reported with the following recommendations:
For president, George I. Butler
For secretary, Uriah Smith
For treasurer, Mrs. M. J. Chapman
For Conference Committee, G. I. Butler, S. N.
Haskell, and H. W. Kellogg
James White, serving as chairman of the meeting, called for the vote. "The nominees were ... unanimously elected" (The Review and Herald, October 14, 1880).
Now James and Ellen turned their thoughts to the future. On Wednesday, October 14, she wrote:
We are now deciding to spend this winter and next summer in preparing books. First I get articles prepared for Signs. 2. I get out articles for private testimony, health institutions. 3. Get out Testimony No. 30.
4. Letters to her children by a mother. 5. [Spirit of Prophecy] Volume 4. 6. Life of Christ, both books, the most sharp and interesting matter in one large book for canvassers to use for public sale (Letter 43, 1880).
They instituted an immediate search for a place to make their home for the year before them. A three-acre (one-hectare) property in Grand Ledge was available but it did not suit. The house was run down. They finally settled on a three-story well-built brick home on a 30-acre (12-hectare) tract of land between the city of Battle Creek and Goguac Lake, a mile (two kilometers) from the city. It stood on a prominence overlooking Battle Creek, and on it was a young orchard of 225 trees--apples, pears, peaches, and cherries (JW to WCW, November 3, 1880)--and an attractive 10-acre (four-hectare) oak grove. The 10-year-old house, explained Ellen, had "all the advantages of a country residence," and it could be secured for $6,000.
They moved in on Sunday, December 19. Observing that it would soon be Christmas, Ellen noted in a letter to a friend: "My Christmas will be spent in seeking Jesus to be a welcome guest in my heart. His presence will drive all the shadows away" (Letter 51, 1880).
James buried himself in writing and in doing chores on the little farm and about the new home. He was still editor of the Review and Herald, and this kept the way open for him to speak to the church each week in reports and editorials. But why, he pondered and fretted, didn't the members of the General Conference consult with him, and why didn't Willie, in Oakland?
Moving more in a pastoral role, James White frequently spoke in the tabernacle. Occasionally he baptized new converts and performed marriages. Among the latter was the marriage of the man to become widely known for his cornflakes, W. K. Kellogg, marrying Ella Davis. She was a sister to Marian, who assisted Ellen White in her literary work.
But plans for the winter's work were rudely broken on New Year's Day. Going by sleigh to a vesper meeting in the tabernacle, Ellen fell, tearing loose the ligaments in one ankle.
For more than four months she was on crutches and was quite miserable, her pen largely laid aside. She did fill a speaking appointment at the tabernacle on Sabbath morning, January 15. Two months later she resumed her public ministry, with services in the tabernacle and outlying churches (The Review and Herald, January 18, 1881; Ibid., April 5, 1881; Ibid., April 12, 1881).
James found satisfaction in visiting and mingling with the members. These loved and respected him, and were less concerned about his sometimes erratic movements than were the leaders in Battle Creek. With the aid of her nieces, Addie and May Walling, Ellen kept house in the big brick home and did a little writing. On a few occasions, as her ankle recovered from the accident, she accompanied her husband on his visits to nearby churches and to one or two weekend tent meetings (Ibid., June 7, 1881).
When the camp meeting season opened, James gave out word through the Review (May 24, 1881) that "Mrs. White is not in a condition of health to go the rounds of camp meetings as in years past."
But in spite of her physical weakness and injured ankle she attempted to attend the Michigan camp meeting, which began June 1 at Spring Arbor. Arriving on the grounds she felt pressed for breath and too ill to go on, so stopped with an Adventist family near the campgound. Early Sabbath morning James went to the grounds alone. Of her experience that day she wrote Willie and Mary in Oakland:
I knelt with Brother Weed's family and felt that God indited prayer. I importuned the Lord for help, for light, for strength to bear my testimony to the people of God. Light came. I went upon the ground and spoke to a large congregation with great power and clearness. I endured the effort. Sunday I spoke in the afternoon upon temperance and was so much encouraged that I left appointment for evening and spoke in the evening (Letter 5a, 1881).
James reported that at that evening meeting his wife addressed the people, "with clearness, point, and power, probably equal to any effort of her life" (The Review and Herald, June 7, 1881). Tuesday morning the deep impression came to her distinctly, "Go to Iowa; I have work for you to do." The Iowa camp meeting would open on Thursday. "I should as soon have thought of going to Europe," she commented, "but I told your father my convictions, that I should go with him or alone. He seemed surprised and said, 'We will go'" (Letter 5a, 1881).
