Through Turmoil and Travel

During the formative years that followed the 1844 disappointment there was agreement on little and disagreement on much. Had Jesus already returned spiritually? If not, should the time of His return be recalculated? What “door” was “shut” in 1844? Is there a place for charismatic experiences? Who should be recognized as “messengers” (ministers), and how should they be financially supported? Should the publishing effort continue? How should the movement deal with splinter groups, and is some sort of church organization (or “gospel order”) appropriate?1EGWLM 16.5

Throughout the turmoil James and Ellen White, together with Joseph Bates, emerged as the principal leaders of the growing band of Sabbatarian Adventists. Bates's early publications emphasized the eschatological significance of the Sabbath, and his views largely shaped the theological development of the movement. At the same time, James's editorship of what would become the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald (now the Adventist Review), along with his wife's influential visions, propelled the message forward. By 1852 the number of followers, by reliable estimation, may have approached 2,000 from a mere 200 in 1850.^{19James White, “A Brief Sketch of the Past” and “The Paper,” Review, May 6, 1852, pp. 5, 8.}1EGWLM 17.1

Three children were born to the Whites during the times of this volume: Henry Nichols (August 26, 1847), James Edson (July 28, 1849), and William Clarence (August 29, 1854). The demands of James and Ellen's incessant traveling found the boys too often cared for in the homes of close friends—circumstances the parents bemoaned,^{20See E. G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 211, 212.} but which generated frequent correspondence, for which this volume is the richer.1EGWLM 17.2

Those friends included the Howland, Hastings, and Nichols families—names that will become very familiar to the readers of the letters from this period. They opened their homes to the Whites, supported them in their ministries, and established such bonds as is evidenced in the naming of their first son, Henry Nichols White.1EGWLM 17.3

Shortly after Henry's birth the Howlands invited the young family to share space in their home at Topsham, Maine, where they “commenced housekeeping with borrowed articles.” “We were poor and saw close times,” wrote Ellen, who recounted James's grueling work handling stone on the nearby railroad before changing his labor to chopping wood “from early morning till dark,” earning about 50 cents a day.^{21Ibid., pp. 87, 88.}1EGWLM 17.4

Ellen described the desperate times further in her autobiography: “We did not wish to be dependent, and were careful to live within our means. We were resolved to suffer rather than get into debt. I allowed myself and child one pint of milk each day. In the morning before my husband went to his work, he left me nine cents to buy milk for three mornings. It was quite a study with me whether to deny myself and child of milk, or get an apron for him. I gave up the milk, and purchased the cloth for an apron to cover the bare arms of my child.”^{22Ibid., p. 89.}1EGWLM 17.5

According to James White,^{23James White, “Western Tour,” Review, Nov. 8, 1870, p. 165.} it was not many months later (in the autumn of 1848) that Ellen received her first vision regarding matters of health, specifically the injurious effects of tobacco, coffee, and tea. Other visions received during the times of this volume urged the importance of “cleanliness” and a diet consisting of “more coarse food with little grease,”^{24See Ellen G. White, Ms 1, 1854 (Feb. 12) and Ms 2, 1858 (Dec. 27).} but it was not until after her major “health reform” vision of June 6, 1863, that Ellen White would begin to focus more extensively on the relationship between physical and spiritual health—a topic soon to become one of the most prominent themes in her public speaking and writings.1EGWLM 17.6

For about two and a half years, beginning in the summer of 1849, publishing interests found the Whites transitioning among temporary residences in New England and New York. The Present Truth, initially published in July 1849 in Middletown, Connecticut, moved with the Whites to Oswego, New York, before its final number was issued in Paris, Maine. There, in November 1850, James launched the Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, but the paper's second volume (issued eight months later) hailed from Saratoga Springs, New York.1EGWLM 18.1

Continuing westward, the Whites eventually settled in April 1852 in a rented house in Rochester, New York. “You would smile could you look in upon us and see our furniture,” Ellen wrote to their longtime friends the Howlands. She continued: “We have bought two old bedsteads for twenty-five cents each. My husband brought me home six old mismatched chairs, for which he paid one dollar, and soon he presented me with four more old chairs, without any seating, paid sixty-two cents for the lot. … Butter is so high we do not purchase it, neither can we afford potatoes. We use sauce in the place of butter, and turnips for potatoes. The cherry sauce was provided for us by Sr. Harris. We are willing to endure privations if the work of God can be advanced. We believe the Lord's hand was in our coming to this place.”^{25E. G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol 2], pp. 160, 161.}1EGWLM 18.2

The following year, after a contentious conference in Jackson, Michigan, the young movement faced its first organized opposition from within—led by Hiram S. Case (an itinerant preacher) and his close friend Charles P. Russell. In 1854 they launched their rival paper, the Messenger of Truth, in which Ellen White's visions came under steady attack.1EGWLM 18.3

“The Messenger Party,” as it came to be known, was short-lived (having disbanded by 1857), but it served to advance the growing sentiment advocated by James and Ellen White that “gospel order” was indispensable for the continued unity of the Sabbatarian churches. In the midst of the Messenger storm Ellen White would write definitively of this need in a chapter devoted to the topic in her Supplement to the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White (1854).^{26Ellen G. White, Supplement to the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White, pp. 15-23.}1EGWLM 18.4