McEnterfer, Sara (1855–1936)

Sara McEnterfer was a book binder, nurse, traveling companion, private secretary, stenographer, typist, and “executive secretary” who effectively managed Ellen White’s household operations, visitors, and travel arrangements. She was one of White’s most trusted confidants and friends. Sara often referred to Ellen White simply as “mother” and Ellen White treated her as an extension of her family.¹

Early Life

Sara McEnterfer² was born on January 1, 1855, near La Porte, Indiana.³ She was the ninth of ten children born to Eli (1812-1865) and Rachel Williamson (1816-1865) McEnterfer. Her parents tragically died when she was only nine years old, and she was raised by an older sister. At around 20 years old, she attended tent meetings in Wisconsin conducted by Elders Decker and Atkinson during which she embraced the Adventist message.⁴ Soon afterward she moved to Battle Creek, Michigan and attended Battle Creek College. Extant records document that she attended there full time for fall 1877 and winter 1878 terms.⁵ W. C. White (1854-1937) was one of her classmates in Goodloe Harper Bell’s (1832-1899) classes. He later encouraged his mother to hire McEnterfer to be one of her assistants.⁶ As a self-supporting student, she was presumably one of the Review workers who earned their living during the day (binding books) and then took evening classes. Her friends remembered her as “a plain woman of medium height, and always made herself inconspicuous.”⁷

Work in California

In 1881 Henry Webster Kellogg (1840-1918), the president of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association and one of the three members of the General Conference Committee at the time, asked McEnterfer to move to California to work for Pacific Press.⁸ Upon her arrival in California, she worked first at Pacific Press and then briefly at Healdsburg College. She spent a few weeks during the summer working for Ellen White as a housekeeper.⁹ She returned to work at Pacific Press until August 1883 when Ellen White invited her to join her on a tour of camp meetings in the east that lasted through the fall of that year. She then worked briefly as an assistant secretary in the California Conference.

In 1884 McEnterfer started working for Ellen White full time. During these early years, working for White in Healdsburg, McEnterfer once volunteered to go home and can some fruit during camp meeting. Unbeknownst to her, she forgot to put the rubber seals on the jars leading to all the food going to waste. When White returned home, McEnterfer worried about what White would say to her. White merely stated: “Experience keeps a hard school; but you never forget her lessons,” much to her relief.¹⁰

In 1885, when White was called to Europe, McEnterfer accompanied White sailing on the Cephalonia from Boston on August 8, 1885.¹¹ McEnterfer was quite progressive and had her hair cut short to prepare for the trip. The haircut was a point of local gossip with some wondering whether it might upset Ellen White, but she did not even mention it.¹² They traveled across Europe in their almost two-year trip. On one memorable occasion while crossing the sea from Norway to Denmark, White and McEnterfer both became seasick during a storm. “As I lay helpless and exhausted, with closed eyes and ashen face,” remembered White, “Sister McEnterfer feared that I was dead. She was herself unable to leave her sofa, but from time to time she called my name to assure herself that I was still living.”¹³ When they arrived back in the United States, McEnterfer continued working for and traveling with White as a personal assistant. On another trip with White, McEnterfer narrowly missing the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 in Pennsylvania.¹⁴

In 1891, McEnterfer planned to go with White to Australia when she was prostrated with typhoid fever, forcing her to seek medical treatment at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The rest of her life she would suffer from poor eyesight because of the illness. Once sufficiently recovered, she earned a nursing degree from the Battle Creek Sanitarium. She afterwards worked as a nurse to pay off her medical bills and then returned to California (1892-1893). In 1894, she worked as a stenographer for the California Conference president.

