Starting Home

Ellen White and her helpers left Washington on Thursday, August 11, for the trip home, which would take them through New England, Michigan, Nebraska, and points west.5BIO 350.2

After a weekend stop in Philadelphia, where she spoke on the Sabbath, they went to the New England Sanitarium in Melrose, Massachusetts, arriving on Monday, August 15. They spent a little more than a week there, relaxing and enjoying the breathtaking beauty of the place. She wrote of the institution, “As far as the sanitarium itself is concerned, I have traveled extensively, and have seen many sanitarium sites, but I have never seen a place more nearly perfect than this one at Melrose.”—Letter 305, 1904.5BIO 350.3

The Sanitarium was situated on Spot Pond, which at the time supplied Boston with some of its water. Because of this, the surrounding area was restricted; it had been only by God's providence that it was possible to locate the Sanitarium there. Just at the opportune time the way opened to buy land; then the matter closed up and no more of the park had been sold since. Ellen White said:5BIO 350.4

The situation of the sanitarium property is one of the most favorable that I have ever seen for this work. The spacious lawns, the noble trees, the beauty of the scenery all around, answer to the representations shown me of what our sanitariums ought to be.... The roads through the park are very well kept, and the scenery is lovely. I rode out every day, and I cannot find words to describe the beauty of what I saw. I enjoyed looking at the many different kinds of trees in the park, but most of all I enjoyed looking at the noble pine. There are medicinal properties in the fragrance of these trees.—Letter 293, 1904.5BIO 350.5

She recalled how James White would say as they were driving among pine trees, “‘Life, life. Breathe deep, Ellen; fill your lungs with the fragrant, life-giving atmosphere.’”— Ibid.5BIO 350.6

While she was at Melrose an older sister, Mary Foss, who was then 83 years of age, came down from her home in Maine and visited with Ellen a few days. May Walling had been sent up to bring her.5BIO 351.1

The Central New England camp meeting opened on Thursday evening, August 25. Ellen White had tarried at the Sanitarium to be present. The tent was pitched about a mile from the Sanitarium and she spoke five times during the camp meeting. She had to contend with a rather erratic church member who was on a crusade to save Seventh-day Adventists from the belief that the world is round. He sought her support for the flat-earth theory. Her answer was:5BIO 351.2

I have a message to this people in regard to the life they must live in this world to prepare them for future life which measures with the life of God. We have nought to do with the question whether this world is round or flat.—Manuscript 145, 1904.5BIO 351.3

She noted in her diary: 5BIO 351.4

Last night the Lord gave me words to speak to the people. Satan has a multitude of questions to bring in through various minds and ingenuity as all-important. Take the Word plainly.— Ibid.

Early in September she left Melrose for Middletown, Connecticut, and the Southern New England camp meeting. She found the place rich in nostalgia, and in her letters and in her diary she recalled the visit she and her husband made to Middletown in 1848 to attend the first of the Sabbath conferences. She recounted their work there of writing and publishing in 1849. She spoke four times during the week.5BIO 351.5

Early Sunday morning two ministers came to her tent to apologize in advance for what they thought would be a sparse attendance on Sunday. They explained that Connecticut Sunday laws were quite rigid and some people might consider it a sin to come to an Adventist meeting on that day.—Letter 380, 1904.5BIO 351.6

Ellen White told them, “‘Instead of talking unbelief, let us tell the Lord how greatly we desire that the people may hear the truth.’”—Letter 293, 1904. When she spoke that day, the tent was filled to overflowing, and “several young men were kept busy bringing extra seats from the smaller tents” and placing them in the aisles. Describing the meeting, she said that she carried the subject of temperance strongly, yet the interest did not flag (Ibid.).5BIO 351.7

Monday, September 5, she was on the train on her way 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 (Ibid.). 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. Ellen White reported that that night she received a special blessing from God.5BIO 352.1

The next morning she spoke in the gymnasium to a group of about three hundred, 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 begat love in the hearts of others (Ibid.).5BIO 352.2

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 rather a slim attendance. To her surprise, the Tabernacle was crowded with 2,500 people and seemed to be as packed as it had been at the 1901 General Conference. Again her sermon was a simple exposition of Christian faith. Ellen White warmed to the subject, speaking for more than an hour (Ibid.; Manuscript 90, 1904).5BIO 352.3

Just before the service began, Elder 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 already they were committed to Sabbath meetings at the Omaha, Nebraska, camp meeting. So she promised to return to Battle Creek after the Omaha appointment.5BIO 352.4

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 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, the seventh, Kellogg did make a brief attempt at confession. He declared:5BIO 352.5

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.5BIO 353.1

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. 325.5BIO 353.2

But Dr. Kellogg had become a very vacillating man, and the repentant attitude was shallow and short-lived.5BIO 353.3

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 took a cold on the trip and was afraid she might have difficulty speaking on the Sabbath. However, she went ahead and spoke anyway.5BIO 353.4

In order to be heard by the audience of 1,500 in the tent, she found that she had to breathe deeply and speak slowly. There were no amplifying systems in those days. “Were I to speak quickly,” she said, “my throat and lungs would suffer. And when I speak slowly, the hearers are given an opportunity to take in sentence after sentence, and to gather up ideas that would otherwise be lost.”—Letter 287, 1904.5BIO 353.5

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.5BIO 353.6

She 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.5BIO 354.1

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.5BIO 354.2