- About the Author
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- Abbreviations
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- Here the Story Begins
- Harbingers of the Advent Awakening
- Carefree Childhood Days
- Early Experiences Recounted
- A “School Days” Experience
- The Family Moves to the City of Portland
- The Portland the Youthful Ellen Harmon Knew
- Hatmaking in the Harmon House
- Attending Brackett Street School
- The Textbooks She Read
- Robert Harmon's Trip to Georgia
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- The Question of the Immortality of the Soul
- The Time of Expectation Passes
- A Test of True Character
- The Second Angel's Message
- October 22, 1844, The Day of Expectation
- The Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844
- The Failing Health of Ellen Harmon
- Ellen Harmon Given a Vision—Her First
- The First Vision as Published in the Day-Star
- The Vision Answered Many Pressing Questions
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- The Otis Nichols Letter of April 20, 1846
- Ellen's Experience in Delivering the Message
- Early Arguments for the Spirit of Prophecy
- Some High Points of her Work in Eastern Maine
- Vision of Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary
- Some Fanatical Positions She Met
- Wrestling With the Views of the Spiritualizers
- Ellen Leaves Suddenly for Home
- The Healing of Frances Howland and William Hyde
- Preserved from Fanaticism
- Visit to New Hampshire
- Contending with Spiritual Magnetism
- Called Back to Portland
- Vision of the New Earth
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- Enabled to Write
- The Large Family Bible
- The Bible Held in Vision
- The Unenviable Position of the Prophet
- A Symbolic Warning
- “Another Angel, Father!”
- Who Could be Saved?
- The First Visit to Massachusetts
- The 1845 Expectancy of the Second Advent
- The Second Visit to Massachusetts
- Otis Nichols’ Eyewitness Account
- Meeting Joseph Bates at New Bedford
- The Publication of Her First Vision—January, 1846
- Publication of the Vision of the Heavenly Sanctuary
- The Place of the Vision in Confirming the Sanctuary Truth
- God's Leadings Clearly Manifest
- The Vision in a Sailboat
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- Writing for the Press
- Ellen White described its reception:
- The Proclamation of the Third Angel's Message
- The Content of the Paper
- Birth of a Second Son, James Edson White
- The Paris, Maine, Conference
- Among the Believers in Maine and New York State
- A Hymnbook for the Sabbathkeeping Adventists
- The Little Paper Almost Died
- Death Invades the Camp
- Fruitage of Public Ministry in Oswego
- Vision of Future Events
- The Visit to Vermont and Maine
- The Gift of a Horse and Carriage
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- Satan's Vicious Attacks
- Special Significance Disclosed by Vision
- The Third Angel's Message to be Made Plain by a Chart
- A Marked and Significant Change in the Tide
- Many Visions Giving Insights and Guidance
- A Summary of Other Important Visions
- A Time for Development of the Doctrinal Structure
- The Crucial Yet Productive Years of the “Scattering Time”
- Taking Up Residence in Maine
- Significant Conferences at Paris and Topsham
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- Concerted Plan to Publish the Visions
- Ellen White's First Book
- Settling in Saratoga Springs, New York
- Moves Toward Order and Organization
- The Conference at Washington, New Hampshire
- The Bethel, Vermont, Conference
- The Conference at Johnson, Vermont
- The Conference at Vergennes, Vermont
- Testimony Concerning Using Tobacco
- The Midwinter Tour in Western New York
- Back Home in Saratoga Springs
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- Ellen G. White Looks Back
- Positive Denial of the False Charge
- Explained Further as a Charge is Answered in 1883
- Developing Perception on Ellen White's Part
- A Term with a Changing Meaning
- Vision of the Open and Shut Door
- Labor for Sinners During the Shut-Door Period of 1845 to 1851
- Experience of Heman Churchill (July, 1850)
- J. H. Waggoner Recalls His Experience
- A Review of 1851 Developments
- Criticism of Deletions from the First Vision
- Why Were the Lines Omitted in 1851?
