Ellen White's Lesser-Known Plagiarism
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Much of Ellen White’s most obvious literary theft is already well known. Scholars and critics like Walter Rea have identified extensive dependence on major nineteenth-century authors such as John Harris, Conybeare and Howson, L. B. Coles, Daniel March, and others. These are cases massive theft—sometimes chapters absorbed into her writings, and in the case of Conybeare and Howson, an entire book.
But plagiarism does not always announce itself in bulk. This page documents briefer but unmistakable borrowings from lesser-known writers. In many cases, the lift consists of a single sentence, or a short paragraph — small enough to evade casual detection, yet specific enough to leave no doubt about the source.
Individually, such examples may appear minor. Collectively, they matter. They demonstrate that Ellen White’s dependence on outside sources was not limited to a handful of well-known authors, nor confined to books in her library. Instead, they reveal a habitual method of stealing the language of others wherever it might be found.
This page is intended as a growing repository. As new sources are identified, additional examples will be added.
| Daily Southern Cross, Vol. XXV Issue 3695 May 22, 1869 |
Ellen White, Signs of the Times, May 4, 1882 |
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| The great want of this age is men. Men who are not for sale.Men who are honest and sound from centre to circumference, true to the heart's core. Men who will condemn wrong in friend or foe, in themselves as well as others. Men whose consciences are as steady as the needle to the pole. Men who will stand for the right if the heavens totter... | The greatest want of this age is the want of men,—men who will not be bought or sold; men who are true and honest in their inmost souls; men who will not fear to call sin by its right name, and to condemn it, in themselves or in others; men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right, though the heavens fall. |
Ellen White's Travelogue
While travelling by train, Mrs. White wrote an account of her journey to her twin-sister Elizabeth. Parts of this letter were later printed in the June 17, 1880, Review and Herald.
| Henry T. Williams, The Pacific Tourist (New York: Self-published, 1878) |
Ellen G. White, Letter 6a, 1880 |
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Dale Creek Bridge is about two miles west of Sherman. This bridge is built of iron and seems to be a light airy structure, but is really very substantial. The creek like, a thread of silver, winds its devious way in the depths below and is soon lost to sight as you pass rapidly down the grade and through the granite cuts and snow sheds beyond. This bridge is 650 feet long and nearly 130 feet high and is one of the wonders on the great trans-continental route. ... ...rises in full view the Diamond Peaks of the Medicine Bow Range. They are trim and clear cut cones with sharp pointed summits a fact which has given them their name while their sides and the rugged hills around them are covered with timber. Still farther in the shadowy distance in a south westerly direction if the atmosphere is clear you will see the white summits of the Snowy Range white with their robes of perpetual snow. ...makes one feel chilly to look at them they are so cold cheerless and forbidding Giant's Club. This is fairly a giant in dimensions as its proportions are really colossal. It rises with almost perpendicular sides and is impossible to scale by ascent. The rock is valuable for its curious composition as it bears evidences of having once existed at the bottom of a lake. The rock lies in regular strata, all horizontal, and most of these contain fossils of plants and fishes. The plants are all extinct species and closely allied to our fruit and forest trees; among them, however, are some palms... The peculiar effects of stormy and flood in the past has carved the bluff into the most curious and fantastic forms—domes and pinnacles and fluted columns—rocks resembling some cathedral of the time standing in the midst of desolation. ... It looks like some ruined city the gods, blasted, bare, desolate but grave... The Devil's Gate, a canyon which the Sweetwater River has worn through the Granite Ridge cutting it at right angles. The walls are vertical being about 350 feet high... The current of the stream through the gate is slow, finding its way among the fallen masses of rock with gentle easy motion and pleasant murmur. ...among the everlasting snows of the summit ridge. The peaks or cones in the distance are most distinctly stratified and apparently horizontal...
...the Devil's Slide... It is composed of two parallel ledges of granite turned upon their edges, serrated and jutting out in places fifty feet from the mountain side, and about 14 feet apart. It is a rough place for any one; height about 800 feet.
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Two miles west of Sherman we cross Dale Creek Bridge, one of the most wonderful sights on the route. It looks frail and incapable of sustaining the weight of so ponderous a train, but it is build [sic] of iron and is really very substantial. It is 650 feet long, 130 feet high. A beautiful, silvery stream is winding its way in the depths below. ... As we pass rapidly down the grade through the snow sheds and granite cuts into the great Laramie plains...
...we get a full view of the Diamond peaks of the Medicine Bow Range. Their sharp-pointed summits reach heavenward, while their sides and the rugged hills around them are covered with timber. When the atmosphere is clear, the Snowy Range can be distinctly seen clothed in robes of perpetual snow. A chilliness creeps over you as you look upon them so cold, so cheerless, yet there is an indescribable grandeur about them. ... There is a rock called Giant’s Club, and in proportions it is a giant. It rises almost perpendicularly and it is impossible to climb up its steep sides. This is one of nature’s curiosities. I was told that its composition bears evidence of its once being located at the bottom of a lake This rock has regular strata, all horizontal, containing fossils of plants and fish. and curiously-shaped specimens of sea animals. The plants appear like our fruit and forest trees. There are ferns and palms. ... There are in appearance lofty domes and pinnacles and fluted columns. These rocks resemble some cathedral of ancient date, standing in desolation. ... To stand at a distance from these rocks, wonderfully shaped, you may imagine some ruined city, bare, desolate, but bearing their silent history to what once was. We pass on quite rapidly to the Devil’s Gate, a canyon where the Sweetwater [River] has worn through the granite edge. The walls are about three hundred feet high. The water runs slowly, pleasantly murmuring over the rocks. We pass on while the mountain tops rise perpendicularly towards heaven, covered with perpetual snows, while other mountain tops, apparently horizontal, are seen. ... Here we pass the wonderful rocks called the Devil’s Slide. It is composed of two parallel walls of granite standing upon their edges. Between these two walls are about fourteen feet. They form a wall about eight hundred feet running up the mountain. |
Conclusion
These examples—drawn from authors both famous and obscure—reveal a consistent pattern of literary theft without acknowledgement. In her books, articles, and even personal letters, she manifested a lifelong habit of stealing the words of others.
See also