The camp meeting was to be held at Des Moines, opening Thursday, June 9. James and Ellen arrived about noon on Friday. A heavy rainstorm came up, calling for extra effort on her part to make the people hear. Following the meeting she went to her tent and retired early for the night. But "in one hour, a message came for me to repair to the tent and speak to some points introduced in their business meetings, upon the right of voting in favor of prohibition. I dressed and spoke to them about twenty minutes, and then returned to the tent" (Letter 5, 1881).
Guidance Regarding Voting
She related a dream in which she seemed to be in a large gathering where the temperance movement was being discussed. A fine-looking man with pen in hand was circulating a temperance pledge, but no one would sign. As the visitor was leaving, he turned and said:
God designs to help the people in a great movement on this subject. He also designed that you, as a people, should be the head and not the tail in the movement; but now the position you have taken will place you at the tail (in DF 274, "The Des Moines, Iowa, Temperance Experience").
When Ellen was asked, "Should we vote on prohibition?" she answered, "Yes, to a man, everywhere, and perhaps I shall shock some of you if I say, 'If necessary, vote on the Sabbath day for prohibition if you cannot at any other time'" Ibid.
From Iowa James and Ellen White went to the Wisconsin camp meeting. It was their plan to attend the Minnesota meeting also, but division of feelings between Butler and Haskell on the one hand and James White on the other led the Whites to withdraw and hasten back from Wisconsin to Battle Creek. It had been Ellen's hope that as she and James attended these camp meetings there could be a reconciliation.
There was another matter that also gave her deep concern. The two leading men in the General Conference were doing little to exert a right influence on the sanitarium, which she mentioned as being "managed by one man's mind and one man's judgment" and that man veering from the "light God has given" (Letter 8, 1881). Taking the several situations into account, she wrote Butler and Haskell expressing her distress and concern:
I had a dream. I saw Dr. Kellogg in close conversation with men and with ministers. He adroitly would make statements born of suspicion and imagination to draw them out, and then would gain expression from them, while I saw him clap his hands over something very eagerly. I felt a pang of anguish at heart as I saw this going on.
I saw in my dream yourself [probably Haskell] and Elder Butler in conversation with him. You made statements to him which he seemed to grasp with avidity, and close his hand over something in it. I then saw him go to his room, and there upon the floor was a pile of stones systematically laid up, stone upon stone. He placed the additional stones on the pile and counted them up. Every stone had a name--some report gathered up--and every stone was numbered.
The young man who often instructs me came and looked upon the pile of stones with grief and indignation, and inquired what he had and what he purposed to do with them. The doctor looked up with a sharp, gratified laugh. "These are the mistakes of Elder White. I am going to stone him with them, stone him to death."
The young man said, "You are bringing back the stoning system, are you? You are worse than the ancient Pharisees. Who gave you this work to do? The Lord raised you up, the Lord entrusted you with a special work. The Lord has sustained you in a most remarkable manner, but it was not for you to degrade your powers for this kind of work. Satan is an accuser of the brethren."
I thought the doctor seemed very defiant and determined. Said he, "Elder White is trying to tear us to pieces. He is working against us, and to save our reputation and life we must work against him. I shall use every stone to the last pebble here upon this floor to kill him. This is only self-defense, a disagreeable necessity."
And then said the young man solemnly, "What have you gained? Have you in the act righted your wrongs? Have you opened your heart to Jesus Christ, and does He sit there enthroned? Who occupies the citadel of the soul under this administration of the stoning system?" ...
I then saw my husband engaged in a similar work, gathering stones, making a pile and ready to begin the stoning system. Similar words were repeated to him with additional injunctions, and I awoke (Manuscript 2, 1880).
Through late June and into July, James and Ellen continued their ministry in Battle Creek--James through his editorials and back-page notes in the Review, Ellen with her writing; the two united in efforts in the Battle Creek Tabernacle church. Often they repaired to the grove near their home for seasons of prayer. One particular occasion Ellen especially remembered:
While walking to the usual place for prayer, he [James] stopped abruptly; his face was very pale, and he said, "A deep solemnity is upon my spirit. I am not discouraged, but I feel that some change is about to take place in affairs that concern myself and you. What if you should not live? Oh, this cannot be! God has a work for you to do.... It continues so long that I feel much anxiety as to the result. I feel a sense of danger, and with it comes an unutterable longing for the special blessing of God, an assurance that all my sins are washed away by the blood of Christ.