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- Strict Economy Maintained
- Working in the Opening West
- First Visit of James and Ellen White to Michigan
- With the Believers in Jackson, Michigan
- The Strange Case of a Self-Appointed Woman Evangelist
- Lost on the Way to Vergennes
- The Vergennes Meeting and Mrs. Alcott
- Back Home in Rochester
- The Review and Herald to be Published Weekly
- The 1853 Eastern Tour
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- The Vital Need for Church Organization
- James White Joins in Calling for Gospel Order
- The Tour of Northeastern New York State
- Sins Tolerated in the Camp
- Early Light on Basic Health Principles
- Ellen White's Battle With Disease
- Continuing the Evangelistic Thrust
- The Trip to Wisconsin
- Establishing the First “Adventist Book Center”
- Eyes on the Evangelistic Tent
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- The Vision at Hillsdale, Michigan
- Visiting the Churches in Eastern Michigan
- The Concept of the Investigative Judgment Dawns
- A Power Press for the Review Office
- Plans for a Trip East
- Vision at Buck's Bridge, New York
- The August Vision at Monterey, Michigan
- The October Visit to Monterey and Another Important Vision
- The Battle Creek Conference
- The Vision of the Shaking
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- Meetings in Ohio
- The Great Controversy Vision
- Counsels for New Believers
- A View of the Agelong Controversy in its Broad Sweep
- Ellen White Tells the Story at the General Conference in May
- The Choice of Title for the Forthcoming Book
- A Startling and Thought-Provoking Object Lesson
- M. B. Czechowski, the Converted Catholic Priest
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- The Conference Address on Organizing Churches
- The Eight-Week Eastern Tour
- Vision at Roosevelt, New York
- The Battle Creek Church Sets the Pace in Organizing
- A Creed and the Spirit of Prophecy
- The Formation of the Michigan Conference
- Other States Organize
- Cautions Sounded
- M. E. Cornell to Go to Ohio
- Confessions of Negative Attitudes
- James White Surveys the Battle and Victory
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- Vision at Parkville, Michigan
- Ellen White Examined While in Vision
- At Home and Writing Personal Testimonies
- The Inroads of Prevailing Fashion
- Letters to the Wife of a Minister
- Another Intimate Glimpse of the White Home Life
- A Second Vision of Civil War Involvement
- The New Publishing House
- The Five-Week Western Tour
- The War and the Threatening Draft of Recruits
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- First Annual Session of the Michigan State Conference
- The Business Sessions of the Conference
- Matters for Conference Consideration
- Organization of the General Conference
- The Last Few Weeks of 1862
- A Burden for the Youth of the Church
- Victories at Wright and Orleans
- Triumphant Year-End Meetings at Battle Creek
- The Church Prepared for Development and Expansion
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Chapter 4—(1844-1845) Make It Known to Others
Through the early-winter months of 1844-1845, the Advent believers in Portland, Maine—and, in fact, elsewhere—seldom smiled. On the streets they were taunted and ridiculed by former friends and acquaintances. They often had to meet the assertion “You were a set of fools and fanatics” or “I told you so.” The uniform testimony of those who passed through the experience was that only those who had endured it could realize the depth of disappointment and its reality.1BIO 60.1
During the last days of October and through November, many of the believers lived in constant expectancy. The Advent papers that survived carried word from the leaders in the movement confirming them in their confidence that prophecy had been fulfilled. Wrote William Miller in a letter dated November 18, 1844:1BIO 60.2
We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake a formal church. God in His providence has shut the door; we can only stir one another up to be patient, and be diligent to make our calling and election sure.—Letter published in Advent Herald, December 11, 1844.1BIO 60.3
They fully believed that probation had closed and Jesus would come at almost any moment. But as the days stretched into weeks and Jesus did not come, their faith began to waver. By December most of the believers in the Portland area had abandoned their confidence in the integrity of the October 22 date (A Word to the Little Flock, 22). Every passing day drove home the conviction that nothing had taken place at that time. James White reported in 1847:1BIO 60.4
When she [Ellen] received her first vision, December, 1844, she and all the band [the group of Advent believers] in Portland, Maine (where her parents then resided) had given up the midnight cry, and shut door, as being in the past.—Ibid.1BIO 61.1
In other words, they assumed that the 2300 days had not ended yet. Writing to Joseph Bates on July 13, 1847, Ellen White declared:1BIO 61.2
At the time I had the vision of the midnight cry [December, 1844], I had given it up in the past and thought it future, as also most of the band had.—Letter 3, 1847.1BIO 61.3
This experience became quite general, and by April, 1845, the larger part of those who had been in the Advent movement and had not immediately repudiated their experience came to conclude that there had been a mistake in the date and that they must look for the fulfillment of the 2300-day prophecy at some time yet to come.1BIO 61.4
But that vision given to Ellen Harmon in December in the Haines home presented an entirely different picture. God had led His people. The Midnight Cry—a phrase that, as noted, grew out of the application of the parable of the ten virgins to October 22, 1844—shone as a light upon the pathway of the Advent believers who were making their way to the heavenly Canaan. If they trusted this light and kept their eyes fixed on Jesus they would safely enter into their reward.1BIO 61.5