The opening of the year 1914, the last full calendar year of Ellen White's life, was marked with an added convenience for Elmshaven--electricity. Just the year before, a beginning had been made in the use of steam in heating, and during the year her twin grandsons, Herbert and Henry, had secured their first automobile. Now the long-awaited convenience, electricity, had reached Pratt Valley.
W. C. White was away from home much of this year, and while it slowed the work at the office and left considerable loneliness, it had its benefits in the frequent reports to him from his wife, May, and C. C. Crisler. To keep White posted, Crisler wrote to him every day or two.
On March 18 the prune orchards were budding again. Ellen White was in good health and good spirits, and when the weather was favorable was still taking her daily carriage rides on the familiar roads and in the cherished lanes about Elmshaven. The next day Crisler reported to W. C. White of his conversations with Ellen White and of her outlook. Here is his statement:
Last night Sister White assured me that her faith in God and her confidence in the Advent movement have been greatly strengthened of late by the excellent reports of success attending the labors of our ministers and workers. She declares that she has never doubted the providential leadership of God in connection with our denominational history, but that her confidence does grow stronger as the evidences of divine leadership multiply (CCC to WCW, March 19, 1914).
As it was that day, so it pervaded the last months of her life.
Frequent Visitors
On April 1 several visitors called--B. G. Wilkinson, M. N. Campbell, and
O. Montgomery. Ellen White spent some time with them. The men were very glad for the opportunity to talk with her (Ibid.).
When Elder Campbell asked if she had any light as to whether she would live till Jesus returned, she replied that she had no light on the matter. When he expressed his concern as to the welfare of the cause in her absence, she quietly replied, "The Lord is perfectly able to take care of His cause." On several occasions, by stating that she did not expect to live long, she opened the way for similar questions to be put to her by visiting brethren. Responding, she would step over to the book cabinet in her writing room, open the doors where her books and manuscripts could be seen, and declare, "Here are my writings; when I am gone they will testify for me" (WCW Letter, July 9, 1922 [MR, p. 93]).
In mid-April Edson, who now resided in Marshall, Michigan, traveled west for a month long visit. It was a happy occasion for both mother and son, who had been separated so much for 25 or more years. They had good visits together, and went over many things of mutual interest.
Visits from prominent workers of long acquaintance were much appreciated by Ellen White. Among the visitors during this last year were: C. E. Andross, president of the Pacific Union Conference; C. H. Jones, manager of the Pacific Press; Mrs. Lida Scott, daughter of Isaac Funk of the Funk and Wagnalls Publishing Company (Mrs. Scott later made a liberal gift toward the establishment of the College of Medical Evangelists); and Elder and Mrs. G. B. Starr, former coworkers from Australia.
Her principal contributions to literary work in this her eighty-seventh year were on her books as she read and approved chapters and at times added a bit here or there. Chapters were brought to her; her son reported that "she read some, and asked us to read them to her. Sometimes I would read two or three pages, and then she would read one or two pages.... Sometimes I or Crisler do all the reading, and Mother comments on what we have read" (WCW to J. E. White, December 15, 1914).
Review and Signs Articles
Part of the overall literary program at Elmshaven in which Ellen White participated was the furnishing of articles most every week for the Review and Herald and Signs of the Times. Forty E. G. White articles were published in the Review in 1914. First was a series on Old Testament history, being portions of the book manuscript in preparation (Prophets and Kings), then 12 articles entitled "Early Counsels on Medical Work," followed by 18 on more general topics.
Her Eighty-Seventh Birthday
On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, Ellen White reached her eighty-seventh birthday. She was not very strong, and Crisler could go over only three pages of manuscript with her. She received one birthday present, which some days before had come from Mrs. F. H. DeVinney, who was working with her husband in Japan. It was a warm, knitted vest, known as a "hug-me-tight," to be worn on cold days. When Ellen White tried it on, she showed that she had not lost her sense of humor. She told Dores Robinson to thank Sister DeVinney for the gift, but to tell her "that there is a great deal more to Sister White than some people thought" (D. E. Robinson to WCW, November 3, 1914).
