"Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith" (Heb.13:7, RSV).

"Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider
the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith" (Heb.13:7, RSV).
How can a person get to know the real Abraham Lincoln or Florence
Nightingale or Booker T. Washington? In part, by reading their writings. But
to get objectivity one should listen to what others say about them. One must
turn to their contemporaries and note how they were affected or influenced
by these exceptional people.

When Lincoln died, note the mourning of a nation. As his funeral train
slowly wound itself west to his resting place in Springfield, Illinois,
thousands of mourners lined the track, tears flowing freely. Rich and poor,
black and white, educated and unschooled-the grief throbbed across a union
of States now nearly at peace. After his death, even his enemies applauded
his greatness of spirit and transparent unselfishness.1 For the millions who
called him "Father Abraham," his premature death was as if a parent had
died. When the United States built its first transcontinental highway from
Jersey City, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California, President Taft felt
that naming the new road the "Lincoln Highway" would further national
unity.2

However, when President Lincoln was alive, he was the target of immense
ridicule and scathing rejection by many national leaders, their followers,
and by the public press. But after he died, a stunned nation began to
appreciate what he stood for. A sad but grateful nation soon treasured his
profound speeches and writings, such as the Gettysburg Address and his
Second Inaugural Address. The enormous contribution of Abraham Lincoln could
be seen in true perspective only with the passing of time and after calm
reflection.

Looking forward to Ellen White's visit to Australia in 1891, G. C. Tenney,
first president of the Australian Conference, wrote in the church paper: "I
need hardly say that this event is anticipated by us all with great
interest. I believe it is most opportune. The position that Sister White and
her work occupy in connection with our cause renders it imperative that our
people should become personally acquainted with her, so far as possible.

"The evidences, from a Bible standpoint, of the authenticity of the work of
the Spirit of Prophecy in connection with the last church are
all-sufficient, but a closer acquaintance with the work of Sister White
seems to be demanded, in order to satisfy the honest inquirer that it fills
the requirements of God's Word."3

Like Lincoln, Ellen White was often maligned. She faced lies of "sheer
malice and enmity" and "pure fabrications of iniquity." Writing from
Greenville, Michigan, when she was 41, she contemplated: "I do not doubt for
a moment but the Lord had sent me that the honest souls who had been
deceived might have an opportunity to see and hear for themselves what
manner of spirit the woman possessed who had been presented to the public in
such a false light in order to make the truth of God of none effect. . . ."4

Later in that letter she wrote: "None are compelled to believe. God gives
sufficient evidence that all may decide upon the weight of evidence, but He
never has nor never will remove all chance [opportunity] for doubt, never
will force faith."

Quoting an old woodsmen's proverb, Carl Sandburg entitled the
next-to-the-last chapter in his six-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln, "A
tree is best measured when it's down."5 While alive, no man or woman can be
fully measured. Never was this more true than with the life of Christ. Only
with the passing of time can anyone's life be properly evaluated. The
gushing praise of flatterers and the derisive contempt of adversaries alike
are best gauged and reappraised against the lasting results of a person's
words and deeds.

To a large extent, we are all children of our time. Ellen Harmon was born
into a world of enormous ferment and rapid change. To help us understand the
subjects she talked or wrote about, even the phrases she used, as well as
the kind of daily life she lived, we shall briefly note geographical,
political, economic, social, and religious factors that may have influenced
her maturing ministry.



Geographical Environment
[Top of Document]

Portland, Maine, the largest city nearest Ellen during her first twenty
years, was also the largest in Maine in 1840, with a population of 15,218.
Though that number seems small today, in the 1840s Portland exceeded the
size of New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut; and Savannah, Georgia.
Portland, a busy seaport, placed Maine third behind only Massachusetts and
New York in total shipping. Regular steamship connections with Boston often
experienced price wars, once dropping fares as low as 50 cents each way in
1841.6

In Ellen White's time, as today, the summers were proverbially pleasant,
winters harsh, with temperatures often below zero, even to a record 24
degrees Fahrenheit below zero (February 1, 1826). The harbor was often
frozen for days, even weeks, while the countryside, usually covered with
snow, made travel by sleigh ideal.7

