From the day that the decision was made to purchase property in Washington, D.C., for the publishing house and the General Conference, it was Elder Daniells' hope and expectation that Ellen White would make a visit to the East so she could give counsel concerning the establishment of the work there. There was even some discussion of the possibility that she would make Washington her permanent place of residence. But this she felt she could not do. At Elmshaven she was in favorable circumstances for bringing out her books, and she felt she should not be called upon to move from place to place.
From time to time definite instruction was given to her in vision concerning the work in Washington. In fact, before the property was secured in Takoma Park, she had been shown that wherever the Review and Herald and the headquarters of the work were established, there should be a sanitarium and a training school. The church leaders had not planned on this. With the decision to make Washington the center in the East, then, the first steps were to get these institutions under way. The leaders felt they must now have Ellen White's help.
The plans being formed would keep her in the East for about a year, making Washington her headquarters. As it turned out, the trip to Washington and back took more than seven months and included side trips to a number of vital areas such as Berrien Springs, Nashville, New England, Chicago, Battle Creek, Omaha, and points west.
April 18, 1904, was the day set to leave for the East. Though on former trips she had traveled in the Pullman compartment to afford her as easy a journey as possible, this trip, for the sake of economy, would be made in a tourist sleeping car. Their car would go directly from northern California to Washington, D.C.
That evening in nearby San Jose they boarded the tourist sleeper and started their six-day trip east. In the party were Ellen White's traveling companion and nurse, Sara McEnterfer, and one of her secretaries, Maggie Hare. W. C. White had gone on in advance to attend to some business matters in southern California and would meet them there. Clarence Crisler, her leading secretary, would also join the party in Los Angeles.
The routing across the Southern states was to ensure comfort and to avoid the high altitudes that sometimes bothered Ellen White in travel. She remained in her berth for the entire trip, resting, watching the scenery, and doing a little reading and writing.
Nearing New Orleans they passed through great swamps, where many varieties of palms were heavily festooned with moss. Just west of New Orleans S. B. Horton, president of the Louisiana Conference, and E. V. Orrell, secretary of the Southern Union, met the train, bringing a basket of fruit. This supplemented the provisions they had taken from home and from southern California for their meals--malted nuts for soup, zwieback, cream sticks, oranges, bananas, apples, applesauce, olives, nuts, jelly, turnovers, boiled eggs, and bread.
In New Orleans some of the party went sightseeing with the Adventists who hosted them. Ellen White remained in the sleeping car. Then, under a full moon, the train started north, running for many miles along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
The train stopped for a time in Atlanta, and the traveling party was surprised to see about 20 or 30 believers at the station awaiting them. They came on board for a few minutes. Fathers, mothers, and children gathered around to shake hands.
Arrival In Washington
When they arrived in Washington, Ellen White was delighted to have Elder Daniells come into the car, greet them, and conduct them out through the station into the city. The station was the same one in which President Garfield had been shot more than 20 years before, in 1881.
It was nearly noon, and the party looked forward to a little change in the monotonous six-day dietary program.
Elder Daniells escorted Ellen White and the party to a carriage, a two-seated surrey with a canopy top, drawn by a large noble-looking horse named Charlie, very gentle and safe. Ellen White referred to the promise that she would have the use of this horse and carriage while she was in Washington. She felt this was a great favor.
Elder Daniells drove the visitors past the nearby temporary General Conference headquarters at 222 North Capitol Street, and then over to the Memorial church at 12th and M streets to see the building for which Ellen White had helped raise funds. Then he drove the seven miles out to Takoma Park to the Carroll Manor House, which had been rented for Ellen White's use. When they arrived, it was still full of people cleaning, repairing, painting, and furnishing, but a good dinner of tomato soup, hot boiled potatoes, and greens was ready.
Mrs. White, of course, was eager to see the property that had been purchased.
She had heard it described and had written about the work that needed to be done there. As soon as dinner was finished, Elder Daniells, leaving Clarence Crisler and Willie White to tend to the baggage, hitched up Charlie again and took Ellen White, Sara McEnterfer, and Maggie Hare the half mile (one kilometer) to see the site proposed for the college and the sanitarium.
Seeing the land, Mrs. White declared that the location "could not be bettered." She added, "That which is most valuable of all is the clear, beautiful stream which flows right through the land" (Letter 141, 1904).
