Perhaps the beautiful home known as Elmshaven originally served as a single family residence, but in the years when Ellen White lived there (19001915) it became not only the residence for Mrs. White and an enlarging staff of helpers, but a center drawing people from home and abroad for counsel, interviews, and even conventions.
Changes involving the physical plant were necessary to accommodate a large number of visitors and improve working conditions not only for the staff but for Ellen White herself.
The house and surroundings of Elmshaven today are not the same as they were in 1900. When she purchased the home, the three upstairs rooms and a low attic room over the kitchen served as bedrooms. Soon arrangements were made to replace the attic room with a spacious writing room over the kitchen and back entryway.
This room extended across the complete east end of the home, over the kitchen and service porch. Even though it had been specified that old materials would be used as far as possible, the alterations, with the painting inside and outside, cost $1,000. But she felt she was justified in making this investment even though she thought she should defend it. She had to have working conditions that were conducive to efficiency and health. To an acquaintance she wrote:
The building of this room took money. I held back for a year before consenting to have this room built; for I know how many places there were in which money was needed. But I saw that it was necessary, for the preservation of my life, that something be done. It would be wrong for me to shorten my life, for this would take me from the Lord's work (Letter 165, 1902).
There was a bright bay-window arrangement on the southeast corner, with windows opening in all four directions, but principally east and south. Artistic shingles set off the tower on the outside. The room was fitted with a fireplace on the east side and with cabinets along the west wall, where her manuscripts, books, and papers could be kept. From the window on the north end of the room, between the cabinets and the door to the steep hidden stairway to the service porch, she could look up to the sanitarium on the hill above, and at the nearby office building when it was built shortly thereafter.
There were three features about this newly constructed writing room that especially pleased Ellen White: its roominess, its bay window with light and sunshine, and its fireplace. She was to spend a large part of her time here during the next 12 years, writing, writing. She would often come to the room at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, sometimes at midnight, sometimes earlier, to start her day of writing.
The Office Building And Staff
There was an eight-room office building under construction about 30 yards (27 meters) north of the home. N. H. Druillard was in charge of construction.
Ellen White was eager to get on with the book work that awaited her attention. She now had a good staff: Sara McEnterfer was her personal secretary, nurse, and traveling companion; Marian Davis, Clarence Crisler, Sarah Peck, and Maggie Hare composed her secretarial force; Mrs. M. J. Nelson was cook; Iram James managed the farm; Mrs. N. H. Druillard was her accountant; and Mr. Druillard the builder. W. C. White gave general supervision and served his mother and the General Conference in varied capacities.
We turn our attention now to what was going on at Elmshaven from the standpoint of establishing Ellen White's work there. She occupied the northwest bedroom, at the top of the stairs. This overlooked the prune orchard, which had 2,000 trees and stretched just below the knoll and a quarter of a mile (.4 kilometer) to the west. She was to retain this bedroom until her death. Her office occupied the front bedroom across the hall, facing the south. The large writing room with a bay window that she later used as an office had not yet been built. She suffered somewhat because the room in which she worked had a stove instead of a fireplace. Very seldom did she light a fire in it, choosing rather to dress warmly enough to write.
The bedroom across the hall on the north side of the house was shared by her helpers, Sara McEnterfer, Sarah Peck, and Maggie Hare. Kitty Wilcox, niece of M. C. and F. M. Wilcox, who for a short time served as cook, stayed in the small attic room over the kitchen. The large downstairs formal parlor under Mrs. White's bedroom was converted to a bedroom and used by Mr. and Mrs. Druillard, for a time members of her staff. Others who intermittently helped with her literary work in those winter months were Eliza Burnham and Lillian Whalin, daughter of John Whalin, both borrowed from the Pacific Press.
