James White
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James White was born at Palmyra, Maine, August 4, 1821. He was a descendant of one of the Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower in 1620. He was reared on a rocky Maine farm, which reluctantly gave up its fruits to the hard-working farmer who tilled it in a successful attempt to make a living for himself, his wife, and nine children.

He described himself as a "feeble, nervous, partially blind boy." As a result of this condition he did not receive the advantages of the common school. Not until he was sixteen years old, when his eyes became normal, could he so much as read a single verse in the Bible without resting his eyes. Overgrown and behind in his classes, the young man was much embarrassed when he entered the academy the following year.

Of himself at that time Mr. White later said: "I could not then work a simple problem in single rule of three, and I could not tell a verb from an adverb or an adjective, and was deficient in the other common branches. My friends advised me to turn my attention to farming and not think of seeking for an education. But I could not take their advice."

We can see something of the low standards of education and the mettle of the youth when we know that after attending one term of twelve weeks, the youth was granted a certificate to teach the common branches the following winter.

Mr. White later mentioned that he had to study eighteen hours out of the twenty-four in order to do the work. The winter wrought a great change in his life, however. He had gained a victory in his experience. Heretofore he had felt a certain inferiority and actually regretted his existence. Now he felt his powers and hoped to develop into a real man who could make a contribution to the world.

At the age of nineteen he left home with his parents' blessing and a suit of clothes. His resolute efforts to gain an education were attended by hardship and difficulties from first to last. When he started to the academy, his parents gave him three dollars to pay his tuition for twelve weeks, and six days' ration of bread to take with him each Monday morning when he walked the five miles to the academy.

At the close of his first term of school teaching he walked forty miles to a sawmill and secured work. While employed there he cut his ankle severely. This kept him from work for a long time and permanently weakened his foot. During the remainder of his life he was unable to bear his weight on the left heel.

At the close of his summer's work, with thirty dollars and a scanty supply of old, worn clothing, he started to the academy at Reedfield, Maine. While others wore new clothing and enjoyed the customary conveniences of a boarding house, he lived the three months on raw apples, and corn-meal mush, which he cooked himself. At the close of this term of school his formal education came to a close. He had attended high school twenty-nine weeks in all, or a little less than one term, according to our present mode of reckoning. The total cost of tuition, books, and board did not exceed fifty dollars. When he discontinued school he had reached the place where one year's work would have prepared him for entrance to college. His thirst for information had merely been whetted by this schooling, and he determined to push ahead and secure a college education. During the winter of 1840 and 1841 he taught a large school and also gave penmanship lessons in two districts.

At the age of fifteen, James White was baptized and joined the Christian Church, but at the age of twenty he had become engrossed in securing an education, and had so buried himself in it that he loved the world more than Christ and was worshiping education instead of the God of heaven.

When he returned from his school, he found that a minister from Boston had been preaching the Second Advent and that many in the neighborhood had accepted Christ. Until this time he had regarded Millerism as rank fanaticism. He was surprised to hear his mother support it, and became interested in it himself when she answered his objections to the teaching.

He attended the meetings, became convicted of his backslidden condition, and renewed his consecration to God. He then felt a duty to visit the community where his school was located and do personal work for his pupils. He prayed to be excused, and receiving no relief, tried to work off his feelings by walking in the field. When no relief came, he rebelled against God, and stamping his foot on the ground, declared he would not go. He then packed up his belongings and departed to another academy. He secured a boarding place, bought his books, and enrolled in the school. He thought to drive away his convictions, but instead, he became confused and distressed in mind. He spent several hours over his books and then tried to call to mind what he had been studying, but was unable to do so. Finally, resolving to resist the call of the Spirit of God no longer, he went directly from the door of the schoolroom to the vicinity where he had taught the previous winter and where he was engaged to teach again the following term. Hardly had he started on his way when his mind was filled with a sense of God's approbation and he raised his hands and praised God with triumphant voice. It was a trial to go into that district where he was employed to teach the next winter and talk to the students and their parents about salvation. He faced the task, warned the people, and having accomplished his purpose, left.

