At St. Helena and Richmond, California, and at Battle Creek, Michigan—Many People Gathered to Show Their Respect—Laid to Rest Beside Her Husband and Children in Oak Hill Cemetery
By MILTON C. WILCOX
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES has already given a sketch of the life of Mrs. White, who has had so much to do in the establishment and prosperity of this publishing house. It remains simply to give a report of the funeral services, which were held on the Pacific coast and in the East.
She peacefully fell asleep July 16, 1915, in the sunny upper chamber of her Elmshaven, St. Helena, home, where so much of her time had been spent during the last fruitful years of her busy life.
SERVICE AT ST. HELENA
Services were held at Elmshaven on the afternoon of Sunday, July 18, on the lawn under the great elm trees. Nearly five hundred friends and neighbors assembled to pay their last tribute of respect to her memory.
At one end of the lawn, a canopy had been erected for the officiating ministers, while chairs and benches placed beneath the wide-spreading trees furnished seats for all who came. After singing by a double quartet from the Pacific Union College and the St. Helena Sanitarium, Elder R. W. Munson offered prayer. A Scripture reading followed, by George B. Starr, comprising the following passages in whole or in part: Ps. 116: 15; Eccl. 7: 2, 4; Rom. 8: 35, 37-39; John 6: 39, 40; Dan. 12: 2, 3; Rev. 14: 12, 13; Eze. 37: 12-14; Isa. 26: 19; Rev. 7: 9-17; Rev. 21: 4, closing with a few verses especially illustrative of Mrs. White's life experience, in Ps. 40: 9, 10 and Mark 14: 8.
The first speaker was Elder J. N. Loughborough, one of the pioneers in the advent movement, one who had known the deceased longer and more thoroughly than any one else now living. He spoke especially of the working of the Holy Spirit through Mrs. White in connection with her labors. Following this, Elder George B. Starr and Elder E. W. Farnsworth also spoke of various phases of the life and character of Mrs. White. The service closed by the singing of
"We shall meet beyond the river,
Where the surges cease to roll,"
and the benediction by Elder S. T. Hare.
MEMORIAL SERVICE AT RICHMOND
Inasmuch as the California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was in session at Richmond, a special request was made by the Pacific Union Conference and the California Conference officers that a memorial service be held at Richmond the following day. And inasmuch as this was on the way to the East, where the body would be carried, it was not difficult to arrange for such a service. Announcements were sent out to the larger churches near Richmond; and on the morning of July 19, fully a thousand friends from cities surrounding San Francisco Bay, and even from more distant points, assembled at the Richmond encampment.
The services opened with the hymn "Sweet Be Thy Rest," and Scripture reading by Elder Farnsworth, 1 Cor. 15: 12-20, 35-38, 42-45; 2 Cor. 4: 6-18; 5: 1-10. At this service, Elder J. N. Loughborough offered the invocation. The biographical sketch that has already appeared in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, was read by Elder A. O. Tait. The funeral discourse was given by Elder E. E. Andross, from the text: "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." After the singing of a hymn, Elder Farnsworth dismissed the congregation, and the memorial service closed.
THE ROSTRUM IN THE BATTLE CREEK TABERNACLE DURING THE FUNERAL SERVICES OF MRS. E. G. WHITE
FUNERAL SERVICES AT BATTLE CREEK
The chief funeral service was held at Battle Creek, as was entirely fitting. It was at this place that the very strength of her womanhood was put forth in the service of God. Here it was that she and her husband laid the foundation for a great work, and in Oak Hill Cemetery are the graves of her husband and two children.
The service was held in the great Tabernacle, which has a seating capacity of 3,500—a place of worship to the building of which the whole Adventist people contributed nearly two score of years before, and in which Mrs. White had many times spoken the words of life, and where many of the great decisive General Conferences and meetings of the denomination had been held.
Many friends had come in from cities and towns near, and many citizens of Battle Creek also were present to pay their tribute of respect and love to the memory of the one who had been called to rest. Presidents and executive officers of local conferences and union conferences, as well as the officers of the North American Division Conference and the General Conference, were present.
FLORAL TRIBUTES
The Tabernacle itself had been beautifully and appropriately prepared for such a service. The floral decorations around the pulpit made that part of the building a bower of beauty. The friends at the Battle Creek Sanitarium had sent a wealth of potted palms, ferns, lilies, and marguerites, almost covering the large rostrum, and extending to left and right up the gallery stairs, gently waving in the breeze of a hidden electric fan. At the foot of the rostrum was a mass of flowers and foliage, and here reposed the casket containing the remains of one loved so well.
Many floral pieces had been contributed, symbolical of the occasion and of the hope beyond. The church at Battle Creek presented a broken wheel; the Review and Herald Publishing Association, a broken column surmounted by a crown; the General Conference and the North American Division Conference, a cross and a crown; the Pacific Press Publishing Association, an open Bible of solid white carnations, on the pages of which stood forth, in purple flowers, "Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me."
THE BODY LYING IN STATE
For two hours preceding the service, the body lay in state in front of the rostrum. Guards of honor stood by, while thousands passed to take a last look upon the worn servant of Jesus sleeping her last sleep. The guards, six in all, served in pairs, each pair being relieved after serving twenty minutes.
We do not know of anything connected with the service that was more pathetic than the long line of humanity, many of whom were bent with the weight of years—old friends of Mrs. White, mingled and intermingled with those of middle age and youth, who passed by the casket, pausing for a little while to look upon the well-known features, tears coursing down their cheeks, oftentimes bosom heaving with convulsive sobs. Thus the long procession passed on. We do not know how many thousand there were that passed through the Tabernacle that morning.