Both James and Ellen had an overwhelming burden for the Battle Creek church.
Continuing, with tears in his eyes, James expressed his anxiety for the institutions in Battle Creek. He said:
My life has been given to the upbuilding of these institutions. It seems like death to leave them. They are as my children, and I cannot separate my interest from them. These institutions are the Lord's instrumentalities to do a specific work. Satan seeks to hinder and defeat every means by which the Lord is working for the salvation of men. If the great adversary can mold these institutions according to the world's standard, his object is gained. It is my greatest anxiety to have the right men in the right place. If those who stand in responsible positions are weak in moral power, and vacillating in principle, inclined to lead toward the world, there are enough who will be led. Evil influences must not prevail. I would rather die than live to see these institutions mismanaged, or turned aside from the purpose for which they were brought into existence (In Memoriam: A Sketch of the Last Sickness and Death of Elder James White, 45).
Uriah Smith, resident editor of the Review and Herald and James's closest associate in the work of the church, had labored at his side for nearly three decades. Smith was well aware of the bruising conflicts; indeed, they had been out in the open for a year or two. He viewed the situation in the light of White's total dedication to the cause of God. Understandingly he declared:
Some have thought that he was deficient in social qualities, and sometimes rigid, harsh, and unjust, even toward his best friends. But these feelings, we are persuaded, come from a failure to comprehend one of the strongest traits in his character, which was his preeminent love for the cause in which he was engaged. To that he subordinated all else; for that he was willing to renounce home and friends.
No man would have been more glad than he to enjoy continuously the pleasures of domestic and social life, and the intercourse of friends, had he not thought that integrity to the cause called him to take a different course (Ibid., 34, 35).
The Carriage Trip To Charlotte
An invitation to spend the weekend at Charlotte, 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Battle Creek, had come to the Whites. A. O. Burrill was holding evangelistic tent meetings there. James was glad that he had given word that he and his wife would drive over, for it would provide her the change and rest she needed. The weekend activities were like a camp meeting. James spoke three times and Ellen four. Many from the community attended the meetings. There was none of the strain of the preceding week in Battle Creek, and Ellen claimed she gained some rest (The Review and Herald, July 26, 1881; Letter 8a, 1881). Not long after this carriage trip she recalled their conversation as they drove through the countryside:
My husband seemed cheerful, yet a feeling of solemnity rested upon him. He repeatedly praised the Lord for mercies and blessings received, and freely expressed his own feelings concerning the past and the future: ... "The future seems cloudy and uncertain, but the Lord would not have us distressed over these things. When trouble comes, He will give us grace to endure it. What the Lord has been to us, and what He has done for us, should make us so grateful that we would never murmur or complain" (Manuscript 6, 1881).
Returning to their comfortable Battle Creek home on Wednesday, July 27, they picked up their tasks there. One of the first things Ellen did was to write to the children in California of the experience of the past two weeks and of the meeting she and James had with Dr. Kellogg. "I have been alarmed at the state of things," she wrote, but was glad to add:
I think Father views matter in a different light. In some things I think he is striving hard for the Spirit of God. He seems more humble, more guarded in words and actions. He has a hard battle before him. I shall help him all I can....
As the new week dawned they were looking forward to more labor in the field. The Review of August 2 carried the following back-page note signed by both James and Ellen:
The Eastern Camp Meetings: We have been urged to attend the camp meetings to be holden at Magog, P. Q. [Province of Quebec], Morrisville, Vermont, and Waterville, Maine. We shall attend these meetings, and others, as the providence of God opens the way for us, and we have health and strength to labor.
But James and Ellen were not at these meetings. Instead, the next issue of the Review carried the notice of James White's death.
The Tired Warrior At Rest
On Sabbath morning, July 30, 1881, three days after the carriage trip to Charlotte, James and Ellen walked to the grove where they often prayed together. James prayed most fervently three times. He seemed to be reluctant to cease pleading with God for special guidance and blessing.
Then they went to the tabernacle, and James opened the service with singing and prayer. This would be the last time he would stand beside Ellen in the pulpit. Later Ellen recounted:
Monday he had a severe chill. Tuesday he did not rally as expected, but we thought the disease an attack of fever and ague [malaria], and supposed that it would soon yield to treatment (Manuscript 6, 1881).
