[Circa 1856],1 This letter is undated, but there is sufficient internal evidence to give an approximate date. The mention of tent meetings indicates that it cannot be dated earlier than 1854, when such meetings were first held by Sabbatarian Adventists. On the other hand, the implication in the last paragraph that the Messenger Party (see EGWEnc) is still active suggests a date no later than about 1858, by which time, according to James White, the party had dissolved. Another feature of the document implies that it was written no later than 1856. Much of the focus is on the relationships between certain members of the Jackson group, including a tense standoff between J. P. Kellogg and Dan R. Palmer, described in the last paragraphs. However, from other sources it is known that while Palmer stayed on in Jackson, Kellogg moved from Jackson to Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1856. See: J. W. [James White], “A Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Present Truth,” Review, Jan. 14, 1858, p. 77; J. N. Loughborough, Rise and Progress of the Seventh-day Adventists, pp. 199, 200, 202, 203.
Letter to Identities: The primary clue to the identity of “Cornell” as Merritt E. Cornell is the mention of his wife's name, Angeline, later in the letter. Likewise “Kellogg” is identified as John Preston Kellogg by the reference to his son's name, Smith. The fact that this letter describes the strained relationship between J. P. Kellogg of Jackson, Michigan and “Bro. Palmer” suggests that the person referred to is Dan R. Palmer, also of the Jackson, Michigan, group. See: Obituary: “Angeline M. A. Cornell,” Review, Jan. 7, 1902, p. 14; 1850 U.S. Federal Census, “John Kellogg,” Michigan, Livingston County, Tyrone Township, p. 885; “Business Proceedings of the Conference at Battle Creek, May 26th, 1856,” Review, May 29, 1856, p. 44; search terms “Palmer” and “Jackson” in Words of the Pioneers.
Merritt E. Cornell, Dan R. Palmer, and John Preston Kellogg.2
Portions of this letter are published in Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 5, p. 237.
Counsel to Merritt E. Cornell on his insensitive criticism of J. P. Kellogg and to Angeline Cornell on her attempts to control her husband's traveling ministry. 1EGWLM 504.1
To Brethren Cornell, Palmer, and Kellogg:
I was pointed back to the church meeting held at Battle Creek [Michigan] at the time when Brother and Sister Cornell's case was investigated.3 The seventh paragraph implies that the charges investigated in Battle Creek concerned Angeline Cornell's negative influence on her husband's traveling ministry. Unfortunately no other sources have been found that throw further light on the date or purpose of this Battle Creek meeting.
He began to feel jealous of Brother Smith.4 Identity: There is insufficient information in this short mention of “Brother Smith” to indicate which Smith is being referred to.
And Brother Cornell began to push Brother Kellogg. He looked back to last summer, and every word or expression was magnified and made the most of. I saw that when the conference was appointed here at Battle Creek, Brethren Kellogg and Palmer should have come, but they did not. They lost much [they] might have had, and had they attended the conference the existing trouble would have been saved. 1EGWLM 504.4
I then saw Brother Waggoner [Joseph Harvey Waggoner] did not move right in coming so hastily back to Jackson5 Identity: The only “Waggoner” in the fledgling movement during this period is Joseph Harvey Waggoner, so there is no difficulty in identification. On the other hand, the event referred to in this paragraph, the hasty return to Jackson, has not been located in either correspondence or published sources. See: Search term “Waggoner” in Words of the Pioneers.
I saw that Brother Kellogg had been observing for some time that the cause of God did not rise and progress. I saw that he had looked at Sister Angeline [Angeline M. A. Cornell]6 Identity: Angeline M. A. Cornell, wife of Merritt E. Cornell. See note 2.
