Ellen G. White: The Australian Years: 1891-1900 (vol. 4)

Ellen White Employs Fannie Bolton

Fannie had been invited to join Ellen White's staff in 1887. The daughter of a Methodist minister, Fannie was brought into the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Chicago through the evangelistic efforts of G. B. Starr and his wife. At the time, she was a correspondent for the Chicago Daily Inter Ocean. She received her literary training at the ladies’ seminary at Evanston, Illinois (DF 445, G. B. Starr to L. E. Froom, March 19, 1933), and seemed well fitted for a promising future. Starr and others gave her a hearty recommendation for work on Ellen White's staff, and although she was just barely acquainted with Ellen White and W. C. White, she was employed upon Ellen White's return from Europe. She was to fit in where needed, but her work was to be largely in preparing Ellen White's materials in article form for the Review and Herald, Signs of the Times, and the Youth's Instructor. She traveled west with the White group and resided with them in the White home in Healdsburg, California. W. C. White reported that Fannie “proved to be brilliant and entertaining, and although somewhat erratic at times, was loved by the other members of the family.” He and a later secretary, D. E. Robinson, explained the character of her work: 4BIO 238.1