"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord; his going forth is prepared as the morning." (Hosea 6:3)
Up to the month of June, 1849, the labors of Elder White and his wife and Elder Bates were confined to the New England States. At this time Miss Clarissa Bonfoey, of Middletown, Conn., joined Elder White's family. A short time previous to this, her mother died, leaving her everything necessary for housekeeping on a small scale. By this means Elder White was enabled again to set up housekeeping; and this he did in a part of Mr. Belden's house at Rocky Hill, Conn.
Beginning of Modern Spiritualism
On March 24, 1849, a general meeting was held at Topsham, Maine. On that Sabbath a vision was given to Mrs. White, the subject of which was of the greatest importance. Perhaps a better understanding of the view will be obtained by getting before the mind a general idea of the situation at that time.
In the latter part of March, 1848, in Hydesville, Wayne Co., N.Y., began the "mysterious noises," or what afterward developed into the "spirit rappings." This first occurred in the house of the Fox family. In the latter part of the summer, the family moved to Rochester, N.Y., where, in Corinthian Hall, public demonstrations were made, and the girls were subjected to the closest examination by committees composed of ladies and gentlemen selected from the best citizens for that purpose. While the great majority of the people looked upon the rappings as a humbug, or some sleight-of-hand trickery, the most credulous had but little idea that it would grow to any great proportions.
Predictions Concerning Spiritualism
In the vision above mentioned, Mrs. White saw that the mysterious knocking in Rochester and other places, was the power of Satan, and that such things would be more and more common; and that they would be clothed in a religious garb, to lull the deceived to greater security, and to draw the minds of God's people, if possible, to those things, and cause them to doubt the teachings of the Holy Spirit.
But few, if any, at that time had the faintest idea that Spiritualism would spread over the earth as then predicted, or that it would ever assume to be a religion, with its regularly organized churches and pastors.
Prediction Fulfilled
The fulfillment of the prophecy, however, is apparent when we consider their membership, which is reported to be 10,000,000 in the United States alone. As to their present religious garb, we give the following from the Review and Herald, Washington, D.C., Nov. 12, 1903:-
"At the recent convention of the National Association of Spiritualists, held in this city, a new ritual was adopted. Provision was made for the 'ordination' of pastors or ministers, and a company of believers in Spiritualism was recognized as a 'church.' This will be seen by reading the following section from the new ritual:-
" 'No pastor or minister shall be settled over a church or society without first having been formally inducted into office by what has been known from the earliest ages of religious history as the service of ordination. No person can become a candidate for ordination until he has received a call to the pastorate of some church or society, or been appointed missionary by some State Spiritualist Association, incorporated as a religious body in the State in which it is located, or by the National Spiritualist Association of the United States of America. All persons who are candidates for pastorates or for missionary work must have been for at least three years in full fellowship with some Spiritualist church or society, and for at least two years a licentiate, commissioned by a State or the National Association as a trial speaker. Pastors settled for less than one full calendar year shall be ineligible for ordination.' "
Elder White in Oswego, N.Y
As the publishing work was located in Oswego, N.Y., Elder White changed his residence from Connecticut to this place in the fall of 1849, and here was held, the same year, on November 3, a conference of believers. Of their labors following, Mrs. White says:-
"We then decided that it was our duty to labor in the State of New York. My husband felt a burden upon him to write and publish. We rented a house in Oswego, borrowed furniture from our brethren, and began housekeeping. There my husband wrote, published, and preached. It was necessary for him to keep the armor on at every moment, for he often had to contend with professed Adventists who were advocating error, preaching definite time, and were seeking to prejudice all they could against our faith." [1]
Second Advent Review Published
In the autumn of 1850 it was deemed advisable to make another change; accordingly Elder White moved to Paris, Maine, where the first volume of the Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald was published as a semi-monthly, consisting of thirteen numbers, each containing eight two-column pages, the size of the printed page being seven and one-eighth by ten and one-fourth inches. The first number was dated the following November, and the last number, June 9, 1851.
The enlarged size of the paper over Present Truth was a very good index to the proportionate spread of the truth, the increase of laborers in the cause, and of supporters of the work. As the terms of the paper were gratis, it was expected that the friends of the cause would aid in its publication, and this they did. Although the believers were composed mostly of people in moderate circumstances, they aided as the Lord had prospered them, and did according to their ability to push on the car of truth.