The Everyday Engrossing Activities
The work on Testimony 34 moved along at a torturous pace through the early weeks of 1901. Two things served to make the work difficult. The first was the time spent with the numerous letters and visitors that deluged the staff at Elmshaven as soon as Ellen White's new residence was established. Some people wrote wanting to work for her. One wrote that her doctor had recommended milk and she wondered whether it would be right to follow his advice. A young minister wrote asking whether he should try to convert the Protestant pastors of the town before visiting the members. Then there were questions of marriage and divorce and others about butter and eggs and cheese.
Sara McEnterfer, Mrs. Druillard, and W. C. White answered many of these letters in harmony with instructions given by Mrs. White. With many of these they enclosed a little duplicated appeal that read: "There are hundreds of people who desire to hear personally from Mother. Some write letters containing questions, others send us their life history, and others make donations to the cause. We have not time to write lengthy letters to these persons."
Often the answers said that Mrs. White had no special light on the case and urged the person to study what was already published. Sara told one woman who wanted Ellen White to inquire of the Lord, "I would say that the Lord is no respecter of persons and will hear your earnest cry to Him for help as quickly and willingly as He will should it be sent to Him through Sister White" (16 WCW, p. 184).
Two women appeared one day just as Ellen White was returning, worn and weary, from San Francisco. They said they had driven 60 miles (96 kilometers) in their little rig and they just had to see Sister White. She agreed to see them. The first thing they did was to present her with a demented child and ask what should be done. Then they produced a list of 10 questions for which they wanted Yes or No answers. Typical of these were: 1. Has the time come when we positively should eat no more meat, eggs, butter, milk? 2. Is it a sin to raise children? Is it a sin to raise bread? et cetera. Mrs. White referred them to her writings on each point, and told them that she was not commissioned to answer such questions, but the women would not desist (16 WCW, p. 55).
A daughter brought an invalid mother for whom she wanted special prayers. A divorcee wanted advice. Then an old friend fresh from the Klondike gold fields came to the home. It's not hard to see how Sara McEnterfer acquired the reputation of being Ellen White's "watchdog," for she bore much of the responsibility of protecting her from unreasonable demands upon her time and energy.
The great bulk of the mail received was of a justifiable and sensible nature, a good portion being from workers carrying heavy responsibilities. Many of those well acquainted with her and her work would address a letter to W. C. White and merely suggest that he discuss the matter with his mother at a time when she was free to give consideration to it. Some very personal letters she elected to answer herself.
Among the leaders who kept up active and continual correspondence were Elder Irwin, president of the General Conference; Dr. Kellogg; S. N. Haskell and his wife; and Edson. All wrote on a fairly regular basis, reporting their activities, outlining developments in their work, and asking for guidance and direction. Ellen White kept up an active correspondence with all of these. Her letters to them and to friends and relatives constitute the richest source of information about her day-to-day life. Whatever extra strength she could muster between her writing and bouts of illness she used in speaking to believers and unbelievers.
Influence Of The Messages In Critical Situations
The feeling was growing that some changes in politics and general plans should be made at the Pacific Press. With this there developed a feeling that implicated the manager, C. H. Jones, as the scapegoat, that he was the man mostly responsible for the commercial work and for the problems that it brought. A tide of criticism enveloped the employees.
As the time neared for the constituency meeting, at which a board would be chosen and officers selected to manage the institution, Jones wrote a nine-page letter to Ellen White in which he mentioned some of the problems that would be discussed, including: Should they dispose of the commercial work? (About half the time of the employees and half of the investment would be affected.) Should they sell the plant in Oakland, move to a more rural area, and build a plant of moderate size? et cetera.
On the closing page of his letter he bluntly stated that he did not plan to accept any responsibility in connection with the Pacific Press for the coming year. The situation, he felt, was such that he should take up other work, perhaps assisting his son, a physician in Santa Barbara. For 31 years he had been connected with denominational publishing work--eight with the Review and Herald and 23 with the Pacific Press. He declared:
My life has been put into this institution. I have had no separate interest, but my whole time and attention has been given to building up the Pacific Press (C. H. Jones to EGW, April 16, 1902).
He recognized that he had made mistakes, and he expressed his feeling of regret as he contemplated severing his connection with the institution, even though he thought that this was the best move. He invited any counsel that Mrs. White might have for him.