About 4:00 p.m. a message was sent to Dr. J. H. Kellogg requesting him to call on James at his home. The doctor went over immediately and found him suffering with a high fever, his pulse being 112 and his temperature 103¼° F (40° C). The doctor learned that about 10:00 a.m. of the same day James had suffered with a very severe congestive chill. At this time his head was greatly congested, and he complained of severe pain in the spine, extending into the lower limbs. He seemed to be greatly prostrated and was very restless.
Tuesday night Ellen also was attacked with chills and was very sick, being unable to sit up.
On Wednesday when Dr. Kellogg came over he proposed that they both be removed to the sanitarium where they could be given better treatment. A mattress was placed in a hack, James and Ellen were laid side by side (for the last time), and thus they were taken to the sanitarium.
Treatment to relieve James's fever and pain was immediately ordered, and administered by a bath attendant from the sanitarium. After a short time copious perspiration appeared, and he was greatly relieved.
Ellen recounted their experience:
On Friday my symptoms were more favorable. The doctor then informed me that my husband was inclined to sleep, and that danger was apprehended. I was immediately taken to his room, and as soon as I looked upon his countenance I knew that he was dying.
I tried to arouse him. He understood all that was said to him, and responded to all questions that could be answered by Yes or No, but seemed unable to say more.
When I told him I thought he was dying, he manifested no surprise. I asked if Jesus was precious to him. He said, "Yes, oh, yes."
"Have you no desire to live?" I inquired. He answered, "No."
We then knelt by his bedside, and I prayed for my husband in that solemn hour. A peaceful expression rested upon his countenance. I said to him, "Jesus loves you. The everlasting arms are beneath you." He responded, "Yes, yes."
I wished to be certain that he recognized us, and I asked him to tell who we were. He said, "You are Ellen. You"--looking at our eldest son--"are Edson. I know you all."
Brother Smith and other brethren then prayed around his bedside, and retired to spend much of the night in prayer. My husband said he felt no pain; but he was evidently failing fast. Dr. Kellogg and his helpers did all that was in their power to hold him back from death. He slowly revived, but continued very weak. I remained with him through the night.
The next morning he took some nourishment, and seemed slightly to revive. About noon he had a chill, which left him unconscious, and he quietly breathed his life away, without a struggle or a groan. I was mercifully spared the anguish of seeing my husband in agony battling with death. The scene was as pleasant as it was possible for a deathbed to be (Manuscript 6, 1881 [see also In Memoriam, pp. 52-54]).
Plans for the funeral called for some delay, for W. C. White and his wife, Mary, were across the continent, almost a week's travel time away. James's brother John, for many years a presiding elder of the Methodist Conference in Ohio, was close, but might need a little time to arrange to come. Another brother, Samuel, a Baptist minister in Massachusetts, was summoned, but was too feeble to come. A sister, Mary Chase, lived with the Whites in Battle Creek.
The funeral was set for Sabbath afternoon, just a week after James's death. Through the week Ellen White's health and strength dipped to an all-time low.
James White's Funeral
On Sabbath afternoon, August 13, some 2,500 Seventh-day Adventists and Battle Creek townspeople assembled in the tabernacle for the funeral of James White. Even though very ill, Ellen attended. She recounted:
We then went in hacks to the Tabernacle, and I was carried in a chair while the mourners followed. I was laid upon the sofa prepared with pillows. I was carefully watched by the doctor (Letter 9, 1881).
In his funeral address Uriah Smith eulogized the deceased and spoke of his activities in connection with the origin and rise of the Seventh-day Adventist Church:
Before us, shrouded for the tomb, lies the man with whom it had its very beginning. Taking hold of this work while as yet it had neither form nor substance, under the leadings of what he regarded as the clearest indications of Divine Providence, he bore it in his arms heroically forward, making ways where none appeared, removing obstacles calculated to arrest its progress, defending it from enemies without and within, devising means for the development of strength, until it has reached its present growth, and stands today in its highest attainment of vitality.
With every advance movement, with every new enterprise connected with this work, with all its outreachings to occupy new territory, and with the employment of new agencies to accomplish desired ends, his name has been connected, and his efforts have been inseparably interwoven (In Memoriam: A Sketch of the Last Sickness and Death of Elder James White, 23).