J. N. Andrews Begins Preaching
About this time J. N. Andrews, who resided in Paris, Maine, began his public labors as a minister of the gospel and a writer on religious topics. In the Review for May, 1851, he had an article occupying over five pages on the subject of the three messages. In this he applied the prophecy of the two-horned beast of Revelation 13 to the United States, taking the position, on the strength of the prophecy alone, that the enforcement of Sunday as the Sabbath would be the point on which a union of church and state would finally be founded in this nation. His argument rested wholly upon the prophecy, as no movement at that time pointed very strongly in that direction, the strongest expression that could be found favoring it being a statement from Dr. Durbin, taken from the Christian Advocate and Journal, which said:-
"When Christianity becomes the moral and spiritual life of the state, the state is bound, through her magistrates, to prevent the open violation of the holy Sabbath, as a measure of self-preservation."
Selling Farms to Aid the Work
It was about this time that such men as Hiram Edson, of New York, and Cyrenius Smith, of Jackson, Mich., were led to sell their farms, each worth $3,500, and rent farms for their own use, that they might have means to help in different enterprises that should arise in the prosecution of the work of the message.
Removal of the Publishing Work to Saratoga
In 1851, Elder White moved from Paris, Maine, to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and here again, with borrowed furniture, he set up housekeeping, and published the second volume of the Advent Review, the first number bearing date of August 5 of the same year. This volume consisted of fourteen numbers, and was issued semi-monthly. The last number was published March 23, 1852. The name of the paper was slightly changed from that of the Second Advent Review, as in Vol. I, to the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, the name which in its eighty-second volume it still retains. The size of the journal was increased to three columns, eight pages, the printed page measuring eight and one-fourth by eleven and three-fourths inches.
It will be seen from the increased size of what was and is still the denominational journal, that every change was for the better, showing a reasonable degree of prosperity, and giving marked evidence that the work of the third angel "had come to stay."
Publishing in Rochester-Owning a Hand-Press
On May 6, 1852, the first number of Volume III of the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald was published in Rochester, N.Y., and was printed on a press and with type owned by Seventh-day Adventists. Hiram Edson had advanced means to purchase a Washington hand-press, with type and material for fitting up the office. He was to receive his pay as donations should come in from the friends of the truth. That hand-press stood in the office of the Review and Herald at Battle Creek, Mich., until consumed in the fire, Dec. 30, 1902. It was at that time regarded as the best proof-press in the office. In Number 12, Vol. III, Oct. 14, 1852, an announcement was made that the cost of fitting up the office with this press and material was $652.93, and the receipts for that purpose up to that date were $655.84. Of these twelve numbers of the paper, 2,000 copies of each number had been issued and circulated gratuitously.
The Youth's Instructor Started
In August there was begun in the Review office the publication of the Youth's Instructor, a monthly. Now it is a weekly, with four times the reading matter in each number that it contained at that time.
Uriah Smith Connects with the Office
In 1853 Elder Uriah Smith began his labors in the office of the Review and Herald, where he held a responsible position for half a century. That year (1853) it was for the first time stated in the Review and Herald that those who desired to do so could buy our publications by paying the cost price. To all others the printed matter was free, as the deficit was met by the donations of the liberal and willing hearted. In 1854 it was announced that the price of the Review semi-monthly was $1.00 a year. In that same year, at a tent-meeting held in McComb County, Michigan, in the month of July, an effort was made to sell our publications. During this meeting $50 worth of books were sold. Elder White, in speaking of this effort, said, through the Review, "This shows that our books can be sold."
Call for $500 Tract Fund
In the Review of Oct. 12 and Dec. 24, 1854, calls were made for a $500 tract fund to enable the office to furnish ministers with tracts for free distribution in connection with their labors, and also for a "relief fund of $500 for the office, that the Review might be published regularly each week, instead of missing, occasionally, a week for lack of funds."