When the hour appointed for the service came, the Tabernacle seats were filled, and many were standing. It is estimated that one thousand or more turned away who could not enter.
Among the members of Mrs. White's family who were present were both of her surviving sons,—Elder James Edson White, of Marshall, Michigan, and Elder W. C. White, of St. Helena, California; Mrs. Addie Walling5MacPherson, a niece, living in Suffern, New York; and Miss Sarah McInterfer, of St. Helena, California, who has for so long a time been secretary, companion, and general helper of Mrs. White. There were others there who had at different times been members of her family, and who had been associated more or less closely with the deceased.
The family of Elder W. C. White had said the last farewell at St. Helena. Mrs. Emma White, wife of Elder J. E. White, was prevented from being present, by rheumatic affliction, which for two years has rendered her unable to leave home. There were present many of the leading people of the town and from the sanitarium.
The service was simple and impressive. From the forest of palms, the double quartet sang the always restful, comforting hymn,
"Asleep in Jesus! Blessed sleep,
From which none ever wake to weep!"
Its soft, sweet measures filled the Tabernacle as though they came from the "choir invisible."
The Scripture reading was by Elder F. M. Wilcox, editor of the Review and Herald, of Washington, D. C., from Rev. 21: 1-7; 22: 1-5, dealing with the wonderful promises of God which point us forward to that time when the tabernacle of God would be with men, "and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." With these were linked some of the precious promises found in the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah. Prayer was offered by Elder M. C. Wilcox, of Mountain View, California.
Following the prayer, Professor Frederick Griggs sang "Rest for the Toiling Hand."
A sketch of the life was given by Elder A. G. Daniells, president of the General Conference. He briefly traced the early life and experience of Mrs. White, and also her late labors; told how, in her early life, she took the Bible as her supreme guide; how God especially came to her in her childhood days, revealing to her the work that He had for her to do; and how He had sustained her through all her long life of service. He quoted from the late Uriah Smith, a lifelong associate in this work with Mrs. White, as to the fruit borne in the life and writings of Mrs. White; how her writings lead to the Bible, lead to Christ, point out sin, plead for righteousness, and bring comfort and consolation to many hearts.
Elder Daniells also showed how the views held by Mrs. White touch the great vital, fundamental questions of the sovereignty of God, the divinity of Christ, the efficacy of the gospel, the inspiration of the Scriptures, the majesty of the law, the character of sin, and deliverance from its power, and referred to the fruits of the Spirit seen in her own life. He pointed out that the writings of Mrs. White present most comprehensive views regarding all true reforms in all the various phases of life. They make prominent the responsibilities of the church in home and foreign mission service. They teach that every member of the body of Christ is to be a light to the world, and a blessing to those with whom he may associate; that all must live the unselfish life of the Master for others; and the church in Christian lands must put forth their highest endeavors to evangelize those who are groping in the darkness and superstitions of heathen lands.
Thus, he told us, for seventy years Mrs. White gave her life in active service to the cause of God in behalf of sinful, suffering, sorrowing humanity. After traveling extensively through the United States from 1846 to 1885, she devoted two years of her life to work in Europe. In 1891 she went to Australia, where she remained nine years, returning to the United States in 1900, at the age of seventy-three. Her work from that time on was given largely to the getting out of books and writing for periodicals.
Courtesy Gage Printing Co., Ltd.
Following this very interesting biographical sketch by Elder Daniells, Elder Haskell preached the funeral discourse, from the text, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Ps. 116: 15), bringing from this and other scriptures the comfort which God gives concerning those who sleep in Him, and also pointing out that just as we know each other here by distinct individual characteristics, so in the last great day, when the Lord shall call His children from the grave, we shall know each other.
The service at the Tabernacle was concluded by the singing of the hopeful song,
"We shall meet beyond the river,
In that glorious land of bliss,"
and a prayer by Elder W. T. Knox. The casket was again opened in the vestibule, that the late comers might have a last look — to many a first look — before it was committed to the earth.
The pallbearers, Elders I. H. Evans, W. T. Knox, G. B. Thompson, F. M. Wilcox, and G. E. Langdon, and Prof. Frederick Griggs, bore the casket to the waiting hearse.
But few who attend the funeral service usually go to the cemetery. That was not the case here, however. All the carriages that could be obtained in Battle Creek, many automobiles, and nine street cars, had been secured. In addition to these, there were many other automobiles which came from various sections of the country, which attended the funeral procession to the cemetery. The street cars had been hired by the Battle Creek church.
The services at the grave were as follows: a Scripture reading from John 11 and 1 Corinthians 15, by Elder I. H. Evans; a song by the quartet,
"We shall sleep, but not forever;
There shall be a glorious dawn;
We shall meet, to part, no, never,
On the resurrection morn,"
and prayer and benediction by Elder George B. Thompson.
Very inspiring were the words of the song and of the Scripture and the prayer; and many hearts were lifted heavenward, and saw by faith, in the precious Bible promises, the glorious resurrection day, when all those who sleep in Jesus will come forth to a glad, glorious immortality, which shall never know death or pain or the infirmities of age. Because God lives, His children shall live also.
"God buries His workmen, but He carries on His work;" and as the writer entered his carriage and left the cemetery, there came to him the words of the song written in memory of one of the Mrs. Judsons,
"So have ye buried her. Up and depart
To life and to duty, with undismayed heart."
So God would speak to all those who have been wont to look to Mrs. White for encouragement and strength and help. Her writings remain; but above all things else, God remains. His word is eternal, His love is eternal, Christ is eternal, and the great everlasting gospel is founded in the eternal verities of God. Hoping in that, we shall triumph; and that work to which Mrs. White gave her life, and to which thousands of others are giving life and all, will soon triumph in the glorious second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