Soon after receiving this letter from Jones, she was shown "in the night season" how things were in the Pacific Press, and she was given "a most unexpected testimony," after which she wrote a kind letter of counsel to Brother and Sister Jones. Two days later she penned a message addressed to "My Brethren in Positions of Responsibility in the Pacific Press." She came directly to the point, opening the letter with:
The case of Brother C. H. Jones has been presented to me. Should he resign his position to take up some other line of work? If the Lord should say, "This is My will," it would be right for Brother Jones to do this.... When the Lord selects a man who in His sight is the proper man for this place, it will be right for Brother Jones to sever his connection with the Pacific Press. But at present the Lord does not accept his resignation (Letter 67, 1902).
Mrs. White spoke at the sanitarium church on Sabbath, April 26, and then on Sunday made the journey to Oakland and to the C. H. Jones home, where she was to stay as a guest. The constituency meeting opened on Monday morning with a good representation present. On Monday afternoon Mrs. White was the principal speaker. As the letter to Jones was read to the constituency, followed by the reading of the 21-page testimony to the men in positions of responsibility in the Pacific Press, hearts were touched. In reporting the meeting the Pacific Union Recorder stated:
The Spirit of the Lord came into the meeting, and many hearts were melted to tears. Following her remarks, there was a spirited social meeting, in which many confessions were made, and the entire audience manifested their desire to reconsecrate themselves to the service of the Lord by a rising vote (May 22, 1902).
What a contrast from the ordinary corporation constituency meeting! Among the actions taken were these:
"That we instruct the incoming board of directors to make a continuous effort to reduce commercial work and develop the publication of religious, educational, and health literature. Also, that we recommend that the incoming board of directors dispose of the plant as a whole, or in part, as Providence may open the way.
"We also recommend that, in case the plant is sold a smaller plant be established in some rural district convenient for our denominational work, for the training and education of missionaries" (Ibid.).
A board of seven was chosen, and C. H. Jones was wholeheartedly and unanimously returned to his position as manager--a position he was to hold for another 31 years.
Financial Help Needed For Work In The South
The newly organized Southern Union Conference was facing an explosive situation. Neither Edson White nor W. O. Palmer, who had gone with him to the South to establish schools and churches and a publishing house, was known for his financial acumen. Ventures had been launched with borrowed money and were heavily mortgaged. Under these circumstances the Southern Union sent its president, George I. Butler, and the treasurer of the publishing house, W. O. Palmer, to California to interview Ellen White and gain counsel as to the course they should pursue.
The two men arrived at Elmshaven on Friday noon, May 16, and were given a hearty welcome. Mrs. White had worked very closely with Elder Butler down through the years. Will Palmer was a son of the Palmers who had helped in early days to establish the publishing work in Battle Creek.
When the brethren, early in the new week, spread before Ellen White and the Elmshaven staff their problems and the reasons for their coming, they were delighted to find that during the previous few months she had written much on the work in the South that answered their questions. As they looked over these materials, they found that the Lord had instructed her to appeal to the churches throughout America to assist in establishing the work in the Southern states on a firm basis. The needs, which were great, were to be made known to church members throughout the land, and an opportunity was to be given to them to help. The brethren found in this counsel that which brought courage to their hearts, and after several interviews in which the work was reviewed and counsel given, they felt that their mission had been accomplished.
Will Palmer returned to Nashville. Butler lingered a bit on the West Coast, speaking Sabbath morning in the sanitarium church. This was followed by a meeting Sunday night in which he made an appeal for the work in the South and obtained pledges for $500. This gave Butler the courage to go to other churches--Healdsburg, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fresno. Eighteen hundred dollars was raised to assist the Southern Publishing Association.
W. C. White, shortly after the visit, wrote of the surprise and amazement that came to the visitors and to the Elmshaven office staff in that "they found that before their arrival, their questions had been anticipated, and that Mother had already written many things which they can now use to excellent advantage for the advancement of the work in the Southern field" (19 WCW, p. 371).