In Australia

In 1895, White cabled McEnterfer to join her in Australia, and McEnterfer boarded the S. S. Moana six days later. She arrived in Sydney on December 20, 1895.¹⁵ Among other responsibilities, she was responsible for managing the mail to and from the United States through which Ellen White kept up with what was happening at church headquarters and communicated with other church leaders. McEnterfer was remembered for her caring ways ministering as a nurse to White’s neighbors.¹⁶ For example, White had McEnterfer prepare broth using White’s own chickens for sick neighbors who ate meat. The family soon recovered.¹⁷ The Pocock family long remembered her tireless efforts to save the life of their little boy Albert. McEnterfer traveled in the middle of a storm to treat the boy, but she could not save him. The rest of the family long remembered her efforts. In subsequent years the family contributed greatly to the development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia.¹⁸ Since McEnterfer was the only nurse for some 20 miles in the Avondale community, she spent much of her time occupied in nursing the sick.¹⁹ She was not afraid of hard work and joined the other workers in driving in the nails on the floorboards in order to facilitate the on-time opening of the Avondale School in 1897.²⁰ She took pride in the newly opened school, soliciting funds to buy a school bell.

Back in California

McEnterfer returned to California with Ellen White in 1900 and continued working closely with White until her death in 1915. She lived in a cottage facing White’s bedroom at Elmshaven²¹ and had a reputation of being her “watchdog,” carefully guarding White’s schedule and protecting her from unnecessary visitors and intrusions. At times this frustrated people causing her to have “some bitter enemies” because some people did not respect White’s need for quiet time to write.²² McEnterfer also made sure White had her daily carriage ride through the countryside.²³ Her great-granddaughter, Mabel Robinson Miller (1910-2011), fondly remembered sitting between McEnterfer and her great-grandmother on such trips.²⁴ Other family also fondly referred to her as “Auntie Sara.”²⁵ For her part, McEnterfer referred to White as “mother” and was considered by the family as her “closest and most respected” of helpers.²⁶

McEnterfer continued taking White out for her daily surrey (buggy) rides, including a buggy ride for her final birthday despite bad weather.²⁷ While out on their rides, people remembered hearing the two of them sing hymns as they rode along.²⁸ McEnterfer was not only a nurse and traveling companion, but during her time at Elmshaven was known for assisting in locating passages in White’s writings that could be used to respond to the numerous enquires that she received.²⁹

Final Years and Legacy

McEnterfer was with Ellen White during her final illness. When she died, it was McEnterfer who closed her eyes.³⁰ Afterward, she accompanied W. C. White in attending all three funerals.³¹ After the funerals, she spent the next two years teaching book binding at Pacific Union College.³² By 1919, she relocated to Mountain View, California, where she worked at Pacific Press (1922-1923). Afterwards, she worked as a nurse part time as her health permitted. She died on January 7, 1936, at the age of 81 and is buried in Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, California.³³

W. C. White summarized McEnterfer’s role assisting Ellen White in remarks he gave at White’s funeral: “Sara McEnterfer, besides acting as nurse, teamster, and generalissimo, is doing faithful work as Mother’s secretary. She reads and answers . . . letters which she (Sister White) has not time to deal with, and answers many other letters according to Mother’s instruction.”³⁴ Sara was the person who managed Ellen White’s household, according to W. C. White, her “executive secretary” as well as nurse, traveling companion, typist, and de facto adopted daughter.³⁵

Sources

Atteberry, Maxine. “Centennial Profiles—100 Years of Adventist Nursing.” ARH, May 3, 1984.

Campbell, Michael W. “McEnterfer, Sara,” in the Ellen G. White Encyclopedia, rev. ed., eds. Denis Fortin and Jerry Moon. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2013.

Graybill, Ron. Visions & Revisions: A Textual History of Ellen G. White’s Writings. Westlake Village, CA: Oak & Acorn, 2019.

Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists: with Reports of the European Missionary Councils of 1883, 1884, and 1885, and a Narrative by Mrs. E. G. White of her Visit and Labors in These Missions. Basle: Imprimerie Polyglotte, 1886.

Jacques, Grace as told to Judy A. Howard. “My Special Grandmother.” The Youth Instructor, December 5, 1961.

Lloyd, Ernest. “Sister White’s Last Years.” ARH, February 15, 1962.