As the messenger of the Lord neared the close of her life, two tasks of a biographical nature emerged. Study was being given as to what would be said in the public press to inform the general public about her life and work.
Plans for a permanent biographical work that could be published immediately after Ellen White's death were also being developed. Soon her active labors would cease, fresh articles would no longer appear in the journals, and it was felt that a modest volume on her life was needed. So beginning in late 1914 consideration was given to the preparation of a manuscript that would at her death appear as Life Sketches of Ellen G. White. C. C. Crisler and D. E. Robinson, using what help W. C. White could give, undertook the work.
Tuesday, January 5, 1915, Crisler wrote to James Edson White:
You will be pleased to learn that Sister White is keeping up fairly well, all things considered.... She can get about the house unaided and unattended, going freely from room to room and up and down stairs; but her steps are much slower and uncertain than in former years, and even than when you were last with us. She finds it possible to sit in easy chairs for hours at a stretch.
Often during the past few months she has spent a good portion of the time downstairs, sitting in the sitting room by the fireplace; and Miss Walling has endeavored to sit much with her, to keep her company....There is really more home life for your mother than during the years when her activities led her to isolate herself in her office room most of the time.
In correspondence Crisler mentioned often Ellen White's optimism, confidence, and simplicity of faith:
It is in her hours of greatest physical weakness that your mother seems to rise to the highest spiritual heights; and yet in all this she simply does what any of us poor mortals can do--lays hold on the divine promises, and makes them her very own, and praises God for the comfort they yield. Thus her heart is filled to overflowing with joy, and she has perfect peace.
The simplicity of her faith has made a profound impression upon my own mind, and constitutes one of the strongest evidences that during the years of her service for her Master she has lived with a conscience void of offense toward God and man. When one keeps full faith with himself in his service for God, his efforts will bear the test of time, and will yield a rich fruitage (CCC to WCW, December 23, 1914).
On Friday, February 12, 1915, W. C. White wrote to "Dear Friend" (February 15):
Friday afternoon, February 12, as I was leaving the office for a quick trip to St. Helena, Mother came outdoors, and we spent ten minutes walking about in the bright sunshine and talking about the progress of the message in all the world.
On Sabbath, February 13, Ellen White broke her hip, and W. C. White telegraphed to relatives and friends:
Sabbath noon, Mother, entering her study, tripped and fell, causing an intracapsular fracture of the left femur.
The Accident and Its Aftermath
In his report of the accident, written Monday, February 15, sent to relatives and friends and published in the Review and Herald, W. C. White described what happened:
Sabbath morning, Mother appeared to be as well as usual. About noon, as she was entering her study from the hallway, she tripped and fell. Her nurse, May Walling, who was in the hall about twenty feet away, hastened to her assistance, and endeavored to help her onto her feet. When Mother cried out with pain, May lifted her into a rocking chair, pulled the chair through the hall to Mother's bedroom and got her to bed. Then May telephoned to Dr. Klingerman at the sanitarium, and at once applied fomentations to the hip, where the pain seemed to be the greatest.
When the doctor came, he said that it was either a bad sprain or a fracture, and advised an X-ray examination at the sanitarium. This examination showed an "intracapsular fracture of the left femur at the junction of the head and the neck." Mother bore very patiently all the painful experiences of being carried from her room to the sanitarium and back again.
Sara McEnterfer, who was her traveling companion and secretary most of the time for thirty years, is with her; and so is May Walling, who was brought up in her home, and who has been her faithful nurse for about two years. Mrs. Hungerford, a trained nurse from the sanitarium, is also with her (The Review and Herald, March 11, 1915).