There were two important benefits to Ellen White's being in Washington at this time. First, her willingness to come, stay, and send out her letters and manuscripts with a Washington dateline added authority and prestige to the new Washington headquarters. This brought stability to the cause, as Adventists everywhere would turn their eyes eastward from Battle Creek. Second, construction was about to begin on the college buildings--the boys' dormitory was to be the first. She was intensely interested, and counseled that "every part of the buildings is to bear witness that we realize that there is before us a great, unworked missionary field, and that the truth is to be established in many places" (Letter 83, 1904). There was to be no show or needless display.
Ministry In The Washington Churches
Ellen White was immediately drawn into services in the Washington Adventist churches. On her first Sabbath there, the last day of April, she spoke in J. S. Washburn's Capital Memorial church (Manuscript 106, 1904). She spoke again a week later at the rededication of this church. She had planned to speak on the Sermon on the Mount, but writing of the experience, observed, "This was taken from me," and John 15:1-17, "I am the true vine," was impressed upon her mind (Manuscript 142, 1904).
From the day they had begun to make definite preparation for the trip to Washington, Ellen White had her eyes on the plans for the biennial session of the Lake Union Conference. This was called to meet at Berrien Springs, Michigan, from May 17 to 26. Not only would she attend the conference but she would also see the newly established Emmanuel Missionary College for the first time. This left just three weeks for the first part of her stay in Washington, and there was much to do.
Off To Berrien Springs
The Lake Union Conference session held great importance. Dr. Kellogg and some of his supporters would be present. They were still in the throes of the pantheistic teachings. The Living Temple was being sold. The direction of the medical work and the control of the church's medical institutions were subjects of controversy.
Sunday evening, May 15, Ellen White, with the party traveling to the Lake Union session, boarded the cars in Washington en route to Berrien Springs. In the group were W. C. White, A. G. Daniells, W. W. Prescott, and Mrs. White's helpers, Sara McEnterfer and Maggie Hare.
The train left an hour late, which meant they were late reaching Milford Junction, Indiana, where they were to change trains for Berrien Springs. That caused a five-hour wait. Mrs. White utilized the time for a missionary visit. At 11:00 the train came through, and within a half hour it deposited them at Elkhart, Indiana, where they stopped at a hotel for the night. About noon the following day they reached Berrien Springs. Ellen White and her traveling companions were taken to the home of Professor P. T. Magan, where they were made comfortable. Professor Magan was at Kalamazoo at the time, taking care of his wife, who was very ill. So the party had the use of the Magan home.
Soon after her arrival Ellen White was urged to speak each morning at 11:00 during the union conference session, and this she consented to do.
Mrs. White Begins Her Work At The Session
Weary from the journey, Ellen White retired early, then woke up at 10:00
p.m. Her mind turned to the subjects that she should present at the meeting. Invision she was instructed to speak clearly about The Living Temple controversy. The next morning she did just that. She declared:
I am so sorry that Living Temple came out as it did, and was circulated, and the worst of it--that which struck right to my heart--was the assertion made regarding the book: "It contains the very sentiments that Sister White has been teaching." When I heard this, I felt so heartbroken that it seemed as if I could not say anything (Manuscript 46, 1904).
She told her audience that silence was eloquence when it came to discussing God, what He is, and where He is."When you are tempted to speak of what God is, keep silence, because as surely as you begin to speak of this, you will disparage Him" (Ibid.).
The union conference session moved forward in the usual way, with reports, committee work, and elections. But Ellen White's concentration was on the crisis for the salvation of souls. On Thursday night, the nineteenth, she was again given a vision. The next day she wrote a message to Elders Daniells and Prescott in which she said that she had been strongly impressed that "now is the time to save Dr. Kellogg" (Letter 165, 1904). She said a determined effort must be made and urged that Dr. Kellogg be called to the meeting. In this letter she wrote:
Not one of us is above temptation. There is a work that Dr. Kellogg is educated to perform as no other man in our ranks can perform.... We are to draw with all our power, not making accusations, not prescribing what he must do, but letting him see that we are not willing that any should perish (Ibid.).
She asked, "Is it not worth the trial?" She said that Satan was drawing the doctor. In her visions she had seen someone slipping down a precipice; a company was looking on indifferently, making no effort to save him. But one hand, the hand of Christ, was stretched out, and the man was rescued (Manuscript 52, 1904).
Then she heard Christ speaking, telling the ones who were watching that they must look to Him and not to this man (Kellogg), that they should take heed to themselves. She heard Christ appealing to Dr. Kellogg to put on Christ. She heard Kellogg exclaim, "I am sinful, but He hath covered me with His own righteousness, and henceforth I will go in the strength of the Lord God" (Letter 165, 1904). Confessions by others followed.
