About Mr. David Wilburn
By Deborah Schaeper - Revised April 4, 2008
Mr. Wilburn is a member in good standing at the Gulfhaven Seventh-Day Adventist Church. He is an ordained deacon, and has served as both the School Treasurer and later the Church Treasurer for several years at the Houston Central SDA Church. In 2001 his mother, suffered a massive stroke and David had to relinquish his duties and consistent attendance to church on Sabbath in order to care for his mother, who today, in 2008 requires 24 hour care 7 days a week due to advance Alzheimer’s Disease and the affects of a 2nd stroke in 2002. Professionally, he is the Executive Director of Business Services for the largest Ophthalmology Practice in the country which sees over 20,000 patients a month between it's 50 locations.
He continues to present seminars, classes and church service programs when invited by the Pastor's of SDA churches on the life and work of Ellen White and on SDA Church History. David shares at all his seminars, space permitting, as much of his vast collection of first editions of Millerite and SDA publications, many of which are extremely rare and very valuable. He has spoken before as few people as 50 and as many as 6000 people at campmeetings. Several White Estate Trustees and General Conference staff members who have been to David's home over the decades have stated both privately and publicly, they believe, he has the largest and the highest quality of early Millerite and Ellen White-SDA books, pamphlets and periodicals owned by any single laymen anywhere on the globe. His personal collection exceeds 6000 SDA books, thousands of original periodicals, pamphlets, leaflets and even original hand and type written letters from Ellen White, DM Canright, John H. Kellogg, as well as others appearing on the landscape of SDA Church history.
Special Items of Interest:
In 1911, Ellen White on her birthday signed approximately 30 presentation copies of Acts of the Apostles as gifts to people who worked on her staff, as well as at the publishing house on the printing of the book. She signed them in a "tipped in" label which if the one presented with the book wanted it with her signature inside, could paste it inside the cover and have the only book, she autographed to individuals except for when he signed 5 copies of Early Writings to five pioneers when it was published with inscriptions to each of them personally. Only 4 known copies of this Acts of the Apostles with the tipped in version are known to still be in existence today and are housed at the White Estate Main Offices and a couple Branch locations. Mr. Wilburn is the only lay member known to own a tipped in signed copy of this acutely rare book.
Even more rare are book which were given to him as a personal gift in 1978 by Arthur L. White's personal collection which were Arthur White's grandmother's (Ellen G. White) working copies of two Signs of the Times 1878 and 1879 "Paste Up Books" each bearing the bookplate "Office of Ellen G. White". David will donate these very rare copies back to the White Estate upon his death because they are not something which can be commercially obtained and are not sold. If you would like to know the history of the "Paste Up Books" or have any questions regarding Ellen White or SDA Church history, you may email the Wilburn Library staff at wilburnlibrary@hotmail.com for assistance. A website is in development scheduled for public access in late 2008.
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David is a full active supporter of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and maintains unwavering loyalty to the corporate church and has full confidence in its leaders within the structure of the church from the General Conference down to the local congregation. He has absolute confidence in Ellen White's thought inspiration as God's Messenger, as well as all the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, God's denominated people.
He uses what we believe he has been blessed with a near 100% photo graphic memory with which he uses to help educate and help anyone who has questions or issues where they want sincere answers to the facts of events and or verification of statements attributed to Ellen White which may or may not be published. The interesting fact about his photographic memory is that it appears to only function where SDA - EGW materials and publications are concerned! A little known fact about David.
Mr. Wilburn maintains an every expanding exhaustive database of every Ellen White letter, Manuscript, Diary Entry, Book, Pamphlet and or Periodical(s) as well every SDA author's publication and where available, photograph database of all key historical pioneers from 1820-2006. The letters and manuscripts and books data base allow him to know when and where and/or if a letter, manuscript of diary or document was published, is in public domain or remains unreleased or unpublished. He welcomes any inquiries from responsible researchers and church members. If he can not answer your inquiry, he will make every effort to get you a responsible answer, working within his agreement under the Ellen White Estate's Release Policy which he has maintained since 1976 to this day.
Mr. Wilburn does not and will not sell any of his master copies of his literary holdings and this probably the only request he will decline if approached. However, in 2008 a sale of duplicates and copies of books which are below the library's quality standards are being prepared to be sold on e-bay. The sale of these items is scheduled for late 2008 which will be the first time this has ever been done by him. Proceeds from handling costs will be donated to the Connecting with Jesus Project of the General Conference and Ellen G. White Estate. Staff members who bid on eBay for him under his user id as proxy bidders are in place all over the globe to insure acquisitions are steadily made without violating the sacred hours of the Sabbath when items close in the time zone he or they may be in at the time item bidding ends. His former e-bay member name dwhasnomoney was changed to reflect more fully the scope of how the e-bay community is utilized for SDA acquisitions. He took a lot of on-line ribbing about his original e-bay handle.
Mr. Wilburn sincerely thanks the E-bay community for making available to any and all bidders these precious materials from SDA history. Additionally, authorized non-members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church acquire materials on his behalf via his e-bay account when he is unavailable due to his tight schedule to insure the on-going acquisitions never cease. E-bay acquisitions represent only a minor percentage of his overall acquisitions and is just one of many sources from around the globe from whom he procures these materials for preservation and education of Seventh-day Adventists today and also for making sure they are available to future members as long as time shall last and has established a financial endowment of his own funds to guarantee the perpetual support for these acuquisition activities after he has passed away all to be administered by the Trust Services Division of the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists and his self-appointed Trustee(s) to further the education of God's remnant people in their rich and very blessed and coloful history until Jesus returns, which will be soon.
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