Maxwell, E. L. and W. C. White. “Valued Helper of Sister E. G. White.” Australasian Union Record, April 6, 1936.

McEnterfer, Sara. Undated typed autobiographical memory statement. General Conference Archives.

McKibbin, Alma as told to Clark B. McCall, “Sister White Was My Friend.” The Youth Instructor, June 9, 1964.

Obit. ARH, February 20, 1936; PUR, April 22, 1936.

“Sara McEnterfer,” Unpublished Skits. Accessible at: https://circle.adventistlearningcommunity.com/download/AH/AH408SaraMcEnterfer.pdf [accessed 1/16/24]

Sustentation Fund Application Blank, November 1, 1915, General Conference Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.

Sustentation Fund Application Blank, November 29, 1922, General Conference Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.

[White, W. C.], “The Funeral of Sister Sara E. McEnterfer: Held in the S.D. Adventist Church in Mountain View, Thursday at 2:30 p.m. January 9, 1936,” typed manuscript, Ellen G. White Estate, Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.

W[hite], W. C. “Report of Nursing Work.” December 20, 1899, circular, Ellen G. White Estate.

Notes

1. This terminology is based upon Sara McEnterfer’s own description in her Sustentation Fund Application Blank, November 1, 1915, General Conference Archives. Ellen White referred to her on one occasion as her “attendant and stenographer.” See Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists: with Reports of the European Missionary Councils of 1883, 1884, and 1885, and a Narrative by Mrs. E. G. White of her Visit and Labors in These Missions (Basle: Imprimerie Polyglotte, 1886), 174.↩

2. Sara also had a sister by the same name spelled Sarah. Ellen White occasionally misspelled her name with an “h” but generally spelled her last name correctly, although as Ron Graybill has noted, on at least one occasion spelled it “Mackinturfer.” See Ron Graybill, Visions & Revisions: A Textual History of Ellen G. White’s Writings (Westlake Village, CA: Oak & Acorn, 2019), 12.↩

3. Her obituary states that she was born on January 1, 1854, but her tombstone and other genealogical information all point to her birth being on January 1, 1855. This appears to be a typo.↩

4. Obit. ARH, February 20, 1936, 20. The report of meetings appears in O. A. Olsen, “Wisconsin,” ARH, January 1, 1875, 6. In her obituary she states that she was 20 when she converted. Depending on when she started to attend the meetings, she was either age 19 or 20, and sources are imprecise.↩

5. August 28, 1877 and January 2, 1878, Battle Creek College Record Book, 28 and 38, Center for Adventist Research, Andrews University, https://adventistdigitallibrary.org/adl-366632/battle-creek-college-record?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=a9ae429ddd7dec0a4e86&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=6.↩

6. [W. C. White], “The Funeral of Sister Sara E. McEnterfer: Held in the S.D. Adventist Church in Mountain View, Thursday at 2:30 p.m. January 9, 1936,” Ellen G. White Estate.↩

7. Alma McKibbin as told to Clark B. McCall, “Sister White Was My Friend,” The Youth Instructor, June 9, 1964, 16.↩

8. Cf. “S.D.A. Publishing Association: Twenty-second Annual Session,” ARH, December 20, 1881, 393; “The Appointment of the Next General Conference,” ARH, October 11, 1881, 233.↩

9. “Recollections of May Walling,” July 11, 1934, 2, Ellen G. White Estate, https://media2.ellenwhite.org/docs/1016/1016.pdf.↩

10. Alma E. McKibbin, “My Memories of Sister White,” February 15, 1956, 12, Ellen G. White Estate, https://media2.ellenwhite.org/docs/1018/1018.pdf.↩

11. Ellen G. White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1915), 281; Historical Sketches, 159.↩

12. Grace Jacques as told to Judy A. Howard, “My Special Grandmother,” The Youth Instructor, December 5, 1961, 15.↩

13. Historical Sketches, 221.↩

14. Eileen E. Lantry, “Ellen White’s Johnstown Flood Adventure,” ARH, January 18, 1990, 16-17.↩

15. New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922, Ancestry.com, accessed January 16, 2024.↩

16. Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White: The Human Interest Story, 11, Ellen G. White Estate, https://media2.ellenwhite.org/docs/627/627.pdf.↩