The letter was written on Friday, May 20, copied by Maggie Hare the same day, and on the same day copies were given to Elders Daniells and Prescott, as well as to David Paulson and Edson White. Dr. Kellogg was urged to come to Berrien Springs. He arrived on Sabbath, May 21.
During the conference session subjects were presented having a bearing on pantheism. Kellogg and his cohorts engaged actively in the discussions. What went on behind the scenes was opened up to Ellen White in vision, and of this she said:
In the scenes presented to me, I saw men talking together between the meetings about the mistakes and faults of their brethren. [Interlineation by EGW: Many things were not real mistakes, only in their own minds.] (Manuscript 74, 1904).
Mrs. White had looked for a break in the situation over pantheism and Dr. Kellogg, but the matter had not turned out as she had hoped. The experience was a dark and disappointing one.
After the Berrien Springs meeting there was a strong effort on the part of Dr. Kellogg to draw some of the leading workers to Battle Creek for continued discussions on the question of The Living Temple. W. C. White and A. G. Daniells resisted this effort, and Ellen White supported them in that resistance (24 WCW, pp. 24, 25; 25 WCW, pp. 280-282).
The Cumberland River Trip
On Wednesday, May 25, near the close of the Lake Union Conference session, Ellen White left Berrien Springs for a trip into the South. With her on the train were Edson White, Sara McEnterfer, Maggie Hare, and Dr. and Mrs. David Paulson.
During the six-hour layover in Chicago Dr. Paulson arranged to take her out to Hinsdale to the site where plans were being laid to open a new sanitarium. She found Hinsdale something like Takoma Park. She thought the surroundings were perhaps even more beautiful, and she felt it would make an excellent place for a medical institution.
Back in Chicago in the late afternoon, with Edson and her two women helpers, Mrs. White boarded the train for Nashville. The overnight trip was comfortable, and in the morning they were met by W. O. Palmer, one of Edson's close helpers. He drove them to the plant of the Southern Publishing Association and then to Edson's home nearby. She made this her headquarters for the next six weeks.
During the Berrien Springs meeting both Professors Sutherland and Magan had resigned from their positions of leadership at Emmanuel Missionary College. They expressed their determination to go into the South, find a tract of land, and begin a self-supporting school. From Nashville they set out in various directions in search of a suitable property within their financial capability. They found one in particular--the Fergusen-Nelson place--but the quality of the land fell short of their desires. Then plans were developed for quite a large party to make a trip up the Cumberland River on the Morning Star, to continue the search for a school site. They would wait until W. C. White had closed up his work in the North and joined them in Nashville before making the trip.
Ellen White and all her party would be on the boat. She had visited the Morning Star in 1901 as she passed through Vicksburg, but had not traveled on the boat. A full week would be spent on the trip up the Cumberland River, and besides, she would be with her son and his wife. She eagerly looked forward to this.
While the Morning Star was being readied, she rested in Edson's home. He earnestly hoped that his mother would have an enjoyable experience living on the boat, and craved her counsel as he sought a site for another school for Blacks near Nashville.
Recounting the experience, she spoke of the bountiful supply of good things from Edson's garden--green peas, strawberries, potatoes, sweet corn. She felt that the good 10-acre (four-hectare) tract of land that had been secured for the publishing house was a favorable one.
As the Sabbath neared, some thought perhaps it would be better if Ellen White did not try to speak that day in Nashville, but she said, "I have a message to bear" (Letter 183, 1904). She tells of how the Lord strengthened her, and "I bore a straightforward testimony. Maggie reported what I said. Afterward I was told that even had I known the real condition of things in the church, which I did not, I could not have spoken more to the point" (Ibid.).
Tuesday, June 7, was the day set for boarding the Morning Star and beginning the trip up the Cumberland River. That morning she wrote to her granddaughter Mabel:
We are just about to leave here for a trip of six or seven days up the Cumberland River in the Morning Star. Our party will consist of Brethren Magan and Sutherland, your Uncle Edson and your Aunt Emma, your father, your grandmother, Sara, Brother Crisler, who returned from Graysville yesterday, Maggie, Edson's stenographer, and several others. We expect to start about noon today (Letter 191, 1904).
As matters developed, some repairs had to be made on the boat, hence they were delayed until the next morning. The main object for the trip was to find land for a self-supporting school, but everyone looked forward to a change and a little vacation.
