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

Return to California

With Edith Donaldson, Ellen White boarded the steamer Idaho on Wednesday, July 10, bound for San Francisco for a trip that turned out to be not quite as tempestuous as the one going to Oregon. The captain allowed her to keep her porthole open, and she relished the fresh air until a huge wave washed into the cabin, soaking everything. The steward who set things in order closed the porthole, and thus, commented Ellen White, “ended the fresh air I was to have in my stateroom” (Letter 40a, 1878). 3BIO 89.1

She wrote of the pleasure she received by watching a school of whales, and commented on “these monsters of the deep spouting the water high up from the ocean,” a little diversity in a monotonous journey. She took pleasure in sharing with fellow passengers some of the publications on present truth. 3BIO 89.2

She anticipated remaining in California, pressing on with her writing, visiting the churches, and then attending the California camp meeting, scheduled for mid-September. But on June 27 the General Conference Committee, with her husband as chairman, urged her presence at the forthcoming General Conference session scheduled for early October. She had felt that her presence was unnecessary, but in the face of the formal and urgent request she quickly adjusted her plans to enable her to attend not only the session but some of the Eastern camp meetings as well. Responding on July 27 to a telegram from her husband, she wrote: 3BIO 89.3

When your telegram reached us, we were packed. My appointments had gone to Sacramento and Reno.... I must speak [in the] East if I cross the Plains this fall. I shall attend all the camp meetings I can and shall do my uttermost to arouse the people of God from this stupor and lethargy.... My soul feels to the very depths the necessity of a close walk with God if anything is done to resist and press back the moral darkness that is crowded in everywhere.—Letter 42, 1878. 3BIO 89.4

The next Sunday, July 28, she, Edith Donaldson, and Emma White were on the train headed for the East, with stopovers planned for Reno, Nevada, where J. N. Loughborough was holding an evangelistic effort, and in Colorado, where she was to meet vacationing James and other members of the family. 3BIO 89.5

James White had arrived in Battle Creek on June 5, intending to go into the Sanitarium for a month or two, for rest and to receive treatments (The Signs of the Times, May 30, 1878). In Battle Creek he found W. C. White and Mary and soon had interviews with them and Dr. John Kellogg. Learning the facts concerning the Sanitarium, he wrote for the Review: 3BIO 90.1

We are surprised at the prosperity of the institution. The building is completed and completely furnished. It has capacity sufficient to treat three hundred patients. There are one hundred and twenty here today. The reputation of this institution is such abroad, and especially in this city and State, and the people have such confidence in the integrity of Seventh-day Adventists, that three hundred can be gathered here as well as one hundred.—The Review and Herald, June 13, 1878. 3BIO 90.2

By June 24, James could write to his wife, “I report myself very much improved.” 3BIO 90.3

He found he could employ Willie Cornell to write in shorthand his letters and manuscripts for books and articles. In two days he could do what would take a whole week alone, and he reported that he was doing a great deal of writing. In this letter he assured Ellen that he had written to her each day since leaving Healdsburg on May 31, except one day. Not all these letters were preserved. 3BIO 90.4