His sympathies were awake at once and he has yielded his sense of duty altogether too much, and it has only fed this willful, unsubdued spirit. It is these things that are a great reason for her poor health. The only way for Angeline to get the victory over this is to govern herself and submit to God, consecrate herself to God, yield up her will and her stubborn spirit, and then these nervous fits would not occur. These things hinder the work of God and throw Brother Cornell into a state of anxiety and care, cripple his usefulness, and mar the work of God.7 That Angeline Cornell was sometimes more of a hindrance than a help to her husband's traveling ministry appears to have been a continuing problem. See, for example, Ellen White's admonitions and appeals to Angeline in Lt 10, 1863 (Nov. 28), and Lt 11, 1865 (c. 1865).
These things have caused Brother Kellogg to lose confidence in Angeline, and he knew that Brother Cornell had been influenced by these things. Angeline had affected him and he looked back to the investigation at Battle Creek where the work commenced well and honestly and correctly, but did not go as thorough and deep as it ought to have gone. His confidence in Brother and Sister Cornell was shaken. 1EGWLM 505.3
Brother Kellogg had tried to be a faithful and true steward and administer as God had prospered him.8 According to J. N. Loughborough, within a year or two of becoming a Sabbathkeeper in 1852, J. P. Kellogg sold his farm “worth about $3,500, for the sole purpose of having means to use in advancing the work.” Kellogg, with others, subsequently lent without interest or gave generously for constructing the Review building in Battle Creek in 1855 and for purchasing the first tent to be used for Adventist public evangelism in 1854. See: J. N. Loughborough, Rise and Progress of the Seventh-day Adventists, pp. 198-204. Dan R. Palmer, like J. P. Kellogg, had been very generous in his support of the Sabbatarian movement. See: Brian E. Strayer, “Early Adventist Waymarks in Jackson, Michigan,” pp. 14-16. John Loughborough recalls that he was present on the occasion in 1854 when J. P. Kellogg not only volunteered to pay a large share for the purchase of a large tent for evangelism in Michigan but also proposed that one of his sons, Albert Kellogg, about 18 years old, should accompany the tent as “tent master.” Therefore it is most probable that it was Albert Kellogg who “nearly lost his life.” See: J. N. Loughborough, The Great Second Advent Movement, p. 562. Identity: See 1860 U.S. Federal Census, “Abigail Palmer,” Michigan, Jackson County, Jackson, Ward 4, p. 134.
He could not see that he had lost the spirit of sacrifice. He gave way to his feelings, and the temptation of the enemy came in. He yielded, was hasty. He saw this afterwards, was convinced he manifested wrong feelings, and confessed it. 1EGWLM 506.1
The proposition of Brethren Palmer and Kellogg was correct, to let this difference of opinion drop. This would have been just right. If Brother Cornell had been standing in the counsel of God, how easy could he have been peacemaker and fulfil one duty of his calling. How easy then for the breach to be healed. It should have been Brother Cornell's study, How can I help the cause of God and prevent an open rupture here? One Holy Ghost meeting would have healed the wound; but instead of healing the difficulty, Brother Cornell made a wide breach. 1EGWLM 506.2
Then instead of the Lord's working, Brother Cornell began to work. He was not then God's instrument, but going at his own bidding. And, instead of feeling Who is sufficient for these things? and with prayer and tears going to Brother Kellogg, and like a child entreating him as a father, he felt sufficient for the work. He had a self-dignity and an exalted spirit and he pushed the matter through to cut off one that was more experienced in the cause of God than himself. He was blind to his own weakness, blind to his own heart, and the sweet, melting Spirit of God was not with him. 1EGWLM 506.3
As Brother Kellogg was pursued in this matter, he hardly knew what to make of it. He was astonished, and he gave way to his feelings and manifested a wrong spirit. I saw the work against Brother Kellogg was cruel. He had been desponding, had lost his faith and looked upon the dark side too much, and had distrusted God. But his brethren could have come in and comforted him and encouraged him and he would have overcome these feelings and when God should call upon him to aid His children he would have cheerfully assisted. 1EGWLM 506.4
I saw that the burden that has been upon him has been almost too much for him. His children have lain near his heart and their eternal interest has been his main study, while others—who have neglected the spiritual interest of their children—are not prepared to sympathize with him in his anguish of spirit if he saw his children going astray and losing their interest in the truth. The course of his son Smith [Smith Moses Kellogg]12 Identity: Obituary: “Smith M. Kellogg,” Review, Feb. 9, 1928, p. 22. Exactly what Smith Moses Kellogg had done to cause his parents grief is not stated, but Ellen White returns to this subject several years later in a letter written “circa 1861.” She states there that Smith's marriage to Maria S. Dickinson (in 1858) upset the parents, but even before that “his former course has caused his parents many heartaches and much anxiety and distress.” Ellen G. White, Lt 15, 1861 (c. 1861); obituary: “Smith M. Kellogg,” Review, Feb. 9, 1928, p. 22.
