The Salamanca Vision and the 1890 Diary

Introduction

This document deals with Ellen G. White’s travels and labors during the last three months of 1890, with special emphasis on her vision of November 3 of that year at Salamanca, New York. It includes: (a) large segments of her 1890 diary; (b) excerpts from letters she wrote in the latter part of the year; (c) all of her known references to the Salamanca vision; and (d) the recollections of a number of people who were present at the March 8, 1891, meeting in Battle Creek, when Mrs. White first publicly related the striking details of that vision. SVD 2.1

Beginning in 1859 Ellen White endeavored, as she was able, to maintain a day-by-day account of her activities. As the years passed her diaries developed into what might be called diary-journals. Counsels for the church and the contents of her visions were intermingled with particulars of a personal nature. In her 1890 diary, the essentially spiritual materials appear at times on pages already partially filled with autobiographical items. At other times a passage several pages in length follows a personal entry. There is also a long section at the end of the book dealing with the contents of the Salamanca vision. SVD 2.2

It is exceedingly difficult to determine precisely when such materials were written, as the dates given sometimes refer to the events being described rather than to the time of writing. Ellen White’s dating procedures were not fully understood by the White Estate staff when the 1890 diary was transcribed some years ago. Her principal narratives of the Salamanca vision, while appearing in her 1890 diary, apparently were not written until 1891, but how much was written before the dramatic early morning meeting of March 8, 1891, is not known. It is important to note, however, that the supernatural validation of the Salamanca vision, in the mind of Ellen White, depended not on the date when she described it with her pen, but on the fact that she was able, early on March 8, to publicly delineate the details of the secret midnight meeting of March 7 before anyone had opportunity to talk to her about it. SVD 2.3

In order for the reader to receive as full an understanding of this experience as possible, we are including a day-by-day account of Ellen White’s travels from the time she left Battle Creek on October 8, 1890, to the time of her return to that city nearly three months later, on December 30. A few exhibits from the handwritten originals of her diary and letters are also included. SVD 3.1

We trust that this information will be helpful to all who are interested in Ellen White’s ministry, and especially to those who want to know more about the Salamanca vision. ¹ SVD 3.2