Ellen G. White — Messenger to the Remnant

The Morning Carriage Drives

In the later years of her life it was Mrs. White’s custom to drive out with the carriage on pleasant mornings. She was usually accompanied by some of her helpers. These drives often took her up and down the Napa Valley and many times over the narrow, winding roads of the coast range. These trips gave her a pleasant diversion, and broadened her acquaintance in the neighborhood. EGWMR 108.8

Away from home, when it could be arranged, she continued this practice. In 1904 she spent a year at Takoma Park, Washington, D.C., and frequently drove through the forests and parks. One such drive brought a pleasant experience to her in which, being human, she took a bit of pride, for she met President Theodore Roosevelt. She speaks of this in writing to her son: EGWMR 108.9

“A few days ago Sister Hall, Sara, and I went for a long drive in Rock Creek Park. This is a most beautiful place. I have seldom driven over finer roads. This is a national park. Here the President takes his rides. The drives are equal to, yes, more than equal to anything that I saw in Denmark or Switzerland. On our drive we met the President. He bowed to us as we passed him.”—Letter 357, 1904. EGWMR 108.10

Many of the residents within a radius of ten miles of “Elmshaven” were of Southern European descent. Their principal occupation was grape growing and wine making. Just over the hill there was a very large stone winery, reputed for many years to be the largest in the world. Seventh-day Adventists, with their temperance principles, were not too popular with many of these people. EGWMR 108.11

These circumstances, however, did not deter Mrs. White from making many a friendly acquaintance with those on surrounding farms. As she drove up the valley perhaps she would notice a mother on the porch or in the yard. Likely as not she would stop and visit with the woman. No, she did not know her name, but that did not matter. She knew a mother’s heart and a mother’s problems. Oftentimes these visits rendered an opportunity for a bit of missionary work, either by word, or, in the case of the less fortunate, by deed. EGWMR 108.12

Years after her death Ellen White was tenderly remembered by not a few of the residents of the Napa Valley as “the little old woman with white hair, who always spoke so lovingly of Jesus.” EGWMR 108.13