It wasn't at all the place that E. A. Sutherland wanted on which to begin a self-supporting school for the people of the South. But when the Morning Star, on which he and Ellen White, her son, and others were traveling had to dock for repairs they found themselves within walking distance of a plantation that was for sale.
"Not that place," Sutherland said. "Surely not that rundown rocky plantation."
But--
E. A. Sutherland accepted the counsel of Mrs. White and realized that nothing is too hard for the Lord when one accepts His plan and dedicates himself to following the blueprint.
"There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, by putting self aside makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God." These words penned by Mrs. White, Dr. Sutherland took to heart and thus fulfilled God's purpose in the achievements of the educational work at Madison and many other self-supporting institutions.
And this is the E. A. Sutherland story.
