Making A Beginning

The first step was to find the funds with which to make the payment of 275 pounds, due on June 30. W. C. White reported to A. G. Daniells:WV 310.5

On Thursday, June 28, I borrowed £150 from Brother Sherwin and £105 from the Australian Tract Society, and scraped up all there was in our house, and made payment of the £275 due on the first payment (Ibid., 488).WV 310.6

Their solicitor (attorney) said the title was good. Two weeks later Mr. Lawrence, the church member who had come from Michigan, rented an old 12-room hotel in Cooranbong, known as the Healey Hotel, and the furniture at the Bible school in Melbourne was sent for. Arrangements were made for surveying the land (6 WCW, p. 68). The last two weeks of August found quite a company of workers at Cooranbong.WV 310.7

Ellen White's enthusiasm for the Cooranbong property knew no bounds. She began making plans and looked forward to visiting as often as possible.WV 310.8

As soon as it had been decided to purchase the Brettville estate for the school, a horse and cart were purchased in Sydney and dispatched to Cooranbong for the Lawrence family and visitors to use. Mr. Collins, a colporteur leader suffering some eye difficulty, and Jimmy Gregory collected provisions for three days and started out on the 76-mile (122-kilometer) journey. At Cooranbong the rig proved very helpful. It was put to use by Mrs. White, Emily, and May Lacey while visiting Cooranbong in August. (May Lacey was the young woman Willie had met at the Bible school in Melbourne and had brought into the home to replace May Walling, who had returned to America.)WV 310.9

As they drove, or walked around the empty acres, Ellen White liked to visualize what might be planted here and there. She wrote to her close working companion, Marian Davis:WV 311.1

I have planned what can be raised in different places. I have said, “Here can be a crop of alfalfa; there can be strawberries; here can be sweet corn and common corn; and this ground will raise good potatoes, while that will raise good fruit of all kinds.” So in imagination I have all the different places in a flourishing condition (Letter 14, 1894).WV 311.2

She little dreamed how long in the future that might be!WV 311.3