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. WV 546.5
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: WV 546.6