Sunday morning Dr. Klingerman arranged to have a hospital bed sent down to the White home. This was set up in her spacious and cheery writing room, close to the bathroom with its conveniences. As W. C. White told the story to readers of the Review, he continued:
Mother occupies her study, where for the last ten busy years she did most of her writing. Sometimes when half awake she asks how long the journey will take, and when she will get home; and then, when fully awake, she says, "I am right here in my own room."
In our seasons of prayer Mother unites with her usual fervor and clearness of thought, expressing complete confidence and entire resignation.
Since her accident she has told me that she feels that her work is done, her battles ended, and that she is willing to lie down and sleep till the resurrection morning, unless there is yet some special work the Lord has for her to do (Ibid.).
And thus it was for the next five months till mid-July. Her son's frequent reports through the Review and Herald and in his letters indicate that she had good days and days not so good, but that she was spared from any great suffering.
Soon after the accident, W. C. White reported that "when we ask her if she is suffering pain, she will start to say Yes; then she stops and says, 'It is not so painful as it might be, but I cannot say that it is comfortable'" (WCW to AGD, March 1, 1915). A few weeks later, when asked what kind of day she had had, she replied, "A good day--in spots" (WCW to S. N. Haskell, April 30, 1915).
By early June there was a rapid decline in her physical condition. One of the three nurses mentioned earlier was constantly with her. Relatives, friends, and neighbors were frequent visitors. A wheelchair was secured, and on pleasant days she was taken out on the little porch directly over the main entrance to the home, facing south. This she much enjoyed. On most days she would sit in a chair for several hours, and at nights she usually slept well. As time went on her appetite waned. On one occasion as Sara was coaxing her to eat, her response showed that she had not lost her sense of humor: "Well, Sara," she said, "I would not want to die before my time by overeating" (as told to A. L. White).
The Vision of March 3
On the morning of March 3, about 10:00, Ellen White, on wakening, called her nurse, Mrs. Hungerford, to her side and began to tell of what took place in the night--her last vision. W. C. White was quickly called, and he wrote down the statement made rather slowly by his mother: "There are books that are of vital importance that are not looked at by our young people. They are neglected because they are not so interesting to them as some lighter reading" (Ibid., April 15, 1915). She touched on a number of points and among them said:
In the night season I was selecting and laying aside books that are of no advantage to the young. We should select for them books that will encourage them to sincerity of life, and lead them to the opening of the Word (Ibid.).
She expressed confidence in her brethren in the cause, a theme often repeated as she faced the sunset of life.
I do not think I shall have more Testimonies for our people. Our men of solid minds know what is good for the uplifting and upbuilding of the work. But with the love of God in their hearts, they need to go deeper and deeper into the study of the things of God (Ibid.).
As she brought to the close this her last testimony for the church and especially its youth, she said:
I have no assurance that my life will last long, but I feel that I am accepted of the Lord.... I have felt that it was imperative that the truth should be seen in my life, and that my testimony should go to the people. I want that you should do all you can to have my writings placed in the hands of the people in foreign lands.... I am impressed that it is my special duty to say these things (Ibid., [published in full in Fundamentals of Christian Education, 547, 549, and in Messages to Young People, 287-289]).
Waning Strength And Death
But Ellen White's strength was waning fast now. Some days she was not aware of those in the room. She was not eating, and her body was wasting away, although she was given a little albumen water--the white of egg in water--from time to time as she would take it. On the morning of Thursday, July 8, she aroused sufficiently to say: "I do not suffer much, thank the Lord." And then to Sara she added: "It will not be long now" (WCW to "Friend," July 14, 1915; WCW to G. I. Butler, July 26, 1915).
Friday morning, July 9, she rallied enough to talk a little to Sara and to her son William. He prayed and told his mother that they would trust all in the hands of Jesus. She responded, saying in a faint whisper, "I know in whom I have believed" (Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 449).
Treatments were discontinued. On Thursday, July 15, W. C. White reported that everything was being done for her that kind hearts and willing hands could do. But now she lingered in silence, quietly breathing her life away.