Long-Range Plans For The Medical Missionary Work
When the delegates assembled for an important council at the St. Helena Sanitarium on Wednesday, June 18, 1902, Ellen White informed them that she would be pleased to talk with them for an hour each day. They quickly arranged for a session early every morning. Mrs. White read from manuscripts prepared especially for this convention. She explained the distinctive nature of the denomination's medical work as she urged that "conformity to the world is causing many of our people to lose their bearings.... Worldly policy has been coming into the management of many of our institutions" (Manuscript 96, 1902).
At this four-day meeting long-range plans were laid that called for the establishment of the Pacific Union Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association. This meant that there would be on the Pacific Coast a strong medical organization under denominational control. The medical interests in the West would not be a part of the Battle Creek-controlled International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association. The constituency of the new association sensed the impact of what they were doing. They stated that: "In view of the importance of the steps about to be taken, careful study should be given to the questions involved, as not only affecting the interests of the entire Pacific Coast, but of the denominational work throughout the world" (Pacific Union Recorder, August 14, 1902; italics supplied).
One feature of the long-range plans was that "medical missionary enterprises that may be started ... shall be upon the basis that the financial and managing responsibility shall rest upon a local constituency or board" (Ibid.). The way was being paved for very important decisions to be made by the General Conference Committee at a meeting to be held in November and the General Conference session the following spring.
Ellen White's Recreation
Though Ellen White spent much time in concentrated effort to meet her obligations as a messenger of the Lord, she also took time for activities she especially enjoyed: carriage rides to various scenic spots and picking fruit. She contrived to arrange her program so that short practical trips could be made that would rest her mind and body. Somehow, traveling by carriage did something for her that nothing else could.
On a Sunday in mid-July, feeling the need for a change, she spent the day in an excursion to find cherries. Accompanied by Sara McEnterfer and Iram James, she picked eight quarts (nine liters), largely for canning. She rejoiced in the progress in building her writing room over the kitchen and reported that she was "enjoying much better health" than she "ever enjoyed in the past" (Manuscript 138, 1902). The fruit crop in northern California that summer was abundant, and she got some of her exercise picking peaches, plums, and apples.
Broadening The Work In Christian Education
Christian education reached a high point of interest and activity among Seventh-day Adventists in the late 1890s and early 1900s. For 20 or 25 years the church had been operating colleges, but except for elementary schools in connection with these institutions of higher learning, little or nothing had been done for small children by way of "church schools" till just before the turn of the century.
Ellen White's counsels on education were published in 1893 by the International Tract Society in Battle Creek in the form of a 255-page book titled Christian Education. Its messages of instruction were eagerly read and began to influence the membership. Four years later Special Testimonies on Education in its 240 small pages added emphasis to the subject. With Ellen White calling the church to action and with instruction on the conduct of schools available, Seventh-day Adventists began to act.
In 1896 and 1897 at Battle Creek College, where G. W. Caviness served as president and Frederick Griggs headed a 12-grade preparatory school, dedicated instructors developed a normal school for the training of elementary teachers. (See A. W. Spalding, Origin and History, vol. 2, p. 361.) The next year, with
E. A. Sutherland serving as college president, several church schools were opened in Michigan. The church school movement spread rapidly. All this intensified the interest of Seventh-day Adventists in Christian education and made the preparation of an Ellen G. White book on the subject particularly timely.
Work on the book Education was begun in Australia by Mrs. White and Sarah Peck. Considerable appropriate material was drawn from the two books just mentioned and from other sources such as her Review, Signs, and Youth's Instructor articles. Her addresses on education and letters of counsel to educators added more. Then she wrote new material to fill in where needed. Writing on April 11, 1900, while still in Australia, she reported:
I have been reading some chapters of the book on education. Sister Peck has been gathering this matter from a mass of my writings, carefully selecting precious bits here and there, and placing them together in harmonious order. I have read three chapters this morning and I think the arrangement is excellent.