Smith enumerated in some detail, giving illustrations, predominating traits, and characteristics of the man with whom he had worked intimately for so many years:
We first notice that in times of confusion and excitement he was always calm and cool....
Secondly, he was a man never given to fanaticism....
Thirdly, he was endued with remarkable acuteness of perception to determine the most judicious moves to be made....Fourthly, he was a man who would never yield to discouragement. The word "fail" was not in his vocabulary....
Fifthly, he was a man who would look forward to the future wants of his work, and make provision for them. He foresaw that certain elements of stability must be wrought into the work, which could be secured only through organization....
Sixthly, he was a man of strong personal friendships, and of a remarkably generous nature. To have a regard for the interest of others, and to see that their circumstances were rendered as favorable as possible, was a part of his nature (Ibid., 29-33).
Remarks By Ellen G. White
As Smith concluded his remarks, Ellen quite unexpectedly arose from her couch to speak to the large audience. She later described the experience:
After Elder Smith had given the funeral discourse I did so long to say something to let all know that the Christian's hope was mine and sustained me in that hour of bereavement, but I feared I could not stand upon my feet. I finally determined to make the trial, and the Lord sustained me. The doctor stood ready to catch me, he said, if I fell....Brother John and Willie and Edson were also watching to aid me, but I went through with what I had to say with clearness (Letter 9, 1881).
"As I arose," she declared later, "strength was given me, and I spoke about ten minutes, exalting the mercy and love of God in the presence of that crowded assembly" (Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 252). Her remarks were stenographically reported. Standing and steadying herself with a hand on the casket, she spoke in a clear voice:
I want to say a few words to those present on this occasion. My dear Saviour has been my strength and support in this time of need. When taken from my sickbed to be with my husband in his dying moments, at first the suddenness of the stroke seemed too heavy to bear, and I cried to God to spare him to me--not to take him away, and leave me to labor alone....
At times I felt that I could not have my husband die. But these words seemed to be impressed on my mind: "Be still, and know that I am God." ... I keenly feel my loss, but I dare not give myself up to useless grief. This would not bring back my husband. And I am not so selfish as to wish, if I could, bring him from his peaceful slumber to engage again in the battles of life. Like a tired warrior, he has lain down to sleep (In Memoriam, pp. 40-55).
Ninety-five carriages joined in the funeral procession to Oak Hill Cemetery; in addition, nearly 100 people went on foot. James White was laid to rest in the family plot where his two sons and his father and mother, John and Elizabeth White, were buried.
After the funeral Ellen was taken back to the sanitarium for the night. On Sunday she was taken on a bed out to their home, where she was joined by the members of the family who had attended the funeral. James's brother John was delighted with the place, but as for Ellen, she declared:
The light of my home had gone and henceforth I should love it for his sake who thought so much of it. It just met his taste.... But how can I ever regard it as I could if he had lived? (Letter 9, 1881).
The Public Press
James White was known quite well across the land, not only as one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church--a church that had grown to 17,000 in his lifetime--but also as an astute businessman managing large publishing interests and closely connected with the educational and medical interests in Battle Creek. He was highly esteemed by the Honorable George Willard, onetime congressman from the state of Michigan and publisher of the Battle Creek Daily Journal. In his editorial on page one of the August 8 issue, Willard eulogized:
He was a man of the patriarchal pattern, and his character was cast in the heroic mold. If the logical clearness to formulate a creed; if the power to infect others with one's own zeal, and impress them with one's own convictions; if the executive ability to establish a sect and to give it form and stability; if the genius to shape and direct the destiny of great communities, be a mark of true greatness, Elder White is certainly entitled to the appellation, for he possessed not one of these qualities only, but all of them in a marked degree.
The essential feature of his life's work was constructive. He had the rare power of social organization and laid the foundation and marked the design for the erection of a social and religious structure for others to develop and further complete.... As with all founders of communities, his life is not a broken shaft, but an enduring column, whereon others are to build.
The public press across the land also gave him favorable notice.
Ellen Copes With Grief
The next Monday, August 22, with her two daughters-in-law, Emma and Mary, Ellen left for Colorado, where she expected to spend a few weeks in retirement and rest and rejuvenation.