J. P. Kellogg and Henry Lyon Sell Their Farms
It was during this period that J. P. Kellogg, of Tyrone, and Henry Lyon, who lived near Plymouth, Mich., sold their farms, each worth about $3,500, for the sole purpose of having means to use in advancing the work; and thus did two more Michigan brethren step forward at an opportune time, with ready means and willing hearts to lift where help was most needed. The former engaged in the manufacture of brooms in Jackson, Mich., while the latter moved to Battle Creek, and labored at the carpenter's trade to sustain his family.
All Our Papers and Books for $3.00
At the end of Volume VI, June, 1855, one could get the Review and the Instructor for one year, besides a complete set of all the pamphlets, tracts, and a hymn book, such as was then used,-twenty-six pamphlets and tracts, all told,-for the sum of $3.00. The established price of the Instructor was twenty-five cents for twelve numbers.
Review Office Invited to Michigan
In the month of April, 1855, Elder White and his wife again visited Michigan, and held meetings at several places. On the 28th and 29th of the same month a conference convened at Battle Creek, during which it was voted by the brethren in Battle Creek to invite Elder White to move the Review office from Rochester to Battle Creek. Dan Palmer, Cyrenius Smith, J. P. Kellogg, and Henry Lyon agreed to furnish $300 each, without interest, making a sum of $1200, to purchase a lot and erect a publishing office. Accordingly they secured a lot on the southeast corner of West Main and Washington Streets, and erected thereon a two-story wooden building 20 x 30 feet in size, with twenty-foot posts.
First Meeting-House in Battle Creek
During the same season the first Seventh-day Adventist meeting-house in Battle Creek was erected, 18 x 24 feet in size. This plain building, boarded up and down, and battened, stood near the northwest corner of Van Buren and Cass Streets.
In Our First Printing Office
The first number of the Review published in Battle Creek in an office owned by Seventh-day Adventists was dated Dec. 4, 1855. The price of the paper was then established at $1.00 per volume of twenty-six numbers; but donations were solicited to send the paper free to the worthy poor. From this time forward Elders Waggoner and Cottrell were almost constant contributors to the columns of the Advent Review.
In the Review of Dec. 18, 1855, the publishing committee made a statement which to the present workers in the office may sound strange. It read thus: "We do not see why those who labor in the office should not receive a reasonable compensation for their services. The editor only receives one half what he could get elsewhere." It may be well to mention that common wages then were not one half what they are at the present time, and that half pay then was not more than one third or one fourth what the office pays for similar labor now. The workers in the office at that time made the gift of half the worth of their services that the gospel of present truth might be published.
Call for Power-Press and Engine
In the Review of March 19, 1857, the suggestion was first made that a powerpress and engine was needed and should be obtained for the printing of the papers, tracts, and books. As reported April 2, the decision was made to buy an Adams power-press, and seven men pledged $100 each toward its purchase. In the following issue a statement was made that the press and engine would cost some $2,500, and pledges had already been raised to $1,700.
In an editorial from Elder White in the Review of Aug. 13, 1857, is this encouraging statement: "Our office is free. There is a general book fund of $1,426, now invested in books. The new power-press is in operation and works beautifully, and the prospect is fair that it will soon be running by steam power, and all paid for. Our tent operations are far better sustained than formerly."
First Report of Book Sales
Oct. 29, 1857, it was reported in the Review that the book sales for the two previous years was $1,287.91, which was the first report of the kind made up to this date. It was a token of advancement in the cause, hence a source of encouragement, as it showed that the truth was gaining in strength, and "like streams of light making its way around the world."
Review Office a Safe Deposit
In the Review of Aug. 13, 1858, the idea was first advanced to our people of making the office a place of deposit for surplus means. Persons who had money for which they had no immediate use could make the office a depository, drawing it at any time upon order as they might need it, and thus give the office the benefit of its use. This suggestion being acted upon, it afforded still greater financial strength to the work.
From that time to this (1905), no person has ever yet lost a dollar thus loaned to our publishing houses, or failed to get his money when called for. The candid, thoughtful ones have come to regard our offices of publication a safer place even to deposit their surplus means than banks, which so often fail. Banks have worldly credit, while our publishing houses have the strength of the whole denomination for their "backing."
Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association Organized
The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association was organized May 3, 1861, and circulars were sent out soliciting subscriptions to the capital stock at $10 per share. In two weeks it was announced that $4,080 in stock had already been subscribed.