The next day, Friday, July 16, about 2:00 the nurses saw that the end was very near and sent for W. C. White and his wife, May. They hastened to the home and her room. As her breathing slowed, others were notified and made their way one or two at a time to the second-floor room. C. C. Crisler and his wife, Minnie, soon joined the group. Then there were Ellen White's granddaughter, Mabel White Workman; her farm manager, Iram James, and his wife; her accountant, A. H. Mason, and Mrs. Mason; Mrs. Mary Chinnock Rhorp, a longtime acquaintance; her housekeeper, Tessie Woodbury. And of course there were the three nurses: Sara McEnterfer, who had been her faithful companion, nurse, and secretary of many years; May Walling; and Carrie Hungerford, who had waited on her night and day for 153 days since the accident.
In the morning Ellen White's respiration had been clocked at 50 per minute, but at 3:00 it was 38; at 3:20 it was 18, and a little later only 10. Then her breathing became slower and more irregular, until without a tremor the breathing stopped. It was 3:40. No one in the room stirred for several minutes, thinking she might take yet another breath. But she did not (WCW to David Lacy, July 20, 1915; WCW to G. I. Butler, July 26, 1915).
Describing the experience, W. C. White wrote:
It was like the burning out of a candle, so quiet (WCW to David Lacy, July 20, 1915).
Ellen White At Rest; Awaiting The Life-Giver
Late Friday afternoon, July 16, 1915, the telegraph wires carried the word that Ellen G. White, the messenger of the Lord, was at rest. Through telephone and telegraph the message reached many of the churches in time to be announced Sabbath morning. For the public press, news stories had been prepared in advance, to be held until her death.
At Elmshaven carefully laid plans for funeral services were activated. One service was to be held on the lawn at her home, another in the San Francisco Bay area, and a third in Battle Creek, Michigan, where she would be laid to rest by the side of her husband. That Friday afternoon invitations to the Sunday funeral were quickly run off on the nearby "Elmshaven Press" operated by her twin grandsons, Henry and Herbert White, and these were mailed to 220 families in the valley (WCW to David Lacey, July 20, 1915). The invitation read:
Funeral Notice
Yourself and family are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of Mrs. Ellen G. White on the lawn at her residence, "Elmshaven," near the sanitarium, St. Helena, California, Sunday afternoon at five o'clock, July eighteenth, nineteen hundred fifteen (DF 756).
Word also was sent out that she would lie in state in her home on Sabbath and Sunday. Friends who called before Sunday noon were ushered to her writing room on the second floor, where they found her in a simple cloth-covered black coffin bearing a modest silver plate with the engraved words "At rest." If they called Sunday afternoon, as most did, they paid their respects to her in the living room, where so often she had received family and visitors.
Seating for about 300 people was provided on the lawn under the elm trees just in front of her house. Another hundred people sat on the lawn or in nearby parked automobiles. The sanitarium, the St. Helena church, and the college were largely represented. A few of the leading businessmen of St. Helena were present, and many friends came in from Napa, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, and Healdsburg. A canopy was provided for the officiating ministers.
The service was simple and informal--ideal for the setting. Those participating were mostly ministers who had been long associated with Ellen White in the work of the church in America and overseas: J. N. Loughborough, George B. Starr, and E. W. Farnsworth. The pastor of the church of which she was a member, S. T. Hare, pronounced the benediction.
The Richmond Funeral
"At Richmond, a northern suburb of Oakland, the California Conference was holding its annual camp meeting. Here were assembled many of Ellen White's old associates from the Oakland church, and many representatives of the churches that she had often visited in her earlier California labors. When they heard of Ellen White's death, they requested that her body be brought to the camp meeting, and that there be a service there. They said, 'If Sister White were alive and well, she would be right here at this meeting, telling us how to live a Christian life. Why not let her be brought here and someone tell us how she lived it?'" (WCW to David Lacey, July 20, 1915).