17. CDF, 466; Letter 363, 1907; see also Arthur Patrick, “Ellen White in Australia: Why Adventists are Celebrating the Centennial of Her Arrival,” AR, December 12, 1991, 16-18. Ellen White was questioned about why she gave the people chicken broth since it was not vegetarian. She replied, “There are occasions when we must meet the people where they are” (Letter 363, 1907).↩

18. The story is recounted in Mary Pocock-Stellmaker, “The John Pocock Story as Remembered by Two Granddaughters,” Adventist Heritage, Spring 1992: 15-21. For biographies of some of the Pocock family, see Olga Ward, “Conley, Annie Charlotte (Pocock) (1891-1990),” in Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, published January 29, 2020, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=97UW; Lester Devine, “Minchin, Edwin Lennard (1904-1987),” in Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, published January 29, 2020, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=BAIE; Lynden J. Rogers, “Patrick, Arthur Nelson (1934-2013),” in Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, published January 29, 2020, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=A82G.↩

19. Maxine Atteberry, “Centennial Profiles—100 Years of Adventist Nursing,” ARH, May 3, 1984, 9.↩

20. Ella M. Robinson, “More Later Recollections of My Grandmother,” The Youth Instructor, March 30, 1948, 9-10, 18.↩

21. Alma McKibbin as told to Clark B. McCall, “Sister White Was My Friend,” The Youth Instructor, June 9, 1964, 16.↩

22. [W. C. White], “The Funeral of Sister Sara E. McEnterfer: Held in the S.D. Adventist Church in Mountain View, Thursday at 2:30 p.m. January 9, 1936,” Ellen G. White Estate.↩

23. Ibid., 12. Ernest Lloyd recalled how she “enjoyed an early morning buggy ride with her old companion, Miss Sarah McEnterfer, as they made calls at a few homes, leaving reading matter for invalids, perhaps, and always a short prayer that we long remembered.” Ernest Lloyd, “I Heard Mrs. White Say It,” ARH, August 5, 1976, 11.↩

24. “Mabel Miller: A Living Link,” ARH, October 14, 2010, 7. Mabel R. Miller, “Memories of Elmshaven—1: The Buggy Ride,” ARH, March 5, 1992, 25.↩

25. Ibid.↩

26. Alma McKibbin as told to Clark B. McCall, “Sister White Was My Friend,” The Youth Instructor, June 9, 1964, 16.↩

27. Alta Robinson, “Ellen G. White’s Thanksgiving Birthdays,” Ministry, November 1968, 13.↩

28. Ernest Lloyd, “Sister White’s Last Years,” ARH, February 15, 1962, 8-9.↩

29. Graybill, Visions & Revisions, 118. Graybill only gives a cursory nod to Sara McEnterfer’s role as one of her most trusted assistants and generally tends to emphasize the roles of men rather than women in Ellen White’s inner circle of trusted helpers.↩

30. E. L. Maxwell, and W. C. White, “Valued Helper of Sister E. G. White,” Australasian Union Record, April 6, 1936, 8. Maxwell wrote the other two obituaries. It appears that W. C. White edited the obituary for an announcement of Sara McEnterfer’s passing for Adventist believers in Australia.↩

31. “Adventist Leader Passes Away,” The St. Helena Star, July 23, 1915, 1, 8; “Last Honors Accorded the Adventist Founder,” Richmond Daily Independent, July 19, 1915, 1.↩

32. “Pacific Union College Improvements,” PUR, April 11, 1918, 5.↩

33. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91374365/sara-mcenterfer, accessed January 15, 2024.↩

34. W. C. White Letterbook, 1902-1903, 480, Ellen G. White Estate. Q&A, 18-A-32.↩

35. Maxwell and White, “Valued Helper of Sister E. G. White,” 8.↩