Portland had a "progressive school system" for students between 4 and 21
years of age. Following primary school, a student could enter grammar school
after a public examination. However, free education for girls ended with
grammar school, while boys could go on to the English high school, after
passing another public examination.8

Because Portland did not have a hospital until 1855, the sick were cared for
at home or in the physician's office. An M.D. degree could be attained at
Bowdoin College at Brunswick (about 26 miles from Portland) after three
months of lectures, a written thesis, and a final examination before the
faculty of medicine (equivalent to the best American medical schools of that
day).9

City statistics list a wide array of causes for death, "from an extensive
variety of fevers (typhoid and typhus to 'putrid fever') and common diseases
of the age (cholera and measles) to some designations that are now quaint or
archaic (scrofula, 'sudden,' and gravel). By far the most common cause of
death was consumption (tuberculosis), followed by 'fevers,' dropsy, 'bowel
complaints,' or other diseases that had reached epidemic proportions (such
as measles in 1835 and scarlet fever in 1842).

"Heavily hit were the young; those under 10 often constituted close to 50
percent of deaths in a year (not counting the many stillborn). Stated
differently, the average age at death during 1840 was 22.6 years, which the
Advertiser claimed demonstrated 'the superior degree of health enjoyed in
Portland.'"10

Frederick Hoyt, Adventist historian, summarized the impact of growing up in
the vicinity of Portland, Maine, in the 1830s and 1840s: "This then was the
environment that nurtured the body, mind, and soul of young Ellen Gould
Harmon. In many ways it was a harsh environment that could only toughen the
character of those it did not break. In the words of American historian
James Truslow Adams, in this setting 'the gristle of conscience, work,
thrift, shrewdness, duty, became bone.' Other words could well be used to
characterize Down-Easterners: religious fervor, a passionate search for
truth, stubborn independence, Spartan toughness, resourcefulness, frugality,
sturdy individualism, and a propensity to adopt and fight for unpopular
causes."11



Political Environment
[Top of Document]

Perhaps no two decades in the nineteenth century saw more rapid growth and
momentous events than the 1830s and 1840s. The United States became united
from coast to coast. During these two decades seven States joined the union,
with California, in 1850, becoming the thirty-first. War with Mexico ended
with large territorial annexations. The population of the United States
soared from about 5 million in 1800 to more than 20 million in 1850.

Increasing waves of immigrants changed the texture of cities, from a "tiny
trickle of 150,000 immigrants in the 1820s . . . to a powerful stream of two
and one-half million in the 1850s." Though they brought "vigor and variety,"
they also aroused "fear, suspicion, and hostility." Roman Catholics from
Ireland, Italy, and other European countries were especially resented
because their sheer numbers flooded the market with cheap labor; in
addition, their religious homogeneity threatened the previous uniformity of
a Protestant America.12

Race relations, though a social phenomenon, affected many of the political
issues even in States "free" from slavery. The slavery issue escalated
inexorably through the first half of the nineteenth century, culminating in
a polarized nation and the Civil War that shook and drained the Union. As
the young country lurched toward its dark night of civil conflict, many
white abolitionists risked their lives, speaking out against slavery and for
its immediate elimination.13



Social Environment
[Top of Document]

The mid-nineteenth century rocked with the dynamics of social change, mainly
driven by the flush of individualism. The presidency of Andrew Jackson
opened the door to freeing the "common man" from the status quo. It seemed
that every conceivable reform issue was inaugurated.

Lyceums, and later the Chautauqua circuit, attracted millions to hear
lectures on such diverse topics as slavery, Fourierism (small, cooperative
communities), non-resistance, land reform, perfectionism, mesmerism
(hypnotism), whole-wheat bread, and all aspects of health. And the
publications of these "reforms" flooded the market. "There are temperance
papers. . . . There have been numerous journals devoted to Spiritualism,
Socialism, Phrenology, Homeopathy, Hydrotherapy, Anti-Rent, Bloomerism,
Women's Rights, Odd Fellowship, Masonry, Anti-masonry, and all the notions,
movements, and sensations of a very active-minded community."14

Young America was also a cauldron of social polarizations. Race relations
haunted most communities in every State. Ethnic groups, including certain
Europeans, Orientals, Hispanics, Negroes, and Native Americans, had to face
blind prejudice affecting the work place as well as the neighborhood.15

