Lt 31, 1859

February 21, 1859, Battle Creek, Michigan1EGWLM 666.1

Letter to
Stephen and Almira Pierce.¹

Identities: The identities of “Brother and Sister Pierce” are readily available since Ellen White in this letter requests them to write an account of their experiences for inclusion in her autobiography (see note below), an account that in its published form was signed “Stephen Pierce” and “Almira Pierce.” Stephen and Almira Pierce, both of Vermont, began to keep the Sabbath in 1852. Stephen Pierce played an important part in the development of the church in Vermont, both as preacher and, in the early 1860s, as president of the Vermont Conference.

See: Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 168-171.

1EGWLM 666.2

Previously unpublished.

Letter requesting Stephen and Almira Pierce to submit material for Ellen White's autobiography.1EGWLM 666.3

Dear Brother and Sister Pierce:

I can write but a few lines, and will come right to the point. I am getting out a book and relating a little of my experience. If you could give me a little [of] the particulars of your wife's state when she was despairing, and when she attended the Wolcott meeting, please give fully the effect of the vision upon her—the influence of them.²

In preparing her first autobiographical volume, My Christian Experience … , published the following year, Ellen White requested a number of persons with whom she had interacted, especially in the earlier years of the Sabbatarian movement, to submit written accounts of these experiences (e.g., Ms 5, 1859 [Jan. 4]). The allusion here to Almira Pierce “when she was despairing” goes back to 1852 when the Whites first met Almira and Stephen Pierce at meetings in Wolcott and Panton, Vermont. Almira had for many years been subject to severe and prolonged depression. However, at the Panton conference Ellen White “was taken off in vision” and received “a comforting message … for Sr. Pierce” that brought about very positive and lasting changes. The Pierces provided a detailed account of these experiences, and Ellen White included them in her autobiography.

See: Ibid.

1EGWLM 666.4

We are all as well as usual now. The Lord has wrought for us. Father and Mother White are living with us.³

The exact date that John and Betsey White moved to Battle Creek is not known. The chronological information provided in retrospect by James White in Life Sketches (1880) and in a eulogy after his parents’ death (1871) is not entirely consistent. However, if we take at face value his statement that John White spent the last 12 years of his life in Battle Creek, the date of John White's move to Battle Creek would be about 1859. As early as January 28, 1859, Ellen White mentions with evident satisfaction that she “had the privilege of sitting at the table with my husband's father and mother and my father and mother.”

See: James White and Ellen G. White, Life Sketches (1880), p. 9; “The Venerable Dead,” Review, July 18, 1871, p. 36; Ellen G. White, Ms 5, 1859 (Jan. 28 entry).

They have embraced the Sabbath4

This is the earliest reference to John and Betsey White's keeping the Sabbath. In later accounts James White dates their Sabbathkeeping to 1860, but this 1859 report is preferable, being contemporary. John and Betsey had struggled with the Sabbath issue for years. In 1855, for example, Ellen White, on a visit to Palmyra, Maine, described how Betsey “longed to keep the Sabbath,” whereas John wavered. As Adventist historian James R. Nix has pointed out, even after John White became a Sabbatarian he “concurrently, for the next several years … continued to be a member of the Christian Church in Marshall, Michigan.”

See: James White and Ellen G. White, Life Sketches (1880), p. 11; James R. Nix, “John and Betsey (Jewett) White.”

and are coming right along into all the present truth. The Lord has truly wrought for us, and we will praise His dear name.1EGWLM 666.5

The church here seem to be rising. I feel more anxious desire for holiness and an entire conformity to the will of God than ever before. I want my ways right in the sight of God.1EGWLM 667.1

Dear Sister Pierce, you must not be discouraged. Trust in God. His watchful eye is over you; His ear is ever open to your cry. If the clouds envelope [sic] you, don't be discouraged. Call to mind the lovingkindness of God, and then believe He will not leave you to sink. His own strong arm will be reached down and lift your head above the cloud and reveal to you His own lovely face and fill you with earnest desire for His image to be reflected in you.1EGWLM 667.2

Don't distrust God for a moment. His lovingkindness changeth not. The very weakest saint can glorify God. Gird about you every piece of the armor and fight manfully the battle of the Lord.1EGWLM 667.3

Much love to all your family. Your dear children—I hope they are subjects of grace and are striving for an imperishable crown.1EGWLM 667.4

In much love.1EGWLM 667.5