5 pieces > of interesting info on Ellen G White

1 Basic stats > Ellen Gould Harmon and her twin sister, Elizabeth, were born on November 26, 1827, in Gorham, Maine, USA, to Robert and Eunice Harmon. She committed her life to Jesus at the age of 12 after attending a Methodist campmeeting, later becoming involved in the Advent movement.

She had her fi rst vision in the December of 1844 at the age of 17. She married James White in August 1846. She and James had four children—Henry, Edson, William and Herbert. Henry and Herbert died in early childhood. Ellen and James took active roles in the establishment of the Adventist Church and many of its instututions. Her visions continued and so did the family’s missionary work. James White died on August 6, 1881. Ellen continued with her work, travelling to Europe, Australia and Africa, before returning to America where she died on July 16, 1915.

2 She didn’t just write a few pages, she wrote a few thousand > Ellen White is said to be the most translated female writer in the history of literature and the most translated American author of either gender. There are approximately 34,000 pages of books, articles and other publications written by her (perhaps it was handy that James was instrumental in starting Adventist publishing!). There are now about 130 books in print, either written by her or compilations of her writings. There are also unpublished manuscripts, letters and so on—pages and pages of them. And she wrote everything by hand! 3 Ellen White lived in Australia > She received an urgent call at the General Conference (GC) meeting in 1891 to go to Australia to help out the Adventist Church, which was in its fl edgling stages. She arrived in December 1891, and quickly worked on starting up a Christian education centre, which was based in Melbourne. The school was moved to Cooranbong and became what is today known as Avondale College. The house Ellen lived in was called “Sunnyside”—you can still visit it today. In 1900, God told Ellen to return to America.

4 Without her health message, Brett Lee might never have started his day with 9 Weet-Bix > Although Brett Lee mightn’t have read any of Ellen White’s writings, there mightn’t have been a Sanitarium Health Food Company without the health message she shared with people after receiving the information about it in a vision from God. At her insistence, the Western Health Reform Institute was established in Battle Creek, Michigan , USA, in 1866, with other healthcare facilities springing up in various places in the years to come. Her health message included vegetarianism and inspired Dr John Harvey Kellogg in his healthcare work and accidental creation of cornfl akes. Sanitarium was started in 1898 in Melbourne—the fi rst version of Weet-Bix was called Granose—and was based on her health principles.

5 Didn’t she ever smile? > Although Ellen White tends to look very serious in most of the photos that exist of her, she actually wasn’t a remote, unsmiling person. In fact, most photos from the early decades of photography make everyone look like they’re on their way to a funeral (possibly their own in some cases).

She was very friendly and generous, enjoying spending time with others and making sure their needs were met. M E Olsen says in Much Loved Books , “We boys felt at home with Mrs White. She was not at all nervous, did not mind a little noise and liked to see children having a good time.” Her grandson, Arthur L White, said in Ellen G White: The Human Interest Story , “She is very human.

She is not, as some have thought, an austere, smileless woman, somewhat removed by position from the common people with their joys and sorrows. She is one of us.”