The consumption of alcoholic beverages was also a national concern. One
historian described the United States as an "alcoholic republic." Annual per
capita consumption of alcohol increased from three gallons in 1800 to four
gallons in 1830.16

By 1839, the American Temperance Society, through its more than 8,000 local
societies, had convinced 350,000 to sign the total abstinence pledge-the
"total" pledge becoming a great step even for temperance advocates. The
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, organized on November 18, 1874, was
especially effective on the local level.17

The last half of Ellen White's ministry coincided with the phenomenal rise
of urban-industrial cities. A nation born on the farm had moved to the
cities. "The number of Americans living in centers with more than 2,500
inhabitants had grown from 19 percent in 1860 to 39 percent in 1900 and to
52 percent in 1920."18

The change of pace from the time-honored natural pace of the farm to the
artificial life of the city forced many new and difficult adjustments.
"Rural America had its vices, but none seemed as blatant as those of the
metropolis." For most Protestants, the city was a symbol of everything
wrong- "an alien and hostile world hopelessly steeped in rum and Romanism."19

Another factor that polarized the cities was class conflict-conspicuous rich
being envied by those working the factories, most of them the stereotyped
immigrants with their unconventional, insular ways. For the first time
America heard the term, "organized labor."20

Ellen White's ministry paralleled a turbulent time of great social changes.
She wrote much about the dark years of the Civil War and the plight of the
slave, the shakeup of the move from the farm to the city, the obvious
implications of extravagant alcoholic consumption, and the class struggle
between the rich and the poor.



Religious Environment
[Top of Document]

It would be difficult to find any period in U.S. history that would come
close to the religious ferment of the mid-nineteenth century.21

"Revivalists and millennialists, communitarians and utopians, spiritualists
and prophesiers, celibates and polygamists, perfectionists and
transcendentalists"-all were adding spice to the religious scene previously
dominated by the conventional denominations.22

Established churches were torn by controversy, especially the Old and New
School Calvinists. The Wesleyan emphasis on free grace produced an
astounding rise in the "primacy of religious experience." New religious
groups were springing up with astonishing success, but "nowhere were they
produced in greater variety than in the heated seedplot of upstate New
York."23

Camp meetings, primarily Methodist, were spiritual hothouses where various
stages of exuberance merged with the sense of "fresh revelation," the
possibility of holiness here and now, and the consciousness of participating
in fulfilling "ancient millennial hopes."24 The shouts of the distressed
mingled with the shouts of praise and glory. The falling, the jerking, the
barking, even the crawling on the ground, the rolling, the heavenly dancing,
the laughing and the shouting of thousands at once, "creating such a volume
of noise that the sound carried for miles"-all became remarkable
characteristics of those "slain by the Spirit."25

The camp meeting "spirit" carried over into the weekly church services and
city gospel tabernacles. Professional evangelists carried on the camp
meeting legacy with high-voltage preaching; respect for the "old-time
religion" was reflected in camp meeting songs that are still effective
today.

As one would expect, early Adventists (many of them former Methodists) often
expressed their spiritual feelings as did other evangelical Protestants.
"Shouting," for a short while, was probably the most characteristic mode of
public expression.26

The remarkable coincidence of the emergence of Mormonism, Christian Science,
and modern Spiritualism with the rise of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in
the first half of the nineteenth century was noted in the previous chapter.



Family Tree
[Top of Document]

A resourceful farmer and hatmaker, Ellen's father, Robert F. Harmon, Sr.,
(1786-1866) was disfellowshipped in 1843 from Portland's Methodist Episcopal
church for embracing the Millerite message.27

Eunice Gould Harmon (1787-1863) mothered two sons and six daughters, of whom
Ellen and her twin, Elizabeth, were the last. The record notes that she was
a school teacher prior to her marriage; afterwards she was an industrious
homemaker at the time of whale-oil lamps and wood-burning stoves-and
unpredictable family income. Her parents descended from resourceful
ancestors. They fought in the earlier wars, beginning with King Philips's
War (1675). Some were entrepreneurs. Ellen's great-great-grandfather built a
mill on the river at Scarboro, Maine, known as "Harmon's Mill."28

Four of the eight Harmon children became Sabbath keepers-Ellen and her
sisters Mary and Sarah (six and five years older, respectively, than Ellen)
and Robert. Caroline's (1811-1883) daughter Mary worked briefly as Ellen's
literary assistant (1876-77). Robert, Jr. died at 27 of consumption in 1853.
Both of Ellen White's parents became Sabbath keeping Adventists in later
life.