About a thousand people were present for the Monday-morning funeral service at the campground. E. E. Andross, president of the Pacific Union Conference, was in charge of the service and was assisted by A. O. Tait, Signs editor, and Elders Loughborough and Farnsworth. At 3:00 in the afternoon, following the service, W. C. White and Sara McEnterfer boarded the train, expecting to reach Battle Creek by Thursday evening.
The Battle Creek Funeral
It was Ellen White's request that she be buried by the side of her husband in Battle Creek's Oak Hill Cemetery, where also were buried her oldest son, Henry, and the little baby; and James White's father and mother. So the next Sabbath day, July 24, they planned to have a service at the Battle Creek Tabernacle, and from there the burial would take place (DF 757, E. W. Farnsworth funeral sermon, July 18, 1915).
As W. C. White and Sara McEnterfer neared Battle Creek on Thursday, July 22, two men boarded the train at Kalamazoo to travel the last 30 miles (50 kilometers) with them. One was James Edson White, Ellen White's older son; the other, George Israel, an officer of the Battle Creek church who was in charge of the funeral arrangements. The church had sent him to meet the travelers and to inform them of plans for the funeral.
Sabbath morning, sometime before 8:00, the people began to gather in front of the Battle Creek Tabernacle. The Battle Creek Enquirer of July 25 described what took place when the doors opened:
During the two hours between eight and ten, there was a steady stream of humanity viewing the body. Men with gray heads and stooped shoulders, many who knew Mrs. White during the early days of the Advent movement, were at the Tabernacle to pay their last respects. They stood before the casket and tears flowed down their cheeks as they thought of her wonderful work for the denomination (DF 758).
The casket was one of simple black, covered with a wreath of white carnations and forget-me-nots. But back of the casket were a wealth of elaborate flower pieces and wreaths (Ibid.).
Among those who passed the casket that Sabbath morning was Dudley M. Canright, accompanied by his Adventist brother, Jasper. Dudley had served for years as a Seventh-day Adventist minister but had apostatized and was busily engaged in writing a book against Ellen White. He knew her well; they had worked together in earlier years. He had stayed for days in the White home, but when he was reproved for a course of action that was not right, he turned against her and through the last 28 years of her life had bitterly opposed her work. After passing the casket once, D. M. suggested to Jasper that they go down again, so they slipped into the line. As the two stood by the casket the second time, they paused. Dudley put his hand on the casket and with tears rolling down his cheeks declared, "There is a noble Christian woman gone" (W. A. Spicer, The Spirit of Prophecy in the Advent Movement, p. 127).
The Battle Creek Tabernacle proved much too small for the mourners that assembled. Some 3,500 crowded into the building. In the audience were many patients from the sanitarium, some in wheelchairs, and many of the older citizens of Battle Creek who knew Ellen White personally (DF 758, Evening News, July 24, 1915). A thousand or more who could not get into the tabernacle remained quietly on the lawn outside. Many of these accompanied Ellen White to the cemetery.
The Funeral Service
As had been planned, A. G. Daniells presented the "sketch"; it was more of a history that recounted Ellen White's life and the contribution she had made to the church and the world. S. N. Haskell presented a well-prepared funeral sermon on the surety of the hope of one who dies in Christ Jesus. F. M. Wilcox, editor of the Review and Herald, read the Scripture lesson. His brother, M. C. Wilcox, longtime book editor at the Pacific Press, offered the prayer, thanking God for the light and blessing that had come through His servant.
Following the service, the throng made its way across the city to Oak Hill Cemetery. It was no doubt Battle Creek's largest funeral procession, with more than 100 vehicles. The July 25 Enquirer described it:
Thousands followed the hearse to the cemetery. For this purpose every carriage in the city was used, and there were a number of automobiles. And then besides this, there were nine streetcars. No fares were collected on these cars, as they were provided by the church (DF 758).
The service at the cemetery was brief and impressive. A double quartet sang, I. H. Evans read appropriate scriptures, G. B. Thompson offered prayer, and then "the remains of our dear sister were tenderly and silently lowered into the grave to rest beside the body of her husband, Elder James White, who was buried in the same plot in 1881" (DF 756, In Memoriam, p. 24).
