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

Miss Marian Davis Joins the White Forces

Miss Marian Davis, connected with the Youth's Instructor staff in Battle Creek, on New Year's Day joined the Whites in Texas to assist them in literary work. At the time she was not well, but she had some of the skills they so much sought. “Marian is just what we need,” Ellen White wrote Willie and Mary a few days later; “she is splendid help.”—Letter 4, 1879. Thus began a close personal and working relationship between the two women that was to continue through the next twenty-five years until Marian's death in 1904. 3BIO 104.2

Now Ellen White was able to forge ahead with the preparation of personal testimonies. She wrote a number stemming from the comprehensive vision in Battle Creek on October 9, 1878; she also wrote some for publication, based on the same vision. She worked on the manuscript for what was later published as Bible Sanctification (see The Review and Herald, January 18, 1881, to Ibid., May 3, 1881; The Signs of the Times, September 21, 1882, to November 30, 1882), and the revision and amplification of materials on early world history to appear in the Signs. These latter eventually formed the basis of Patriarchs and Prophets. She also pressed on with the preparation of materials for Spirit of Prophecy, volume 4. 3BIO 104.3