Ellen G. White: The Progressive Years: 1862-1876 (vol. 2)

Another Reason for a Switch in Plans

But there was another reason for their switch in plans. Adelia Patten mentions this: 2BIO 70.1

While in Brookfield, New York, Elder White received impressions from a dream, which led him to feel that all was not well with the children, and that they must return to Maine without delay. Each day they anxiously waited the arrival of the mail, but news from Topsham reported “all well.” This did not satisfy their minds, and in accordance with their convictions of duty, when they had filled their appointments, they immediately returned to their children.—An Appeal to the Youth, 23. 2BIO 70.2

When on Friday, November 27, the parents reached Topsham, they found their three sons and Adelia waiting for them at the depot. They were all apparently in good health, except for Henry, who had a cold. But the next Tuesday, December 1, Henry was very ill with pneumonia. Years later Willie, his youngest brother, reconstructed the story: 2BIO 70.3

During the absence of their parents, Henry and Edson, under the supervision of Brother Howland, were busily engaged in mounting the charts on cloth, ready for sale. They worked in a rented store building about a block from the Howland home. At length they had a respite for a few days while they were waiting for charts to be sent from Boston.... Returning from a long tramp by the river, he [Henry] thoughtlessly lay down and slept on a few damp cloths used in backing the paper charts. A chilly wind was blowing in from an open window. This indiscretion resulted in a severe cold.—WCW, “Sketches and Memories of James and Ellen White,” The Review and Herald, December 10, 1936. 2BIO 70.4