Ellen G. White: The Lonely Years: 1876-1891 (vol. 3)

The 1891 General Conference Session

It was in this atmosphere that the General Conference session of 1891 opened, following a week-long council of conference presidents. The 102 delegates represented twenty-nine conferences and four mission fields. O. A. Olsen, president of the General Conference, gave his report as the first item of business. It was one of progress: The ministers’ school had been a real success, the colleges at Battle Creek and Healdsburg were full, South Lancaster Academy was crowded, and a new college at Lincoln, Nebraska, was under construction and would open in the fall. The Review and Herald was securing a new charter, the Pacific Press was crowded with work, and the publishing house in Norway had just added a cylinder press. The missionary ship Pitcairn, authorized at the previous General Conference session, had been built and had already visited the island of Pitcairn, where eighty-two were baptized and organized into a church. The Pitcairn was continuing its mission, visiting other islands in the South Pacific. S. N. Haskell, who had just returned from an around-the-world trip, brought thrilling reports of advances and opportunities. 3BIO 476.4

Among the many items the president reported on was the progress toward consolidation of the publishing interests of the denomination, bringing them under one management and board of control. The plan looked attractive and promising. 3BIO 477.1