Lt 7, 1849

[September 1849],¹

Ellen White provides no date for this letter, but does offer a useful clue: “I am now on my way to visit Henry, and present to him his little brother.” That she was coming to “present” Edson to his brother Henry strongly suggests that the two were to meet for the first time. It is very likely that this meeting took place in September 1849, when Edson was only 2 months old. According to the account in Spiritual Gifts, “when he [Edson] was six weeks old we went to Maine” visiting, during September 1849, among other places a conference at Topsham where Henry lived with the Howland family. Although Ellen White does not specifically state that Edson went with them to Maine, this would seem to be the most natural interpretation.

See: Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 116, 118; Joseph Bates to Leonard and Elvira Hastings, Sept. 25, 1849.

n.p.1EGWLM 186.1

Letter to
Gilbert N. and Deborah L. Collins.²

The Whites had a close relationship with Philip and Nancy Collins and their children, which explains the fact that this special letter was written to the children. Correspondence between James White and the Collinses can be traced back to 1846. Six letters from either James or Ellen White to the Collins family have been preserved. In early 1849 the Whites had answered an urgent call to come to Dartmouth when Gilbert Collins was seriously ill. He was dramatically healed in answer to prayer.

See: James White to Philip Collins, Aug. 26, 1846; Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 108, 109.

1EGWLM 186.2

This letter is published in entirety in Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, pp. 174, 175.

Letter of encouragement and admonition to children of close friends.1EGWLM 186.3

Dear Children, Gilbert and Deborah,

I have just laid down my child [James Edson White] a few moments to write you a word. Are you good children? Do you keep the commandments of God, and love and obey your parents? If you do you have the promise of entering the holy city where all is harmony and joy. You must pray to God much that He would accept you, and keep you from the pestilence and sickness that is abroad in the land.³

For background on the 1849 pestilence, see Charles E. Rosenberg, The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866.

1EGWLM 186.4

God loves the young if their hearts are turned unto Him, and He loves to bless them.1EGWLM 186.5

I am now on my way to visit Henry [Henry Nichols White], and present to him his little brother.⁴

See: Note 1 above.

I hope you will be good children. Love God. Speak the truth at all times. Be obedient to your parents, and then God will be pleased with you, smile upon and bless you. Be good, be good.1EGWLM 186.6

In haste and love.1EGWLM 187.1