Beginning with June 11 of that year, the Review was published by the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association. The first office building erected by the association was located on the southeast corner of Main and Washington Streets, on the site from which the old frame building was removed to Kalamazoo Street. This structure was two stories high, of solid brick walls. It was in the form of a Greek cross, and fronted north on Main Street. The extreme measure east and west was 44 feet, by north and south, 72 feet.
First Publications in Other Tongues
Step by step the message advanced, and each aggressive movement tended to strengthen and consolidate the work. At this time our publishing house issued five pamphlets in foreign languages, three in the Danish-Norwegian and two in French; thus a beginning was made in printing for foreign countries.
With the continual increase of membership there was a steady and continued growth in finances. This is indicated by the report in the Review of May 16, 1863, where the secretary of the association gave a statement of the total receipts as follows:-
Received in shares and donations to the Association to date - $10,374.13
Received from Rochester office - - - - 700.00
Received for additional material- - - - 300.00
Received on book fund- - - - - - - - - - 1,355.00
Received for power-press and engine 2,500.00
Total - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $15,229.13
The secretary further states: "By a safe estimate of the property of the association, its value is decided to be not less than $20,000 which is nearly $5,000 more than it has cost the friends of the cause. This speaks well for the integrity and faithfulness of Brother White and those who have been associated with him in the Review office. "E. S. Walker, Secretary."
Transfer of the Review to the Association
The publishing work having been brought to these results by the trying labors and sacrifices of Elder White, the profits arising therefrom virtually belonged to him; for the gain was really his self-denial, his business tact, and careful management. But instead of claiming it, or any part of it, he cheerfully passed it all over to the church; and more than this, when the association, after its organization, voted that he should have $6 per week for his services rendered, he only accepted $4 per week.
A Paper on the Pacific Coast
In the Review of April 21, 1874, was an article from Elder White, in which, speaking of the work on the Pacific Coast, he stated that there would soon be demanded the establishment of a weekly paper devoted to the interests of the cause upon that coast. A short time after this the way opened for purchasing a small quantity of type and material in Oakland, with which, in the month of June, a semi-monthly publication was begun, called the Signs of the Times.
Raising Means
After printing six numbers of the Signs, Elder White returned East, requesting the California Conference to make provision for the publication of the paper. At the General Conference, Aug. 15, 1874, a proposition was made to the Eastern brethren to raise $6,000 with which to purchase press, engine, and type for the Signs office, if the brethren on the Pacific Coast would raise $4,000 to secure a site and erect a suitable building for an office.
Elder Geo. I. Butler, at that time a member of the General Conference Committee, attended the camp-meeting at Yountville, Cal., and presented the proposition to the brethren. On Oct. 11, 1874, they responded to the call by pledging the sum of $19,414 in coin.
The Pacific Press Established
On Feb. 2, 1875, Elder James White and his wife, accompanied by Elder J. H. Waggoner and other efficient workers, arrived in Oakland. On the 12th of the same month a special session of the California Conference was called, to take into consideration a location upon which to erect buildings for the office of the Signs of the Times. After due deliberation, the decision was made to secure lots on the west side of Castro St., between 11th and 12th Sts. The same day Elder White and John Morrison purchased these lots, taking deeds in their own names, with the understanding that when the Association should be formed, they would deed over to it as much of the land as should be deemed necessary for the use of the corporation.
April 1, 1875, the Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association was formed in Oakland, its capital stock being fixed at $28,000. The central portion of the lots on Castro St. was, according to agreement, deeded over to the association, and a building was at once constructed by O. B. Jones, of Battle Creek, Mich., the form and size of which was the same as that of the office erected in Battle Creek, except that the one in Oakland was constructed of wood instead of brick. This building being ready for occupancy, the Signs of the Times was moved into its new quarters on Friday, Aug. 27, 1875.