I saw the course of Brother Dickinson's [Preston and Celesta B. Dickinson]14 Identity: Several Dickinsons appear in the columns of the Review in the 1850s, the question being which Dickinson is referred to in this letter. The general impression given from this passage is that the Dickinson family and Smith Kellogg live in the same vicinity. It is therefore probable that Ellen White is referring to the family of Preston and Celesta B. Dickinson, longtime residents of Jackson, Michigan, including the three years or so in the mid-1850s, when John Preston Kellogg and family lived in Jackson. See: Obituary: “Preston Dickinson,” Review, May 12, 1868, p. 350; 1850 U.S. Federal Census, “Preston Dickinson,” Michigan, Jackson County, Jackson Township, p. 654; E. Green, “From Bro. Green,” Review, Oct. 7, 1858, p. 159; Richard W. Schwarz, John Harvey Kellogg, M.D., pp. 16, 17.
I saw that Brother Cornell had not counseled with his aged brethren as he should have done; he was too independent. Those who have brought up a family and, like Abram, have commanded them after themselves, are almost always better prepared to judge in matters of the church than young preachers. Some of the preachers have got out of their place. They have felt perfectly qualified in church matters when their own hearts were not right. I saw that Brother Cornell must die to self-dignity and must get rid of jealousy, for it is cruel as the grave. 1EGWLM 507.3
Said the angel, “God's children are as the apple of His eye, and when you touch them to hurt them you touch the apple of God's eye.” Said the angel, “The oil and the wine have been hurt. Hurt not the oil and the wine.” Said the angel, “Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father.” This, I saw, did not mean preachers, but aged men, those that are fathers in experience. This has been overlooked in Brother Kellogg's case.15 In 1856 Merritt Cornell was 29 and apparently had no children (see Lt 10, 1863 [Nov. 28], to Angeline Cornell: “you have only yourself and husband to care for”). J. P. Kellogg, on the other hand, was 49 and the father of 12 children (eventually 16, although not all survived). See: Obituary: “Merritt E. Cornell,” Review, Jan. 23, 1894, p. 63; obituary, “J. P. Kellogg,” Review, May 31, 1881, p. 350.
I saw that with great trembling should the young preachers receive an accusation against their fellow laborers and the old hoary-headed fathers of the church. I saw there was not that weeping spirit and meek spirit among the preachers there should be. I saw that all that was required of Brother Cornell was to break all down before God, have a humble, childlike spirit, and then will he plant himself firmly in the hearts of his brethren. I saw you must be careful how you stretch out your hand to bring rebels into the camp, lest the Lord destroy you and them together. If God has honest ones among the Messenger Party that have left us, they will find enough to do to come all the way back, confessing humbly their wicked course. We must not meet them halfway.16 At least part of the concern expressed here appears to be that scarce time and resources should not be diverted trying to debate with and reclaim those who had decided to join the Messenger Party. The Sabbatarian movement had more pressing priorities, as argued by Ellen White in 1855: “Christ is coming, and the great work of the last message of mercy is of too much importance for us to leave it and come down to answer such falsehoods, misrepresentations, and slanders, as the Messenger party have fed upon.” See: Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 123; EGWEnc, s.v. “Messenger Party.”
In love. 1EGWLM 508.3