White, Ellen Gould (Harmon), Literary Assistants of

Ellen White’s life-threatening accident at age 9 brought her formal education to an abrupt end.¹ When in later life she was instructed to write out the messages given her through visions she keenly felt her literary deficiencies and relied upon others to make necessary improvements, especially when preparing material for publication. Her first literary assistant was her husband, James White. She described his help in this way:

While my husband lived, he acted as a helper and counselor in the sending out of the messages that were given to me. . . . The instruction I received in vision was faithfully written out by me, as I had time and strength for the work. Afterward we examined the matter together, my husband correcting grammatical errors and eliminating needless repetition. Then it was carefully copied for the persons addressed, or for the printer. As the work grew, others assisted me in the preparation of matter for publication. After my husband’s death [in 1881], faithful helpers joined me, who labored untiringly in the work of copying the testimonies and preparing articles for publication.²

Ellen White used the word “editing” with reference to the work of some of her most trusted assistants (see, e.g., Lt 128, 1896; Lt 131, 1893). However, there were two important differences from the common use of that word. First, Ellen White’s helpers were to remove imperfections of grammar without changing her thought. They were absolutely forbidden to alter Ellen White’s concepts or intrude any personal ideas of the assistant into the manuscript.³ Second, even Ellen White’s characteristic vocabulary was not to be changed. Fannie Bolton was discharged partly because she substituted her own style and expressions for that of Ellen White.⁴

Ellen White did not use the typewriter, nor did she dictate her material. The many thousands of pages that appear in print were originally written by hand. The first commercially practical typewriter was marketed in 1874; 11 years later, in 1885, Ellen White purchased these machines for her office staff. Her literary assistants were originally termed “copyists” because their

primary task was to transcribe Ellen White’s handwritten material on the typewriter, making such editorial corrections as were within the prescribed guidelines. The typewritten copy would then be handed to Ellen White, who would mark between the lines whatever changes or additions were necessary. These interlineations on many existing letters and manuscripts show how carefully she read every sentence.

If the changes were many, the assistant would retype the manuscript or letter, and Ellen White would review it again before it was put into the mail or sent to the printer. It was her practice to read and approve every letter, manuscript, article, or book chapter. These documents were signed by her in her own handwriting. A signature stamp was used when several copies were made, but the original was hand signed. When she traveled, one of her secretaries usually went along to stenographically report her public addresses.⁵

The editorial process followed by Ellen White’s literary assistants consisted of putting the work into proper grammatical form and rearranging, condensing, assembling, and compiling the material into a completed literary work. Many times the manuscripts and letters needed only slight editing; other times, as she wrote in haste or under pressure, they needed a good deal more work. As W. C. White put it, her “workers of experience . . . are authorized to take a sentence, paragraph, or section from one manuscript where the thought was clearly and fully expressed, and incorporate it with another manuscript where the same thought was expressed but not so clearly.”⁶

Over the years Ellen White employed some 20 literary assistants—of which the name of Marian Davis is probably the most recognized. Some of the other well-known names are C. C. Crisler, Sarah Peck, Eliza Burnham, Fannie Bolton, Maggie (Hare) Bree, Minnie (Hawkins) Crisler, Nellie Druillard, Emily Campbell, Dores E. Robinson, Lucinda (Abbey) Hall, Adelia (Patten) Van Horn, Anna Hale Royce, Emma Sturgis Prescott, Mary Clough, Sarah McEnterfer, and J. I. Ings. Others served for only short periods of time. Most of them, at one time or another, lived in her home and were part of her family. She paid her workers from her own income, as well as housing and feeding those who lived in her home.

With rare exceptions Ellen White’s copyists and assistants were conscientious and faithful in following her instructions that no change of thought and no additional thought be brought into the work by them. So there would be no misunderstandings in their reading of the handwritten material, Ellen White looked over the typescript, making any necessary adjustments before giving her approval. Only then was it sent to the printer or put into the mail as letters to individuals or groups.⁷

Nellie Druillard reported that Ellen White’s “workers all felt that they should guard the copy signed and ready for the mail, that not a pen nor pencil should be used on it.” “Not one of them would wish to make a change if they could; they were more anxious to have every word just as Mrs. White wanted it than to have it otherwise.”⁸

After Ellen White’s death, when she was no longer available to give guidance to her helpers and to read materials in their final form, the editorial assistants were limited to correcting spelling and grammatical constructions. Their responsibility was understood not to include interpretation of her writings. If a passage was unclear, it was left that way rather than try to make it say clearly what the editor might understand it to mean. The Ellen G. White Estate currently follows virtually the same editing guidelines as in 1915 and as prescribed in Ellen White’s last will and testament.

Sources

Collins, Norma. “Compilations—What They Are and What They Are Not.” https://whiteestate.org/legacy/issues-compilat-html/.

Coon, Roger, W. “EGW’s Use of Literary Assistants: The Prophet as a Writer.” Andrews University lecture outline, rev. Apr. 13, 1995.

“Guidelines for Editing Ellen G. White Material Released by the White Estate.” Ellen G. White Estate.

King, E. Marcella Anderson and Morgan, Kevin, L. More Than Words: A Study of Inspiration and Ellen White’s Use of Sources in The Desire of Ages. Berrien Springs, Mich.: Honor Him Pub., 2009.

Moon, Jerry. W. C. White and Ellen G. White. Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrew University Press, 1993, 63, 64, 114-116, 221-224, 349-353, 397-410, 445, 446.

Olson, Robert W. “The Fannie Bolton Story.” Ellen G. White Estate. https://ellenwhite.org/media/document/509.

Olson, Robert W. “Inspired Writers’ Literary Assistants.” Ellen G. White Estate. Document File 52a.

Olson, Robert W. One Hundred and One Questions on the Sanctuary and on Ellen White. Washington, D.C.: Ellen G. White Estate, 1981.

Poirier, Tim. “Work of Literary Assistants.” Ellen G. White Estate. Document File 52a.

Poirier, Tim. “Exhibits Regarding the Work of Ellen White’s Literary Assistants.” Ellen G. White Estate. Document File 52a.

White, Arthur L. Ellen G. White: Messenger to the Remnant. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1969.

White, W. C. “How Ellen White’s Books Were Written.” Ellen G. White Estate. https://whiteestate.org/legacy/issues-howegwbkswcw-html/.

“Work of Editors on EGW Books.” Ellen G. White Estate. Document File 52a.

Notes

1. This article was originally published in the Ellen G. White Encyclopedia (2013). It was updated for the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists by Tim Poirier, vice-director of Ellen G. White Estate, Inc.↩

2. Ellen G. White to Dear Brother, Lt 225, 1906 (July 8), in Selected Messages (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2006), 3:90.↩

3. W. C. White to G. A. Irwin, May 7, 1900, Letter Book 15, 587-589, Ellen G. White Estate.↩

4. Ellen G. White to W. C. White, Lt 77, 1892 (October 21).↩

5. Dores E. Robinson to R. F. Corre[i]a, April 28, 1943, Ellen G. White Estate Document File 52a.↩

6. W. C. White G. A. Irwin, May 7, 1900.↩

7. Ellen G. White Estate Document File 52a.↩

8. Nellie Druillard to Dores E. Robinson, September 22, 1933, Ellen G. White Estate Document File 52a.↩