Removal to Mountain View
In this building the publication of periodicals and books was successfully carried forward until 1904, when arrangements were made to move the printing plant into the country. The reason for making this change is given by the manager of the Pacific Press in these words: "For years the management of the Pacific Press Publishing Company have felt that the land now occupied by their publishing house is too valuable, and the land surface too cramped, in the heart of a large city in a residence district, for factory purposes, and that it is wisdom in many ways to seek some rural place where land is less valuable, where homes in healthy surroundings could be secured by employees, with space sufficient for gardens, fruit trees, and breathing room; and where shipping advantages would be good. Such a place has been found and secured in the village of Mountain View, Santa Clara County, thirty-nine miles south of San Francisco, a place which combines many of the advantages of the city with the benefits of a healthy country life."
Printing Begun in Foreign Lands
Indicating the spread of the truth, we note that from 1875 to 1878 the printing work was begun in Basel, Switzerland, and in Christiana, Norway.
In the autumn of 1875 a report was given in the Review of book sales at the Review and Herald office alone, for seven years, from 1868 to 1875, amounting to $85,644.54, nearly six-fold increase over the seven preceding years, and the sales for all four of the offices (Michigan, California, Switzerland, and Norway), for three years, from 1875 to 1878, was $98,163.73.
A statement was made in the Review of October 17, 1878, that all the books, pamphlets, and tracts printed by the Review office previous to 1864 amounted to 50,058,000 pages. From 1864 to 1878 the number of pages was 158,130,951, or a total of 208,188,951 pages.
The Youth's Instructor Made a Weekly
Up to Jan. 1, 1879, the Youth's Instructor had been published monthly, but at this date, as it entered upon its thirty-first year, it was issued weekly; and thus its usefulness was increased fourfold.
What Elder White Turned over to the Association
In the Review of Jan. 23, 1879, are some statements made by Elder White respecting his connection with the cause, which it is proper to introduce here, as they shed more light on the sacrifices made in the publishing work. The quotation reads:-
"When, in 1861, the Publishing Association was instituted at Battle Creek, Mich., we gave our list of subscribers and the right to republish all our works (since decided to have been worth $10,000) to the association, leaving us worth only $1,000; and we continued our labor as editor, manager, and preacher at $6 per week.
"In 1866, when we returned to the Review office, after severe sickness, we found the managers paying ten per cent. on thousands, and the capital stock reduced to $32,000; [2] but in four years, with the blessing of God, the debts were paid, the stock raised to $75,000, and we [the association] had $5,000 in the banks."
Standing of the Publishing House in 1880
In the Review of Jan. 15, 1880, Elder Butler says:-
"Our publishing house (Battle Creek) has recently been enlarged by the erection of a central portion between the two eastern buildings, thus materially increasing the capacity and convenience of the whole. Facilities exist for electrotyping and stereotyping, and doing the best binding. In fact, it is stated by those who ought to know, that it is the most perfect and complete publishing house in the State of Michigan."
Notwithstanding this enlargement, it became necessary, before the close of the summer, to construct a new building south of the main building, for a pressroom. To this room the five power-presses of the association were removed. One of these presses was of larger size than any heretofore used in the office. One of the same size and style had also just been placed in the office of the Signs of the Times, Oakland, Cal.
In the Review of May 17, 1881, referring to the success of the publishing work at the central publishing house in Battle Creek, Elder White said:-
"Take the amount of debts of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association from a careful invoice of the property, and there is left in real and personal property not less than $105,000. Of this, all our people have given in shares, donations, and legacies, the sum of $34,432.17, and a few faithful men and women who have devoted their lives to the work, have added [not in donations, but by sacrifice and careful management] $70,567.83."
The Canvassing Work Inaugurated
Beginning with the year 1881 our people made a new venture, and entered into the canvassing work for the sale of our publications. As no accurate reports were made by the canvassers, of their sales, until the year 1884, our report for that period is made up from the reported sales of the four publishing houses. According to their figures the sales for five years were $221,248.69. As the influence of the work extended from our missions in Central Europe and the Scandinavian countries, the demand for publications in foreign languages increased.
Book Sales for Ten Years
From 1884 to 1894, a period of ten years, the sale of our large bound books was quite largely accomplished by the canvassers. Their sales for this period were $4,031,391.26. During this time our work was further extended by the establishing of publishing houses in Australia; Tahiti, Pacific Islands; Helsingfors, Finland; Hamburg, Germany; and at other places. The canvassers' sales for the year 1895, hard as the times were that year, were, as reported, a total of $357,467.23, making a grand total, including the sales we have already mentioned, of $4,816,773.73.