During the summer he was unsettled as to what he should do. He wanted to attend school and become a scholar and yet he felt the duty of proclaiming the second coming of Christ. His struggle was severe, indeed, but finally he made an appointment to preach. His first few sermons, he later testified, were not very successful. He was timid and lacking in confidence. On one occasion he was urged to speak in the presence of two young ministers, but in twenty minutes sat down embarrassed and confused. He later charged his failure to lack of resignation and humility. When he finally gave up the struggle for self, and consecrated his life wholly to God, he found peace of mind and freedom of expression.

Soon after this Mr. White heard Joshua V. Himes and Appollos Hale speak on the Advent, and he began more definitely to study and prepare to preach the Advent message. He bought publications, studied them, and began in earnest to get ready to teach others the message of the hour.

He preached a few times that summer, and in September attended a meeting held in "the great tent" in eastern Maine by Himes, Miller, and others. Upon returning from the great camp meeting, he spent several weeks studying the Advent literature. He had purchased a chart, and with this before him, and the Bible and other books at hand, he made himself familiar with the message. In October of the same year (1842) he attended a large Adventist camp meeting held at Exeter, Maine. He returned home with such enthusiasm for the message that he determined immediately to go out and proclaim it. He prepared three lectures and made provision to give them to the people.

He had neither money, horse, nor saddle. He had used up the earnings of the previous winter attending camp meetings, buying literature, and securing some needed clothing. Friends provided, however. His father offered him the use of a horse for the winter, while the minister gave him a dilapidated saddle with the pads torn off, and several pieces of bridle. He placed the saddle on a log and nailed on the pads. Likewise, with malleable nails he fastened the pieces of bridle together, gathered up the few pieces of Advent literature, folded up the chart, and fortified with these, left his father's house on horseback. He began in the neighboring towns. At first he gave only three lectures, but with experience he added a lecture at a place until he had a series of six worked out.

He substituted a week for a schoolteacher friend of his and lectured each evening. At the close of this time sixty arose for prayers. He was astounded, and was unprepared for such a situation, for he had now used up all his information, indeed had stretched it a point and had given seven lectures. With a large number of penitents on his hands he was at the end of his resources. In his predicament he sent for his brother who had been in the ministry five years. The latter raised up a large church on the interest thus begun.

In January, 1843, in the midst of a cold Maine winter, he left on horseback, thinly clad and with no money, for his self-appointed field among strangers more than one hundred miles away. On one occasion a large mob, incited by nonbelievers, gathered around the meetinghouse and took out the windows. When the youthful minister began to pray, a snowball whistled through the window and spattered on the ceiling. This was the beginning of a fusillade of snowballs thrown at him. His Bible and clothes were wet with the fragments of a hundred snowballs that broke on the ceiling and showered over him and the Bible. Closing his Bible, he began to picture the terrors of the day of God. He was inspired to give such a sermon as he had never been able to give before. Soon, under the spell of his eloquence, the rowdy crowd became quiet. As he talked, he drew a spike out of his pocket, which had been hurled and had hit him on the forehead the night before. Holding up the spike, he said: "Some poor sinner cast this spike at me last evening. God pity him. The worst wish I have for him is, that he is at this moment as happy as I am. Why should I resent this insult when my Master had them driven through His hands?"

At that moment he raised his arms and placed his hands upon the wall behind him in the position of Christ on the cross. With tears streaming down his cheeks, the youthful minister called on sinners to repent. The effect was powerful. More than a hundred were in tears, and nearly that many rose for prayers.

Closing the meeting, the young man started out through the subdued crowd. Someone locked arms with him and guided and assisted him through the throng. He did not know this person, and yet he seemed strangely familiar. When Mr. White got through the crowd, he missed his companion and never found out the identity of this heaven-sent protector. His lectures continued in that place three or four evenings without the least opposition, and resulted in a general revival.

Mr. White was ordained to the ministry at the hands of the ministers of the Christian Church at Palmyra in the spring of 1843, at the close of his winter's labor. During the summer and the next winter he labored here and there among the small towns and country churches in Maine. In the spring of 1844 he, like the other Advent believers, suffered disappointment.

In August, 1844, Mr. White, in company with others, attended the Exeter, New Hampshire, camp meeting where the tenth-day-of-the-seventh-month movement had its beginning. He left the campground convinced of the truthfulness of the message and returned to spread it in Maine. He presented it at camp meetings and in churches, visiting two and sometimes three towns in a single day, giving the final warning message: "Behold, He cometh! Get ready. Prepare to meet thy God."

