James White's Funeral

On Sabbath afternoon, August 13, some 2,500 Seventh-day Adventists and Battle Creek townspeople assembled in the tabernacle for the funeral of James White. Even though very ill, Ellen attended. She recounted:WV 209.2

We then went in hacks to the Tabernacle, and I was carried in a chair while the mourners followed. I was laid upon the sofa prepared with pillows. I was carefully watched by the doctor (Letter 9, 1881).WV 209.3

In his funeral address Uriah Smith eulogized the deceased and spoke of his activities in connection with the origin and rise of the Seventh-day Adventist Church:WV 209.4

Before us, shrouded for the tomb, lies the man with whom it had its very beginning. Taking hold of this work while as yet it had neither form nor substance, under the leadings of what he regarded as the clearest indications of Divine Providence, he bore it in his arms heroically forward, making ways where none appeared, removing obstacles calculated to arrest its progress, defending it from enemies without and within, devising means for the development of strength, until it has reached its present growth, and stands today in its highest attainment of vitality.WV 209.5

With every advance movement, with every new enterprise connected with this work, with all its outreachings to occupy new territory, and with the employment of new agencies to accomplish desired ends, his name has been connected, and his efforts have been inseparably interwoven (In Memoriam: A Sketch of the Last Sickness and Death of Elder James White, 23).WV 209.6

Smith enumerated in some detail, giving illustrations, predominating traits, and characteristics of the man with whom he had worked intimately for so many years:WV 209.7

We first notice that in times of confusion and excitement he was always calm and cool....WV 209.8

Secondly, he was a man never given to fanaticism....WV 209.9

Thirdly, he was endued with remarkable acuteness of perception to determine the most judicious moves to be made....Fourthly, he was a man who would never yield to discouragement. The word “fail” was not in his vocabulary....WV 209.10

Fifthly, he was a man who would look forward to the future wants of his work, and make provision for them. He foresaw that certain elements of stability must be wrought into the work, which could be secured only through organization....WV 210.1

Sixthly, he was a man of strong personal friendships, and of a remarkably generous nature. To have a regard for the interest of others, and to see that their circumstances were rendered as favorable as possible, was a part of his nature (Ibid., 29-33).WV 210.2