In addition to those who were named by Ellen White as being in the traveling party, there were the pilot, Will Palmer; Mr. Judd, Edson's stenographer; a fireman; an engineer; a cook; and a general hand. Several of these were Blacks. Passengers and crew numbered 16 in all. As they traveled north they stopped occasionally, sometimes for repairs, sometimes to purchase produce and milk or buttermilk from the farms they passed. From time to time they stopped to look at the land.
On the trip most of the men slept on the lower deck on double-wire camp meeting cots. The women slept on the upper deck, and the pilot slept in the pilothouse. The dining room also was on the upper deck. Each morning Crisler, Willie, and several others put on their bathing suits, which Ellen White described as "very becoming," and had a swim. The current was too strong to swim upstream, so they would dive off the front of the boat, swim along its side, and climb up on the framework around the paddlewheel (25 WCW, pp. 315-318).
On Sabbath, instead of having a church service, Willie, Edson, Will Palmer, Sutherland, and Magan climbed a nearby mountain and spent the morning in prayer and fellowship. Mrs. White recorded in her diary that "this precious Sabbath was a day long to be remembered by the passengers on this boat. I believe that all are being benefited" (Manuscript 143, 1904).
By the time they reached Carthage, 170 miles (272 kilometers) north of Nashville, it had become apparent that the main object of the journey--to find land at reasonable prices--was not going to be accomplished. The land that was expected to be available for $2 or $3 an acre (.4 hectare), or $8 or $10, was running about $60 an acre. Willie concluded that the low prices he had heard about were those offered 20 or 30 years earlier. But nobody seemed to mind too much. Ellen White became more and more emphatic that any schools they would establish should be near Nashville. So on Monday morning the Morning Star started back down the river. Much better time was made with the river current carrying them along.
Madison
In a letter written that Monday to Elder Daniells, Ellen White outlined their plans:
Tomorrow morning we shall reach Edgefield Junction, which is only twelve miles [19 kilometers] from Nashville. We shall stay there for the rest of the day, for we wish to visit a farm which is for sale at Madison, about seventeen miles (27 kilometers) from Nashville, and two and a half miles [four kilometers] from the railway. It is said that this farm contains nearly 100 acres [40 hectares] of good bottom land, more than 100 acres [40 hectares] of second-quality agricultural land suitable for grain and fruit, and about 200 acres [80 hectares] of pasture land. We think that it can be purchased for about $12,000. It is said that there are on it over $2,000 worth of stock and farm implements.
I desire to look at this farm, and if it be the will of the Lord, I shall do so tomorrow afternoon. The farm has a roomy house, barns, and other buildings, and two and a half miles [four kilometers] of good stone fence. Considering its advantages, its price is less than anything else we have seen in this part of Tennessee (Letter 195, 1904).
She elaborated a bit about its general relationship to Nashville:
I have been instructed that the lands on which our school shall be established should be near enough Nashville for there to be a connection between the school and the workers in Nashville (Ibid.).
Tuesday, on looking over the Fergusen-Nelson place near Madison, Ellen White was pleased and thought it would serve well for the new school."I felt so thoroughly convinced that it was a favorable location for the work that I advised our brethren to make the purchase" (Letter 215, 1904). Brethren Sutherland and Magan were considerably less optimistic. They had hoped for something better for less money.
The price with standing crops was $12,723. The professors, as they recounted the story in later years, told of how, when they witnessed Ellen White's certainty about this matter and remembering the experience in Australia with the Avondale school, they felt they must move in this direction. So that Tuesday they made their decision to purchase.
But it proved to be anything but a simple transaction. Mrs. Fergusen, who had to sign the papers along with her husband, at first refused to sell the farm to men from the North, declaring, "I'll never sell to a Yankee" (Ira Gish and Harry Christman, Madison, God's Beautiful Farm, p. 23). After several interviews and many prayers, and a demand from Mrs. Fergusen for an extra thousand dollars, she put her signature by her husband's, and the contract was made secure.
There was some hesitation about the extra thousand dollars, and some took it as an omen that they should withdraw. But Ellen White exclaimed, "Do you think I'd let the devil best me out of a place for a thousand dollars? Pay the extra thousand. It's cheap enough. This is the place the Lord said you should have" (Ibid., 27).
With the property bargained for, the men hurried North to find friends who would help meet the purchase price. Wiring to a friend, Ellen White reported on the 400-acre (162-hectare) place:
The size of the farm, its location, the distance that it is from Nashville, and the moderate sum for which it could be purchased seemed to point it out as the very place needed for our school work here. The house is old, but it can be used until more suitable buildings can be erected (Letter 215, 1904).
