Ellen G. White: The Early Elmshaven Years: 1900-1905 (vol. 5)

Chapter 23—The Fall and Winter Work at Elmshaven

The summer of 1903 had been hot and dry, with no rain for nearly six months. This was not unusual for northern California. 5BIO 307.1

The farm, under Iram James's management for the second year, was doing well. W. C. White reported, “We do not bother our heads about it.” It produced eight and one-half tons of prunes in 1903. When dried, this yielded three and one-half tons of dried fruit. Several one hundred pound bags were sent as a gift to the Oakwood school for blacks in Alabama (23 WCW, pp. 167, 168, 258). 5BIO 307.2

The grapes also yielded well. With the use of machinery purchased for the purpose, they were turned into grape juice; in 1903, 850 gallons were bottled and sold. Eventually a fruit-storage shed was constructed north of the barn to accommodate the business of the Home Fruit Company. 5BIO 307.3

Ellen White, at Elmshaven, had followed the rapid developments in Battle Creek and Washington. From day to day, as the Lord impressed her mind, she wrote letters of counsel. She was perplexed because Elder A. T. Jones, in response to Dr. Kellogg's invitation, and in spite of her warnings, had given up executive work in the California Conference and had gone to Battle Creek. She heard reports of the plans of Kellogg and Jones to reopen Battle Creek College, a plan she strongly opposed. This was in addition to the accelerating inroads of the pantheistic philosophies that Kellogg espoused, which have been noted at length. 5BIO 307.4

Elder Daniells kept before her many questions concerning the work in Washington. Eager for prompt replies, Daniells asked W. C. White to set aside one afternoon a week to consider the matters he presented. To this, White replied: 5BIO 307.5

For more than a week Mother has been writing rapidly on the various issues mentioned in your letter, and all her helpers have been busy in copying these documents and getting packages ready to send to you, to A. T. Jones, and to Elder G. C. Tenney.... The facts are, my brother, that all of our book work has been laid aside by all of our helpers except Sister Davis, and that the whole force of our department has been devoted to the preparation of those testimonies which we thought would be of value to you and to our brethren in council at Washington.—22 WCW, p. 342. 5BIO 308.1

Meeting the pantheistic crisis drained Ellen White's strength and left her courage at a low ebb. The experience in Washington at the Autumn Council lifted the burden considerably, except for Dr. Kellogg. She now turned to work on The Ministry of Healing and Testimonies, volume 8. 5BIO 308.2

Describing the workers and the work in the office, W. C. White reported: 5BIO 308.3

Sister Davis is making excellent progress with The Ministry of Healing. Sister Hare is preparing copying general matter for Testimonies, volume 8. Brother Crisler is preparing [compiling from EGW materials] a series of articles for the Southern Watchman. Brother Robinson is largely occupied with writing out [copying] Mother's original matter, and Helen Graham writes and copies, and helps all around.— Ibid., 919, 920. 5BIO 308.4

On December 21, Elder Daniells wrote a letter and sent a diagram showing the proposed location of the buildings for the Sanitarium and the school on the fifty acres secured in Takoma Park. Ellen White read the letter twice and studied the plans. The plan showed three hundred feet between the buildings of the two institutions. W. C. White describes her reaction on that late December day: 5BIO 308.5

She went out with me while I paced off three hundred feet from her house. We find that that is just the distance from the southeast corner of her house to the little bridge on the road to my house. It seems to us to be a short distance to separate the main buildings of what will grow to be two large and important institutions.—23 WCW, p. 90. 5BIO 308.6

He added: 5BIO 309.1

Aside from this, your plans as proposed strike us very favorably.— Ibid.

November 26 was Ellen White's seventy-sixth birthday. A dozen of her old friends came down from the Sanitarium to spend a pleasant hour celebrating, but such experiences reminded her that her years were running out and she must hasten on with her literary work. 5BIO 309.2

Christmas at Elmshaven was a usual workday. W. C. White reported in a long letter to A. G. Daniells: 5BIO 309.3

It is a bright, crisp, frosty, sunny morning: an ideal day for midwinter in California. If we had any time to be merry, we could make it a merry Christmas.— Ibid., 58. 5BIO 309.4

Book work was being pushed by other members of the staff. 5BIO 309.5