Finally the long-looked-for day arrived. The believers gathered in their accustomed places to wait for the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God. James White, along with the others, was bitterly disappointed when the Savior did not appear in the clouds.

Shortly after the Disappointment, however, men began to put forth the idea that, after all, the Adventists were not mistaken in the time of the event, but in the nature of it. Joseph Marsh, who did not become a Seventh-day Adventist, wrote in November, 1844, following the Disappointment:

"We cheerfully admit that we have been mistaken in the nature of the event we expected would occur on the tenth day of the seventh month, but we cannot yet admit that our great High Priest did not on that very day accomplish all that the type would justify us to expect. We now believe He did."

In the winter of 1845, James White was in Orrington, Maine. There were fanatical persons among the believers there. Ellen Harmon came to Orrington in February and bore a decided testimony against the fanaticism. These two became acquainted, and their mutual interest in the Advent hope and in public labor formed a basis for association in service. In time the friendship formed in this fashion ripened into love, and they were married August 30, 1846.

Joseph Bates, James White, and Ellen Harmon found a community of interest and drew together, forming the nucleus of what later became the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Soon after their marriage, James and Ellen White read the Sabbath pamphlet by Mr. Bates, and in the autumn began to observe and teach the Sabbath. Shortly afterward Joseph Bates became convinced of the heavenly origin of Mrs. White's visions, and the three united and went forth to uphold their beliefs. For more than a year they stood alone in the message.

On October 22, 1848, at a meeting in Topsham, Maine, the believers made the printing of the message the subject of prayer. A month later, at a meeting held at Dorchester, Massachusetts, after a vision Mrs. White said to her husband:

"I have a message for you. You must begin to print a little paper and send it out to the people. Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first."

Thus was conceived the first paper to be printed by Sabbath-keeping Adventists. Poverty prevented the immediate consummation of the plan, however. The brethren felt too poor to spare the necessary funds for the work of publication. James White saw that if the paper was to be started, he must finance it and must earn the money for the purpose. He decided to hire out to cut hay in order to publish the paper. On his way to the buggy he was called back by word that his wife was fainting. Prayer was offered for her, and she was restored. She was then taken off in vision. When she came out of the vision, she told her husband that she had been shown that he should not again enter the hayfield, but should write and publish. They were to move forward in faith, and the money, she said, would be forthcoming.

In that humble home set up in the large unfinished room over the kitchen in the Belden home at Rocky Hill, Connecticut, Present Truth, our first periodical, was born. James White walked eight miles to Middletown to take the copy to the printer, and then walked home again. Several times he had to make this trip before he finally brought the material home ready to be wrapped, though, fortunately, he was able to borrow Mr. Belden's horse and buggy for the last journey.

When the first number of a thousand copies was brought from the printing office, the papers were spread before the Lord, and the little group bowed around them in humility, and with many tears consecrated them to God, praying that these silent messengers might find open hearts. They then addressed them to all they thought would read them, and with his laden carpetbag in hand, the publisher walked to the post office at Middletown.

In December, 1849, the Present Truth was moved to Oswego, New York. As the first manifestation of liberality slackened about the first of the year 1850, James White, utterly discouraged because of the meager support, decided not to publish any more numbers. At that time his wife again had a vision, in which instruction was given that it was his duty to continue publishing.

During the summer of 1850, while Mr. and Mrs. White were traveling, the publication of the paper was temporarily suspended. In September, James White began the publication of a sixteen-page periodical known as the Advent Review. When he started this, he intended to bring but five or six numbers, with the purpose of counteracting the teaching of the non-Sabbath-keeping Adventists that the 1844 movement was a mistake. He proposed to reprint a large number of articles published during the 1844 movement, thus reviewing, as the name indicates, the whole experience. In November, 1850, the last number of Present Truth and also the last number of the Advent Review were issued, and the new and enlarged periodical, Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald made its appearance. The message contained in it, as suggested in the name, was a proclamation of the Sabbath truth and the reviewing of the Advent message. This was the beginning of our church paper. It was published at Paris, Maine.