I want all our teachers and students to have this book as soon as they possibly can. I can hardly await the process of publication. I want the principles contained in this book to go everywhere. We must take a higher stand on education (Letter 58, 1900).
P. T. Magan made a bid to publish the book at Berrien Springs. He argued that it would be produced more economically there than at our regular denominational printing plants, and that it would thus have a larger circulation. The proposal was tempting, but on the basis of light she had received from God concerning independent publishing, she declined. The manuscript for Education was submitted to the Pacific Press and has been a publication of that house from 1903 to the present. Ellen White, especially led by God, refused to take steps that would bypass the divinely established organizational procedures that governed the publication and distribution of the literature of the church.
Crisis In Nashville
James Edson White, after a reconversion in 1893, had unselfishly led out in the development of the work in the South, using the Morning Star, which he built, as a missionary boat. He prepared appropriate literature, such as Gospel Primer, to help finance the enterprise and to supply a teaching aid. With his new dedication and consecration, his labors were greatly blessed by God. He led out in the formation of the Southern Missionary Society, an organization the General Conference recognized, to carry the burden of developing work at a time when the church itself was largely underdeveloped in that area and for which finances were limited.
But Edson White had one great weakness--he was not a financier. Again and again he had been warned and counseled by his father and his mother in his younger years. As he pioneered the work in the South his mother warned him again about the perils of becoming involved in business ventures. He was a promoter, and to him every interest in which he was engaged gave promise of unfailing success. Often his close associates did not share his optimism. But he dared to do what others would not attempt. In so doing he brought about a work that was effective in the winning of souls for the kingdom.
A little printing press on the Morning Star made possible the issuance of literature to aid in the developing work. It was but logical that eventually a printing plant should be established at some permanent location in the South. Nashville gave promise of being a good location, so a building was secured and presses, paper cutters, and type were purchased. A dedicated staff launched into the work of a third publishing house in the United States. The overall scheme showed daring and optimism, but it had its weaknesses.
God had opened up to Ellen White the need of publishing in the South for the South, but under Edson White's unsteady financial hand, and with the use of worn-out equipment, losses mounted. And all this was taking place at a time when the attention of the denomination was being called to operating on a debt-free policy. In fact, this was a very strong point with A. G. Daniells, the new church leader in 1901. He saw disaster ahead if the cause were to plunge into debt and stay there year after year, as it had in the late 1890s.
As church leaders studied the worsening financial situation developing in Nashville, it seemed logical to take steps to reduce the newly established publishing house to that of a book depository and the printing of only some tracts and materials that would be especially useful in the Southern states. From a purely business standpoint this seemed sound, especially when the church had two well-established publishing houses in North America--one in Battle Creek and another in Oakland. Neither of these had sufficient denominational work to keep its presses active, and both continued to do commercial work. Why could not all of the literature that would be needed in the United States be issued from these two houses?
At a council meeting held at Elmshaven October 19, 1902, Elder Daniells said, "It has been repeatedly published that the brethren in Nashville were not going into debt, and everybody has understood that a new order of things had set in, and that they were going to have an institution put up without debt. And so they have sent their money in" (Manuscript 123, 1902).
But the institution was badly in debt, and the people were beginning to discover it. It was suggested that the matter could be cared for if it were handled like other situations of a similar character, except that Ellen White's support of her son's work made it impossible for the brethren to step in and put things right.
The question was asked, "Shall we wait another period of time for things to evolve down there, or has the time come for General Conference leaders and the Southern Union Conference men to get together and in prayerful, thoughtful counsel readjust those matters ... and bring the business where it will not continually be going into debt?" To this Ellen White replied:
It has; and I say, Go ahead. God's cause must not be left to reproach, no matter who is made sore by arranging matters on a right basis. Edson should give himself to the ministry and to writing, and leave alone the things that he has been forbidden by the Lord to do. Finance is not his forte at all.
I want the brethren to feel free to take hold of this matter. I do not want them to make any reference to me. I want them to act just as they would act if my son were not there (Ibid.).
