death_place death_date birth_place image article_title name occupation
redlands , california 1942 1862 john burden.gif john burden
 john allen burden pastor , missionary , administrator
john burden

john allen burden -lrb- 1862 -- 1942 -rrb- was a seventh-day adventist minister , administrator , and medical missionary instrumental in founding sanitariums , restaurants , and health food factories .
at the age of 9 , john attended adventist meetings for the first time and was introduced to the writings of ellen g. white , which left a lifelong impression upon him .
five years later he was baptized , and at the age of 18 -lrb- 1880 -rrb- moved with his family to oregon .
john met eleanor a. baxter -lrb- 1865 -- 1933 -rrb- as a student at healdsburg college -lrb- now pacific union college -rrb- .
they were married in 1888 while working for the rural health retreat -lrb- later st. helena sanitarium -rrb- , of which john became manager in 1891 .
in 1901 the burdens went to australia where they helped merritt g. kellogg who was founding the wahroonga sanitarium -lrb- now the sydney adventist hospital -rrb- in wahroonga , sydney .
by march 1904 the burdens returned to the united states .
ellen g. white encouraged them not to unite with john harvey kellogg in battle creek , michigan .
instead , john sought to establish a sanitarium near los angeles .
eight miles from the city he discovered the glendale hotel that had cost $ 60,000 to build in 1886 .
however because of local business failures , property value had declined so that he was able to purchase it for $ 12,500 .
when it opened in 1905 , burden was the manager of the sanitarium , and eleanor the bookkeeper .
the sanitarium prospered under burden 's careful management .
in 1904 ellen g. white urged for the establishment of another sanitarium in southern california .
a resort hotel at loma linda was found that was available for $ 110,000 , a price too high .
on may 4 , 1905 she met with the burdens and others at the railroad station in los angeles on her way to the general conference session in washington , d.c. burden told her of the property , and she expressed definite interest in it , asking him to write her about it after his next visit to the property .
when burden 's letter arrived in washington , she urged him by telegram to `` secure the property by all means ... .
this is the very property we ought to have .
do not delay ; for it is just what is needed '' .
borrowing the down payment , burden succeeded in purchasing the property for $ 40,000 and was put in charge of the new sanitarium .
the final price , with discounts for early payment , came to $ 38,900 .
after ellen white found out that the property was secured she wrote in her diary : `` i am surprised more and more that the lord has in his abundant mercy wrought in our behalf '' .
founded as the college of medical evangelists , the institution exists today as loma linda university .
a building on campus , burden hall , remains named for john burden .
at one time , it was home to the loma linda university church of seventh-day adventists until the congregation outgrew it .
burden hall now houses the office of university relations , is used for classes during the week , and is home to a sabbath school class each saturday .
burden continued to manage the facilities at loma linda until 1915 when he became manager , and eleanor the matron , of paradise valley sanitarium -lrb- 1916 -- 1924 ; 1925 -- 1934 -rrb- .
after eleanor 's death in 1933 , john retired , but in 1939 he returned to loma linda to serve as chaplain , counseling young medical missionaries and the staff of the college of medical evangelists .
burden died as the result of a car accident on his return from a bible study in redlands , california .
burden 's personal collection of some 650 pages of ellen white 's letters -lrb- half of them addressed to him -rrb- was published as `` loma linda messages '' -lrb- loma linda , ca : college of medical evangelists , 1934 -rrb- .