Rather exuberantly she noted:
Included in this sale are a number of horses, cows, and other stock, carriages and farming implements, also a house, that would be of use to the school. There are many beautiful cedar trees on the place. Fifty acres [20 hectares] of the land is under cultivation, and the crops are in a flourishing condition. Portions of this land can be sold to those connected with the school for dwelling houses (Letter 249a, 1904).
In another letter she explained the cherished plans and objectives of Sutherland and Magan:
The plan upon which our brethren propose to work is to select some of the best and most substantial young men and women from Berrien Springs and other places in the North, who believe that God has called them to the work in the South, and give them a brief training as teachers. Thorough instruction will be given in Bible study, physiology, the history of our message; and special instruction will be given regarding the cultivation of the land.
It is hoped that many of these students will eventually connect with schools in various places in the South. In connection with these schools there will be land that will be cultivated by teachers and students, and the proceeds from this work will be used for the support of the schools (Letter 215, 1904).
Oakwood
While negotiations for the Madison property were under way, Ellen White and her party left on Wednesday, June 15, for a weeklong tour of several institutions in Tennessee and Alabama. The first was Graysville, where there was a school and a sanitarium. On Sabbath she spoke in the church and noticed that there were in her audience three ministers from other Protestant churches. On Sunday she made a grand tour of the school buildings, the farm--where she discovered peaches and corn and strawberries--and the sanitarium, where she urged that the pine trees be preserved, for there is healing in the pines. In their travels by carriage they stopped by homes of Adventists and met the families. She wrote of it: "Whole families, father, mother, and children, came out to speak to me, and I shook hands with each one, not forgetting the children" (Ibid.).
Their travels took them west by train to Huntsville, Alabama, to visit the Oakwood school, which had been established for Blacks 10 years before. They arrived Monday afternoon at 1:00. After looking over the farm, she spoke to the few students who were there for the summer. She told them she wanted 100 students in the school the next year, and urged them to appeal to their friends to come to Oakwood. She told these students how pleased she was that they were training for service. She said she wanted to encourage them because she knew they had a battle to fight and strong prejudice to work against. She pointed out that the church needed them to work in places where racial hostility prevented Whites from working. She assured them of God's help and told them if she never saw them again on this earth she hoped to see them in the kingdom of heaven (Manuscript 60, 1904).
On June 22 she returned to Nashville, where she spent another couple weeks resting, writing, speaking, and encouraging the workers in the area. During this time she went out to take another look at the Madison property. When the work for the new school was organized, Ellen White accepted an invitation to serve on the board of directors--the only time she ever served in such a capacity. She watched the developments at Madison with deep interest.
Back In Washington
On Friday, July 8, Ellen White and those traveling with her arrived back in Washington, where she would stay for another month in the Carroll Manor House. She was pleased that the construction of the college was underway. The basement for the boys' dormitory was about completed, as well as the excavating for the dining hall. A. S. Baird was managing the construction work well.
Almost every day Mrs. White and Sara drove out with the horse and carriage. She enjoyed these little journeys.
While living in the Carroll Manor House, she received a vision in which she seemed to be in a large company."One not known to those present stepped forward" and sounded a message of warning to Dr. Paulson and Dr. Sadler, urging them to break their bonds with Dr. Kellogg and to be careful not to spoil their experience with philosophy and vain deceit."Cut loose, cut loose is my message," she wrote in a letter to the physicians (Letter 279, 1904). The text of the letter was much the same as in a letter addressed to Elders Jones and Waggoner, who were now associated with Dr. Kellogg in Battle Creek. The messenger who was speaking to them indicated that these men were in a mist and a fog, unaware of the seductive sentiments in The Living Temple.
The four final weeks spent in Washington were devoted to giving counsel about the developing work, speaking in the several churches on weekends, and in writing.
Starting Home
Ellen White and her helpers left Washington on Thursday, August 11, for the trip home. The trip would take them through New England, Michigan, Nebraska, and points west.
Monday, September 5, she was on her way by train to Battle Creek. She arrived there on Tuesday and was given one of the best rooms in the sanitarium. This was her first visit to Battle Creek since the fire and the building of the new sanitarium. She spoke the next morning to the patients in the parlor, dealing with basic Christian principles and the power of Christ to transform those who come to Him in simplicity and faith (Letter 293, 1904). After the talk Dr. Kellogg introduced her to several of the guests. She was surprised to see how powerfully the Word spoken in simplicity and earnestness had affected them. She reported that that night she received a special blessing from God.