Several days were spent in Boulder, where lived the McDearmons, Emma's parents. Ellen spent most of one day writing out the circumstances connected with her husband's death (Manuscript 6, 1881) for use in the In Memoriam pamphlet being prepared at Battle Creek. In this statement she dwelt quite fully upon their experience during the two weeks previous to his death, especially their praying seasons and conversation that showed that James had some foreboding of a change and that he was prepared. Ellen closed her statement with words of appreciation to friends in Battle Creek and those who assisted her:
Especially would I acknowledge with gratitude Dr. Kellogg's skillful care as a physician, as well as his kindness and sympathy as a brother and friend, in my sickness and bereavement.
Then with Mary she was off to "Whites' Ranch" and the little cottage they owned on a few acres in the mountains near Rollinsville, Colorado.
Alone In The Mountains
Although her health was improving and she was sleeping quite well, Ellen was not yet able to apply herself to writing. As she looked from the cottage to the pine-covered hills close by, she was reminded of the many happy times she and James had enjoyed there. But this time he was not there to share her thoughts and feelings.
Willie had remained in Battle Creek to work with Edson in taking care of the financial affairs relating to James White's estate. To him she wrote on September 12:
I miss Father more and more. Especially do I feel his loss while here in the mountains. I find it a very different thing being in the mountains with my husband and in the mountains without him. I am fully of the opinion that my life was so entwined or interwoven with my husband's that it is about impossible for me to be of any great account without him (Letter 17, 1881).
For her, Colorado with its beautiful mountains had lost its lure. She did some sewing to while away the time, but not much writing. Butler was urging her to attend the General Conference session being planned for November or December. The California camp meeting would be held a little before that, and she was debating in her mind whether to return for the winter to their comfortable home in Battle Creek or to go to California and occupy their Oakland home. As to the General Conference session, she told Mary that she "must have further light before consenting to go in her present state of health" (MKW to WCW, September 14, 1881). She finally decided in favor of California, for she felt it would not be prudent to return to the East with the burdens she would have to face there.
With the California camp meeting to be held in Sacramento in the offing, she, with her helpers, left Boulder for Oakland on October 2. Physically she was steadily gaining ground, and when the camp meeting opened on Thursday evening, October 13, at East Park Grove, she was there. In light of her severe illness, it was thought that she would not be able to speak much, but she spoke almost every afternoon.
J. H. Waggoner reported that her address Sabbath afternoon, October 15, "was equal to the best effort we ever knew her to put forth" (The Signs of the Times, October 27, 1881). Waggoner added, "Besides this, her counsel was of great value throughout the meeting."
Perhaps the most important business item introduced at the meeting was to take steps "to establish a school by Seventh-day Adventists in California." A committee was appointed to carry this intention into effect as soon as possible; also to examine and report in regard to a permanent location. A school board was elected, with W. C. White as chairman. In addition to J. H. Waggoner, editor of the Signs, five prominent businessmen and farmers served on the board.
Ellen Still Holding The Reins
Through the remaining months of 1881 and into the early part of 1882 Ellen White, residing first in Oakland and then in Healdsburg, spent much of her time visiting the churches. At first she went to those nearby, in Oakland and San Francisco. Then she added Petaluma, Healdsburg, St. Helena, Napa, Williams, Arbuckle, and Santa Rosa. She was not ready to apply herself to a heavy program of writing. On occasion she was invited to speak in other than Seventh-day Adventist churches. Then, using the subject matter of her addresses here and there, she prepared a series of weekly articles for the Signs that ran under the general heading "Among the Churches." Much of the travel was by carriage, Ellen doing the driving. One report concerning the 35 mile (56 kilometer) trip from Healdsburg to St. Helena is highly descriptive:
Brother and Sister Harmon [in whose comfortable home she had spent a few days] thought it unsafe for Sister Rogers and myself to make the journey alone at this season of the year. Hence they accompanied us, their team leading the way, while ours followed. When we left Healdsburg, the fog was so dense that we could see but a short distance before us, but in a few hours the mists dispersed, and we enjoyed beautiful sunshine.
The road through Knight's Canyon, always perilous to the inexperienced traveler, is often impassable in the rainy season. We were very thankful for a pilot in this part of our journey. I dared not look either to the right or left to view the scenery, but, holding the lines firmly, and guiding my horse in the narrow passage, I followed our leader. Carelessness here would have been fatal. Had our horse turned out of the right path, we should have plunged down a steep precipice, into the ravine below.
As we rode along in almost breathless silence, I could but think how forcibly this dangerous ride illustrates the Christian's experience. We are making life's journey amid the perils of the last days. We need to watch carefully every step, and to be sure that we are following our great Leader (Ibid., January 26, 1882).