In the summer of 1851 Mr. and Mrs. White moved to Baliston Spa, New York, where they lived in the home of Jesse Thompson. Borrowing furniture, they began housekeeping and issued the paper from Saratoga Springs for some months. At a conference held at the home of Jesse Thompson it was decided to purchase a press. Up until this time the Review had been published by commercial firms. It was felt that it would be more appropriate to have the message printed where no work would be done on the Sabbath and where the Christian employees would take a sympathetic interest in the project. It was decided to carry out this plan in Rochester, New York. A vacant house was secured, and a Washington hand press was purchased in New York City.

Mr. and Mrs. White were in charge of the large dwelling, which housed as high as fifteen who made up the working force of the establishment. The printing plant was under the same roof. The publishing family apparently got along well together, although as in the best regulated of families, there was occasionally some friction. The girl secured to do the cooking was not an expert dietitian, and forced to economize, she provided food that became somewhat monotonous. After a few weeks on this program Uriah Smith remarked to a comrade that although he had no objections to eating beans 365 times in succession, yet when it came to making them a regular diet, he should protest!

The year 1852 saw the beginnings of the Youth's Instructor. James White, in his introductory remarks in the first number, said: "For some time we have been impressed that we had a more special work to do for the youth, but have not been able to commence it until the present time. We now cheerfully engage in this work, praying the Lord to help."

Thus James White led out in the work for the young people. His interest in, and appreciation of, the need for help for the youth is further seen in his writing Sabbath school lessons for children. Some of these first Sabbath school lessons among Adventists were prepared by Mr. White while he was on his journeyings. At noonday he unhitched the horse and allowed it to eat while he partook of his own lunch. While the horse grazed untethered along the road, Mr. White, using his hat or the lunch basket for a desk, wrote out the lessons for the children. In this unpretentious way the Sabbath school had its humble beginnings.

By September, 1855, the brethren in Michigan had fully decided to take the responsibility for the Review, and the people in Vermont signified their willingness to do so, but felt that Michigan would be nearer the center of the future field of labor. At a general conference held at Battle Creek in September, 1855, all arrangements were made to move the Review to Battle Creek and for a committee of Michigan brethren to take over many of the responsibilities in connection with its publication. The publishing family, upon arrival at Battle Creek, found ready for occupancy a new building, which had been provided for them by the Michigan brethren. The first number published from this location was dated December 4, 1855.

With the new arrangement James White became resident editor. For the first time the employees were given a salary. The weekly salary was five dollars.

During the last half of the decade of the fifties, Mr. White and his wife traveled much among the churches. Often they would drive through the country. James White spoke to the people, and his sermon was not infrequently followed by exhortation or perhaps the relating of a vision by his wife.

A trip taken by Mr. White into Iowa and Wisconsin in 1860 reveals the rude surroundings in which the ministers of God found themselves in early times. At Ottumwa he and Moses Hull found lodging for the night in a "log tavern." We are told:

"In one corner of the large chamber to which they were assigned, there were about two hundred bushels of wheat. In order to ensure proper ventilation for the grain, boards had been taken off the side of the house, leaving an opening about ten feet square. Through this opening a chilly west wind blew directly upon the bed, causing the inmates to suffer severely from the cold."

Besides his pioneer service in the publishing work, probably the greatest contribution of James White to the Seventh-day Adventist Church was his leadership in the drive for church organization. This problem was one of the knottiest faced during the first twenty years of the history of the movement.

As the months and years went on, however, the leaders of the Sabbathkeepers saw the need of certain forms of organization. For example, who was to authorize the ordination of ministers? Who was to say what the beliefs and standards of the church are? Who was to own and control property which should belong to the group? Who was to lead out in a group, that order might hold sway over growing confusion? The first ministerial credentials consisted of a card signed by Joseph Bates and James White and given to those whom they deemed qualified to preach. The beliefs of the group were largely determined by the material printed in the Review.