The next morning she spoke in the gymnasium to a group of about 300, composed mainly of physicians, nurses, and other workers. Her topic was the love of Christ, how He showed His love in good works, and how these good works gave birth to love in the hearts of others (Ibid.
At the last minute it was decided that she should try to speak in the tabernacle that afternoon. As there was not much time to get word out, she expected a rather slim attendance. To her surprise the tabernacle was crowded with 2,500 people and seemed to be packed as it had been at the 1901 General Conference session. Again her sermon was a simple exposition of Christian faith. She warmed to the subject, speaking for more than an hour (Ibid.; Manuscript 90, 1904).
Just before the service began, A. T. Jones asked her whether she would be willing to stay over the weekend. He urged her, she consented, and during the meeting he announced her decision. But that night W. C. White, who had been in Canada, arrived in Battle Creek and pointed out that they were committed to Sabbath meetings at the Omaha, Nebraska, camp meeting. So she promised to return to Battle Creek after the Omaha appointment.
One of the chief purposes of the Battle Creek visit was, of course, to help Kellogg, if that were at all possible. She had received letters from him at Melrose, Massachusetts, indicating some softening of his attitude. In writing from Battle Creek to W. C. White in Canada, she said she knew that Kellogg was like a blind man with a cane, striking about to find the road, but everything so far appeared to be surface work. But she said she must do her best to speak in Battle Creek. After her talk to the workers on Wednesday morning, September 7, Kellogg did make a brief attempt at confession. He declared:
I want you to know that I feel in my heart to accept all the reproofs and all the instruction that the Lord has sent me through Sister White. I do not want to have any ambiguity about my position and attitude.
The Lord has sent Sister White here, and she has given us instruction this morning for our good, and I hope the Lord will help us all to take this to our hearts and profit by her instruction (24 WCW, p. 325).
But Dr. Kellogg had become a very vacillating man, and the repentant attitude was shallow and short-lived.
Friday, September 9, Ellen White and W. C. White reached Omaha. She was feeling a little stronger than she had for the past few days and was pleased to observe that at the Omaha station she could walk through the large waiting rooms and up and down stairs as easily as ever (Letter 283, 1904). Unfortunately, she caught a cold on the trip and was afraid she might have difficulty speaking on the Sabbath. But she went ahead and spoke anyway.
It was here at this Omaha meeting that one of the laymen, Jasper Wayne, sought an interview with her. He presented his newly developed plan for soliciting funds from non-Adventists by calling at their homes and leaving with them a church paper. This was the inception of what came to be known as the Harvest Ingathering Plan (later simply Ingathering), which has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars to help advance the work.
Ellen White spoke three times in Omaha, then went on to College View, where she and Willie were given rooms in the Nebraska Sanitarium, situated on the crest of the hill near Union College.
Then it was back to Battle Creek to fulfill her promise to be with the people there on Sabbath. She was given a hearty welcome, and spent five days there. She spoke three times in the tabernacle to large congregations, once to the medical students, and once to sanitarium workers.
Ellen White left Battle Creek on Monday, October 3. Because of delays she was unable to reach St. Helena by Sabbath, so she stayed in Reno on Friday and Sabbath and spoke to the people there. After a pleasant weekend she and her party hastened homeward. As she passed through Oakland, she found the workers at Pacific Press busily packing up the last of their things to take them to Mountain View."The empty buildings at Pacific Press look lonesome," confessed Willie; he had known them since 1877 (24 WCW, p. 370).
When they reached home, they found Marian Davis desperately ill at the St. Helena Sanitarium. Illness that could be traced to a cold contracted during the 1903 General Conference session led to tuberculosis. During Ellen White's trip in the East Marian grew progressively weaker, although she continued with her literary work. This situation was exceedingly painful to Ellen White. For 25 years the two had worked together.
Although Marian rallied a bit when Mrs. White returned, she died early in the afternoon of Tuesday, October 25. On October 26 she was buried in the St. Helena Cemetery, where J. N. Loughborough and a number of other early workers await the call of the Life-giver. Of her and her work, Ellen White wrote:
For twenty-five years Sister Davis had been a most faithful helper in my work. She was greatly appreciated by me and by all who were acquainted with her and her work, and we miss her very much. Of her it can truthfully be said, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord ..., that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them" (Letter 29, 1905).