The report of the discussions was typed out the same day, and with a feeling of satisfaction Elder Daniells left California that night. In his pocket he carried a copy of the interview. On arriving in Battle Creek he called a meeting of the General Conference Committee and gave a report of the interview in California. He had the assurance that the Lord's messenger was with them in their plans to close up the Nashville printing establishment in a very short time.
But the publishing house was not closed. On Monday, within 24 hours of the interview that was held at Elmshaven, Ellen White wrote a letter addressed to "Dear Brethren."
Last night I seemed to be in the operating room of a large hospital, to which people were being brought, and instruments were being prepared to cut off their limbs in a big hurry.
One came in who seemed to have authority, and said to the physician, "Is it necessary to bring these people into this room?" Looking pityingly at the sufferers, he said, "Never amputate a limb until everything possible has been done to restore it." Examining the limbs which the physicians had been preparing to cut off, he said, "They may be saved, the first work is to use every available means to restore these limbs" (Letter 162, 1902).
And another scene passed before her. She seemed to be in a council meeting. E. R. Palmer, leader of our publishing work, was speaking, urging that "all our book making should be done by one publishing house, at one place, and thus save expense." She described how "One of authority" was present and pointed out the perils of a consolidated work; then she declared, "Let the Southern field have its own home-published books" (Ibid.).
When Elder Daniells received the letter, he was stunned. Commenting on the experience when the letter came to Battle Creek, he declared:
The message to continue the work of the Southern Publishing Association was truly disconcerting. It brought great disappointment to many. Its contradiction to the counsel given to us in our interview threw some into perplexity (AGD, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 328).
He recalled the experience of Nathan and David:
"Then Nathan said unto David, 'Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.' And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 'Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, thou shalt not build me an house' (see 1 Chronicles 17:1-4)" (Ibid.).
He recalled that David accepted the message that had come by revelation in place of the counsel given in the interview the preceding day. And as he reported the experience, he said: "Our committee took the same action" (Ibid.).
The whole experience was one in which Ellen White herself was reproved by God, as she explained in a letter to Elder Daniells, written December 7:
When you were here, you laid before me the condition of things in the publishing house at Nashville. You spoke of the terrible financial embarrassment resting on the work there, and gave me the impression that the brethren did not think that anything could be done to set things in order, because Sister White would exert her influence to prevent them from doing what they thought necessary to put matters on a proper basis.
Questions were asked me, and I answered them in the light of your representations. I said, "If what you say is correct, I will not stand in the way of your doing what you think ought to be done". You said that if you could adjust matters as they would be adjusted if the difficulties existed in any other place, the work would be placed on a sound basis (Letter 94, 1902; italics supplied).
And then she significantly reported:
The Lord reproved me for accepting any man's version of matters, even Elder Daniells', when He had already given me instruction.
I never remember feeling more pained than I did after speaking as I did in the interview with you. I had nothing to say in favor of Nashville. The Lord reproved me for this, and pointed me to those who by His appointment were laboring in Nashville (Ibid.; italics supplied).
In a direct testimony of reproof she wrote:
That there should be an attempt to counterwork the Lord's plans, and to hinder the good work being accomplished in Nashville; that Elder Daniells and others, notwithstanding the light that God has given, should join in this attempt, is an offense to God. He will not endorse their work, nor countenance their course of action (Ibid.).
Elder Daniells accepted the message of reproof for the course of action he had proposed on what he felt was sound argument and careful reasoning. The printing establishment was not closed.
How he rejoiced when a turn came in the tide. Within a few years the institution began to gain ground. As he later told the story, he observed:
God who knows the end from the beginning sent us messages to prevent us from narrowing the work in a time of discouragement. These messages sometimes seemed difficult to understand. They called for superhuman effort. In these later days, we can rejoice more than ever in the guiding hand of God manifested through His servant. I number this experience as one among many that have confirmed my confidence in the divine leadership of God's people through the prophetic gift (AGD, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 329).