Shortly before their father died (and after Ellen had visited her sisters
once more) she wrote: "Although we were not practically agreed on all points
of religious duty, yet our hearts were one."29

Ellen's marriage to James White, August 30, 1846, produced four children,
only two of whom survived to adulthood.

Their first born, Henry Nichols (1847-1863), a happy young man, died of
pneumonia at 16.30 James Edson (1849-1928) learned the printer's trade from
his father at 14. He became a popular Adventist writer and composer. His
tenacious work for Blacks in the southern States was unparalleled. His
printing establishment became the foundation of the former Southern
Publishing Association.31

Early in life the managerial skills of William Clarence (1854-1937) were
recognized; he was elected to a variety of heavy responsibilities in church
leadership. After his father died, he became a traveling companion and
trusted counselor to his mother. Soon after his mother died in 1915, he was
appointed secretary of the Ellen G. White Estate, supervising its work for
more than two decades.

John Herbert, born in 1860, died after three months, from erysipelas.32



Early Life Prior to 184533
[Top of Document]

Three major events or circumstances occurred in Ellen White's early years
that directly affected and focused the rest of her life-her physical trauma
at age nine; the preaching of William Miller; and her profound religious
experience.

In 1836 while young Ellen was walking with a group of schoolmates, an older
girl followed them with threats. Just as Ellen turned, the older girl threw
a rock that smashed her face, knocking her unconscious. For three weeks she
lay in a virtual coma.

Some days later, when her father returned home from a business trip, Ellen
was crushed further-her father did not recognize her. "Every feature" of her
face was changed. More than that, the loss of blood had severely affected
her respiratory system-a weakness she bore for the rest of her life. In
addition, because her hand "trembled," Ellen could make "no progress in
writing."34 Looking back after nearly fifty years, she wrote, "The cruel
blow which blighted the joys of earth, was the means of turning my eyes to
heaven. I might never have known Jesus, had not the sorrow that clouded my
early years led me to seek comfort in Him."35

Schooling became impossible. The letters of the alphabet in her books would
run together, her eyes could not focus properly, perspiration flowed, and
she would become dizzy and faint. And so, at the age of nine, this bright
student left her academic preparation in great disappointment, never to
return to formal schooling-the first of two great disappointments in her
early life. Her mother became her teacher, and the fields around Portland,
her laboratory.36

But fresh hope came to Ellen in 1840 when William Miller held his Portland,
Maine, audience spellbound as he traced the prophecies that seemed to
indicate that the return of Jesus was near. This new understanding, fresh
(and thus controversial) to most of her religious contemporaries, profoundly
affected the rest of her life.

Spiritual matters were always important to young Ellen. But her primary
motivation was fear-fear of not being ready when Jesus would come, fear of
failure because of her limited schooling and weakened body, and fear that in
some way God had afflicted her with her horrid, physical burden. All this
became her "secret agony" that she locked in her lonely heart. Years of
listening to "hell-fire" sermons had etched a false picture of God into her
soul. God was Ellen's heavenly Ruler, but was He her Friend?

Two dreams and some timely pastoral counseling became the third of those
turning points in young Ellen's life that set the course for the rest of her
life. For the next 75 years, her most compelling mission was to tell the
truth about the character of God.

One of the two dreams portrayed a visit to the heavenly temple; the other, a
meeting with Jesus. With a smile, Jesus seemed to touch her head, saying,
"Fear not." He gave her a green cord, representing faith, leading her to
declare: "The beauty and simplicity of trusting in God began to dawn upon my
soul." Ellen now felt free to discuss her fears with her mother. With quick
insight and encouragement, her mother suggested a visit with young Levi
Stockman, in his late thirties.

After Elder Stockman heard her story of the two dreams as well as her deep
fears, he said: "Ellen, you are only a child. Yours is a most singular
experience for one of your tender age. Jesus must be preparing you for some
special work."