The Public Press
Newspaper notices and articles of various lengths appeared throughout the United States, from the Bay Area, where San Francisco and Oakland papers gave good space, to New York, where a respectable item was published in the New York Times. The careful work done well in advance of her death bore fruit, for the leading newspapers had materials, prepared largely at Elmshaven, in hand when they received telegraph notice of her death.
Ellen White's hometown newspaper, the St. Helena Star, on its front page printed a large photograph and gave 33 column inches (84 centimeters) to tell the story of her life, work, and death. The San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Tribune each gave 15 column inches (38 centimeters), selecting materials from the sheets furnished from Elmshaven. The Mountain View Register-Leader was perhaps the most generous, with 147 column inches (373 centimeters) devoted to the story, together with a two-column picture of Ellen White. The Detroit News-Tribune gave seven inches (18 centimeters).
The Battle Creek papers gave full coverage to the story.
The St. Helena Star, July 23, 1915, reported:
Leader of Adventists dead. Mrs. Ellen G. White Passes Away After Over Seventy Years of Christian Labor.
At 3:40 o'clock last Friday afternoon, at her home, "Elmshaven," near St. Helena, Mrs. Ellen Gould White, leader and one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, passed from this life to that reward promised the followers of Jesus Christ (DF 758).
Then followed a biographical account and a résumé of denominational accomplishments: in membership, nearly 100,000; 37 publishing houses; 34 sanitariums; 70 intermediate schools, academies, and colleges; and 510 elementary schools scattered all over the world. Mrs. White's work as an author was mentioned, noting that some of her writings had been translated into 36 languages. The report concluded:
The prevailing sentiment of the speakers who addressed the congregations at St. Helena and at Richmond was that Mrs. White's most enduring monument, aside from her godly life and conversation, was her published works, which tend to the purest morality, lead to Christ and to the Bible, and bring comfort and consolation to many a weary heart."She hath done what she could," and now "being dead, she yet speaketh."
"My Writings Will Constantly Speak"
As W. C. White started westward after the Battle Creek funeral, his mind turned to the care and publication of his mother's writings. They would be managed by the newly activated White Estate, under the direction of the five trustees of Ellen White's appointment: A. G. Daniells, president of the General Conference; F. M. Wilcox, editor of the Review and Herald; C. H. Jones, manager of the Pacific Press; C. C. Crisler, for 14 years Ellen White's leading secretary; and W. C. White, who had traveled and worked with his mother for 34 years.
Sunday morning, after his return from the east, Elder White took the eight-minute walk from his home to the Elmshaven office and residence; there he knew he would have to face new conditions. He stepped onto the porch of the Elmshaven home. It was unoccupied, and the doors locked. He unlocked the door and entered, as he had so often done. He described his findings and sentiments:
Everything was in perfect order, but the life of the place had gone. Going upstairs to the big east room, where for fifteen years Mother had studied and prayed and planned and written, I found it vacant. The old couch and the tables and chairs and chests of drawers were in their usual places, and the big armchair with its swing board in front was where it used to be, between the big bay window and the fireplace; but the dear mother, whose presence had made this room the most precious place in all the world to me, was not there. Then I recalled the many times I had returned from the Eastern states, and had hastened up to Mother's room, sure of a hearty welcome, and an eager listener to my reports of meetings attended and of the progress of the work in which she was so deeply interested. But now there was no one in the writing chair to listen to my report (WCW to "Dear Friend," October 20, 1915).
It was the end of an era in the life of the church. A new era was about to begin.
As Elder White stepped over to the cabinets in the northwest corner and opened the doors to the shelves that held copies of the E. G. White books and copies of her manuscripts and letters, there must have come to his mind Ellen White's words as she at times opened these doors and displayed her books and her papers:
"Here are my writings; when I am gone they will testify for me" (WCW Letter, July 9, 1922 [MR, p. 93]).