Why Did Ellen G. White Borrow?

She Was A Traveler

From her diaries we discover that Ellen White was always an interested observer of people and places. These diaries often reveal highly detailed accounts. Traveling in the United States she wrote: WDEGWB 1.3

Our curiosity is excited somewhat in seeing mud cabins, adobe houses, and sage brush in abundance (Letter 18, 1873).

She was, of course, speaking of her own curiosity. She continues: WDEGWB 1.4

Fears are expressed of danger because of the wind in crossing the Dale Creek bridge—650 feet long and 126 feet high (Ibid).

Her detailed report continues: WDEGWB 1.5

We come to the Devil’s Slide. There are flat rocks set up like grave stones of nearly equal depth running from the river up the mountainside far above us a quarter of a mile, which mountain is covered with grass and shrubs. The stones are from fifty to two hundred feet high, standing upon their edge as though malleted into the rocky mountain (Ibid).

As she traveled across the United States on her way to Europe in 1885, Ellen White took the time to note that she had made this trip “26 times.” After her arrival in Europe she summed up the journey: WDEGWB 1.6

I had traveled more than seven thousand miles, written over 200 pages, and spoken thirteen times (Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 162). ¹

While in the Swiss Alps she was captivated by their beauty: WDEGWB 2.1

Mountain peaks rise above mountain peaks, the massive curiously splendid rocks that were heaped up by mighty agencies and sculptured by the storms of ages (Ms 62, 1886).

Often Ellen White gave detailed descriptions of places where she spoke. One such description is of a meeting hall in Drammen, Norway. She said it was a hall sometimes “used for balls and concerts, about 36 by 80 feet in size.... Six beer tables... served to make a platform, and another table set on top for light stand and pulpit, while steps were made with chairs and stools.” WDEGWB 2.2

She concludes her description, probably with a smile: WDEGWB 2.3

We doubt if the hall or beer tables were ever put to so good use before (Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 207).

Such illustrations of attention to detail could be multiplied. It is clear that she was a perceptive observer with a very good memory. She was a good tourist. What she saw, she remembered, and often writing of the experience in remarkable detail. Such attention to what she saw obviously was reflected in her other writing. WDEGWB 2.4