Then the perceptive pastor gave her a clearer picture of God as seen in
Jesus. Writing later, Ellen wrote: "During the few minutes in which I
received instruction from Elder Stockman, I had obtained more knowledge on
the subject of God's love and pitying tenderness, than from all the sermons
and exhortations to which I had ever listened."37

Her new-found understanding-that God is like Jesus, her best Friend-
prompted her to share her insights and gratitude with others: "While
relating my experience, I felt that no one could resist the evidence of God's
pardoning love that had wrought so wonderful a change in me. The reality of
true conversion seemed so plain to me that I felt like helping my young
friends into the light, and at every opportunity exerted my influence toward
this end."38



New Picture of God
[Top of Document]

This new picture of God, coupled with her deep conviction that Jesus was
soon to come, was shared by her brother Robert. He reflected with her about
what these fresh insights had done for them: "'A tree is known by its
fruits. What has this belief done for us? It has convinced us that we were
not ready for the coming of the Lord; that we must become pure in heart, or
we cannot meet our Saviour in peace. It has aroused us to seek for new
strength and grace from God.

"'What has it done for you, Ellen? Would you be what you are now if you had
never heard the doctrine of Christ's soon coming? What hope has it inspired
in your heart; what peace, joy, and love has it given you? And for me it has
done everything. I love Jesus, and all Christians. I love the prayer
meeting. I find great joy in reading my Bible and in prayer.'"39

Most probably, if Ellen had not had this self-authenticating relationship
with her Lord, she would not have been prepared for the profound
disappointment on October 22, 1844. She recalled: "It was a bitter
disappointment that fell upon the little flock whose faith had been so
strong and whose hope had been so high. But we were surprised that we felt
so free in the Lord, and were so strongly sustained by His strength and
grace. . . . We were disappointed, but not disheartened."40

Thus, in late 1844 Ellen was prepared for her unforeseen future. Fully
mindful of her frail physical condition, captured by her new and compelling
picture of God as her heavenly Friend, and focused on the consuming truth
that Jesus was still coming soon, she was ready for her first vision. She
had just turned 17.

But not all the Millerites thought alike after the Great Disappointment. Not
all could say they were "disappointed but not disheartened." On one hand,
radical ideas generated radical behavior. Some former leaders, believing
that Christ had indeed come spiritually, espoused "spiritual wifery,"
whereby they renounced marriage and formed "spiritual" unions, devoid of
sex, with new partners. Others, believing that the 1,000-year Sabbath had
now begun, and to show their faith in what they believed, would do no more
secular work.41

On the other hand, doctrinal differences began to separate Miller's
followers. They soon divided into at least four groups: (1) Those known as
Evangelical Adventists eventually abandoned Miller's prophetic teachings and
were absorbed into other Protestant groups when it became evident that very
little divided them; (2) Another group believed that the millennium was in
the past, that the dead were now "sleeping," awaiting the resurrection, and
that the wicked would be annihilated. Eventually they became known as the
Advent Christian Church, now the largest non-Sabbath keeping remnant of
Millerite adventism; (3) Centered around Rochester, N.Y., another group saw
the millennium as yet future wherein the Jews would return to Palestine.
Firmly opposed to formal church organization, these "Age-to-Come" adventists
never became strong and united.

(4) The fourth group became known as the "Sabbath and Shut-door" Adventists.
Through prayer, Bible study, and divine confirmation they developed a
rationale for the events that centered on October 22, 1844. This scattered
group eventually found their unity and mission and went on to become
Seventh-day Adventists, the largest of the Millerite bodies today. They
believed that something had happened on October 22, but what?42

God understood their pain and confusion, just as He understood those two
dejected disciples trudging to Emmaus with "sad faces" (Luke 24:17) after
the crucifixion. Jesus did not let His disheartened disciples sink without
an explanation 2,000 years ago-and He did not forget His believers in late
1844.

And so He made His presence felt that December morning in 1844, when a small
group of Adventist women in Portland, Maine joined themselves in prayer and
Bible study-reaching out to God and to each other for encouragement and
understanding. The emaciated Ellen had been staying at the Haines home for a
few days, giving her mother some much needed rest. Her physician and friends
had given her up to die of consumption. While they were praying, this
seventeen-year-old teenager became lost to her surroundings, and God gave
her the kind of encouragement that those troubled believers desperately
needed. Thus began a seventy-year ministry that became more significant as
the years went by.43




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