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

Testimony No. 26

From time to time, over a period of twenty years there had come from the press messages for the church published in pamphlet form. After the first, which consisted of sixteen pages issued in 1855, they were numbered as published and varied greatly in the amount of pages. The Signs of the Times, February 10, 1876, announced: 3BIO 18.2

Testimony for the Church No. 26 is ready. Orders will be filled as fast as possible.... The book has 208 pages, and is the most important of the kind ever printed. 3BIO 18.3

It was advertised for thirty cents and soon reached out to members in both the East and West. It was from the material of this book that the early 1876 Signs articles were drawn. 3BIO 18.4

As the series of articles on Ellen White's life continued, the need was soon felt for more detailed information concerning certain events. Many details had been forgotten. James White, who was handling the details of the biographical series while Ellen White was occupied in writing on the life of Christ, ran the following note on the back page of the February 10 issue of the Signs: 3BIO 18.5

In the preparation of Mrs. White's life, her numerous letters will be a fruitful source from which to draw. Her friends are, therefore, urgently invited to forward all letters that remain in their hands. Please address Mrs. E. G. White, Oakland, California, care Signs of the Times. 3BIO 18.6

From week to week the paper served as the means of communication between James and Ellen White and the church on the Pacific Coast. Through the back page of the issue of March 3, under the title of “Brief Report,” White declared: 3BIO 18.7

Having completed the work for which the committee of the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists called us to the State, and feeling that duty calls us to the more general interests of the cause, we wish to briefly report what has been done, and the present financial condition of the association. A full report can be given at the time of the annual meeting in April. 3BIO 18.8

He noted that the Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association had been incorporated in April, 1875, with Adventists providing capital in stock in the amount of $15,000. The lot and building had cost $16,000. Friends in the East had invested $11,000 to purchase equipment and supplies, and there was a debt on the enterprise of only $2,000 (Ibid.). The plant was located in the city of Oakland, “the pride of California,” and the publishing house was a two-story building with a good basement for storage and a good attic. It was in the form of a Greek cross, sixty-six by twenty-six feet east and west, and forty-six by twenty-six feet north and south. In the rear was a “brick engine house eleven feet from the main building,” in which was housed “the New York Safety Engine,” used to power two fine presses (Ibid., November 11, 1875). 3BIO 19.1

White described Oakland as a rapidly growing city of some twenty-one thousand. He declared: 3BIO 19.2

The climate of Oakland is delightful. The water is good. The people attend to their own business and respect those who in a proper manner mind theirs. Probably there is not a city on the globe where the rights of men are regarded more sacred and where property and human life are safer than in Oakland.—Ibid. 3BIO 19.3

His comments on the location of the office in the city, on Castro Street between Eleventh and Twelfth, reveal what was anticipated in the way of working conditions and prospective work: 3BIO 19.4

We are five blocks from the noise of Broadway, in a quiet part of the city. And as we do not covet common printing, our retired position is desirable for our own work and fine book and music printing from the outside, which is already pressing in upon us before we are fully ready for such work.— Ibid. 3BIO 19.5

The March 9, 1876, Signs carried the information that the board of directors of the Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek had decided to put up a large main building and had invited James White and O. B. Jones to direct the carrying out of these plans. 3BIO 19.6

One week later, after reviewing what had been accomplished in “preaching by steam” in Battle Creek and Oakland, White introduced a challenging proposition: 3BIO 19.7

Just as the Pacific Press is completely established, the advancing cause in Europe demands that there should be an office of publication in Switzerland.—Ibid., March 16, 1876 3BIO 20.1

Still a week later, in the issue of March 23, J. H. Waggoner, working on the Pacific Coast, announced: 3BIO 20.2

An extra session of the General Conference has been appointed to convene March 31. Subjects of great importance are to be considered, which demand that an extra session shall be held. 3BIO 20.3

Brother James White, president of the General Conference, left Oakland yesterday morning, the twenty-second, for Battle Creek, Michigan, to attend this conference. We are happy to say that Brother White left California in good health and with good courage. He has labored very hard here for nearly six months past under circumstances which might have discouraged one of less faith and less consecration to the cause of truth. The work of the publishing house has prospered wonderfully under his careful management. 3BIO 20.4

In a last-page note on March 30, under the heading “Meeting House in Oakland,” Waggoner reported: 3BIO 20.5

By the assistance of Brother White, the Oakland church have secured a building site at a cost of $4,000, in a desirable situation, and the work of building a house of worship has already commenced. At a meeting of the church on the evening of the twenty-third, Brother O. B. Jones was requested by a unanimous vote to take charge of the work. 3BIO 20.6

When James White left for Battle Creek, Ellen remained in their Oakland home; she was looking forward to making great strides with the help of Mary Clough, in writing on the life of Christ. Fortunately for the biographer, the distance between husband and wife necessitated much correspondence, rich in the story of day-by-day happenings. 3BIO 20.7