During the next few years James White repeatedly wrote in favor of organization, and articles on church order appeared continually. As the leading workers went from place to place, they talked organization. General meetings and conferences responded by passing resolutions in favor of organization. The battle was not won at a single charge, however. The idea that church organizations are oppressive and are of the devil was tenaciously held by many. While considerable discussion was going on among the believers, the church at Parkville, Michigan, took the lead and legally organized. Trustees were elected and a certificate was made out and filed in the county clerk's office. The members of this first legally organized Seventh-day Adventist church called themselves the "Parkville Church of Christ's Second Advent." At the annual meeting of the Michigan brethren in September, 1860, it was decided to recommend that the local churches organize. A number of names were suggested. Elder White suggested the name "Church of God." The name "Seventh-day Adventists" was finally chosen.

In May, 1863, the General Conference was organized. On the first evening, delegates were seated. During the meeting the next morning the constitution was adopted, and in the afternoon officers were chosen. James White was elected president, but declined to accept for several reasons. First, he had led out in the struggle for organization, and now the opponents of this move would feel that he had been working to secure an exalted place for himself in the cause. Then, too, he said that his health was not good enough to warrant his carrying the load. In addition to his other responsibilities he was already carrying a heavy burden as president of the publishing association. John Byington was then elected in his stead. The organization effected at this time has proved to be wise beyond the highest expectations of the founders. A centralized committee makes for the maximum efficiency, and the elective features guarantee against despotism or autocracy. The organization of Seventh-day Adventists is known as the presbyterian form of organization.

In May, 1865, over his protest James White was elected president of the General Conference. He felt that the burden would be too great for him to accept. In order to lighten his load, however, and make his acceptance possible, he was released from his position as chief editor of the Review, and Uriah Smith was given that responsibility.

James White was a hard worker. He gave unstintingly of his strength, working untiringly for the advancement of the cause of God. "Better wear out than rust out," was his motto. This was a mistake, however, for a man of his temperament was bound to break. A more temperate course would probably have saved his services to the cause for many more years.

In the spring of 1867 Mr. and Mrs. White sold their home in Battle Creek and moved to a little farm near Greenville, Michigan. Mrs. White hoped that her husband would regain his health through outdoor work. Together they gardened and farmed on a small scale. After two years of continuous care Mr. White had largely recovered his health.

He played an important part in the establishment of the Battle Creek Sanitarium and lived to see it become a significant institution. He played an even greater part in the establishment of our first college. As early as 1872 he urged that steps be taken to found a central school where the young people of the denomination could be educated in the regular subjects and in addition to these could secure instruction in hygiene, health, and the Bible.

They left for California in the fall of 1873, in order to get away from the rigors of a Michigan winter and to be relieved of the heavy responsibilities of the work at Battle Creek. And yet James White could not stand to be idle. Soon he was cooperating in a tent effort in the city of Oakland. Ever a publisher at heart, in connection with these meetings in the spring of 1874, James White established the Signs of the Times in June. He lived to see this infant paper develop into a great periodical and become the nucleus of one of the largest publishing houses on the Pacific Coast.

By the time James White reached the age of sixty he was worn out. For years he had labored from fifteen to eighteen hours out of every twenty-four. He had had no chance to rest even on Sabbath, for he generally preached two or three times on that day. He had robbed himself of sleep in riding on the train night after night and holding long evening meetings. For the first ten years of his editorial service he usually wrote his editorials in the night between the hours of eight and twelve. During the day he did the multitudinous tasks about the office, such as writing letters, counseling with the employees, caring for the business of the office, and reading proof sheets. The small books that he wrote were written in the night when he should have been in bed asleep.

In July, 1881, he attended a camp meeting at Charlotte, Michigan. While there he took a severe cold as the result of a sudden change in the weather. He returned home in an exhausted state. Each day he became worse. On July 31 both he and his wife began to suffer from malarial fever, and on August 3 James White and his wife were tenderly placed on a mattress in a hack, where they lay side by side for the last time, and were taken to the sanitarium. He continued to grow worse, and on Sabbath, August 6, 1881, the fragile thread that bound him to life was broken. He died with the full desire to rest.

The congregation was the largest that had ever assembled at a funeral in Battle Creek. For two decades he had stood as the acknowledged head of the developing denomination, and had built up the press, the college, and the sanitarium. Throughout the whole land members of the denomination he had given his life to found and build up, mourned his passing and paid tribute to James White, pioneer publisher, builder, organizer, and leader.

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