Sales for Fifty Years $11,000,000
To ascertain the whole amount of sales from 1854 to Jan. 1, 1896, we must still add the figures of the sale of trade books, pamphlets, tracts, and charts, as reported by all the publishing houses for the above ten years, which amount is $3,458,278.23; giving a grand total for the book sales of the denomination for twenty-two years of $8,275,051.96. To state it in another form: The sales for thirty years (1854 to 1884) were $424,915.24, and for the next twelve years following, to Jan. 1, 1896, $7,850,136.72. Notwithstanding the force in the canvassing field has for the last eight years decreased, it is a safe estimate to say that from 1854 to the present time (1905) more than $11,000,000 worth of Seventh-day Adventist publications have been sold.
Printing in about Forty Languages
The progress of the message in printed form is apparent when we consider that a beginning has been made in about forty of the leading languages, as the Arabic, Armenian, Basuto, Bohemian, Bulgarian, Bengali-India, Chinese, Danish, English, Esthonian, Finnish, French, Fijian, Greek, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Hawaiian, Italian, Icelandic, Japanese, Kaffir, Lettish, Lavonian, Maori, Polish, Portuguese, Roumanian, Russian, Servian, Spanish, Swedish, Tahitian, Tongan, Welsh, etc. In these various countries and nationalities are active workers who are advancing the truths of the third message.
The number of books, pamphlets, and tracts printed in the different languages is over eleven hundred and eighty-seven. To secure a copy of each, and the eighty-seven periodicals of the denomination [3] in different tongues for one year, would require about $340.
Location of the Twenty Publishing Houses
Twenty publishing houses of the Seventh-day Adventists are located as follows: Avondale, Australia; Battle Creek, Mich. (2); Basel, Switzerland; Christiana, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; Cape Town, South Africa; Calcutta, India; College View, Nebraska; Hamburg, Germany; Helsingfors, Finland; London, England; Melbourne, Australia; Montreal, Canada; Nashville, Tennessee; Oakland, California; South Lancaster, Massachusetts; Stockholm, Sweden; Tocubaya, Mexico; Washington, D.C. Besides these publishing houses, our people are printing papers and tracts in Hong Kong, China; Tokio, Japan; Cairo, Egypt; South America; and in the Fiji Islands.
Issuing the First Pamphlets
For a moment we will take a retrospective glance at the facilities with which the pioneers had to work. In the fall of 1853, in the making up of the first book printed on the Washington press-"The Sanctuary,"-after a "bee" of sisters had folded and gathered the signatures preparatory to stitching them, the writer stabbed them with a pegging awl; and after the covers had been put on, Uriah Smith pared them with a straight-edge and a sharp penknife. This was done because of a lack of proper machinery to do that part of the work.
No further back than 1861 all the literature of the denomination was printed on one Adams power-press, driven by a two-horsepower engine. Now, in the different offices of publication, there are more than forty steam-power presses running constantly, printing present truth. These offices employ a total of over five hundred persons to carry on the work, while hundreds of canvassers are in the field selling the books among the people.
In the year 1862 a full set of all the publications issued by Seventh-day Adventists could be purchased for the sum of $7.50; in 1904, as has been shown, it would require $340 to procure a complete set. Surely something more than human devising has wrought in producing these results.
The rise of the publishing work among the Seventh-day Adventists, as predicted in 1848, has indeed been like the progress of the sun, "Grows warmersends its rays"-"Keeps on its course like the sun, but it never sets."
Move by Faith-Elder Stone's Testimony
The zeal and earnestness of those who have pressed forward in the work of the third angel's message is well expressed in the Review of Feb. 5, 1884, by Elder Albert Stone, one of the pioneers in the cause, who lived to the ripe age of ninety years:-
"The early history of the cause was a day of small things, and the means employed seemed insufficient for the work. But the men and women of faith have known from the beginning that the strong arm of the Lord was enlisted in this work. They have known that the time set to favor Zion had come, and that the Lord had set his hand to gather his people. They saw that the Lord was at the helm, and that the Gospel Ship, freighted with the remnant church and her cargo of restored truth, tried faith, and perfect love, would come safely into harbor."
Notes: