Skip to main content

Full text of "Early scenes in church history : designed for the instruction and encouragement of young Latter-day Saints"

See other formats 


■kf^f'S  * 

1 

■j]4isT0,Ry 

.'' 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/earlyscenesinchuOOjuverich 


EARLY  SCENES 


IN 


CHURCH  HISTORY, 


EIGHTH  BOOK   OF  THE 


FAITH-PROMOTING  SERIES. 

r'' •  ^-    ' 


Designed    for    the    Instru.etion    and.    Eneouragenient    of 
of  Young   Latter-day   Saints. 


JUVENILE    IJSrSTKUCTOR    OJi'FICE, 
Salt   JLake   City, 

1882. 


«3r 
©9r 


Copyright  applied  for  at  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  by  G.  C.  Lambert. 


lU?/ 


PREFACE. 


MANY  deaths  have  occurred  within  the  last  few  years 
among  the  veteran  members  of  our  Church.  Numbers 
of  persons  have  recently  passed  away  who  were  connected  with 
the  Church  during  the  early  years  of  its  existence,  and  whose 
lives  were  filled  with  scenes  and  incidents  of  the  most  inter- 
esting nature.  Their  wonderful  experience  so  far  as  known  is 
appreciated  by  their  intimate  friends,  in  whose  memories  it  is 
embalmed,  but  it  will  hereafter  only  be  known  as  tradition, 
for,  as  a  rule,  they  have  left  no  written  testimony  or  record  of 
their  lives  to  show  to  future  generations  what  they  have  seen 
or  passed  through.  We  have  scarcely  ever  heard  of  the  death 
of  such  a  person  without  a  feeling  of  regret  that  the  impor- 
tant scenes  of  which  he  was  a  witness  while  living  were  not 
better  known,  and  that  a  definite  and  accurate  account  of  them 
had  not  been  written  before  his  death.    * 

A  short  time  since  we  conceived  the  idea  of  publishing  a 
volume  of  the  "Faith-Promoting  Series,"  entitled  Early 
Scenes  in  Church  History,  to  be  made  up  of  such  inci- 
dents of  appropriate  nature  as  we  could  obtain  from  early 
members  of  the  Church. 

Of  course  we  were  aware  that  a  single  volume  of  the  size 
contemplated  could  not  describe  a  tithe  of  the  interesting 
scenes  of  a  faith-promoting  nature  with  which  the  early  history 
of  the  Church  abounded,  but  not  until  we  had  started  the 
compilation  did  we  realize  to  the  full  extent  the  vastness  of 
the  field  which  we  had  entered  upon.  We  gathered  the  inci- 
dents contained  in  the  present  volume  at  random  (mostly  from 
verbal  narratives),  compiled  them  very  hastily,  with  too  little 
regard  perhaps  for  variety,  and  feel  that  we  have  hardly  made 


IV.  PREFACE. 

a  commencement  at  recounting  the  early  scenes  of  which  a 
record  should  be  perpetuated. 

In  compiling  this  volume  no  eflFort  has  been  made  at  select- 
ing scenes  of  a  marvelous  or  sensational  character ;  the  aim 
has  rather  been  to  mention  such  incidents  as  would  tend  to 
show  how  the  power  of  Grod  was  manifested  in  behalf  of  the 
Saints  in  those  early  days,  and  thereby  promote  faith  among 
the  young,  for  whose  benefit  this  Series  is  published.  Nor  is  it 
to  be  supposed  that  such  scenes  as  are  herein  described  have 
been  confined  to  any  particular  period  of  our  Church's  history. 
As  wonderful  incidents  of  special  providence  could  be  related 
of  the  present  age  as  of  that  which  is  past.  The  power  of 
God  is  as  manifest  now  in  shaping  the  destiny  of  His  Saints,  in 
preserving  their  lives  and  in  answering  their  prayers  as  it  ever 
has  been.  The  faithful  never  had  greater  cause  to  rejoice  nor 
the  wicked  to  tremble  than  they  have  at  the  present  time. 
That  the  perusal  of  this  volume  may  cause  those  into  whose 
hands  it  may  come  to  be  more  faithful  and  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  God,  is  the  earnest  desire  of 

The  Publisher. 


CONTENTS. 


^^SHOVV^  US  A  SIGN." 

My  Sister's  Hip  Broken — No  Hopes  of  Ever  Being  Able  to 
Walk — Our  Family  Embrace  the  Grospel — Scoffers  Demand 
as  a  Sign  that  my  Sister  be  Healed — Elder  Brackinbury's 
Death — Warned  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Body-Snatchers' 
Designs — Caught  in  the  Act  of  Bobbing  the  Grave — My 
Brother's  Death — My  Sister  Healed — The  Healing  Fails 
to  Convince  the  Unbelievers.  Page  9. 

CONTEST  WITH  EVIL  SPIRITS. 

The  Savior's  Promise — Sent  on  a  Mission  When  a  Boy — Con- 
ference in  Burke's  G-arden — ^A  Girl  Apparently  Stricken 
With  Death — My  Fright  at  Being  Asked  to  Administer  to 
Her — Prompted  by  the  Spirit  to  Cast  the  Devil  Out  of  Her 
— The  Evil  Spirit  Leaves  Her  and  Enters  Two  Others-  - 
Six  Elders  Contend  With  the  Evil  Spirit  for  Thirty-Six 
Hours — Its  Final  Banishment.  Page  12. 

EARLY  EXPERIENCE  OF  A.  O.   SMOOT. 

CHAPTER    I. 

Sickly  Condition  when  Young — Healed  According  to  Elder 
Patten's  Prediction — Labor  as  a  Missionary  with  Elder 
Woodruff — Severe  Sickness — Healed  Under  the  Adminis- 
tration of  my  Brethren — A  Mission  to  the  Southern 
States — Removal  to  Far  West — Mission  to  Missouri  and 
Arkansas— Opposed  by  a  Baptist  Deacon — Terrible  Judg- 
ment upon  Himself  and  Family — John  Houston,  the  Infi- 
del— Far  West  Besieged — Taken  Prisoner.        Page  17. 


VI.  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    11. 

Married  while  a  Prisoner  of  War— Property  Confiscated— 
Removal  to  Quincy— l^'irst  Hard  Work — Removal  to  Mon- 
trose— Mission  to  Tennessee — Shot  at — Camp,  my  Cham- 
pion—A  Lawyer  and  his  Mob — Appeal  to  Masons  for 
Help- Ready  Response— Camp's  Tengeance  on  the  Law- 
yer—News of  Martyrdom — Return  to  Nauvoo — Brigham 
Young  Inspired — Another  Mission  South — Blessings  in 
the  Temple— Journey  to  Salt  Lake  Valley.        Page  2L 

CHAPTER   IIL 

Almost  Lost  in  the  Atlantic — Narrowly  Escape  the  Saluda 
Disaster — Nearly  Dead  with  the  Cholera — Healed  in 
Answer  to  Prayer— Blown  up  with  a  Keg  of  Powder— A  Sick 
Woman  Healed — Elder  Patten's  Remarkable  Prediction 
Fulfilled — A  Man  Almost  Dead  Recovers  on  Being  Bap- 
tized. Page  26. 

SCENES  IN  THE   BRITISH  MISSION. 
CHAPTER  L 

Elder  Halliday  Applied  to  for  Help  by  a  Sister  whose  Son  is 
Dying — Not  Able  to  go,  he  Grives  the  Lady  his  Handker- 
chief and  Promises  her  the  Child  Shall  Live — The  Child 
Revives  from  Apparent  Death  by  the  Woman's  Faith  and 
Prayer — Preaching  in  Penzance — Discouragement  and 
Want — Strange  Conduct  of  a  Lady  Attending  the  Meet- 
ing— Invitation  to  go  to  St.  Just — Gift  of  Tongues  and 
Interpretation  Griven  to  Elder  Halliday,  Through  which 
he  Receives  a  Revelation — Revelation  Literally  Fulfilled. 

Page  31. 

CHAPTER  IL 

Elder  Elias  Morris  Falls  with  a  Scaffold  a  Distance  of  Thirty 
Feet  Without  Being  Hurt — Gift  of  Healing  Possessed  by 
Elder  Abel  Evans — A  Woman  Healed  who  had  Her  Face 
Eaten  Away  by  a  Cancer — Storm  at  Sea  Rebuked — ^A 
Broken  Leg  Cured — A  Broken  Skull  Mended — Fever  on 
Shipboard  Stopped  by  the  Prayer  of  Faith.      Page  36. 


CONTENTS.  Vll. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Elder  John  Parry's  Statement — His  Brother's  Testimony  and 
Death — His  Sister's  Reproof  and  Death — Embrace  the 
Gospel — His  Sleep  Troubled — A  Remedy  and  Lesson — 
Orson  Spencer  Healed — Providential  Help — Escape  from 
a  Mob — Cancer  in  a  Man's  Face  Cured  by  Laying  on  of 
Hands—  Preserved  from  Mobs.  Page  42. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

John  T.  Evans'  Statement — ^A  Sick  and  Helpless  Woman 
Healed  on  Being  Baptized — Relapse  and  Death  after  Apos- 
tasy— Saints  Required  to  Renounce  their  Religion  or  Lose 
their  Situations — ('holera  Epidemic — Healed  According 
to  Faith — Private  Discussion  with  a  Malignant  Preacher, 
who  Takes  the  Cholera  and  Begs  the  Elders  to  Cure  Him — 
Healed  and  then  Baptized — Curious  Manner  in  which 
Food  and  Lodging  were  Provided.  Page  49. 

CHAPTER    V. 

Judgment  Upon  Opposers — Two  Men  Killed  by  their  Horses 
— Horrible  Death  of  Another — ^Eight  Preachers  go  Down 
After  Opposing  Elder  Evans— A  Man  Saved  from  Bleed- 
ing to  Death  by  the  Prayer  of  Faith — A  Sister  Healed — 
Woman  Cured  of  a  Bloody  Issue  on  Being  Baptized — 
Escape  the  Fury  of  a  Mob  by  the  Spirit's  Warning — A 
Warning  Through  the  Grift  of  Tongues.  Page  57, 

CHAPTER   YI. 

Thomas  D.  Giles'  Experience — His  Head  Crushed  and  Split 
Open  by  a  Ton  of  Coal  Falling  Upon  It — Healed  by  the 
Power  of  God — A  Deaf  and  Dumb  Man  Receives  His 
Hearing  and  Speech  on  Being  Baptized,  etc.     Page  62. 

CHAPTER     YII. 

Scene  in  the  Experience  of  Wm.  J.  Smith — A  Strange 
Prophecy  »nd  Its  Wonderful  Fulfillment.  Page  68. 


Vm.  CONTENTS, 


REMARKABLE     HEALINGS. 

Martin  H.  Peck's  Testimony  of  a  Number  of  Kemarkable 
Cases  of  Healing — A  Broken  Arm,  a  Crushed  Leg,  etc.. 
Healed  Immediately,  Page  70. 

PHILO     DIBBLE'S     NARRATIVE. 

CHAPTR    I. 

His  Early  Life — Conversion — Curious  Signs — Joseph  Removes 
to  Kirtland — Wonderful  Manifestations— A  Miraculous 
Case  of  Healing — Sidney  Rigdon  in  Darkness— >Joseph 
Predicts  that  the  Evil  One  will  Handle  Him,  and  the  Pre- 
diction is  Fulfilled.  Page  74. 

CHAPTER    II. 

Removal  to  Missouri — The  Saints'  Guns  Purchased  for  Mobo- 
crats  by  a  Sectarian  Preacher— Attack  of  the  Mob  on  the 
Whitmer  Settlement — ^The  Writer  Shot — Subsequent 
Exposure  and  Sufi*ering — Critical  Condition — Healed 
Miraculously — How  Zion's  Camp  was  preserved  on  Fish- 
ing River — A  Vision.  Page  81. 

CHAPTER    III. 

Militia  Organized  at  Far  West — Liberty  Pole  Struck  by  Light- 
ning— General  Atchison  Defends  the  Prophet  in  a  Law- 
suit— ^Atchison  Removed  from  Office  for  being  Friendly 
to  the  Saints — Far  West  Besieged — Leaders  of  the  Saints 
Betrayed  for  a  Price — Escape  to  Quincy.  Page  87. 

CHAPTER    lY. 

Rent  a  Farm — Sickness — Providential  Recovery — Inspired  to 
Preach — ^Removal  to  Nauvoo — Death  of  my  Wife — 
Second  Marriage — Premonition  of  Death — Warning 
from  the  Prophet — A  Dream  and  its  Fulfillment — A 
Prophecy  and  its  Fulfillment — Evil  Spirits  Cast  out  of  a 
Man — Joseph  Smith's  Trust  in  the  Lord.  Page  91. 


"SHOW  US  A  SIGN." 


BY  B.  F.  JOHNSON 


MY  sister's  hip  BROKEN— NO  HOPES  OF  EVER  BEING  ABLE 
TO  WALK — OUR  FAMILY  EMBRACE  THE  GOSPEL — SCOF- 
FERS DEMAND  AS  A  SIGN  THAT  MY  SISTER  BE  HEALED— 
ELDER  BRACKINBURY's  DEATH — WARNED  BY  THE  SPIRIT 
OF  THE  body-snatchers'  DESIGNS— CAUGHT  IN  THE 
ACT  OF  ROBBING  THE  GRAVE— MY  BROTHER'S  DEATH — 
MY  SISTER  HEALED — ^THE  HEALING  FAILS  TO  CONVINCE 
THE    UNBELIEVERS. 

ABOUT  the  year  1830,  when  I  was  twelve  years  of  age, 
Nancy,  my  eldest  sister,  was  thrown  from  a  horse,  and 
had  her  hip  broken. 

The  bone  was  broken  so  near  the  socket  that  it  could  not  be 
set,  and  physicians  all  agreed  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  her 
ever  again  to  walk  upon  that  leg,  or  in  any  degree  to  recover  its 
use,  as  ossification  had  taken  place  without  a  connection  of  the 
bones  and  they  had  slipped  past  each  other,  making  the  broken 
limb  nearly  an  inch  shorter  than  the  other.  She  walked  upon 
two  crutches,  and  for  years  was  not  able  to  bring  upon  the 
broken  limb  weight  sufficient  to  hurt  the  finger  of  a  small  child* 
if  placed  under  her  foot. 

In  the  year  1831,  my  brothers  Joel  H.  and  David  received  the 
gospel  in  Amherst,  Ohio,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  my 
brother  David  brought  to  us  the  Book  of  Mormon,  near  Fre- 
donia,  State  of  New  York. 

Soon  afterwards  my  brother  Joel,  with  A.  W.  Babbitt — 
then  only  a  boy,  came  also,  and  was  followed  by  Elders  Brack 


10  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH   HISTORY. 

inbury  and  Durfee.  Elder  Brackinbury  was  an  earnest  and 
powerful  preacher,  and  all  the  Elders  seemed  filled  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord.  Many  received  their  testimony,  and  my 
mother  and  Lyman  K  Shearman,  a  brother-in-law,  were  the 
first  to  be  baptized. 

Priest  and  people  came  out  to  oppose  the  work,  and  would 
scofiingly  ask,  "Why,  if  miracles  can  be  performed,  do  you 
not  heal  Sister  Nancy?"  Many  would  also  say:  "If  they 
would  only  heal  Sister  Nancy  we  would  all  believe  !" 

My  sist«r  was  a  young  woman  of  excellent  mind  and  char, 
acter.  Having  a  good  common  education,  she  had  for  some 
years  taught  our  district  summer  school,  and,  being  religiously 
inclined,  had  joined  the  Freewill  Baptist  church.  Like  my 
mother,  who  was  also  a  religious  woman,  she  was  not  only 
respected,  but  was  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her.  But,  although 
she  had  obeyed  the  gospel,  the  time  had  not  come  for  her 
release  from  her  crutches  by  the  heahng  power  of  God.  The 
wicked  were  seeking  it  for  a  sign,  as  in  the  days  of  our  Savior, 
when  they  followed  Him  even  to  His  crucifixion,  demanding 
that  He  come  down  from  the  cross,  as  a  sign,  to  prove  to  them 
that  He  was  the  Son  of  God;  yet  no  sign  was  given  except  that 
of  their  overthrow  and  destruction. 

After  a  few  weeks  of  successful  preaching  and  baptizing 
Elder  Brackinbury  was  taken  violently  sick,  and,  withiil  a  few 
days,  died  of  the  bilious  cholic. 

To  us,  then  young  and  inexperienced  members  of  the 
Church,  his  death  came  as  a  trial  to  our  faith,  as  well  as  a  very 
great  grief  To  think  that  so  good  a  man,  in  such  a  field  of 
useful  labor,  and  far  away  from  his  home  and  family,  should 
be  permitted  to  die,  and  that  too  so  suddenly,  was  naturally  a 
test  to  the  faith  and  integrity  of  so  young  a  branch. 

Although  the  grave  had  closed  over  his  body  and  we  were  in 
deep  sorrow,  our  enemies  were  not  satisfied,  for  while  we  were 
assembled  in  the  evening  after  his  burial,  to  talk  and  pray  and 
mourn  together,  the  spirit  of  revelation  said  to  my  brother 
David  that  they  were  then  digging  up  the  body  of  Brother 
Brackinbury  for  dissection. 

My  brothers  with  others  quickly  started,  and  proceeding 
rapidly  to  the  grave  about  one  mile  away,  found  three  men 


MY  brother's  death.  11 

there  who  had  unearthed  the  coffin  and  were  just  dragging  the 
corpse  from  under  its  lid.  As  our  party  approached  they 
sprang  out  of  the  grave  and  fled. 

David,  then  a  stripling  of  about  twenty  years,  pursued  them, 
and  like  a  young  lion,  grappled  with,  captured  and  brought 
back  as  a  prisoner  one  of  the  most  powerful  young  men  of  the 
country — not  only  much  older  but  nearly  double  his  size — a 
student  of  medicine  in  our  native  town. 

The  prisoner  was  afterwards  committed  by  a  magistrate, 
and  put  under  bonds  to  appear  at  his  trial. 

These,  with  other  unhappy  events,  caused  us  to  desire  to 
leave  our  native  place  and  gather  with  the  Saints  at  Kirtland, 
which  we  did  in  the  spring  of  1833.  In  the  summer  of  that 
same  year  it  was  proposed  to  build  the  Kirtland  Temple,  and 
as  it  was  designed  at  first  to  build  it  of  brick,  my  three  eldest 
brothers,  with  those  of  us  who  were  younger,  engaged  in  making 
the  brick  for  that  purpose;  and  there  brother  David,  who  was 
then  about  twenty-two  years  of  age,  became  a  martyr  to  the 
great  and  good  cause.  Through  his  ambition  to  perform  more 
labor  than  he  was  able  to  endure,  and  by  over-exertion  in  pro- 
curing the  wood,  he  bled  at  the  lungs  and  died  the  same  fall. 
He  bore  a  faithful  testimony  of  the  gospel  being  again  revealed, 
and  spoke  with  the  gift  of  tongues  with  his  latest  breath, 
which  was  interpreted  by  Don  Carlos  Smith,  the  Prophet's 
brother,  who  was  present  at  the  time. 

About  this  time  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  seemed  to  be  poured 
out  upon  the  Saints  in  Kirtland.  There  families  often  met 
together  to  "speak  of  the  Lord,"  and  the  gifts  of  the  gospel 
were  enjoyed  in  rich  abundance.  As  yet  my  sister  Nancy  had 
never,  since  her  hip  had  been  broken,  taken  one  step  unaided 
by  her  crutches ;  but  the  time  had  now  come  for  her  release. 

She  was  commanded  by  Elder  Jared  Carter — then  a  man  of 
mighty  faith — to  arise,  leave  her  crutches  and  walk. 

She  arose  in  faith,  full  of  joy,  and  was  from  that  hour  made 
whole,  and  never  again  did  she  walk  upon  crutches  or  lean 
upon  a  staff. 

The  same  fall  I  returned  on  a  visit  to  my  native  town,  full 
of  a  desire  that  our  old  neighbors,  as  well  as  my  young  asso- 
ciates, should  embrace  the  truth;  for  I  felt  sure  that  they 


12  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

would  believe  my  testimony  that  my  sister  was  healed,  and,  as 
they  had  promised,  accept  the  gospel. 

I  was  fall  of  hope,  although  I  was  but  a  boy,  that  they 
would  all  be  converted  through  my  testimony ;  but  alas !  there 
were  none  to  be  converted — no  one  to  accept  the  great  truths 
of  the  gospel.  They  believed  my  statement  that  my  sister  had 
become  well  and  was  walking  unaided  upon  her  broken  limb, 
yet,  to  their  understanding,  "some  natural  cause  had  produced 
the  effect,"  and  they  were  unbelievers  still. 

When  again,  as  a  missionary,  I  returned  to  the  place  of  my 
birth  and  preached  to  those  same  persons  the  gospel,  bearing 
a  faithful  testimony,  they  were  glad  to  see  me,  and  treated  me 
with  great  kindness,  yet  no  one  was  converted  to  the  truth,  for 
signs  had  failed  to  make  them  believe. 


CONTEST  WITH  EVIL  SPIRITS. 


BY  H.  G.   B. 


THE  SAVIOR  S  PROMISE — SENT  ON  A  MISSION  WHEN  A  BOY — 
CONFERENCE  IN  BURKE's  GARDEN — A  GIRL  APPARENTLY 
STRICKEN  WITH  DEATH — MY  FRIGHT  AT  BEING  ASKED 
TO  ADMINISTER  TO  HER — PROMPTED  BY  THE  SPIRIT  TO 
CAST  THE  DEVIL  OUT  OF  HER — THE  EVIL  SPIRIT  LEAVES 
HER  AND  ENTERS  TWO  OTHERS— SIX  ELDERS  CONTEND 
WITH  THE  EVIL  SPIRIT  FOR  THIRTY-SIX  HOURS— ITS 
FINAL  BANISHMENT. 

1 UST  a  few  minutes  before  our  Savior  took  His  leave  of  the 

J    twelve  apostles  and  ascended  on  high,  He  promised  that 

certain  gifts  and  blessings  should  be  enjoyed  by  the  behever. 

You  will  find  this  promise  recorded  in  the  ICth  chapter  of 


A  GIRL  APPARENTLY  STRICKEN  WITH  DEATH.  13 

the  gospel  according  to  St.  Mark,  17th  and  18th  verses.  It  is 
of  one  of  these  gifts  that  I  wish  to  speak. 

When  on  my  first  mission  (in  the  year  1844),  in  the  State 
of  Virginia,  we  were  attending  a  conference  in  Burke's  Garden, 
Tazewell  County.  There  were  some  ten  or  twelve  Elders  in 
attendance,  most  of  whom  had  just  arrived  a  week  or  two 
previous  from  Nauvoo,  where  they  had,  during  the  April 
Conference,  heen  called  and  set  apart  for  missions  in  Virginia. 
It  was  Sunday  evening,  some  time  early  in  May.  Our  con- 
ference had  just  closed,  the  last  services  of  which  were  the 
ordinances  of  baptism  and  confirmation  administered  to 
several  persons. 

The  Saints  and  strangers  had  dispersed  to  their  homes, 
except  some  of  the  Saints  who  lived  at  a  distance.  A  few  of 
these  had  put  up  with  Colonel  Peter  Litz,  who,  with  his 
family,  were  members  of  the  Church,  and  where  also  several 
of  the  Elders,  myself  included,  were  going  to  stay  over 
night. 

The  time  in  the  evening  was  what  would  be  called  early 
twilight.  Some  of  the  Elders  had  taken  an  evening  stroll. 
At  any  rate,  I  was  the  only  Elder  that  was  about  the  house, 
when  Sister  Litz  came  to  me  (I  was  seated  at  the  time  out  in 
the  yard)  very  much  excited,  and  said  that  one  of  the  sisters 
who  had  come  to  stay  over  night,  was  taken  suddenly  and 
very  severely  sick,  and  she  (Sister  Litz)  desired  me  to 
administer  to  her. 

I  was  only  a  boy,  yet  in  my  teens,  and  with  little  or  no 
experience,  and  had  never  been  called  upon,  -up  to  that  time, 
to  administer  to  the  sick.  I  naturally  shrank  from  th^  task, 
and  would  have  given  anything  to  have  had  some  one  to  take 
it  off  my  shoulders. 

However,  there  was  no  escape  for  me — no  other  Elders 
were  present,  and  she  insisted  that  I  should  attend  to  the 
ordinance. 

I  followed  Sister  Litz  into  the  house,  and  there  lay  the  girl, 
stretched  upon  a  bed,  apparently  lifeless,  without  breath  or 
motion. 

I  asked  Sister  Litz  what  was  the  matter  with  the  girl,  but 
she  could  not  tell. 


14  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

*'What  can  I  do?''  I  thought.  What  could  any  one  do? 
Nevertheless,  I  placed  nay  hands  upon  her  head,  knowing  full 
well  if  the  Lord  did  not  help  me,  that  I  would  utterly  fail  in 
being  able  to  say  the  first  appropriate  word,  or  exercise  the 
least  power. 

As  soon  as  I  opened  my  mouth,  I  began  to  cast  a  devil 
out  of  her,  which  was  farthest  from  my  thoughts  before  I 
commenced.  I  commanded  it,  in  the  name  of  JgvSus  Christ,  to 
come  out  of  her,  and  not  to  return  again.  The  evil  spirit 
immediately  departed  from  her,  she  being  restored  to  her 
normal  condition,  seemingly  as  well  as  ever. 

Not  ten  minutes  after,  the  same  evil  spirit  entered  another 
girl.  But  during  this  interval  Elder  Robert  Hamilton  had 
returned  from  a  walk,  and  was  present  at  the  time  of  the 
second  attack,  and  was  mouth  with  myself  in  casting  it  out. 

In  about  the  same  time  it  would  take  a  person  to  walk  from 
one  room  to  another,  a  third  young  sister  was  attacked,  and 
in  the  same  way  exactly  that  the  two  first  had  been  taken ; 
and  our  administration  had  the  same  efi*ect  in  relieving  her  as 
in  the  first  two  cases. 

This  third  one  was  no  sooner  rid  of  the  evil  spirit,  than  it 
returned  and  took  possession  the  second  time  of  the  one  last 
before  relieved  of  its  power ;  and  when  it  was  cast  out  from 
this  one,  it  took  possession  of  the  third  one  again,  and  so  on, 
alternately,  as  well  as  I  can  remember,  for  three  or  four  times. 
But  the  spirit  never  returned  the  second  time  to  the  first 
sister  that  was  attacked  that  evening. 

However,  at  the  end  of  three  or  four  hours,  we  separated 
the  two  girls,  by  taking  one  of  them  up  stairs  and  into  a  room 
at  the  west  end  of  the  house,  leaving  the  other  in  a  room  on 
the  first  floor  at  the  east  end,  making  the  distance  between  as 
far  as  we  could  for  both  to  occupy  the  same  house,  which  was 
a  large  one. 

In  the  meantime,  one  of  the  Elders  from  the  house  of  one 
of  the  nearest  neighbors  had  come  in,  so  there  were  six  of  us 
in  attendance,  the  names  of  whom  were  as  follows:  Robert 
Hamilton,  J ames  Park,  Richard  Kinnamon,  Chapman  Duncan, 
Alfred  B.  Lambson  and  myself 

A.  B.  Lambson,  James  Park  and  Richard  Kinnamon,  with 


SIX  ELDERS  CONTEND   WITH  THE  EVIL  SPIRIT.  15 

the  father  of  the  two  girls  (for  they  were  sisters),  watch<^d 
with  the  one  in  the  room  on  the  first  floor,  while  Robert 
Hamilton,  Chapman  Duncan  and  myself,  with  the  mother, 
watched  with  the  other  in  the  upper  room. 

While  possessed  with  this  evil  spirit,  the  girls  would  some- 
times lay  in  a  trance,  motionless,  and  apparently  without 
breathing,  till  we  were  ready  to  conclude  they  were  dead,  then 
they  would  come  to  and  speak  and  sing  in  tongues,  and  talk 
about  Priesthood  and  the  endowments.  At  other  times,  they 
would  choke  up,  ceasing  to  breathe  until  they  were  black  in 
the  face,  and  we  thought  they  would  surely  die.  Sometimes 
they  would  froth  at  the  mouth  and  act  like  they  were  in  a  fit. 
If  standing  upon  their  feet  when  taken,  they  would  fall  to 
the  floor  and  act  like  they  were  struggling  for  life  with  some 
unseen  power.  Altogether,  these  cases  reminded  us  of  the 
one  recorded  in  Mark,  8th  chapter,  14th  to  29th  yerse,  and 
other  cases  recorded  in  the  New  Testament. 

We  never  made  a  failure  when  attempting  to  cast  out  this 
evil  spirit  from  either  of  the  girls.  But  invariably  as  soon  as 
one  of  them  was  dispossessed,  in  the  length  of  time  it  would 
take  a  person  to  walk  from  one  room  to  the  other,  the  spirit 
would  take  possession  of  the  other,  but  never  both  at  the 
same  time,  and  both  were  operated  upon  alike,  so  we  knew 
there  was  but  one  evil  spirit  to  deal  with;  yet  it  seemed 
impossible  to  get  rid  of  it,  for  the  girls  were  possessed  with 
it  alternately  for  some  thirty-six  hours. 

However,  we  took  advantage  of  the  Savior's  explanation  in 
the  9th  chapter  of  Mark,  before  referred  to,  and  fasted  and 
prayed.  After  which,  while  the  three  of  us  up  stairs  were 
administering  (Robert  Hamilton  being  mouth)  and  command- 
ing the  devil  (for  such  we  were  from  the  first  convinced  it 
was)  to  come  out  of  her  and  return  to  its  own  place,  Elder 
Duncan  immediately  interrupted,  and  said  to  Elder  Hamilton, 
"Name  the  place;  name  the  place!"  (See  Matthew,  8th 
chapter  and  31st  verse.) 

This  somewhat  confused  Elder  Hamilton,  who  hesitated, 
when  Elder  Duncan  called  the  name  of  a  family  who  were 
near  neighbors,  and  of  whom  not  one  us  had  thought  in 
connection  with  these  cases.     Elder  Hamilton  repeated  this 


16  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH   HISTORY. 

name,  and  immediately  the  evil  spirit  departed,  not  only  from 
the  girl  it  then  had  possession  of,  but  from  the  house.  And 
in  a  moment  all  in  the  house  felt  and  knew  that  they  were 
rid  of  its  power  and  influence  and  that  it  would  not  again 
return. 

We  all,  by  this  •  time,  knew  something  of  the  power  of  the 
adversary,  for  we  had  had  an  actual  experience,  indeed,  a  con- 
test, that  had  left  us  weak  and  nearly  worn  out,  to  an  extent  that 
an  actual  corporal  struggle  with  flesh  and  blood  would  not 
have  so  reduced  us. 

Why  was  the  key  to  its  departure  given  to  Elder  Duncan 
and  not  to  Elder  Hamilton,  who  was  acting  as  mouthpiece  at 
the  time?  is  a  question  my  young  readers  are  ready  to  ask,  as 
we  asked  one  another  at  the  time,  and  were  not  able  to  answer, 
and  which  I  am  unable  to  answer  to  this  day. 

And  why  was  it  necessary  to  give  this  demon  the  privilege 
to  return  to  torment  some  other  family? 

This  also  I  am  unable  to  answer  to  my  own  satisfaction ; 
but  this  much  I  can  say:  the  family  referred  to  was  bitterly 
opposed  to  the  gospel  and  its  blessings,  and  to  all  those  who 
taught,  practiced,  or  enjoyed  the  same.  A  daughter  of  this 
family  had  been  afflicted  in  a  very  singular  way  from  her 
childhood.  This  girl  had,  in  company  with  her  parents  and 
all  the  family  (as  they  never  left  her  alone),  attended  our  bap- 
tismal meeting  on  Sunday  evening,  and  her  family  spoke 
of  her  being  and  acting  like  a  new  person  for  two  days  after 
attending  that  meeting,  often  speaking  of  the  good  efiect  the? 
witnessing  of  the  ordinance  of  baptism  had  had  upon  her. 

To  all  I  have  said  in  the  foregoing,  I  was  an  eye  and  ear 
witness.  All  those  who  are  living,  who  were  present  at  the 
time  this  occurred,  will  remember  the  truth  of  what  I  have 
inscribed,  though  at  the  time  we  kept  it  from  the  world.  I 
have  written  this  experience  for  the  benefit  of  the  young 
Elders  who  are  now  abroad  on  missions,  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  boys  who  may  hereafter  be  called  on  to  take  missions,  and 
any  others  who  may  glean  any  good  from  its  perusal ;  and 
also  as  an  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  promise  of  Jesus  to 
believers. 


MY  CHILDHOOD.  17 


EARLY    EXPERIENCE    OF 
A.  O.  SMOOT. 


CHAPTER    I. 

SICKLY  CONDITION  WHEN  YOUNG— HEALED  ACCORDING  TO 
ELDER  patten's  PREDICTION — LABOR  AS  A  MISSIONARY 
WITH  ELDER  WOODRUFF— SEVERE  SICKNESS — HEALED 
UNDER  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  MY  BRETHREN— A  MIS- 
SCON  TO  TEI^  SOUrHERN  STATES— REMOVAL  TO  FAR 
WEST— MISSION  TO  MISSOURI  AND  ARKANSAS— OPPOSED 
BY  A  BAPTIST  DEACON — TERRIBLE  JUDGMENT  UPON  HIM- 
SELF AND  FAMILY— JOHN  HOUSTON,  THE  INFIDEL— FAR 
WEST  BESIEGED — TAKEN  PRISONER. 

MY  life  has  been  an  exceedingly  active,  busy  one,  but 
when  my  experience  is  compared  with  that  of  many  of 
my  brethren  there  is  perhaps  nothing  very  extraordinary  about 
it.  I  have  seen  the  power  of  God  manifested  in  various  ways, 
and  have  had  all  the  testimonies  that  I  could  ask  for  of  the 
divine  character  of  the  work  instituted  through  Joseph  Smith, 
with  which  I  have  been  connected  for  almost  half  a  century. 
But  I  have  never  seen  anything  that  I  could  call  very  miracu- 
lous, nor  have  I  sought  for  anything  of  the  kind  as  an  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  God's  work.  To  me  everything  has 
seemed  to  come  along  naturally.  And  yet  when  all  things  are 
considered,  my  whole  Hfe  might  be  regarded  as  miraculous. 
When  I  reflect  upon  the  precarious  condition  of  my  health 
when  a  boy,  and  the  indulgence  with  which  I  was  then  treated, 
and  then  upon  what  I  have  been  enabled  to  endure  and  accom- 
plish, through  the  blessings  of  God  since,  there  is  something 
rather  remarkable  about  it  to  me. 

I  was  born  on  the  17th  of  February,   1815,  in  Owen  ton, 
Owen  Co.,  Kentucky.      Both  the  town  and  County  in  which 


18  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

I  was  born  were  named  after  my  great-uncle,  Abraham  Owen, 
in  whose  honor  I  was  named.  He  was  killed  in  the  battle  of 
Tippecanoe,  while  serving  under  General  Harrison,  who  was 
afterwards  President  Of  the  United  States.  Abraham  Owen's 
sister,  my  great- aunt,  was  Stonewall  Jackson's  mother,  so  that 
General  Jackson  and  I  were  second-cousins. 

From  my  early  childhood,  almost  from  my  infancy,  I  was 
afflicted  with  a  lung  disease,  and  supposed  to  be  in  consumption. 
Indeed,  I  was  so  bad  a  great  deal  of  the  time  that  my  life  was 
despaired  of  When  I  was  about  nine  years  old  my  death 
seemed  so  imminent  that  my  burial  clothes  were  made.  How- 
ever, I  rallied  somewhat,  but  not  to  be  able  to  do  any  work. 
I  had  a  great  desire  to  live,  and  also  to  know  if  the  Lord  had 
a  church  upon  the  earth,  and  I  investigated  the  various 
doctrines  professed  by  those  with  whom  I  came  in  contact,  but 
could  never  feel  satisfied  to  join  any  of  the  religious  sects. 

When  I  attained  my  twentieth  year,  and  while  I  was  still 
very  sickly,  Elders  David  W.  Patten  and  Warren  Parrish 
visited  the  part  where  I  resided,  as  missionaries,  and  I  became 
convinced  of  the  correctness  of  the  doctrines  which  they  taught 
and  embraced  the  same,  being  baptized  by  Elder  Parrish  and 
confirmed  by  Elder  Patten.  Brother  Patten,  in  confirming 
me,  promised  that  I  should  be  healed  of  my  infirmity  and 
become  a  strong  and  powerful  man.  This  prediction  was  veri- 
fied to  the  letter;  I  began  to  grow  strong  immediately. 

The  following  spring  I  was  ordained  a  deacon  and  placed  to 
preside  over  a  small  branch  of  the  Church  raised  up  by  Elders 
Patten  and  Parrish,  and  on  the  7th  of  the  next  April  I  was 
ordained  an  Elder  under  the  hands  of  Brother  Woodrufi"  and 
started  out  with  him  preaching.  I  traveled  with  him  in  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee  until  the  early  part  of  the  following  win- 
ter, when  we  left  the  South  and  went  to  Kirtland,  Ohio,  where 
I  attended  school  with  him  and  studied  Greek  and  Latin. 

The  change  of  climate  and  a  little  carelessness  on  my  part 
brought  on  an  attack  of  typhoid  fever  and  pleurisy,  from  which 
I  suffered  severely,  and  it  was  thought  that  I  could  not 
recover.  Brother  Woodruff,  however,  who  was  waiting  upon 
me,  called  in  Elders  Brigham  Young,  Heber  C.  Kimball, 
Willard  Richards,  and  Hyrum  Smith,  and  the  five  laid  their 


A  MISSION  TO  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES.  19 

hands  upon  me  and  rebuked  the  disease  and  blessed  me. 
While  their  hands  were  upon  my  head  I  fell  into 
an  easy  sleep,  and  when  I  awoke  my  disease  was  entirely 
gone. 

A  few  days  after,  I  was  advised  by  the  Prophet  Joseph  to 
return  to  the  Southern  States  and  raise  up  a  company  of 
Saints  and  emigrate  to  Far  West,  Missouri.  I  accordingly 
went  South,  and  in  the  month  of  May  had  succeeded  in  organ- 
izing a  company  of  two  hundred  souls  with  about  forty  teams 
and  started  on  our  journey.  The  trip  occupied  about  two 
months.  We  immediately  set  about  making  homes  and  soon 
began  to  get  comfortable  surroundings. 

In  January,  1838,  I  was  called  to  fill  a  mission  to  the 
southern  part  of  Missouri  and  throughout  Arkansas.  During 
this  mission  an  incident  occurred  which  I  think  worth  relating. 
I  was  preaching  one  afternoon  in  the  court-house  at  Yellsville, 
where  I  had  also  held  meeting  in  the  forenoon,  when  in  the 
midst  of  my  discourse  I  was  interrupted  by  a  Baptist  deacon, 
who  arose  and  exclaimed :  "That  young  man  is  not  quoting  the 
scripture  correctly." 

I  was  speaking  at  the  time  upon  the  authenticity  of  the  Book 
of  Mormon.  I  was  also  enjoying  an  unusual  flow  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  felt  more  calm  and  collected  at  this  inter- 
ruption than  I  otherwise  would  have  done.  I  deliberately 
opened  the  Bible  and  read  therefrom  the  very  passages  which 
I  had  previously  quoted  verbatim,  and  cited  the  chapter  and 
verse. 

At  this  the  Baptist  took  his  seat,  but  I  had  not  pro- 
ceeded much  farther  with  my  remarks  when  I  again  had  occa- 
sion to  quote  from  the  scriptures,  and  lest  I  again  should  be 
found  fault  with,  I  opened  the  Bible  and  read  from  it,  when  the 
deacon,  a  second  time  arose  and  declared  that  it  was  not  from 
King  James'  translation  of  the  Bible  that  I  was  quoting,  but 
"Joe    Smith's  golden  Bible,"  etc. 

Several  of  the  audience  immediately  ordered  him  to  be  still 
and  let  the  young  man  proceed,  as  they  wanted  to  hear  the 
preaching. 

Again  he  became  quiet,  but  soon  broke  forth  in  a  perfect  rage, 
said  1  was  lying,  and  denounced,  in  a  rather  incoherent  manner, 


20  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

''Joe  Smith"  and  his  "golden  bible,"  and  the  "Mormons"  as 
"chicken  thieves" and  "hog  stealers,"  etc. 

A  number  of  persons  immediately  surrounded  him  as  if  they 
intended  to  thrust  him  out,  and  lest  they^hould  use  violence 
I  began  to  plead  for  him,  and,  requested  them  to  allow  him  to 
retire  quietly.  I  added,  however,  that  I  was  there  on  my 
Father's  business,  commissioned  to  proclaim  the  gospel,  and  if 
he  did  not  speedily  repent  the  Lord  would  rebuke  him  and  the 
judgment  of  God  would  overtake  him.  At  this  he  turned  and 
rushed  from  the  room  almost  foaming  with  rage. 

He  had  four  di-unken  sons  in  the  town  and  he  proceeded  to 
hunt  them  up  to  incite  them  to  mob  me.  Just  then  a  fire 
broke  out  in  the  Baptist  meeting  house,  and  on  hearing  the 
alarm  I  adjourned  the  meeting  for  one  hour. 

In  the  audience  was  a  Major  John  Houston,  a  brother  of  the 
celebrated  Sam  Houston,  who  was  in  command  of  a  military  post 
near  by.  He  had  boarded  a  few  days  at  the  same  place  that  I 
had,  and  had  therefore  become  somewhat  acquainted  with  me. 

He  followed  the  deacon  and  advised  him  against  molesting 
me,  telling  him  if  he  persisted  in  it  he  would  have  to  take  him  in 
charge.  The  deacon  concluded  to  desist  but  raged,  and  cursed 
'  'Joe  Smith' '  and  the  '  'golden  bible' '  and  the  young  preacher,  and 
everything  connected  with  him  as  he  proceeded  home,  and  on 
entering  his  house,  almost  immediately  fell  dead  and  turned 
black. 

In  this  condition  he  lay  for  two  days,  no  one,  not  even 
his  own  sons,  daring  to  go  near  him  until,  a  Campbellite 
preacher,  who  also  had  happened  to  be  one  of  my  audience,  and 
who  had  heard  of  his  condition,  came  to  me  and  informed  me 
of  it.  I  went  with  him  to  Major  Houston,  and  through  his 
influence  some  persons  were  employed  to  go  and  bury  the 
dead  man. 

Within  a  week  from  the  time  of  the  deacon's  death  his  wife 
also  died,  and  his  sons  kept  up  their  drunken  spree  until  they 
had  run  through  four  thousand  dollars  of  the  money  which 
their  father  had  left  and  also  other  property. 

Many  of  the  people  of  the  town  regarded  this  series  of  calami- 
ties as  the  judgment  of  God,  and  even  the  Campbellite  preacher 
admitted  to  me  that  it  had  very  much  the  appearance  of  it. 


TAKEN  PRISONER.  21 

Soon  after  these  events  transpired  I  returned  to  a  place 
about  twenty  miles  distant,  to  fill  a  previous  appointment,  and 
while  there  Major  Houston  was  taken  sick  with  the  cholera. 
He  felt  that  he  was  going  to  die,  and  wanted  to  have  me  sent 
for.  I  had  conversed  with  him  many  times  upon  the  subject 
of  religion,  and,  though  he  professed  to  be  an  infidel,  I  could 
see  that  he  was  pricked  in  his  heart  but  was  too  proud  to 
acknowledge  it.  Shortly  before  he  died  he  made  a  request  that 
I  should  preach  his  funeral  sermon,  and  on  my  return  to 
Yellsville  I  did  so,  and  I  think  I  never  had  more  of  the  Spirit 
of  Grod  in  preaching  in  my  life  than  I  did  on  that  occasion, 
infidel  though  he  pretended  to  be. 

I  returned  from  this  mission  in  the  summer  of  1838,  and 
soon  afterwards  the  troubles  of  the  Saints  with  the  Missouri 
mobocrats  recommenced,  in  which  I  became  earnestly  engaged. 
After  Far  West  had  been  besieged  by  the  mob  militia  under 
General  Clark  and  we  had  been  compelled  to  surrender  our 
arms,  I  was  taken  prisoner  in  company  with  many  of  my. 
brethren. 


CHAPTER    II. 

MARRIED  WHILE  A  PRISONER  OF  WAR — PROPERTY  CONFIS- 
CATED—REMOVAL TO  QUINCY — FIRST  HARD  WORK — 
REMOVAL  TO  MONTROSE— MISSION  TO  TENNESSEE — SHOT 
AT— CAMP,  MY  CHAMPION— A  LAWYER  AND  HIS  MOB — 
APPEAL  TO  MASONS  FOR  HELP — ^READY  RESPONSE— 
camp's  vengeance  on  the  lawyer— news  of  MARTYR- 
DOM—return  TO  NAUVOO— BR-IGHAM  YOUNG  INSPIRED 
— ANOTHER  MISSION  SOUTH — BLESSINGS  IN  THE  TEMPLE 
—JOURNEY  TO  SALT  LAKE  VALLEY.  ^ 

/^N  the  11th  of  November,  while  still  a  prisoner  of  war,  I 
^^  was  married,  which  might  be  considered  as  a  proof  that  I 
had  not  lost  hope.  I  was  fortunate  in  securing  a  wife  who  was 
zealous  and  devoted  to  her  religion  and  ready  to  sacrifice  or 
endure  anything  to  further  its  interests. 


22  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

After  the  troops  were  withdrawn  from  Far  West  I  visited 
my  farm  two  miles  south  of  the  town,  to  look  after  my  stock 
which  I  had  left  there,  and  found  that  all  my  earthly  posses- 
sions save  my  real  estate  had  been  confiscated  by  the  army. 

On  visiting  the  late  camp-ground  of  the  army  I  found  the 
heads  of  eleven  of  my  oxen  which  had  been  butchered,  and 
there  was  no  trace  left  of  my  sheep,  swine,  etc. 

Brother  John  Butler,  who  had  been  obliged  to  flee  to  the 
north  to  save  his  life,  had  left  his  family  in  my  charge.  He 
had  a  span  of  very  poor  horses  and  an  old  wagon.  I  loaded 
the  wagon  up  with  his  wife  and  five  children  and  what  few 
goods  I  had  left,  which  consisted  of  one  trunk  full  of  clothes 
besides  what  my  wife  and  I  wore.  I  managed  to  find  one  of 
my  horses  which  the  mob  had  taken  and  used  in  such  a  shock- 
ing manner  that  his  back  was  skinned  almost  from  his  withers 
to  his  tail.  This  animal  I  hitched  on  ahead  of  Brother  But- 
ler's horses,  and  by  those  of  us  walking  who  were  able  to  do  so, 
we  slowly  made  our  way  to  Quincy,  Illinois,  in  the  depth  of  win- 
ter. On  arriving  there  I  went  to  work  carrying  the  hod  up  a 
four-story  building — really  the  first  hard  work  1  had  ever  done, 
to  make  another  start  in  life,  while  my  wife  assisted  by  taking 
in  sewing. 

In  the  month  of  July  I  removed  to  Montrose,  opposite  Com- 
merce. In  May  of  the  following  year  I  went  on  a  mission  to 
Tennessee,  from  which  I  returned  the  following  October,  and 
again  the  next  year,  I  went  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
being  instructed  to  introduce  the  gospel  there.  I  spent  all  the 
money  I  had  in  renting  halls  and  publishing  placards  announc- 
ing my  meetings,  but  although  I  had  large  audiences,  and 
numbers  of  persons  came  to  me,  Nicodemus-like — by  night, 
to  inquire  about  the  gospel,  I  failed  to  make  one  convert.  I 
returned  to  Nauvoo  from  this  mission  in  1842. 

In  the  summer  of  1843,  I  took  a  trip  through  southern  Illi- 
nois and  north-western  Kentucky,  in  the  interest  of  the  Nau- 
voo House,  and  in  May,  1844,  I  again  went  south  to  Tennessee 
to  electioneer  for  Joseph  Smith  as  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
of  the  United  States.  On  arriving  at  Dresden,  Tenn. ,  I  rented 
the  court-house  to  hold  meeting  in,  and  while  in  the  act  of 
preaching  to  a  good-sized  audience,  a  mob  gathered  outside 


A  LAWYER  AND  HIS  MOB.  23 

and  a  shot  was  fired  at  me  through  the  window.  The  bullet 
passed  near  my  head  and  lodged  in  the  ceiling,  and  immediately 
afterwards  a  few  brickbats  were  also  thrown  through  the  win- 
dow. Considerable  excitement  followed  and  the  audience  beijan 
to  scatter,  when  a  man  by  the  name  of  Camp,  somewhat  noted 
as  a  fighting  character,  arose  and  called  on  the  fleeing  people 
to  stop.  He  told  them  if  they  would  only  sit  and  listen  to  the 
preaching,  he  would  go  out  and  look  after  the  persons  who 
were  creating  the  disturbance.  About  two-thirds  of  the 
audience  again  became  seated  and  he  went  outside  and  pro- 
cured a  shot-gun,  with  which  he  patroled  around  the  court- 
house the  remainder  of  the  evening,  and  there  was  no  further 
trouble. 

Another  meeting  was  announced  for  the  following  day, 
but  before  it  commenced  a  lawyer  of  the  town  laid  his  plans  to 
break  it  up.  I  had  not  long  been  speaking  when  he,  at  the 
head  of  a  mob  of  two  hundred  men,  marched  into  the  room 
and  demanded  that  I  should  cease  speaking,  as  they  had  come 
to  attend  to  my  case. 

In  this  emergency,  and  for  the  only  time  in  my  life  in  public, 
I  made  use  of  a  masonic  sign  calling  for  help,  when  lo !  a  num- 
ber of  persons  sprang  up  to  assist  me.  The  lawyer  was  com- 
manded to  give  his  reasons  for  interfering  with  me,  which  he 
proceeded  to  do  by  delivering  a  most  abusive  and  slanderous 
speech.  I  finally  commanded  him  to  sit  down  and  he  did  so 
very  suddenly,  and  the  masons  who  were  present,  who  were 
very  numerous  and  influential,  gave  him  to  understand  that  he 
would  not  be  allowed  to  molest  me.  I  continued  my  remarks, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  Mr.  Camp  took  vengeance  on 
the  lawyer  by  knocking  him  down  and  kicking  him  around  the 
court-house  yard. 

From  Dresden  I  proceeded  to  Paris,  in  the  same  State,  where 
I  contracted  for  the  publication  of  1,000  copies  of  Joseph 
Smith's  'Towers  and  Policy  of  the  Grovernment  of  the  United 
States."  After  the  printing  had  been  done  and  paid  for,  the 
printer  informed  me  that  if  I  attempted  to  circulate  the  pam- 
phlets it  would  be  likely  to  land  me  in  the  penitentiary,  as  the 
views  expressed  therein,  in  regard  to  freeing  the  slaves,  would 
be  considered  treasonable  and  contrary  to  law.     On  consulting 


24  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

a  lawyer  of  the  place,  a  boyhood  friend  of  mine,  I  found  that 
he  held  the  same  opinion,  and  I  therefore  suppressed  the  whole 
edition. 

I  was  at  Father  Church's,  on  Duck  river,  in  Hickman  Co., 
Tenn. ,  when  I  received  the  news  of  the  martyrdom  of  Joseph 
and  Hyrum  Smith,  six  days  after  the  consummation  of  that 
bloody  deed.  I  immediately  proceeded  down  Duck  river  to 
the  Tennessee  river,  by  canoe,  and,  on  arriving  there,  in  com- 
pany with  three  other  Elders,  purchased  a  skiff,  and  made  my 
way  to  Paducah  on  the  Ohio  river,  from  which  place  I  took 
steamer  to  Nauvoo. 

On  arriving  in  Nauvoo  I  found  that  Sidney  Rigdon  was 
striving  to  establish  his  claim  to  the  leadership  of  the  Church, 
and  proffering  various  unheard-of  offices  to  such  persons  as 
would  rally  around  his  standard.  However,  on  the  arriyal  of 
President  Young  and  the  other  Apostles  from  their  missions, 
his  claims  were  soon  set  aside. 

I  was  present  at  the  meeting  held  in  Nauvoo  on  the  occasion 
when  President  Young  assumed  the  leadership  of  the  Church, 
and  can  testify  with  hundreds  of  others  that  he  spoke  by  the 
power  of  Grod  on  that  occasion  and  that  he  had  the  very  voice 
and  appearance  of  Joseph  Smith. 

The  following  autumn  I  was  sent  by  President  Young  to 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Georgia  and  Mississippi  to 
raise  means  for  the  building  of  the  Temple  and  also  to  induce 
the  Saints  scattered  through  that  region  to  migrate  to  Nauvoo 
and  make  preparations  to  journey  westward.  I  returned  to 
Nauvoo  in  the  summer  of  1845,  bringing  a  large  number  of 
the  Saints  with  me.  I  also  left  many  others  partially  prepared 
to  follow,  who  were  subsequently  gathered  up  by  Elders  John 
Brown  and  Wm.  Crosby  and  led  westward,  by  way  of 
Arkansas,  to  Salt  Lake  Valley. 

After  my  return  to  Nauvoo  I  labored  on  the  Temple  until  it 
was  so  far  completed  as  to  admit  of  the  ordinances  being  per- 
formed in  it,  when  I  had  the  blessed  privilege  of  entering  it 
and  receiving  my  endowments  and  having  wives  sealed  to  me. 
I  also  at  that  time  had  the  son  of  my  first  wife  (who,  I  should 
have  mentioned,  was  a  widow  when  I  married  her)  adopted  to 


BLESSINGS  IN  THE  TEMPLE.  25 

me  by  the  Priesthood,  and  he  has  ever  since  borne  my  name 
and  been  recognized  and  treated  as  one  of  my  own  sons. 

I  labored  about  three  months  in  the  temple  in  administering 
the  ordinances  of  the  house  of  Grod  to  others,  and  in  April, 
1846,  I  left  Nauvoo  and  started  westward  with  quite  a  large 
company  of  my  southern  friends.  On  arriving  at  Winter 
Quarters  I  was  ordained  a  Bishop  and  appointed  to  preside 
over  a  Ward,  and  spent  the  winter  in  building  cabins  to  shelter 
the  people  and  in  looking  after  the  wants  of  the  poor.  In  the 
spring  of  1847  I  was  appointed  to  organize  and  lead  westward 
a  company  of  Saints  having  one  hundred  and  twenty  wagons. 
I  chose  as  my  assistants  Major  Russell  and  Gleo.  B.  Wallace. 
We  arrived  in  Salt  Lake  Valley  on  the  24th  day  of  September. 

Thus  passed  the  first  twelve  years  of  my  connection  with 
the  Church — twelve  years  of  rough  but  not  unprofitable  expe- 
rience for  me,  considering  the  many  lessons  I  learned  and 
the  satisfaction  I  enjoyed  in  contemplating  my  labors.  During 
that  period  I  had  become  strong  and  healthy,  and  through  the 
blessings  of  God,  had  been  enabled,  with  the  help  of  my  wife 
and  boy,  to  earn  a  subsistence  and  accumulate  some  property, 
notwithstanding  the  many  missions  I  had  filled  and  the  losses 
of  property  I  had  sustained. 

Since  that  time  I  never  have  performed  a  regular  preaching 
mission  abroad,  although  in  1851,  I  was  sent  to  England,  for 
that  purpose ;  but  on  arriving  there  it  was  decided  to  have  me 
return  to  lead  the  first  company  emigrated  by  the  Perpetual 
Emigration  Fund  across  the  plains,  and  after  a  stay  of  thirty 
days  in  that  country  I  did  so.  I  filled  various  business  mis- 
sions, however,  in  which  I  crossed  the  plains  thirteen  times 
with  ox  and  mule  teams. 


1* 


26  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER   III. 

ALMOST  LOST  IN  THE  ATLANTIC— NARROWLY  ESCAPE  THE 
"SALUDA"  DISASTER— NEARLY  DEAD  WITH  THE  CHOL- 
ERA— HEALED  IN  ANSWER  TO  PRAYER— BLOWN  UP  WITH 
A  KEG  OF  POWDER — ^A  SICK  WOMAN  HEALED — ELDER 
patten's  remarkable  prediction  FULFILLED— a  MAN 
ALMOST  DEAD  RECOVERS   ON  BEING  BAPTIZED. 

T^UR-INGr  my  experience  I  have  seen  the  power  of  Grod  mani- 
■^  fested  upon  various  occasions  in  preserving  my  life;  indeed, 
considering  the  many  narrow  escapes  I  have  had,  it  might  be 
almost  thought  that  I  have  had  a  charmed  life. 

On  my  return  from  England  in  1853,  on  board  the  new- 
steamer  Pacific^  we  encountered  a  severe  storm,  in  which  the 
deck  was  swept  clear  of  rigging,  the  deck  cabin,  one  of  the 
wheels,  both  wheel  houses  and  the  bulwarks.  The  steamer 
was  entirely  submerged  in  the  sea  at  one  time,  and  had  she  not 
been  very  well  built  she  would  never  have  come  to  the  surface 
again.  It  looked  like  a  precarious  time,  but  I  felt  an  assurance 
that  the  vessel  would  be  saved,  and  in  the  midst  of  all  the 
excitement  which  prevailed  among  the  crew  and  passengers  I 
felt  quit€  calm.  I  had  seventeen  thousand  dollars  in  gold  in 
Hay  possession,  and  I  did  not  even  fear  that  I  would  lose  that. 
Our  preservation,  however,  was  certainly  providential,  for  the 
vessel  was  in  a  terribly  dilapidated  condition,  but  we  finally 
arrived  safely  in  New  York  with  the  wrecked  vessel,  after  a 
voyage  of  sixteen  daj^s. 

I  subsequently  had  a  very  narrow  escape  on  the  occasion  of 
the  Saluda  disaster.  I  had  purchased  the  supplies  for  my 
company  to  make  its  overland  journey  with,  except  cattle,  at 
St.  Louis,  and  had  decided  to  go  farther  up  the  river  to  buy 
the  stock,  when  Eli  B .  Kelsey  came  to  me  to  consult  me  in 
regard  to  chartering  the  Saluda  to  convey  an  independent 
company  of  Saints  up  the  river.  I  went  with  him  to  examine 
the  boat,  and  on  finding  that  it  was  an  old  hulk  of  a  freight 
boat,  fitted  up  with  a  single  engine,  I  strongly  advised  him 


NARROWLY  ESCAPE  THE   *'sALUDA''   DISASTER.  27 

against  having  anything  to  do  with  it.  He  seemed  to  be 
influenced  in  making  choice  of  it  entirely  by  the  fact  that  he 
could  get  it  cheaper  than  a  better  one;  but  in  my  opinion 
it  seemed  folly,  for  in  addition  to  the  danger  of  acci- 
dent, the  length  of  time  likely  to  be  occupied  in  making 
the  journey  would  more  than  counterbalance  what  might  be 
saved  in  the  charge  for  transit.  However,  he  decided  to 
charter  it,  and  then  both  he  and  the  captain  urged  me  strongly 
to  take  passage  with  them,  offering  to  carry  me  free  of  cost  if 
I  would  only  go,  but  I  could  not  feel  satisfied  to  do  so.  I  fol- 
lowed a  few  days  afterwards  on  the  Isabella,  and  overtook 
them  at  Lexington,  where  the  Saluda  was  stopped  by  the 
float-ice  and  was  unable  to  proceed  farther.  I  went  on  board  of 
her  to  visit  the  Saints  (who  were  in  charge  of  D.  J.  Ross,  Eli 
B.  Kelsey  having  gone  ashore  to  purchase  cattle),  and  left 
just  before  the  last  plank  was  drawn  in,  preparatory  to  attempt- 
ing to  start.  I  had  not  walked  to  exceed  two  hundred  yards 
after  leaving  the  Saluda  before  the  explosion  occurred,  and  on 
turning  to  look  in  the  direction  of  the  the  ill-fated  boat  I  saw 
the  bodies  of  many  of  the  unfortunate  passengers  and 
various  parts  of  the  boat  flying  in  the  air  in  every  direction. 
Fortunately  for  the  Saints  on  board,  they  were  mostly  on  the 
deck  of  the  boat  and  pretty  well  towards  the  stern,  and  they 
consequently  fared  better  than  those  who  were  below,  or  on  the 
forepart  of  the  boat,  which  was  blown  entirely  to  pieces.  As 
it  was,  however,  upwards  of  twenty  of  the  Saints  were  lost  or 
subsequently  died  of  their  wounds.  My  own  preservation  I 
can  only  attribute  to  the  providence  of  the  Almighty,  for  if  I 
had  remained  a  moment  on  the  wharf  to  see  the  boat  start,  as 
would  have  been  very  natural  for  a  person  to  do,  I  would  have 
been  blown  into  eternity  as  those  were  who  stood  there. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  kindness  of  the  citizens  of  Lexington 
in  caring  for  the  living  and  burying  the  dead.  The  Lord  cer- 
tainly inspired  them  to  do  all  that  sympathy  and  benevolence 
could  suggest  in  aid  of  the  afflicted.  The  city  council  set 
apart  a  piece  of  ground  in  which  to  bury  the  Saints  who  had 
died,  and  William  H.  Russell,  the  great  government  freighter, 
and  many  other  prominent  citizens  did  all  they  could  to  com- 
fort and  help  the  afflicted  survivors.     Besides  their  devoted 


28  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

attention,  their  contributions  in  aid  of  the  Saints  amounted  to 
thousands  of  dollars. 

The  disaster  described  is  really  the  only  accident  of  any  con- 
sequence by  water  that  has  befallen  a  company  of  Latter-day 
Saints  in  emigrating  from  the  old  countries,  and  there  was 
much  reason  to  believe  that  Providence  was  in  their  favor  to  a 
great  extent  even  in  that  case,  or  a  much  greater  number  would 
certainly  have  lost  their  lives. 

I  remained  at  Lexington  about  eight  days  looking  after  the 
interests  of  the  Saints  and  purchasing  stock,  after  which  I 
returned  to  St.  Louis,  where  I  met  the  company  of  Saints  I 
was  to  conduct  across  the  plains.  On  reaching  Atchison,  our 
starting  point  for  the  overland  journey,  the  company  was 
stricken  with  the  cholera.  There  were  over  forty  cases,  and  of 
these  some  fifteen  proved  fatal.  Numbers  were  healed  instan- 
taneously through  the  prayer  of  faith  when  the  Elders  laid 
their  hands  upon  them,  although  apparently  near  death's 
door;  others  gave 'way  entirely  to  fear,  failed  to  exercise  faith 
and  soon  died.  After  we  had  started  upon  our  journey  and 
when  the  last  person  who  had  been  afflicted  had  recovered,  I  was 
prostrated  with  the  same  dread  disease.  The  train  was  stopped 
and  the  whole  company  fasted  and  prayed  for  two  days 
for  my  recovery,  but  I  continued  growing  worse  until  my 
limbs  and  the  lower  portion  of  my  body  were  appar- 
ently dead,  but  then  the  faith  of  the  Saints  and  the  power  of 
the  Almighty  prevailed  in  my  behalf  and  I  recovered.  I  had, 
however,  lost  seventy- five  pounds  in  weight  within  a  few 
days. 

Another  remarkable  instance  in  which  the  providence  of  the 
the  Almighty  was  manifest  in  my  preservation  occurred  in  the 
following  May.  I  was  emptying  a  small  keg  of  powder  and 
standing  in  a  stooping  position  right  over  it,  and  as  it  did  not 
run  out  very  freely  I  shook  the  keg,  when  it  exploded.  The 
staves  and  pieces  of  hoops  were  scattered  in  every  direction, 
some  pieces  being  afterwards  found  at  least  eight  rods  distant. 
I  was  blown  into  the  air  and  my  face  and  hands  most  terribly 
burned.  It  was  a  marvel  that  the  staves  of  the  keg  were  not 
driven  through  my  body,  but  it  did  not  appear  that  a  single 
one  had  struck  me.     The  whole  of  the  skin  came  from  my 


A  SICK  WOMAN  HEALED.  29 

face  and  hands,  yet,  wonderful  to  relate,  there  is  not  now  a 
mark  of  powder  about  my  face,  and  my  eyesight,  the  loss  of 
which  I  was  most  fearful  of,  was  not  at  all  impaired  by  it. 

This  series  of  narrow  escapes  which  I  have  related  I  passed 
through  within  a  little  over  a  year ;  and  it  really  seemed  to  me 
that  Satan  was  bent  upon  my  destruction.  The  fact  that  my 
life  was  preserved  through  them  was  an  evidence  to  me  of  the 
power  of  God  and  that  He  had  a  purpose  in  allowing  me  to 
live. 

I  have  witnessed  the  power  of  Grod  displayed  in  the  healing 
of  persons  who  were  sick  in  hundreds  of  instances,  in  some 
cases  that  would  probably  be  considered  by  the  world  as  very 
wonderful,  but  to  which  the  Saints,  whose  experience  has  been 
similar  to  my  own,  had  become  accustomed.  I  thitik  Elder 
David  W.  Patten  possessed  the  gift  of  healing  to  a  greater 
degree  than  any  man  I  ever  associated  with.  I  remember  on 
one  occasion  when  I  was  laboring  with  him  as  a  missionary  in 
Tennessee,  he  was  sent  for  to  administer  to  a  woman  who  had 
been  sick  for  five  years  and  bed-ridden  for  one  year  and  not  able 
to  help  herself  Brother  Patten  stepped  to  her  bedside  and 
asked  her  if  she  beheved  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  She 
replied  that  s*he  did.  He  then  took  her  by  the  hand  and  said, 
"In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  arise!" 

.  She  immediately  sat  up  in  bed,  when  he  placed  his  hands 
upon  her  head  and  rebuked  her  disease,  pronounced  blessings 
upon  her  head  and  promised  that  she  should  bear  children. 
She  had  been  married  for  seven  years  and  had  never  had  any 
children,  and  this  promise  seemed  very  unlikely  ever  to  be  ful- 
filled. But  she  arose  from  her  bed  immediately,  walked  half 
a  mile  to  be  baptized  and  back  again  in  her  wet  clothes.  She 
was  healed  from  that  time,  and  within  one  year  became  a 
mother,  and  afterwards  bore  several  children. 

I  was  myself  healed  under  his  administration  in  a  manner 
which  appeared  to  me  very  remarkable  at  that  time.  While 
traveling  I  was  taken  very  sick  and  was  forced  to  seek  enter- 
tainment at  the  house  of  an  infidel.  Elder  Patten  was  desir- 
ous of  administering  to  me  and,  by  way  of  a  pretext,  asked 
the  privilege  of  praying.  His  request  was  granted  and  he 
knelt  beside  the  bed  upon  which  I  was  lying,  and,  without  the 


80  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

family  noticing  it,  placed  his  hand  upon  my  head.  While  his 
hand  was  upon  me,  I  felt  the  disease  pass  off  from  my  system 
as  palpably  as  I  ever  experienced  anything  in  my  life,  and 
before  he  arose  from  his  knees  I  was  as  well  as  I  ever  had 
been,  and  able  to  arise  and  eat  my  supper. 

I  remember  a  rather  remarkable  instance  of  healing  that 
occurred  at  Winter  Quarters,  which  I  think  worth  relating: 

During  the  winter  of  1846-7  while  the  Saints  were  encamped 
on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  there  was  a  great  deal  of  sickness 
among  them,  and  many  died.  Among  others  who  were  afflicted 
was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Collins,  who  had  followed  up  the 
Church  for  some  time  on  account  of  his  wife  being  a  member, 
but  who  never  felt  quite  satisfied  to  embrace  the  gospel, 
although  he  never  opposed  the  work.  When  he  was  taken 
sick  it  was  not  thought  by  his  friends  that  he  could  recover,  as 
he  had  appeared  to  be  sinking  rapidly  under  the  effects  of  the 
disease,  and  for  some  time  he  lay  in  a  semi-unconscious  state, 
from  which  it  was  feared  he  would  never  rally. 

However,  he  finally  regained  consciousness  and  looked 
around,  when  I  asked  him  if  he  had  any  message  to  leave 
before  he  died.  He  immediately  replied  that  it  would  not  do 
for  him  to  die  then,  as  he  had  not  been  baptized,  and  urged 
verj^  strongly  to  be  taken  right  down  to  the  river  to  receive 
this  ordinance. 

Yielding  to  his  solicitations,  some  of  the  brethren  brought 
the  running  gear  of  a  wagon  with  a  few  boards  on  it,  up  to  the 
door  of  the  cabin  in  which  he  was  living,  and  his  bed,  with  him 
lying  upon  it,  was  carried  out  and  placed  on  the  wagon.  When 
we  had  proceeded  part  way  down  to  the  river  the  wagon  tire 
commenced  running  off  one  of  the  wheels  and  a  halt  was  made 
to  hammer  it  on  again.  On  noticing  the  wagon  stop  and  hear- 
ing the  hammering,  he  inquired  what  was  the  matter,  and 
when  he  was  informed  that  the  tire  was  running  off,  he  replied 
impatiently,  "Oh,  never  mind  the  tire;  go  on,  or  I'll  die  and 
go  to  hell  yet  before  I'm  baptized!" 

We  proceeded  on  with  him  till  we  reached  the  river,  which 
at  that  time  was  frozen  over,  but  the  ice  had  been  cut  away 
near  the  shore  in  order  that  our  animals  might  drink.  There 
he  was  lifted  from  his  bed,  carried  into  the  water  and  I  baptized 


RECOVERY  OF  A  DYINO  MAN.  31 

him  for  the  remission  of  his  sins  and  his  restoration  to  health. 
After  being  taken  out  of  the  water  a  blanket  was  wrapped 
around  him  and  he  was  seated  for  a  moment  to  rest  upon  a 
block  of  ice  upon  the  shore.  Seeing  the  brethren  turning  the 
wagon  around,  he  inquired  what  they  were  going  to  do.  They 
replied  that  they  were  going  to  put  him  on  the  bed  and  haul 
him  back  home,  when  he  arose  to  his  feet  and  assured  them 
that  they  need  not  go  to  that  trouble,  for  he  could  walk  back, 
and  he  did  so,  and  from  that  time  became  a  healthy  man. 


SCENES    IN   THE    BRITISH 
MISSION. 


CHAPTER   I.  ^ 

ELDER  HALLIDAY  APPLIED  TO  FOR  HELP  BY  A  SISTER  WHOSE 
SON  IS  DYINO — NOT  ABLE  TO  GO,  HE  GAVE  THE  LADY 
HIS  HANDKERCHIEF  AND  PROMISES  HER  THE  CHILD 
SHALL  LIVE— THE  CHILD  REVIVES  FROM  APPARENT 
DEATH  BY  THE  WOMAN'S  FAITH  AND  PRAYER— PREACH- 
ING IN  PENZANCE— DISCOURAGEMENT  AND  WANT — 
STRANGE  CONDUCT  OF  A  LADY  ATTENDING  THE  MEET- 
ING—INVITATION TO  GO  TO  ST.  JUST — GIFT  OF  TONGUES 
AND  INTERPRETATION  GIVEN  TO  ELDER  HALLIDAY, 
THROUGH  WHICH  HE  RECEIVES  A  REVELATION— REVE- 
LATION LITERALLY  FULFILLED. 

^pilE  various  gifts  of  the  gospel  were  perhaps  enjoyed  to  as 
A  great  an  extent  by  the  Elders  who  labored  in  England  in  an 
early  day  as  they  have  been  by  any  people  and  in  any  place,  at 
least  in  this  dispensation.  Nor  were  the  manifestations  of 
these  gifts  confined  to  the  Elders  who  were  engaged  in  the 
ministry,  for  their  converts  also  enjoyed  them  to  a  very  great 
extent.  Many  of  them  through  their  extraordinary  faith  and 
humility  called  forth  the  blessings  and  power  of  Grodin  various 


ZQ  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

ways.  The  gift  of  healing  was  very  manifest,  and  scores  of 
instances  might  be  related  wherein  persons  were  healed  in  a 
most  miraculous  manner. 

Bishop  Greorge  Halliday,  of  Santaquin,  who  labored  exten- 
sively as  a  missionary  in  his  native  country  in  an  early  day, 
relates  an  incident  of  this  kind.  Upon  a  warm  Sunday  even- 
ing, after  he  had  been  preaching  to  an  audience  in  Bristol, 
he  was  accosted  by  a  Mrs.  Ware,  a  sister  in  the  Church,  who 
told  him  she  had  a  son  extremely  sick  and  thought  to  be  dying. 
She  begged  him  to  go  home  with  her  and  administer  to  it. 
She  lived  three  miles  distant,  on  Durham  Down.  It  was  quite 
late  in  the  evening  and  he  was  so  extremely  tired  that  he 
scarcely  felt  able  to  comply  with  her  request;  and  yet  he  did 
not  hke  to  decline  All  at  once  he  felt  impressed  to  say: 
"Here,  Sister  Ware,  you  take  my  handkerchief  and  go  home  to 
your  child  and  lay  it  on  him  whe  ever  he  seems  to  be  affected, 
praying  to  the  Lord  to  heal  him.  If  you  do  this  I  will  promise 
you  that  he  will  recover. ' ' 

With  full  faith  the  good  lady  took  the  handkerchief  and 
departed.  On  reaching  her  home  she  was  met  at  the  door  by 
her  daughters  and  friends,  who  informed  her  that  her  son  was 
dead. 

"No,"  said  she,  "I  cannot  beheve  it!  Brother  Halliday  has 
promised  me  that  he  shall  live,  and  I  have  his  handkerchief  to 
lay  upon  him." 

She  hastened  to  the  boy  and  did  as  she  had  been  directed  to, 
and  the  child,  which  a  few  minutes  before  had  been  inanimate, 
began  to  show  signs  of  life.  The  next  morning  he  was  able  to 
come  down  to  breakfast,  and  soon  regained  his  wonted  health. 
He  afterwards  emigrated  to  Utah. 

Brother  Halliday  also  relates  another  instance  in  which  the 
power  of  God  was  displayed  in  a  rather  remarkable  manner, 
near  the  same  time : 

He  and  Elder  John  Chislett  were  sent  to  Penzance,  Corn- 
wall, to  introduce  the  gospel  to  the  inhabitants.  They  met 
with  no  encouragement,  yet  they  did  not  feel  justified  in  leav 
ing  the  place  until  they  had  given  the  people  a  thorough  warn- 
ing. Their  funds  were  so  low  that  the  two  of  them  were  forced 
to  live  on  a  penny's  worth  of  bread  and  a  penny's  worth  of 


STRANGE  CONDtTCT  OF  A  LADY  IN  MEETING.  33 

soup  per  day ;  .yet  their  faith  was  strong,  and  they  spent  much 
of  their  time  in  prayer.  Finally,  as  a  last  resort,  in  the  eifort  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  the  message  they  had  to  bear  to  the  peo- 
ple, they  decided  to  give  a  course  of  public  lectures.  Elder 
Halliday  pawned  his  watch  to  raise  the  necessary  money  to  rent 
a  hall  and  publish  some  placards  announcing  their  meetings, 
and  on  the  first  evening  appointed  they  were  gratified  at  seeing 
a  few  come  to  hear  them.  Among  the  audience  they  noticed 
particularly  a  well-dressed  gentleman  and  lady,  the  latter  of 
whom  commenced  weeping  almost  as  soon  as  she  entered  the 
hall  and  continued  to  do  so  as  long  as  the  meeting  lasted.  The 
Elders,  of  course,  could  assign  no  reason  for  this  peculiar  con- 
duct while  the  meeting  was  in  progress,  nor  were  they  any 
more  enlightened  when,  at  the  close  of  the  services,  the  lady 
came  forward  with  her  husband  and  invited  them  to  visit  her 
at  her  home  at  St.  Just,  about  six  miles  distant.  This  was  the 
first  invitation  they  had  received  from  anyone  in  the  place,  and 
they  accepted  it  joyfully,  and  would  willingly  have  gone  home 
with  her  that  night,  but,  to  their  disappointment,  she  named 
the  following  Wednesday  as  the  time  when  she  would  be  pleased 
to  receive  them.  Nothing  further  passed  between  them,  but 
it  was  evident  that  a  favorable  impression  had  been  made  upon 
her,  and  that  she  was  a  woman  of  intelligence  and  refinement. 
While  anticipating  the  pleasure  of  visiting  her  and  waiting  for 
the  day  to  arrive,  the  Elders  continued  to  subsist  upon  their 
scanty  fare,  and  spent  their  time  in  vainly  endeavoring  to  pros- 
elyte among  the  citizens  of  Penzance. 

Wednesday  morning  came  and  with  it  a  drenching  rain  storm, 
through  which  the  Elders  tramped  the  whole  six  miles,  hungry 
and  penniless.  Shortly  before  arriving  at  St.  Just,  and  while 
they  were  crossing  a  plowed  field,  with  the  mud  chnging  to 
their  boots  so  they  could  scarcely  walk,  the  Lord  deigned  to 
comfort  them  by  giving  Elder  Halliday  the  gift  of  tongues  and 
the  interpretation  of  the  same,  in  which  it  was  made  known  to 
him  that  the  lady  whom  they  were  going  to  visit  had  been 
favored  with  a  vision  in  which  she  had  seen  himself  and  Elder 
Chislett;  also  that  she  was  the  owner  of  several  houses, 
one  of  which  she  was  going  to  allow  them  to  use  to  hold  meet- 
ings in,  and  that  he  was  going  to  baptize  her  that  very  night. 


34  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHtTRCH  HISTORY. 

As  soon  as  this  had  passed  through  his  mind,  for  he  had  not 
spoken  aloud,  but  to  himself,  he  joyfully  slapped  his  companion 
on  the  shoulder  and  exclaimed,  "Cheer  up,  John!  I  have  had 
a  revelation ! ' '  He  then  proceeded  to  relate  all  that  had  been 
revealed  to  him. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  house  they  were  drenched  as  badly 
as  if  they  had  been  in  a  river.  Even  their  boots  were  full  of 
water,  so  that  when  they  pulled  them  off  and  turned  the  tops 
downward  it  ran  out  of  them  in  a  stream.  Their  friend,  how- 
ever, had  been  anxiously  looking  for  them,  and  had  prepared  a 
blazing  fire  to  warm  them  and  spread  the  table  with  tempting 
food.  She  also  proposed  for  them  to  change  their  clothes  as 
far  as  she  could  supply  them  with  dry  ones  to  put  on  from  her 
husband's  wardrobe.  "But,"  said  she,  "I  can  hardly  wait  for 
you  to  change  your  clothes,  I  am  so  anxious  to  talk  to  you. 

"Oh,  you  need  not  be  in  such  a  hurry,"  remarked  Elder 
Halliday,  'for  I  know  what  you  are  going  to  say! ' ' 

She  looked  at  him  in  surprise  and  inquired  how  he  knew. 

"Why,"  he  said,  "I  have  had  it  revealed  to  me  on  the  way 
here."  He  then  related  to  her  every  particular  as  it  had  been 
made  known  to  him,  until  he  got  to  that  part  relating  to  her 
baptism,  when  she  interrupted  him  by  exclaiming  in  surprise 
to  her  husband: 

"There,  now,  is  that  not  just  as  it  occurred?  How  could  he 
have  learned  that?  for  you  know  I  have  not  talked  with  any- 
one but  you  about  it ! "  She  then  admitted  that  the  week  pre- 
vious, while  lying  awake  in  bed,  she  saw  a  bright  light  in  the 
room  and  awoke  her  husband  and  pointed  it  out  to  him.  He 
also  saw  it,  and  it  passed  around  the  room  in  the  direction  of 
Penzance,  to  which  place  it  led  her  in  her  mind,  and  there  she 
saw  two  men  trying  to  raise  a  sta  ndard,  in  which  labor  the  peo- 
ple who  looked  on  seemed  unwilling  to  lend  a  helping  hand. 
She  reproached  them  for  their  lack  of  interest,  and  took  hold 
herself  to  assist.  This  vision  was  so  plain  that  she  afterwards 
related  the  whole  of  it  to  her  husband  and  even  described  the 
appearance  of  the  men.  Then  she  could  not  rest  until  she  had, 
in  company  with  her  husband,  visited  Penzance  and  attended 
the  lecture  she  there  saw  announced.  As  soon  as  she  entered 
the  hall  and  saw  the  two  Elders  she  recognized  them  and  could 


REVELATION  ErLFlLLED.  35 

not  refrain  from  crying.  As  to  the  other  part  of  what  had 
been  revealed  to  him,  she  said  it  was  true  that  she  was  the 
owner  of  a  row  of  houses,  which  she  pointed  out  to  the  Elders, 
and  that  the  last  ope  was  a  school-house  in  which  her  husband 
taught  school,  and  which  they  were  welcome  to  use  as  a  meet- 
ing house  as  long  as  they  wanted  to  free  of  charge. 

"But,"  said  Elder  Halliday,  "that  is  not  all  that  the  Lord 
revealed  to  me.  He  told  me  that  I  was  going  to  baptize  you 
before  I  went  to  bed  to-night,  and  now  I  want  your  husband  to 
go  and  find  some  water  for  that  purpose." 

Brother  Halliday,  in  telling  what  had  been  revealed  to  him, 
felt  a  good  deal  as  he  imagined  the  prophet  Jonah  must  have 
felt  when  the  Lord  commanded  him  to  go  to  Nineveh  and 
declare  the  destruction  of  that  city.  He  had  before  him  the 
fear  of  being  declared  a  false  prophet,  and  it  required  a  great 
deal  of  faith  in  him  to  tell  it,  especially  that  part  relating  to 
her  baptism.  However,  he  was  soon  relieved  on  that  score^ 
for  the  good  lady  expressed  her  readiness  and  anxiety  to  go 
immediately  and  be  baptized.  But  her  husband  declared  there 
was  not  a  stream  or  pond  in  that  region  deep  enough  to  baptize 
a  person  in,  and  it  would  be  no  use  for  them  to  think  of  doing 
such  a  thing  that  day.  "Is  there  not  a  ditch  or  hollow  any- 
where around  here  that  is  deep  enough?"  said  Elder  Halliday, 
"Please  go  and  see." 

The  husband  complied  with  a  dubious  look  on  his  face,  while 
the  Elders  proceeded  to  change  and  dry  their  clothes,  and  soon 
he  returned  and  reported  that  the  heavy  shower  which  had 
fallen  had  so  filled  all  the  ditches  and  low  places  that  they 
would  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  water  deep  enough. 

Within  two  hours  from  the  arrival  of  the  Elders  the  lady 
was  baptized  and  confirmed,  she  being  the  first  one  to  embrace 
the  gospel  in  the  region  known  as  "Land's  End." 

The  Elders  ever  found  a  home  at  her  house  and  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  holding  meetings  in  her  school-house  for  years, 
and  she  remained  faithful,  but  her  husband,  although  he  was 
kind  to  the  Elders  and  willing  to  entertain  them,  never  joined 
the  Church.     He  was  an  infidel  and  an  astrologer. 


36  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER    II. 

ELDER  ELIAS  3I0RR1S  FALLS  WITH  A  SCAFFOLD  A  DISTANCE 
OF  THIRTY  FEET  WITHOUT  BEING  HURT — GIFT  OF  HEAL- 
ING POSSESSED  BY  ELDER  ABEL  EVANS — A  WOMAN 
HEALED  WHO  HAD  HER  FACE  EATEN  AWAY  BY  A  CANCER 
— STORM  AT  SEA  REBUKED — A  BROKEN  LEG  CURED— 
A  BROKEN  SKULL  MENDED— FEVER  ON  SHIPBOARD 
STOPPED  BY  THE  PRAYER   OF  FAITH. 

ELDER  Elias  Morris,  now  a  resident  of  Salt  Lake  Citj-, 
labored  extensively  as  a  local  and  traveling  Elder  in  the 
Welch  mission  in  an  early  day.  In  illustration  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  Lord's  power  was  often  manifested  in  preserving 
the  lives  of  His  servants,  he  relates  an  instance  from  his  expe- 
rience : 

While  acting  as  a  local  Elder  in  his  native  place,  laboring  at 
his  trade  during  the  week  and  preaching  in  the  surrounding 
villages  on  Sundays,  he  once  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  signs 
which  the  Savior  had  promised  should  follow  believers:  "In 
my  name  they  shall  cast  out  devils ;  they  shall  speak  with  new 
tongues;  they  shall  take  up  serpents;  and  if  they  drink  any 
deadly,  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  them;  they  shall  lay  hands  on 
the  sick,  and  they  shall  recover."  He  argued  that  the  enjoy- 
ment of  those  promised  blessings  was  not  limited  to  the 
behevers  who  lived  when  the  Savior  was  upon  the  earth,  but 
that  the  faithful  Latter-day  Saints  also  shared  the  same.  The 
sectarian  preachers  of  the  neighborhood  who  listened  to  or 
heard  of  Elder  Morris*  remarks  on  that  occasion  ridiculed 
them,  and  one  especially,  a  Methodist  deacon,  had  a  great 
deal  to  say  about  them.  In  repeating  those  remarks  and  com- 
menting on  them  to  others,  he  also  exaggerated  what  had  been 
said,  even  asserting  falsely  that  Elder  Morris  had  claimed  that 
if  he  were  to  fall  from  the  top  of  a  quarry  it  would  not  hurt 


A  FALL  OF  THIRTY  FEET  WITHOUT  INJURY.  37 

him.  Elder  Morris  heard  of  this  deacon's  exaggerated  stories 
and  flippant  comments,  but  did  not  deign  to  notice  them, 
although  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  man,  in  fact  he  was 
at  that  very  time  in  his  emplo}^ 

A  few  days  afterwards  Elder  Morris  happened  to  be  engaged 
upon  a  three-story  building,  pointing  the  front,  and  for  that 
purpose  was  sitting  on  a  hanging  scaiFold  near  the  top  of  the 
wall.  All  at  once  he  felt  the  scaiFold  giving  way,  the  planks 
upon  which  it  rested,  and  which  projected  from  the  inside  of 
the  building,  having  become  loosened.  He  called  immediately 
to  a  fellow  workman  engaged  inside  the  building  to  come  to  his 
relief,  but  before  the  man  reached  the  window  to  grasp  the 
plank,  the  scaiFold  fell  and  Brother  Morris  with  it.  With  a 
silent  prayer  to  God  for  help,  and  fully  realizing  his  danger,  he 
dropped  the  distance  of  thirty  feet  or  more,  alighting  on  his 
thigh  on  the  stone  pavement.  In  an  instant  he  was  upon  his 
feet,  and  placing  his  hand  on  a  window  sill,  he  sprang  lightly 
into  the  lower  room  of  the  building  and  escaped  the  falling 
planks,  which  did  not  reach  the  ground  until  after  he  liad, 
and  came  forth  the  next  minute  unharmed.  He  did  not  even 
feel  the  slightest  pain  from  the  fall. 

It  happened  that  the  Methodist  deacon,  one  of  the  owners 
of  the  building,  and  Elder  Morris'  father  were  in  the  street  in 
front  of  the  builiing  at  the  time  of  the  accident,  and  the 
latter  was  almost  paralyzed  with  fear  at  the  sight  of  his  boy 
falling  down,  and  no  less  surprised  and  overjoyed  at  seeing 
him  walk  forth  the  next  moment  unscathed.  The  deacon, 
too,  seemed  very  much  astonished  and  hardly  able  to  believe 
the  evidence  of  his  own  sight  when  he  saw  the  man  whose 
religious  pretentions  he  had  ridiculed  so  much  pass  through 
such  an  ordeal  and  appear  unhurt.  Elder  Morris  noticed  his 
surprised  look  as  he  approached  him,  and  thought  it  a  fitting 
opportunity  to  tax  him  with  the  slander  and  ridicule  which  he 
had  been  indulging  in  at  his  expense.  He  accordingly  did  so, 
and  then  asked  ironically,  hinting  at  the  story  which  the 
deacon  had  circulated  about  him,  "Isn't  that  almost  equal  to 
falling  off  a  quarry?"  The  deacon  acknowledged  that  it  was, 
and  declared  that  some  supernatural  power  must  have  saved 
him  in  that  instance  at  least. 


38  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

Many  anecdotes  are  related  of  Elder  Abel  Evans,  formerly 
of  Lehi,  in  this  Territory,  who  died  while  on  a  mission  in 
Wales  some  years  since.  He  was  a  man  of  wonderful  faith, 
and  possessed  the  gift  of  healing  in  a  remarkable  degree. 
While  laboring  as  a  missionary  in  Wales  in  an  early  day  he  met  a 
sister  who  was  a  member  of  the  Church  and  was  afflicted  with  a 
terrible  cancer  in  her  face  which  had  eaten  away  her  upper  lip 
and  the  greater  portion  of  her  nose.  She  had  tried  all  the 
doctors  she  could  find  who  pretended  to  cure  cancers  and  they 
had  one  after  another  given  her  case  up  as  hopeless.  When 
Brother  Evans  met  her  she  was  mourning  over  her  affliction 
and  recounting  her  sufiering  and  the  efforts  she  had  made  to 
get  relief  He  listened  to  her  stdr>^  and  then  asked:  "Why 
do  you  not  apply  to  the  Grreat  Physician  to  cure  you?" 

"Do  you  think  it  would  be  of  any  use?"  she  asked,  brighten- 
ing up. 

"Why,"  he  replied  "with  the  Lord  all  things  are  possible! 
If  you  have  faith  you  can  be  healed!" 

She  expressed  her  anxiety  to  be  administered  to,  and  he 
forthwith  purchased  a  bottle  of  olive  oil,  consecrated  it  and 
anointed  her  face,  applying  the  oil  with  a  feather  to  the  worst 
part.  He  also  rebuked  the  disease  and  prayed  for  her  recovery, 
and  from  that  hour  the  cancer  was  killed  and  her  face  began 
to  heal.  He  repeated  the  operation  two  or  three  times,  and, 
strange  as  it  may  appear,  the  flesh  and  skin  actually  grew 
again  upon  that  part  of  her  face  which  had  been  eaten  away 
and  a  new  nose  in  time  developed — not  a  perfect  one  it  is  true, 
but  one  that  was  a  great  improvement  upon  none  at  all.  Not- 
withstanding this  great  manifestation  of  God's  goodness  to  her, 
however,  this  woman  afterwards  apostatized. 

On  one  occaison  Brother  Evans  was  sailing  from  Liverpool 
to  Bangor,  at  which  place  he  had  an  appointment  to  preach, 
when  a  terrible  storm  arose,  which  threatened  the  destruction 
of  the  vessel.  When  the  officers  and  crew  were  all  ready  to 
give  up  hope,  Elder  Evans  retired  to  a  secluded  part  of  the 
vessel,  called  upon  the  Lord  in  prayer,  reminding  Him  of  the 
appointment  to  be  filled  and  that  he  was  upon  His  business, 
and,  in  mighty  faith,  rebuked  the  storm,  when  it  calmed  so 
suddenly  that  all  hands  on  board  were  as  much  surprised  as 


MIRACLES   BY  PRAYER  OF  FAITH.  39 

delighted,  and  quite  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  sudden  change 
in  their  prospects. 

In  the  year  1846,  a  man  living  in  Merthyr  Tydvil,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  Church,  happened  accidentally  to  break  his 
leg  between  the  knee  and  ankle.  A  surgeon  was  called  in, 
who  set  the  broken  bones,  bound  the  limb  up  with  bandages 
and  splints  and  cautioned  the  patient  to  keep  perfectly  quiet 
until  the  fracture  could  have  time  to  knit.  Three  days  after- 
wards Elders  Abel  Evans  and  Thomas  D.  Giles  called  to  see 
him,  and  the  former  questioned  him  as  to  his  faith,  "Do  you 
believe,"  said  he,  "that  the  Lord  has  power  to  heal  your 
T broken  limb?" 

The  man  acknowledged  that  he  did. 

"Do  you  believe,"  he  again  asked,  "that  we,  as  the  servants 
of  God,  holding  the  Priesthood,  have  authority  to  call  upon 
the  Almighty  and  claim  a  blessing  for  you  at  His  hands?" 

The  man  assured  him  that  he  did. 

"Then,"  said  he,  "If  you  wish  it  we  will  take  the  bandages 
off  your  broken  leg  and  anoint  it. ' ' 

The  man  consented,  the  bandages  and  splints  were  removed 
and  his  leg  was  anointed  with  consecrated  oil.  The  brethren 
then  placed  their  hands  upon  his  head,  and  Elder  Evans 
rebuked  the  power  of  the  evil  one,  commanded  the  bones  to 
come  together  and  knit,  and,  finally,  that  the  man  should  arise 
from  his  bed  and  walk.  He  got  out  of  bed  immediately  and 
walked  about  the  house,  and  from  that  time  had  no  occasion  to 
use  a  bandage  on  the  injured  limb  or  even  walk  with  a  stick. 

While  crossing  the  sea  in  1850,  emigrating  to  Utah,  a  num- 
ber of  remarkable  cases  of  healing  occurred  under  his  adminis- 
tration. One  was  that  of  a  young  girl  who  was  terribly 
afflicted  with  evil  spirits,  and  who  was  entirely  relieved  when 
he  placed  his  hands  upon  her  head.  Another  was  that  of  a 
little  boy  who  fell  through  the  hatchway  of  the  vessel,  alight- 
ing upon  his  head  on  the  ring  and  bolt  of  the  lower  hatchway. 
When  he  was  picked  up  it  was  found  that  the  force  of  the  fall 
had  driven  the  iron  upon  which  he  struck  into  his  head,  and 
within  a  minute  afterwards  the  injured  place  puffed  up  like  a 
distended  bladder.  Of  course,  he  was  knocked  insensible  and 
apparently  lifeless,  but  Brother  Evans  and  one  or  two  other 


J 


40  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH   HISTORY. 

Elders  immediately  administered  to  hiro,  and  while  their  hands 
were  upon  his  head  the  swelling  entirely  disappeared  and  he 
was  restored  to  consciousness  and  to  health.  This  was  witnessed 
and  marveled  at  by  a  number  of  persons  who  were  not  in  the 
Church  as  well  as  a  great  many  of  the  Saints  who  were  on  board. 
When  Elder  Evans  was  crossing  the  Atlantic  in  charge  of  a 
company  of  Saints  emigrating  to  Utah,  a  terrible  epidemic  in 
the  nature  of  a  fever  broke  out  on  the  ship,  and  threatened 
the  destruction  of  all  on  board.  He  felt  that  their  only  hope 
lay  in  securing  the  favor  of  the  Almighty,  and  determined  to 
muster  all  the  faith  he  could  in  appealing  to  the  Lord.  He 
called  together  four  Elders  of  experience  who  were  on  board, 
and  asked  them  to  retire  with  him  to  the  Iiold  of  the  vessel 
and  unite  in  prayer.  They  did  so  again  and  again  without  any 
apparent  good  result,  and  Brother  Evans  marveled  at  the 
cause.  It  was  such  an  unusual  thing  for  him  to  fail  to  have 
his  prayers  answered,  that  he  was  surprised  that  it  should  be 
so  in  that  instance,  and  he  could  only  account  for  it  by  lack  of 
union  or  worthiness  on  the  part  of  the  Elders.  He  therefore 
called  the  four  Elders  again  to  retire  with  him  to  the  hold  of 
the  ship,  and  took  with  him  a  basin  of  clean  water.  When 
they  had  reached  a  secluded  place  where  they  were  not  likely 
to  be  overheard  or  disturbed  by  others,  he  talked  to  the  Elders 
about  the  necessity  of  their  being  united  in  faith  and  clear  of 
sin  before  God  if  they  desired  to  call  upon  Him  and  receive  a 
blessing.  "Now,"  he  said,  "I  want  each  of  you  Elders,  who 
feels  that  his  conscience  is  clear  before  Grod,  who  has  com- 
mitted no  sin  to  debar  him  from  the  enjoyment  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  who  has  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  sufficient  to 
call  upon  the  xHmighty  in  His  name  and  claim  the  desired 
blessing,  to  wash  his  hands  in  that  basin!"  Three  of  the 
Elders  stepped  forward  and  did  so  ;  the  fourth  could  not — his 
conscience  smote  him.  He  was  therefore  asked  kindly  to 
retire,  and  the  four  others  joined  in  earnest  prayer  before  the 
Lord  and  rebuked  the  disease  by  which  the  people  were  afflicted. 
The  result  was  that  the  epidemic  ceased  its  ravages  and  the 
sick  recovered  from  that  very  hour,  much  to  the  surprise  of 
the  ship's  officers  and  others  on  board  who  knew  nothing  of 
the  power  by  which  such  a  happy  result  was  accomplished. 


NUMEROUS  PERSONS  HEALED.  41 

In  the  winter  of  1850,  Elder  Abel  Evans  lived  at  Council 
Bluffs,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Missouri  river.  A  great 
many  of  the  Saints  were  there  at  the  time  working  for  an  out- 
fit for  their  overland  journey  or  awaiting  the  return  of  fine 
weather  before  starting  across  the  plains.  That  locality  was 
somewhat  noted  for  its  insalubriety,  but  during  that  winter  an 
unusually  large  amount  of  sickness  prevailed.  Some  of  the 
more  prominent  Elders  were  kept  quite  busy  going  about  from 
house  to  house  administering  to  the  sick  among  the  Saints, 
and  scores,  perhaps  hundreds  of  cases  of  healing  occurred  under 
their  hands,  many  of  which  were  quite  remarkable.  Sister 
Ashton,  now  of  Salt  Lake  City,  relates  how  she  was  healed 
there  when  near  death's  door,  and  under  circumstances  the 
memory  of  which  even  now  causes  her  to  shed  tears.  She 
had  been  sick  for  a  considerable  length  of  time  and  so  bad  for 
two  weeks  that  she  had  not  been  able  to  take  a  mouthful  of 
food,  when  she  heard  of  the  death  of  her  father. 

In  her  weak  condition  this  intelligence  was  a  heavy  blow  to 
her.  Her  mother  had  died  previously  and  been  buried  with- 
out her  having  the  privilege  of  being  with  her  during  her 
sickness  or  even  seeing  her  face  when  dead,  and  the  thought 
of  being  deprived  of  this  privilege  in  the  case  of  her  father 
also,  almost  overcame  her.  She  had  during  her  sickness  felt  a 
strong  desire  to  live,  and  now  in  addition  to-  that  she  was 
anxious  to  see  her  dead  father  before  he  was  buried,  and  attend 
his  funeral.  Some  of  the  Elders  came  and  administered  to 
her,  but  they  were  not  men  in  whom  she  had  a  great  deal  of 
faith,  and  she  failed  to  receive  any  benefit  from  their  admin- 
istration. After  awhile,  however.  Brother  Evans  called  to 
see  her,  and,  on  learning  of  her  desire  to  attend  her  father's 
funeral,  he  promised  her  without  any  hesitation  that  she  would 
do  so.  Placing  his  hands  upon  her  head,  he  rebuked  the  sick- 
ness with  which  she  was  prostrated  and  pronounced  the  bles- 
sing of  health  upon  her.  She  arose  immediately  from  her 
bed,  and  rode  six  miles  that  same  day,  and  saw  her  father 
buried. 


42  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ELDER  JOHN  PARRY'S  STATEMENT— HIS  BROTHER'S  TESTI- 
MONY AND  DEATH— HIS  SISTER' S  REPROOF  AND  DEATH 
— EMBRACE  THE  GOSPEL — HIS  SLEEP  TROUBLED — A 
REMEDY  AND  A  LESSON — ORSON  .  SPENCER  HEALED — 
PROVIDENTIAL  HELP— ESCAPE  FROM  A  MOB— CANCER 
IN  A  man's  face  cured  BY  LAYING  ON  OF  HANDS — 
PRESERVED  FROM  MOBS. 

ELDER  JOHN  PARRY,  who  was  master-mason  on  the 
Logan  Temple  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  July  last,  left  a  manuscript  journal  in  which  a  number  of 
very  interesting  incidents  are  recorded. 

His  brother,  Bernard  Parry,  died  on  the  12th  of  November, 
1841,  while  a  member  of  the  Campbellite  church,  and  without 
having  heard  of  the  gospel  as  revealed  through  Joseph 
Smith.  While  upon  his  death  bed,  however,  his  mind  was 
illumined  by  the  Spirit  of  God  and  he  had  the  gift  of 
prophecy.  He  said  that  the  Lord  had  shown  him  many  great 
and  marvelous  things  which  were  to  come  to  pass  in  this 
age,  but  that  he  would  not  live  to  see  them,  for  he  was 
about  to  die.  "But,"  said  he,  addressing  his  father,  "the 
Lord  is  going  to  do  a  great  work  and  a  wonder  upon  the  earth, 
and  you  shall  be  called  to  take  part  in  it,  father;  and  you 
shall  yet  preach  the  everlasting  gospel  to  thousands  in  Wales." 

Then  turning  to  his  brother  John,  he  said,  "And  j^ou  also, 
John,  shall  be  called  to  it,  and  shall  preach  the  gospel  to  tens 
of  thousands,  and  shall  baptize  many,  and  my  body  shall  not 
altogether  rot  before  the  Savior  will  stand  upon  the  earth. ' ' 

The  night  before  he  died,  he  inquired  of  his  brother  John  if 
he  would  be  willing  to  do  just  as  he  requested  him.  John 
replied  that  he  would,  when  he  asked  him  to  remove  the 
things,  one  by  one,  that  stood  upon  a  table  near  by,  into  another 


HIS  sister's  reproof.  43 

room.  His  brother  complied  without  saying  a  word,  and  was 
then  requested  to  return  them  and  arrange  them  as  they  were 
before  upon  the  table.  This  John  also  did  without  asking  a 
question,  whereupon  Bernard  said,  "Well  done;  now  I  wish 
you  to  remember  that  that  is  the  way  to  serve  the  Lord! 
whatever  He  commands  you  to  do,  do  it  without  asking 
questions." 

After  impressing  this  lesson  upon  his  brother's  mind,  he  , 
lay  back  upon  his  pillow  and  never  spoke  again. 

Elder  Parry  never  heard  the  gospel  preached  until  five  years 
after  his  brother's  death,  but  the  prediction  in  regard  to  his 
preaching  and  baptizing  was  literally  fulfilled. 

A  sister  of  his  also  had  peculiar  impressions  before  her 
death,  which  occurred  about  five  years  later.  She  had,  while 
living  in  Cheltenham  some  time  previously,  met  some  Latter- 
day  Saints,  and  become  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  doctrines 
which  they  preached.  On  returning  to  the  parental  home 
she  frequently  referred  to  these  doctrines,  and  urged  her 
relatives  to  investigate  them,  but  her  father  and  her  brother 
John,  who  were  zealous  Campbellites,  were  prejudiced  against 
the  "Mormons"  by  the  false  reports  which  they  had  heard 
about  them  and  opposed  her  and  persuaded  her  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  them. 

She  was  taken  sick  with  a  fever,  and  when  about  to  die  she 
called  her  relatives  around  her  and  said  to  her  father,  '  'Your 
religion  is  worth  nothing  in  the  hour  of  death.  I  have  lived 
it  as  faithfully  as  mortal  could  do,  and  it  is  of  no  good  to  me 
now.  I  am  going  to  utter  darkness,  therefore  look  to 
yourselves  and  seek  a  religion  that  will  support  you  and  enable 
you  to  face  death  fearlessly — the  one  that  you  have  is  of  no 
value!" 

Then  turning  to  her  brother  John,  she  reproached  him  with 
having  hindered  and  persuaded  hec  from  embracing  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

This  was  too  much  for  him  to  bear,  for  he  loved  his  sister 
dearly,  and  he  fainted  and  fell  to  the  floor.  When  he  regained 
his  consciousness  bis  sister  had  ceased  speaking  and  soon 
died. 


44  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH   HISTORY. 

Brotlier  Pany  gives  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  he 
became  acquainted  with  the  Latter-day  Saints  and  embraced 
the  gospel. 

In  1844,  a  friend  of  his  told  him  that  Joseph  Smith,  the 
Prophet  had  been  killed.  As  soon  as  he  heard  this,  something 
whispered  to  him:  "He  was  a  servant  of  Grod."  From  that 
moment  his  prejudice  against  the  Latter-day  Saints  was 
removed. 

He  heard  but  little  of  ''Mormonism"  after  that  until  he 
removed  to  Birkenhead,  in  1846.  While  going  from  there  to 
Liverpool  in  company  with  some  of  his  relatives  and  friends, 
he  met  a  "Mormon"  Elder,  who  invited  him  to  attend 
one  of  their  meetings  to  be  held  in  the  last  named  place.  He 
persuaded  his  companions  to  accompany  him,  and  they  all 
attended  the  meeting.  While  listening  to  the  Elders  bear 
their  testimony  to  the  great  latter-day  work,  he  felt  convinced 
that  they  spoke  the  truth,  and  believed  them  with  all  his 
heart. 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting,  he  asked  one  of  his  friends,  a 
Campbellite  preacher,  what  he  thought  of  the  "Mormons" 
and  their  doctrines.  The  preacher  replied  that  their  doctrines 
were  a  "damnable  heresy." 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Parry,  "one  of  the  sayings  of  Paul  has 
been  fulfilled  with  j^ou  and  me  to-day." 

''What  is  that?"  asked  the  preacher. 

"When  he  said  the  gospel  would  be  unto  one  'the  savor  of 
death  unto  death :  and  to  the  other  the  savor  of  life  unto 
life. '  It  has  been  life  unto  life  to  me,  and  I  shall  be  a  Latter- 
day  Saint,"  was  the  response. 

He  attended  another  meeting  in  the  evening  of  the  same 
day,  and  at  the  close  he  and  his  father  handed  in  their  names 
for  baptism. 

Shortly  after  he  was  baptized  Brother  Parry  was  ordained 
an  Elder  and  was  appointed  to  preside  over  the  Birkenhead 
branch  of  the  Church.  While  praying  subsequently  for  a 
testimony  of  the  truth,  a  voice  spoke  to  him  and  said :  "The 
gift  of  healing  shall  follow  thee  to  a  great  extent." 

This  was  literally  fulfilled. 


SENT  TO  PREACH.  45 

After  joining  the  Church  Elder  Parry  was  often  troubled 
in  his  sleep  by  evil  spirits.  Upon  one  occasion  he  inquired  of 
the  president  of  the  Liverpool  branch  why  it  was  that  he  was 
thus  annoyed.  The  Elder  replied  that  some  persons  were 
troubled  more  than  others,  and  told  him  to  use  the  following 
words  in  his  prayers  before  retiring  to  rest:  "0  Grod,  the 
Eternal  Father,  I  ask  Thee  in  the  name  of  Thy  Son,  Jesus 
Christ,  to  give  Thine  angels  charge  concerning  me  this  night, 
and  allow  not  the  powers  of  darkness  to  molest  my  spirit  nor 
body. ' ' 

He  did  this,  and  was  troubled  with  evil  spirits  no  more, 
until  one  night,  feeling  very  sleepy,  he  uttered  a  hasty,  formal 
pra^'^er  and  went  to  bed.  During  the  night  he  was  almost 
overcome  by  the  power  of  evil  spirits,  which  were  visible. 
Unable  to  utter  a  word,  he  prayed  fervently  in  his  mind  to  the 
Lord  to  release  him.  In  an  instant  the  heavens  appeared  to 
him  to  open,  and  he  saw  an  angel  descend  towards  him.  The 
personage  took  hold  of  him  and  raised  him  up  a  little,  and 
immediately  the  powers  of  darkness  disappeared. 

Elder  Parry  asked  the  angel  why  it  was  that  the  Lord  per- 
mitted the  evil  one  to  abuse  him  in  such  a  manner,  to  which 
he  replied:  "Because  thou  didst  not  pray  from  the  heart,  but 
with  thy  Hps. ' ' 

At  one  time  Elder  Orson  Spencer  came  from  Liverpool  to 
spend  a  few  days  at  a  place  where  Elder  Parry  was  living. 
While  there  he  was  taken  very  sick.  Elder  Parry  anointed 
him  and  he  soon  recovered. 

A  short  time  after  this  the  Birkenhead  branch  of  the  Church 
was  disorganized,  and  Elder  Parry  was  sent  to  Wales  to 
preach.  He  was  soon  out  of  money,  and  being  without  a 
place  to  stop,  he  and  his  fellow-laborer  took  lodgings  in  a  small 
store.  They  called  for  food  on  credit,  trusting  the  Lord  would 
provide  means  to  enable  them  to  pay  their  way.  The  next 
day  they  held  two  meetings,  and  enough  money  was  given 
them  to  pay  for  their  board  and  some  to  help  them  in  their 
travels. 

Upon  another  occasion,  he  was  obliged  to  put  up  at  a  board- 
ing house,  as  he  was  a  stranger  in  the  place,  and  there  were 
none  who  would  entertain  him.     He  had  no  money  with  which 


46  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

to  pay  his  board  when  he  went  there,  but  after  holding  a  meet- 
ing and  telling  the  people  that  he  was  a  stranger,  without 
money,  and  was  sent  to  preach  without  purse  or  scrip,  several 
of  the  congregation  donated  small  sums  to  help  him.  While 
on  his  way  to  the  house  where  he  was  stopping,  a  child  came 
to  him  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  and  placed  in  his 
hand  a  half-penny.  When  he  went  to  settle  for  his  board  and 
lodgings  he  found  that  he  had  just  the  exact  amount  with 
which  he  was  charged. 

While  holding  a  meeting  in  the  open  air,  at  one  time, 
Elder  Parry  and  another  traveling  Elder  were  disturbed  by  a 
ruffian  who  challenged  them  to  fight,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
dismiss  the  meeting.  They  went  to  a  public  house  to  take 
lodgings,  and  were  followed  by  a  mob.  Being  impressed  that 
they  were  evil  disposed.  Elder  Parry  told  the  landlady,  in  the 
presence  of  the  gang  of  ruffians,  that  he  and  his  companion 
would  take  a  walk  before  retiring  for  the  night.  He  did  not 
intend  to  return  again,  but  said  this  to  avoid  being  followed  by 
the  mob.  After  leaving  the  house  he  and  his  companion  cast 
lots  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  to  know  whether  they  should 
stay  in  that  place  for  the  night  or  go  to  another  town  near  by. 
The  lot  fell  for  them  to  leave  the  place,  and  they  did  so.  Tlrey 
arrived  in  the  next  town  about  midnight,  and  got  lodgings  at  a 
public  house.  Elder  Parry  sleeping  with  a  drunken  fellow  and 
his  friend  with  a  man  that  had  fits  several  times  during  the 
night. 

The  next  morning  they  returned  for  their  valises,  and  met  a 
man,  who  informed  them  that  their  enemies  had  been  hunting 
for  them  during  the  night  until  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
They  had  searched  every  part  of  the  town,  even  among  the 
tombstones,  in  the  churchyard,  and  vowed  that  if  they  found 
the  Elders  they  would  kill  them. 

While  preaching  in  a  town  in  Wales,  Elder  Parry  prophesied 
that  before  the  end  of  that  year  (and  it  was  then  the  month 
of  September)  there  would  be  a  branch  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  raised  up  in  that  village.  At  that  time  there  was 
but  one  member  of  the  Church  residing  there ;  but  before  the 
year  closed  a  branch  with  fourteen  or  fifteen  members  was 
organized. 


PRESERVED   PROM  MOBS.  47 

Elder  Parry  relates  some  remarkable  instances  of  healing  by 
the  power  of  God  which  he  witnessed. 

One  was  in  the  case  of  the  sister  who  was  afflicted  with  a 
cancer  in  her  face,  an  account  of  which  has  already  been  given. 
He  assisted  Elder  Abel  Evans  in  administering  to  her,  and  tes- 
tifies to  her  entire  recovery. 

Another  case  of  miraculous  healing  was  that  of  his  brother- 
in-law,  John  Williams,  who  now  resides  in  this  Territory,  and 
who  was  not  a  member  of  the  Church  at  the  time  this  occurred. 
He  was  also  afflicted  with  a  cancer  which  had  completely  taken 
away  his  lower  lip  and  part  of  his  chin  and  tongue.  After 
trying  in  vain  to  get  relief  through  the  skill  of  physicians,  he 
applied  to  the  Elders  of  the  Church  to  administer  to  him. 
They  did  so  twice,  and  shortly  after  he  received  a  new  tongue, 
lip  and  chin. 

Two  children  who  were  stricken  with  fever  and  ague  and 
one  with  cancer,  belonging  to  the  same  family,  were  also  healed 
through  the  administration  of  the  Elders. 

Elder  Parry  testifies  that  many  times  while  fulfilling  his 
duties  as  an  Elder  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  he  was 
attacked  by  mobs,  who  threw  stones  at  him  ;  and  although  at 
times  the  stones  flew  past  him  in  showers,  he  was  never  injured 
by  them.  Upon  several  occasions  his  enemies  attempted  to 
inflict  upon  him  bodily  injury,  but  they  were  frustrated  in  all 
their  plans  At  one  time  they  secured  another  man,  thinking 
it  to  be  Elder  Parry,  and  maltreated  him  in  a  shameful  man- 
ner. 

Several  of  the  most  bitter  enemies  of  the  Church  in  those 
days  died  an  unnatural  death.  One  man,  who  was  a  sectarian 
minister,  and  one  of  the  worst  opposers  to  the  work  of  Grod  to 
be  found  in  that  vicinity,  became  ferocious  like  a  mad  dog, 
and  had  to  be  chained  up  for  quite  a  while  before  his  death. 

Brother  Parry  was  released  from  his  labors  as  a  traveling 
Elder  in  the  Welsh  conference,  in  the  early  part  of  the  year 
1856,  and  immediately  prepared  to  emigrate  to  this  country. 
Upon  reaching  Iowa  City,  on  his  journey  westward,  he  was 
appointed  captain  of  a  company  of  one  hundred  persons. 
Provisions  became  scarce  among  the  emigrants,  and  their 
rations  were  reduced  to  one-half  pound  of  flour  per  day  for 


48  EARLY  SCENES  TN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

each  person.  On  account  of  this,  some  of  the  company  on 
arriving  at  Council  Bluffs  concluded  to  remain  there  and  work, 
and  therefore  left  the  camp.  Upon  learning  this  Brother 
Parry  went  back  for  them,  and  prevailed  upon  them  to  con- 
tinue their  journey.  While  trying  to  overtake  the  company, 
which  was  a  considerable  distance  ahead,  he  was  surrounded  by 
a  number  of  men  who  were  very  a^nxious  that  the  emigrants 
who  were  with  him  should  stay  and  work  for  them,  and  were 
angry  at  him  for  persuading  them  to  leave.  Some  of  the 
pursuing  party  were  sent  to  procure  tar  and  feathers  to  cover 
him  with,  while  the  others  were  guarding  him.  Their  atten- 
tion was  attracted  for  a  moment  in  another  direction,  when 
Elder  Parry  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  escape  by 
running  towards  the  camp  of  the  Saints.  He  was  overtaken, 
however,  before  he  reached  it  by  two  of  the  gang,  who  seized 
him  by  the  collar,  but  he  made  some  threats  which  frightened 
them  and  they  let  him  go.  After  reaching  camp  he  was  still 
pursued  by  others  who  were  mounted  on  horseback,  and  armed 
with  revolvers,  clubs,  etc. ,  but  he  escaped  their  recognition  by 
changing  his  clothing.  The  mobocrats  finally  returned  to 
Council  Bluffs  without  having  accomplished  their  object,  for 
Elder  Parry's  influence  over  the  discouraged  men  prevailed, 
and  they  decided  to  continue  their  journey. 


ELDER  JOHN  T.   EVANS'   STATEMENT.  49 


CHAPTER   lY. 

JOHN  T.  EVANS'  STATEMENT— A  SICK  AND  HELPLESS  WOMAN 
HEALED  ON  BEING  BAPTIZED— RELAPSE  AND  DEATH  AFTER 
APOSTASY — SAINTS  REQUIRED  TO  RENOUNCE  TITER  RELIG- 
ION OR  LOSE  THEIR  SITUATIONS— CHOLERA  EPIDEMIC — 
HEALED  ACCORDING  TO  FAITH— PRIVATE  DISCUSSION 
WITH  A  MALIGNANT  WHO  TAKES  THE  CHOLERA  AND 
BEGS  THE  ELDERS  TO  CURE  HIM — HEALED  AND  THEN 
BAPTIZED — CURIOUS  MANNER  IN  WHICH  FOOD  AND 
LODGING  WERE  PROVIDED. 

ELDER  JOHN  T.  EVANS,  now  of  Salt  Lake  City,  spent 
about  eight  years  when  a  young  man  in  preaching  the  gos- 
pel in  his  native  country— Wales.  During  about  five  years  of 
this  time  he  labored  as  a  traveling  Elder  in  North  Wales,  one 
of  the  very  hardest  of  missionary  fields,  where  he  traveled  and 
preached  without  purse  or  scrip.  Much  of  the  time  he  labored 
alone,  for,  although  many  different  Elders  were  sent  at  various 
times  by  the  president  of  the  mission  to  assist  him,  they 
generally  became  discouraged  on  account  of  the  persecution 
and  hardships  they  were  forced  to  endure  and  soon  abandoned 
their  labors. 

The  interesting  incidents  connected  with  his  labors  in  that 
land  which  Elder  Evans  can  relate  would  fill  a  volume. 

Upon  one  occasion  he  and  four  other  Elders  were  sent  to  an 
iron  manufacturing  district  about  seven  miles  from  Neath  to 
introduce  the  gospel.  Among  their  first  converts  were  a  man 
by  the  name  of  William  Howells  and  his  family.  This  man 
on  embracing  the  gospel  received  a  strong  testimony  of  its 
divinity  and  was  fearless  in  declaring  it  unto  others.  He  had 
a  sister  who  had  been  so  sick  and  helpless  as  to  be  bed-ridden 
for  three-and-a-half  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
church,  but  on  hearing  the  doctrines  of  the  Latter-day 
Saints    explained    she    soon    became    dissatisfied    with    her 


50  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

religion;  and  when  her  brother  testified  to  her  that  the 
gospel  had  been  restored  to  the  earth  through  the  Prophet, 
Joseph  Smith,  with  all  its  former  gifts  and  blessings,  she 
declared  her  intention  to  be  baptized.  Her  husband  was 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  gospel,  but  all  the  reason,  ridicule  and 
persuasion  that  he  could  use  failed  to  turn  her  from  her 
purpose.  She  was  resolute,  and  so  zealous  withal  that  she 
made  a  special  request  to  be  baptized  on  Sunday,  between 
eleven  and  twelve  o'clock,  that  the  people  of  the  whole 
neighborhood  might  see  the  ceremony,  and  had  word  circulated 
to  that  effect.  It  was  a  novel  thing  in  that  region  to  see 
Latter-day  Saints  baptizing,  and  the  result  was,  that  about 
three  thousand  persons  assembled  on  the  bank  of  the  stream 
to  witness  it.  She  was  carried  from  the  house  to  the  stream, 
the  distance  of  about  half  a  mile  in  a  chair,  and  there  Elder 
Evans,  assisted  by  a  man  named  David  Matthews,  carried  her 
into  the  water  and  baptized  her. 

She  was  rewarded  for  her  faith  by  being  entirely  restored  to 
health,  and  that  too,  instantaneously,  for  she  walked  out  of  the 
water  and  to  her  home. 

This  public  manifestation  of  the  power  of  God  seemed  to  be 
the  signal  for  commencing  a  perfect  storm  of  opposition 
against  the  Saints.  Through  the  influence  of  sectarian  minis- 
ters with  the  proprietors  of  the  iron  works  a  great  pressure 
was  brought  to  bear  against  the  Saints.  It  was  claimed  that 
they  were  Chartists,  that  is,  members  of  a  political  organization 
which  had  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble  throughout  the 
kingdom  a  short  time  previously,  and  other  lies  equally 
unreasonable  were  circulated  about  them  to  make  them  odious 
and  unpopular. 

The  five  Elders  who  had  been  doing  the  preaching  and 
baptizing,  and  who  were  dependent  upon  their  labor  in  the  iron 
works  for  their  living,  were  informed  by  their  employers  that 
they  must  renounce  the  "heresy"  which  they  taught  as  religion, 
or  lose  tbeir  positions.     They  chose  the  latter. 

About  two  hundred  of  their  converts  were  also  employed  in 
the  iron  works.  They  were  given  one  month's  time  to  renounce 
their  religion  or  likewise  lose  their  situations.  All  efforts  to 
obtain  employment  elsewhere  without  a  recommendation  from 


■ 


NUMBERS  HEALED   BY  THE  POWER  OF  GOD.  51 

their  last  employers  proved  unavailing,  on  account  of  the 
rumors  against  their  characters,  and  finally,  when  they  were 
brought  to  the  test,  about  half  of  them  chose  to  renounce  their 
religion  rather  than  lose  their  work.  The  others  were  dis- 
charged and  scattered  to  diiFerent  parts  in  search  of  employ- 
ment. Many  of  them  suiFered  severely  for  want  of  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  were  only  kept  from  starving  by  the 
collections  taken  up  for  their  benefit  among  the  more  fortunate 
Saints  in  other  parts  of  the  mission. 

Among  others  who  yielded  to  the  pressure  which  the  enemies 
of  the  Saints  brought  to  bear  against  them,  was  the  sister  who 
had  been  healed  on  being  baptized.  Notwithstanding  her 
former  zeal  and  resolution,  and  the  miraculous  power  of  God 
which  she  had  experienced,  she  abandoned  the  faith.  She 
perhaps  thought  she  had  no  further  need  of  Grod's  mercy,  but 
if  so,  the  sequel  proved  how  sadly  she  was  mistaken,  for  she 
was  soon  prostrated  as  before  and  lingered  in  that  condition 
until  she  died. 

In  the  summer  of  1849  the  cholera  prevailed  throughout 
Wales  to  an  alarming  extent.  The  mortality  was  so  sreat  in 
some  places  that  a  perfect  panic  ensued.  The  Elders,  how- 
ever, continued  their  labors,  undaunted  by  the  disease,  admin- 
istering to  the  sick  day  and  night,  and  the  faith  of  the  Saints 
was  so  great  that  they  almost  invariably  recovered.  A  local 
Elder  by  the  name  of  Thomas  Jones,  who  was  a  man  of  some 
property,  and  not  obliged  to  work  for  his  living,  spent  his  whole 
time  while  the  disease  prevailed  in  visiting  among  the  sick. 
He  carried  a  bottle  of  consecrated  oil  about  in  his  pocket' to 
anoint  them  with,  and  administered  to  all  whom  he  found 
afflicted,  and  out  of  the  whole  number  only  one  died,  and  he 
was  the  only  one  who  had  taken  the  medicine  prescribed  by  a 
doctor.  The  town  regulations  required  the  sick  to  have  a 
doctor,  but  as  a  rule  his  medicine  was  thrown  into  the  fire 
instead  of  being  taken  by  the  patients  who  belonged  to  the 
Church. 

One  of  the  preachers  who  had  violently  opposed  the  Saints 
became  alarmed  at  the  spread  of  the  epidemic  and  attempted 
to  flee  and  escape  from  it,  but  it  overtook  him,  and  after  three 
days  of  terrible  agony  he  died. 


52  EARLY  8C5ENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

Another  preacher  by  the  name  of  Jenkins,  who  had  been 
an  enemy  to  the  Saints,  was  stricken  with  the  cholera  and 
sent  for  Elder  Evans  to  administer  to  him.  That  he  should 
do  so  will  be  considered  all  the  more  remarkable  when  the 
history  of  their  early  acquaintance  is  known : 

Elder  Evans,  while  laboring  in  Pembrokeshire,  obtained  the 
use  of  the  town  hall,  in  a  place  called  Fishguard,  to  hold  meet" 
iug  in  and  lighted  it  at  his  own  expense.  When  the  meeting 
had  fairly  commenced  and  he  was  in  the  act  of  preaching  to  a 
rather  large  audience,  the  whole  of  the  lights  in  the  room 
were  extinguished  simultaneously,  according  to  a  preconcerted 
plan^,  and  a  rush  was  made  by  the  rabble  towards  the  end  of 
the  room  where  the  Elder  stood.  A  tall  man,  who  happened 
to  be  standing  near  Elder  Evans,  immediately  placed  his  hand 
on  the  latter's  shoulder,  and  said,  "Young  man,  come  out  of 
here,  or  you  will  be  hurt!"  and  leading  the  way,  proceeded 
with  him  around  one  side  of  the  room  and  out  through  the 
door,  leaving  the  crowd  rushing  and  jamming  and  shrieking  to 
get  at  the  Elder,  whom  they  still  supposed  to  be  at  the  farther 
end  of  the  hall. 

The  stranger  took  Elder  Evans  to  a  public  house,  saying 
that  he  would  like  to  have  a  talk  with  him,  and  on  arriving 
there  sent  for  Mr.  Jenkins,  the  Baptist  preacher  of  the  place^ 
who  had  been  at  the  meeting,  and  probably  engaged  in  urging 
the  rabble  on,  to  come  there  and  have  a  private  discussion. 
He  came,  and  his  principal  argument  consisted  of  abuse  and 
the  rehearsal  of  all  the  absurd  stories  which  he  had  ever  heard 
about  the  Saints.  Although  an  educated  man  he  seemed 
unable  to  cope  with  Elder  Evans  in  the  discussion  of  religion 
from  a  Bible  standpoint. 

'  The  friend  who  had  delivered  Brother  Evans  from  the  mob 
finally  interrupted  them  by  exclaiming,  "Mr.  Jenkins,  you  are 
no  match  for  this  young  man  in  discussing  from  the  Bible ; 
you  had  better  go  to  college  again!" 

Mr.  Jenkins  seemed  considerably  chagrined  at  this,  and  gave 
it  up. 

The  next  time  Elder  Evans  met  this  preacher  it  was  some 
months  later,  and,  probably  remembering  the  discussion,  Mr. 


A  GIRL  AFFLICTED  WITH  THE  CHOLERA  HEALED.  53 

Jenkins  then  treated  him  with  some  degree  of  respect.  It 
was  that  very  night  that  he  was  stricken  with  the  cholera,  and 
knowing  that  Elder  Evans  was  in  the  village  he  sent  his 
brother  to  beg  of  him  to  come  and  cure  him.  Brother  Evans, 
and  a  man  named  John  Nicholas  who  was  staying  with  him, 
got  out  of  bed  and  went  to  the  sick  man,  and  found  him, 
doubled  up  with  the  cholera  and  in  great  agony.  The  Elder 
informed  him,  in  answer  to  his  appeal  for  relief,  that  the 
blessings  of  the  gospel  were  not  for  men  of  his  class,  who 
were  determined  to  oppose  the  work  of  Grod,  but  for  the  Saints. 
He  said,  "I  will  administer  to  you  on  one  condition  only,  and 
that  is  that  you  repent  of  your  sins  and  covenant  with  the 
Lord  to  forsake  them  and  embrace  the  gospel  if  He  spares 
your  life." 

"But,"  said  the  preacher,  writhing  with  pain,  "I  have  an 
appointment  out  to  preach  for  my  own  church." 

"You  must  forego  that,"  said  Elder  Evans,  "and  preach 
such  doctrines  no  more,  or  I  will  not  administer  to  you." 

The  sick  man  agreed,  and  the  brethren  placed  their  hands 
upon  his  head,  rebuked  the  disease  and  prayed  for  his  recovery, 
and  he  was  immediately  healed.  The  next  day  he  was  bap- 
tized, and  afterwards  became  an  efficient  preacher  of  the  true 
gospel,  endured  much  persecution  for  his  relig^ion  in  that 
country,  emigrated  to  Utah  with  a  handcart  company  and 
finally  apostatized  when  Johnson's  army  came  here. 

Brother  Evans  and  a  man  named  Thomas  Harris  were  upon 
one  occasion  called  on  to  administer  to  a  young  girl  who  was 
so  convulsed  with  the  cholera  that  she  did  not  look  like  a 
human  being,  and  so  near  dead  that  she  was  black.  A  number 
of  Saints  were  present  at  the  time,  whose  faith  was  centered 
on  her  recovery,  and  several  unbelievers  were  also  there.  The 
Elders  administered  to  her,  and  while  their  hands  were  upon 
her  head  all  signs  of  the  disease  vanished,  and  she  was 
immediately  restored  to  health. 

A  rather  curious  circumstance  occurred  while  Elder  Evans 
was  laboring  in  North  Wales  in  company  with  Peter  Davis. 
They  were  traveling  as  usual  without  purse  or  scrip,  and  had 
been  two  days  without  food,  when  they  entered  a  village  and 


54  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

applied  at  a  store  kept  by  a  man  named  Jones  to  tty  to  sell  a 
few  tracts  with  which  to  procure  some  food. 

On  learning  what  kind  of  tracts  they  were,  the  store-keeper 
refused  to  purchase,  and  they  tramped  on.  The  next  place 
they  entered  was  a  shoe-maker's  shop,  where  they  asked  the 
privilege  of  warming  themselves  by  the  fire,  for  they  were 
almost  frozen,  it  being  extremely  cold  weather  and  the  month 
of  February.  Some  of  the  shoe-makers  became  interested  in 
their  conversation  and  one  of  them  proffered  to  try  and  find  a 
place  for  them  to  stay  over  night.  He  returned,  however, 
after  a  while,  to  say  that  the  Methodist  preacher  of  that 
circuit  was  to  occupy  the  spare  bed  which  he  expected  to  pro- 
cure for  them.  He,  therefore,  recommended  them  to  proceed 
some  distance  farther  till  they  came  to  a  farm  house,  to  which 
he  directed  them,  where  he  had  no  doubt  they  could  get 
lodgings  and  food. 

The  Elders  trudged  along,  but  when  they  arrived  at  the 
farm  house  it  was  evident  that  the  family  had  retired  for  the 
night,  for  there  was  no  light  to  be  seen.  They  noticed  a  barn, 
however,  standing  convenient  to  the  roadside,  which  seemed  to 
offer  shelter  for  them  at  least,  and  they  entered  it  and  burrowed 
into  a  heap  of  straw  they  found  there.  They  lay  in  that 
position  for  some  time,  shivering  with  the  cold  and  trying  in 
vain  to  go  to  sleep,  when  suddenly  they  heard  some  one  out- 
side call  out,  "Hello !  you  men ;  come  out  here !"  Their  first 
thought  was  that  some  one  had  detected  them  while  in  the  act 
of  seeking  shelter  in  the  barn  and  informed  the  police,  who 
were  about  to  arrest  them  as  vagrants.  They,  therefore, 
remained  as  quiet  as  possible  until  the  call  had  been  repeated 
several  times,  when  they  concluded  they  might  as  well  answer, 
whatever  might  be  the  consequences.  As  soon  as  they  inquired 
what  was  wanted,  the  person  informed  them  that  he  would 
find  a  place  for  them  to  stay  if  they  would  come  out.  Think- 
ing some  treachery  might  be  meant,  they  declined  with  thanks, 
and  told  him  they  could  get  along  where  they  were.  He, 
however,  urged  them  to  go  with  him,  saying  he  would  take 
them  to  a  place  where  they  could  have  a  good  supper  and  a 
comfortable  bed  to  sleep  in.  They  accordingly  came  out  and 
accompanied  the  stranger,  whom  they  had  never  seen  before, 


PROVIDED  FOR  IN  A  CURIOUS  MANNER.  55 

back  to  the  village  and  to  the  very  store  where  they  had  tried 
to  sell  the  tracts  There  they  found  a  warm  welcome,  a  good 
supper  and  a  comfortable  bed.     But  now  for  the  sequel : 

A  young  girl  who  happened  to  be  in  the  shoe-shop  where' 
they  called  and  who  overheard  the  conversation,  afterwards 
had  occasion  to  call  at  Jones'  store,  and  repeated  it  to  the 
proprietor's  daughter.  The  sympathy  of  the  girls  was  aroused 
at  the  thoughts  of  the  two  young  and  strange  preachers  seek- 
ing lodgings  and  food  that  cold  night,  and  when  Miss  Jones 
retired  to  bed  she  found  it  impossible  to  go  to  sleep.  Her 
teeth  rattled  and  she  shook  and  chilled  all  over  although  she 
was  in  a  comfortable  bed  and  in  a  warm  house.  Nor  could  the 
family  prevent  her  from  chilling  although  they  did  all  they 
could  to  warm  her.  In  the  midst  of  her  shivering  she  kept 
bewailing  the  fate  of  the  two  young*  preachers,  whom  she 
felt  sure  would  sufifer  that  cold  night,  and  finally  she  prevailed 
upon  her  brother  to  go  in  search  of  them  and  bring  them  back 
to  their  house,  that  they  might  h  tve  some  supper  and  a  com- 
fortable bed  to  sleep  in. 

As  soon  as  her  brother  had  started  on  his  errand  of  mercy 
the  girl  ceased  to  chill  and,  in  fact,  got  up,  dressed  herself  and 
helped  at  preparing  supper  for  the  brethren  before  they 
arrived.  It  was  not  until  the  next  morning  that  they  learned 
the  secret  of  the  kindness  shown  them  and  saw  in  what  a 
curious  manner  the  Lord  had  operated  in  preserving  them 
from  possible  death  by  freezing  and  providing  them  with  the 
food  which  they  needed  so  badly. 

It  was  quite  a  common  thing  in  early  days  in  the  Welsh 
mission  for  the  power  of  the  devil  to  be  manifested  in  what 
were  called  the  Saints'  meetings — that  is,  testimony  or  sacra- 
mental meetings.  The  evil  one  seemed  to  be  always  on  the 
alert  to  operate  through  some  one,  and  the  power  of  the 
Priesthood  invariably  had  to  be  exerted  to  banish  the  evil 
influences  from  the  meeting.  Although  not  apparent  at  the 
time,  experience  generally  proved  that  the  persons  through 
whom  the  evil  one  operated  were  not  serving  God  as  they 
should  do — they  were  either  doubting  the  divinity  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  they  had  embraced  or  they  had  broken  the  sacred 
covenants  which  they  had  made  with  the  Almighty  and  gone 


56  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

into  transgression.  Very  frequently,  after  being  relieved  of  the 
evil  spirits  which  possessed  them  such  persons  would,  in  a 
spirit  of  penitence  and  humility,  acknowledge  their  faults  and 
ask  forgiveness,  but  occasionally  persons  would  be  found  who 
were  not  willing  to  do  this,  but  continued  in  sin  and  were  a 
source  of  trouble  and  disturbance  to  the  Saints  whenever  they 
happened  to  be  present  at  their  meetings ;  and  it  sometimes 
occurred  that  the  spirits  which  possessed  them  were  so  stub- 
born and  determined  not  to  yield  that  the  brethren  really  found 
it  difficult  to  cope  with  them. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1848,  the  Elders  laboring  in  the 
Merthyr  Tydvil  branch  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with  two 
young  women  of  that  branch  who  very  frequently  were  pos- 
sessed of  evil  spirits.  They  were  such  a  source  of  annoyance  in 
the  meetings  that,  on  the  day  of  a  general  conference  which 
was  to  be  held  about  the  close  of  the  year,  they  were  cautioned, 
by  Elder  Dan  Jones  who  then  presided  there,  against  attending 
the  meeting.  To  this,  however,  they  paid  no  attention,  and 
when  the  meeting  was  opened,  it  was  only  too  apparent  that 
they  were  there.  In  a  short  time  the  meeting  was  in  such  an 
uproar,  through  the  raving  and  shrieking  of  those  girls,  that  the 
speaker  could  not  be  heard.  Some  of  the  Elders  were  imme- 
diately sent  to  cast  the  evil  spirits  out  of  them,  but  they  failed 
to  do  so,  and  with  difficulty  the  girls  were  carried  into  an 
adjoining  room. 

When  a  presiding  Elder  has  the  spirit  of  his  office  upon  him 
it  is  his  privilege  to  know  the  proper  course  to  take  in  any 
emergency.  It  is  his  privilege  to  enjoy  communion  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  have  the  Lord  dictate  through  him  that  which 
will  be  for  the  best  good  of  the  members  over  whom  he  is  set 
to  preside.  It  is  also  his  privilege  to  discern  by  what  spirit 
the  people  with  whom  he  is  brought  in  contact  are  actuated. 

It  would  seem  that  Elder  Dan  Jones  had  the  spirit  of  dis- 
cernment on  that  occasion  and  was  inspired  to  take  the  wisest 
course  in  dealing  with  the  girls  and  the  stubborn  spirits  by 
which  they  were  possessed.  He  was  satisfied  that  they  were 
wilfully  sinful,  or  the  spirit  of  Grod  would  not  be  withdrawn 
from  them  and  the  devil  suffered  to  exercise  such  power  over 
them.     He  therefore  proposed  that  they  be  cut  ofi"  from  the 


JUDGMENT  UPON  OPPOSERS.  57 

Church  on  account  of  their  transgressions,  and  the  Saints 
assembled  voted  unanimously  to  that  effect.  No  sooner  had 
they  done  so  than  the  evil  spirits  left  the  girls  and  they  became 
rational.  When  they  were  no  longer  members  of  the  Church, 
the  devil  had  no  further  need  to  try  to  annoy  the  Saints  through 
them.  The  result  was  that  the  girls  afterwards  saw  what  their 
sin  had  brought  them  to,  repented  of  it  and  made  public 
acknowledgement  before  the  Saints,  after  which  they  were 
re -baptized  and  were  no  more  troubled  by  evil  spirits. 


CHAPTER    V. 

JUDGMENT  UPON  OPPOSERS — TWO  MEN  KILLED  BY  THEIR 
HORSES— HORRIBLE  DEATH  OF  ANOTHER— EIGHT  PREACH- 
ERS GO  DOWN  AFTER  OPPOSING  ELDER  EVANS — A  MAN 
SAVED  FROM  BLEEDING  TO  DEATH  BY  THE  PRAYER  OF 
FAITH — A  SISTER  HEALED— WOMAN  CURED  OF  A  BLOODY 
ISSUE  ON  BEING  BAPTIZED— ESCAPE  THE  FURY  OF  A 
MOB  BY  THE  SPIRIT'S  WARNING — ^A  WARNING  THROUGH 
THE  GIFT  OF  TONGUES. 

IN  numbers  of  instances  in  Brother  John  T.  Evans'  experience 
he  had  evidence  of  the  judgments  of  the  Almighty  being 
visited  upon  those  who  opposed  him. 

On  one  occasion  he  and  another  Elder  visited  a  village  in 
Montgomeryshire,  North  Wales,  to  try  to  effect  an  opening. 
They  failed  to  obtain  a  house  to  hold  meeting  in,  but  never- 
theless they  announced  to  the  inhabitants  that  they  would  be 
back  there  one  week  from  that  time  to  preach  to  them.  There 
seemed  to  be  a  strong  spirit  of  opposition  to  them  there,  and 
on  their  again  visiting  the  place  and  attempting  to  preach  in 
the  street  opposite  a  public  house,  two  men  emerged  from  the 
rear  of  the  tavern  leading  a  couple  of  fractious  and  high- 
spirited  horses.      They  immediately  commenced  manoeuvering 


58  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

the  animals  in  tlie  midst  of  the  crowd  who  had  gatliored  to 
Usten  to  the  preaching.  It  was  evidently  a  preconcerted  plan 
to  break  up  the  meeting,  and  it  succeeded,  for  the  people 
scattered  and  the  Elders  were  forced  to  retire,  and  as  they  did 
so  they  were  followed  by  a  crowd  of  roughs  who  pelted  them 
with  stones  till  they  had  got  clear  of  the  village.  Within  two 
weeks  from  that  time  one  of  the  men  who  had  helped  to  break 
up  the  meeting  by  leading  his  horse  into  the  crowd  was  kicked 
by  the  same  animal  and  died  from  the  effects  of  it,  and  the  other 
man  was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  killed.  The  people  of 
that  region  regarded  the  summary  death  of  these  two  men  as 
a  judgment  sent  upon  them  for  opposing  the  Elders,  and  they 
therefore  treated  them  with  more  respect  afterwards. 

Another  case  occurred  in  Elder  Evans'  native  place,  where 
he  was  sent  by  Captain  Dan  Jones  to  introduce  the  gospel. 
An  old  shoemaker  who  had  known  and  been  friendly  to  him 
from  his  childhood,  on  hearing  him  preach  came  out  and 
denounced  the  doctrine  he  taught  as  heretical  and  "Mormon- 
ism'  '  as  a  delusion.  He  was  so  bitter  that  he  even  followed 
Brother  Evans  from  place  to  place  and  railed  against  him 
almost  like  a  madman.  He  had  not  pursued  this  course  very 
long  when  he  was  stricken  down  with  a  peculiar  kind  of  sick- 
ness which  none  of  the  doctors  who  saw  him  understood  any- 
thing about,  although  numbers  of  them  visited  him.  One  of 
his  arms  was  paralyzed  and  he  had  such  a  raging  fever  that  he 
felt  as  if  it  was  consuming  him.  He  begged  of  his  friends  to  throw 
cold  water  on  him  to  keep  him  from  burning  up,  and  the 
doctors,  not  knowing  what  else  to  do  for  his  relief,  advised  that 
it  be  done.  Accordingly  those  who  were  waiting  upon  him 
continued  dashing  cold  water  upon  him  while  he  remained 
alive,  and  he  died  raving  and  cursing  "Mormonism"  and  every 
person  connected  with  it. 

While  preaching  in  that  same  region  Elder  Evans  was  sent 
for  by  a  very  wealthy  and  influential  man  named  Nathaniel 
Rowlands,  who  wished  him  to  come  and  preach  at  his  house. 
He  had  once  heard  Elder  Abel  Evans,  preach  and  became 
somewhat  interested  in  the  doctrines  he  taught,  and  wanted 
to  learn  more  of  them. .  After  preaching  at  his  house  he  went 
to  a  village  about  a  mile  distant  to  fill  an  appointment.     At 


OPPOSED  BY  EIGHT  PREACHERS.  59 

this  village  a  literary  galLeriijg  or  eisteddfod  was  being  held, 
composed  of  the  best  educated  men  of  the  region,  who  were 
in  the  habit  of  meeting  to  compare  their  Hterary  and  musical 
compositions  and  compete  for  prizes.  This  association  com- 
prized quite  a  number  of  ministers  of  various  denominations, 
and  they,  knowing  that  Elder  Evans  was  going  to  preach  in  the 
village  on  the  same  evening  upon  which  they  were  to  hold 
their  meeting,  decided  to  go  and  oppose  him  publicly  and 
expose  his  doctrines  to  the  ridicule  of  his  congregation.  They, 
therefore,  sent  one  of  their  number  to  Elder  Evans'  meeting  to 
detain  him  until  their  meeting  was  over. 

This  man  came,  and  at  the  close  of  Elder  Evans'  sermon  he 
began  asking  him  questions,  and  thus  detained  him  until  a  late 
hour,  and  the  congregation,  knowing  the  character  of  the 
inquisitor,  stayed  to  see  the  end  of  the  controversy.  Finally, 
eight  other  preachers  from  the  eiMeddfod  came  and  announced 
to  the  Elder  their  intention.  Elder  Evans  was  greatly  sur- 
prised to  see  such  an  array  of  talent  unitedly  opposed  to  him, 
but  he  did  not  feel  to  shrink  from  the  contest,  for  he  knew  he 
had  the  truth  on  his  side.  In  the  outset  some  of  the  more 
independent  persons  in  the  audience  stated  that  if  the  fallacy 
of  the  young  man's  doctrines  was  to  be  exposed,  he  should 
first  be  allowed  to  state  briefly  what  his  doctrines  were.  The 
preachers  assented  to  this  and  Elder  Evans  explained,  one 
after  another,  the  first  principles  of  the  gospel,  in  as  plain  a 
manner  as  possible,  and  they  in  turn  sought  to  controvert  and 
ridicule  them.  When  he  got  to  the  subject  of  baptism  a 
division  occurred  among  the  preachers,  some  of  them  being 
Baptists  and  others  holding  baptism  as  non-essential.  They 
soon  got  to  denouncing  each  other  as  vehemently  as  they  had 
the  young  Elder  just  before,  and  when  they  almost  got  to 
blows  the  audience  interfered  and  the  meeting  was  broken  up, 
leaving  a  far  more  favorable  feeling  towards  Elder  Evans  than 
had  before  existed. 

When  the  news  of  this  reached  Mr.  Rowlands  he  was 
very  indignant,  and  he  immediately  wrote  to  each  of  the 
preachers,  denouncing  his  action  in  interfering  with  the  young 
Elder,  whom  he  had  known  from  childhood  as  honest  and 
conscientious,  and  every  way  deserving  of  respect.     The  result 


60  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

was,  the  preachers  lost  caste  from  that  very  time  and  sunk  into 
oblivion,  despised  by  all  who  knew  them. 

While  Elder  Evans  was  laboring  in  Pembrokeshire  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Thomas  Evans  broke  a  blood  vessel  and  bled 
inwardly,  the  blood  also  issuing  from  his  nose  and  mouth  pro- 
fusely. Doctors  were  called  in  and  tried  in  vain  to  stop  the 
hemorrhage.  Brother  Evans  and  another  Elder  on  learning  of 
the  man's  condition  went  to  see  him.  He  had  then  grown  so 
weak  that  he  was  scarcely  able  to  speak,  but  he  made  known 
that  he  desired  them  to  administer  to  him.  They  complied 
with  his  request,  and  on  taking  their  hands  from  his  head  it 
was  noticed  that  the  bleeding  had  stopped,  and  the  man 
recovered  from  that  time,  although  it  was  some  time  before  he 
regained  his  strength,  as  he  had  lost  so  much  blood, 

Near  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  region  a  sister  in  the 
Church,  named  Morgan,  was  taken  very  sick.  Her  friends  did 
all  they  could  for  her,  but  she  continued  growing  worse. 
When  she  had  grown  so  bad  that  the  persons  waiting  upon  her 
expected  her  to  die  almost  hourly,  she  fell  asleep  and  dreamed 
that  Elder  Evans  came  and  laid  his  hands  upon  her  and  she 
recovered  immediately.  On  relating  the  dream  to  her  friends, 
ihey  tried  to  find  out  where  Brother  Evans  was,  and  sent  to 
different  parts  of  the  country  in  search  of  him,  without  finding 
him,  however;  but  during  the  day  Elder  Evans  happened  to 
call  at  the  house  where  the  sick  woman  was.  She  saw  him  as 
he  passed  the  window  before  he  entered  the  door  and  she 
declared  afterwards  that  the  sight  of  him  caused  her  pain  to 
vanish,  and  when  he  laid  his  hands  upon  her  head  she  was 
healed  instantly,  and  arose  and  ate  her  supper. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  of  healing  that  ever 
occurred  in  Brother  Evans'  experience  was  that  of  a  woman 
who  had  been  afflicted  with  a  bloody  issue  for  thirty  years,  and 
who  had  been  given  up  by  the  doctors  as  incurable.  On  hear- 
ing the  gospel  she  believed,  and  requested  baptism.  Notwith- 
standing the  protests  of  her  friends,  who  all  declared  that  if 
she  went  into  the  water  it  would  kill  her,  she  determined  to  do 
so,  and  Elder  Evans  baptized  her.  From  that  very  time  she 
was  cured  of  her  affliction  and  was  no  more  troubled  by  it. 


ESCAPES  THE  FURY  OF  THE  MOB.  61 

In  illustration  of  the  providential  way  in  which  the  Elders 
are  sometimes  preserved  when  their  enemies  seek  to  destroy 
them,  Brother  Evans  relates  the  following:  In  a  village  in 
Pembrokeshire  in  which  he  had  often  preached,  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Thomas,  who  had  listened  to  his  testimony  and  was 
a  believer  but  had  not  made  up  his  mind  to  be  baptized,  was 
taken  sick  with  the  cholera.  When  the  disease  had  got  such 
a  hold  upon  him  that  he  felt  that  he  must  die,  he  became  very 
anxious  to  be  baptized,  and  sent  for  his  brother,  who  was  an 
Elder  in  the  Church,  and  demanded  baptism  at  his  hands.  He 
expressed  no  hopes  of  living,  he  fully  expected  to  die,  and  to 
gratify  him  his  brother  baptized  him.  The  man  died  soon 
afterwards  as  he  had  expected  to,  but  at  the  coroner's  inquest 
which  was  held  over  the  body,  on  the  fact  being  known  that  he 
was  baptized,  a  great  uproar  was  raised.  His  brother  was 
arrested,  charged  with  murder,  and  the  Elders  who  had  labored  in 
that  region  were  threatened  with  the  vengeance  of  the  populace 
if  they  ever  returned.  John  Thomas  was  in  time  tried  for  his 
brother's  murder,  and  acquitted,  the  evidence  being  clear  that  he 
died  from  cholera  and  not  from  being  baptized.  Soon  afterwards 
Elder  John  Morris,  who  was  president  of  the  Pembrokeshire 
conference,  and  Brother  Evans,  who  was  his  counselor,  called 
at  the  village  and  put  up  as  usual  at  the  house  of  an  old  gentle- 
man named  Noat,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Church.  Before 
retiring  for  the  night  they  felt  impressed  to  leave  that  house, 
and  go  to  another  and  stay.  It  was  fortunate  that  they  did  so, 
for,  if  they  had  failed  to  act  upon  the  warning  of  the  Spirit, 
they  would  probably  have  forfeited  their  lives  as  a  consequence. 
In  the  night  a  mob  broke  open  the  doors  of  Noat's  house  and 
searched  for  the  Elders,  whom  they  supposed  to  be  there. 
Failing  to  find  them,  they  dragged  old  Brother  Noat  from  his 
house  and  abused  him  most  shamefully,  because  he  would  not 
inform  them  where  the  Elders  were.  The  Elders,  on  hearing 
of  the  outrage  the  next  morning,  went  to  the  house;  but  were 
seen  by  some  ol  the  mob,  and  "had  to  flee  for  their  lives, 
being  stoned  out  of  the  place. 

As  an  example  of  the  manner  in  which  the  gifts  of  tongues  and 
the  interpretation  of  the  same  were  enjoyed  by  the  Saints  in  the 
Welsh  mission  in  an  early  day,  Brother  Evans  relates  the  fol- 


62  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

lowing:  It  was  customary  at  that  time  for  the  Saints  in  emi- 
grating from  Wales  to  sail  from  Swansea  to  Liverpool.  A  cou- 
ple or  three  days  after  a  company  had  started  in  this  way, 
many  of  them  having  gone  from  Aberdare,  a  "Saints'  meeting" 
was  being  held  in  the  latter  place,  when  a  young  man  was  led  to 
speak  in  tongues.  On  the  interpretation  being  given  by 
another  person  present,  it  was  stated  that  the  company  of 
Saints  who  had  sailed  for  Liverpool  were  in  danger  of  being 
wrecked,  and  were  praying  very  earnestly  for  their  deliverance, 
and  wishing  that  their  friends  at  home  would  also  pray  for 
them.  The  man  who  presided  over  the  meeting  supposed 
from  the  length  of  time  which  had  elapsed  after  the  company 
had  sailed  that  they  must  have  reached  Liverpool  before  that 
time.  He  therefore  preferred  to  act  upon  his  own  judgment 
to  accepting  the  Spirit's  warning,  and  dismissed  the  meeting 
without  offering  a  prayer  for  the  safety  of  their  friends.  A 
few  days  afterwards  news  reached  Aberdare  that  the  com- 
pany had  been  all  but  lost  on  the  voyage,  and  at  the  time  that 
their  friends  were  holding  their  meeting  they  were  in  the 
greatest  peril. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THOMAS  D.  GILES'  EXPERIENCE— HIS  HEAD  CRUSHED  AND 
SPLIT  OPEN  BY  A  TON  OF  COAL  FALLING  UPON  IT — 
HEALED  BY  THE  POWER  OF  GOD — A  DEAF  AND  DUMB 
MAN  RECEIVES  HIS  HE^^ING  AND  SPEECH  ON  BEING 
BAPTIZED,    ETC. 

BROTHER  THOMAS  D.  GILES,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  was 
connected  with  the  Church  and  labored  considerably  in 
the  ministry  in  Wales  soon  after  the  introduction  of  the  gospel 
in  that  land.  He  relates  many  curious  circumstances  con- 
nected with  his  conversion  to  the  gospel  and  his  early  experience 
in  the  same,  some  of  which  we  will  give  to  our  readers  sub- 
stantially as  he  tells  them : 


ELDER  THOS.    D.    GILES'   EXPERIENCE.  63 

Brother  Griles  was  a  Baptist  when  he  was  a  young  man,  and 
an  earnest  seeker  after  truth  wherever  it  was  to  be  found. 
The  first  time  he  met  his  friend  Abel  Evans  after  that  gentle- 
man had  joined  the  Church,  he  was  asked  by  him  what  he 
thought  of  the  Latter-day  Saints.  Brother  Giles  replied  that 
he  knew  nothing  about  them.  Brother  Evans  then  predicted 
that  he  soon  would  know  something  about  them,  and,  more 
than  that,  he  and  his  father's  family  would  soon  be  baptized 
by  them.  Brother  Giles  thought  but  little  of  this  prediction 
at  the  time,  but  it  was  soon  literally  fulfilled,  for  on  hearing 
the  gospel  preached  he  was  convinced  of  its  truth,  and  on  the 
1st  of  November,  1844,  he  was  baptized  by  Elder  Abel  Evans. 
He  bears  his  solemn  testimony  now  that  as  soon  as  the  Elders 
placed  their  hands  upon  his  head  and  confirmed  him  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  filled  his 
system,  brought  joy  to  his  heart  and  gave  him  an  assurance 
that  his  sins  were  forgiven,  for  which  he  had  been  praying  for 
many  years.  His  father  was  also  prepared  to  receive  the 
gospel  as  soon  as  he  heard  it  preached,  for  he  had  for  a  long 
time  been  inquiring  after  a  church  organized  after  the  pattern 
given  by  our  Savior  and  His  apostles,  and  possessing  the 
various  gifts  which  were  formerly  enjoyed  by  the  Saints.  The 
result  was  that  he  and  the  whole  of  his  family  were  soon 
baptized. 

About  seventeen  months  after  he  was  baptized  Elder  Giles 
was  called  to  labor  as  a  missionary  in  Monmouthshire,  where  he 
soon  baptized  a  goodly  number  of  people,  organized  about  thirty 
branches  of  the  Church  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his 
converts  enjoy  the  gifts  of  the  gospel,  such  as  speaking  in 
tongues,  interpreting  the  same,  healing  the  sick,  casting  out 
evil  spirits,  etc.  He  had  much  opposition  to  meet,  and 
sufi"ered  considerable  persecution,  but  was  upheld  by  the  power 
of  God,  and  had  great  joy  in  his  labors.  When  holding  out- 
door meetings  he  was  frequently  interrupted  by  persons  who 
were  influenced  by  the  sectarian  ministers  of  the  region.  One 
man  in  parti^lar,  named  Daniels,  was  very  persistent  in 
opposing  him  and  trying  to  break  up  his  meetings,  and  on  one 
occasion  after  doing  so  he  declared  that  if  the  Elders  attempted 
to  hold  meeting  again  at  the  same  place  the  following  Sunday 


64  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

he  would  have  men  enough  there  to  mob  them  out  of  the 
place.  Before  the  next  Sunday  came,  however,  the  man  was 
in  his  grave,  having  been  accidentally  killed  while  at  his  work. 

The  first  person  baptized  under  Brother  Giles'  administration 
was  a  man  named  Wm.  Lewis,  who  immediately  opened  his 
house  for  the  Elders  to  hold  meetings  in.  But  the  Saints 
soon  numbered  so  many  that  his  house  would  not  contain 
them.  The  Elders  then  applied  to  a  tavern  keeper  for  a  large 
room  in  which  to  hold  their  meetings,  which  he  very  kindly 
granted  them,  and  in  a  short  time  he  and  all  his  family  were 
converted  and  baptized,  and  gave  up  their  tavern.  Baptisms 
occurred  every  night  in  the  week,  and  in  a  short  time  that 
branch  numbered  two  hundred  and  three.  In  time  a  still 
larger  hall  was  required  in  which  to  convene,  and  the  Elders 
applied  to  a  Mr.  Davis,  who  owned  a  large  building  called 
"The  Greyhound  Hall,"  to  obtain  the  use  of  it.  He,  however, 
could  not  think  of  allowing  the  "Mormons"  to  meet  in  his 
hall,  as  he  feared  it  would  injure  his  business  and  destroy  his 
influence.  But  he  soon  had  reason  to  regret  taking  such  an 
illiberal  course,  as  he  met  with  a  series  of  losses  through  hav- 
ing his  animals  suddenly  sicken  and  die,  and  could  only 
attribute  his  bad  luck  to  the  displeasure  of  the  Almighty  at 
his  refusal  to  grant  the  Saints  the  use  of  his  hall.  After  that 
he  was  glad  to  have  them  use  it.  Among  others  baptized  was 
the  leader  of  the  Baptist  choir  as  well  as  most  of  his  principal 
singers,  and  as  a  consequence  the  singing  in  the  meetings  of 
the  Saints  became  quite  an  attractive  feature. 

The  faith  in  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  displayed  by  the 
Saints  among  whom  Brother  Giles  labored  was  quite  remark- 
able. The  feeling  with  most  of  them  on  being  taken  sick  was 
that  if  they  could  only  have  the  Elders  come  and  lay  their 
hands  upon  them  they  would  be  well,  and  the  result  was 
generally  according  to  their  faith.  Brother  Wm.  Lewis,  of 
whom  mention  has  already  been  made,  was  taken  seriously 
sick  on  one  occasion  and  was  unable  to  leave  his  bed.  His 
first  thought  was  to  send  for  Elder  Giles  to  come  and  administer 
to  him.  He  visited  him  as  requested,  and,  on  entering  the 
door,  called  out  cheerily,  asking  him  what  he  meant  by  lying 
p  bed,  and  told  him  to  get  up  and  come  down  stairs.     So 


NUMEROUS  CASES   OP  MIRACULOUS  HEALING.  65 

great  was  the  sick  man's  faith  that  he  sprang  out  of  bed  on 
hearing  the  voice  and  obeyed,  and  when  Brother  Giles  had 
administered  to  him  he  was  as  well  as  he  ever  had  been. 

Similar  faith  was  manifested  by  the  Saints  when  the  cholera 
prevailed  in  that  land,  and  Brother  Griles  testifies  that  every 
one  so  afflicted  whom  he  or  the  other  Elders  laboring  with  him 
administered  to,  recovered.  This  was  certainly  remarkable, 
considering  the  very  great  number  of  unbelievers  who  died 
there  of  that  dread  malady.  One  case  in  particular  Brother 
Giles  mentions,  that  of  a  sister  named  Dudley,  who  was  so 
bad  that  she  had  turned  black  and  whose  sunken  eyes  indicated 
that  she  had  not  many  minutes  to  live.  None  of  the  friends 
who  surrounded  her  had  any  hopes  of  her  liviug  except  her 
husband.  He  called  for  Elder  Giles  to  administer  to  her  and 
when  he  did  so  she  was  restored  to  health  and  is  now  living 
in  Utah. 

About  the  same  time  a  Mrs.  Davies,  who  was  not  in  the 
Church,  sent  for  Elders  Giles  and  Dudley  to  administer  to  her, 
as  she  was  very  sick  and  confined  to  her  bed.  They  did  so, 
and  her  faith  made  her  whole.  After  that  she  and  her  husband 
joined  the  Church,  and  are  in  Utah  now,  true  Latter-day 
Saints. 

On  another  occasion,  when  Elder  Giles  was  on  a  visit  to  his 
father's  house,  he  was  sent  for  to  administer  to  a  neighbor 
lady,  who  had  been  sick  and  confined  to  her  bed  for  a  consider- 
able length  of  time.  When  he  went  to  see  her  she  was  suffer- 
ing the  most  excruciating  pain,  but  when  he  had  anointed  her 
and  rebuked  her  disease  all  pain  vanished  and  she  was  restored 
to  health.  She  afterwards  came  to  Utah  and  frequently  testi- 
fied of  the  miraculous  manner  in  wich  she  was  healed. 

Brother  Giles  himself  met  with  a  terrible  accident,  and  the 
power  of  God  manifested  in  preserving  his  life  and  restoring 
him  to  health,  was  not  less  remarkable  than  in  the  cases  before 
mentioned.  On  the  23rd  of  July,  1843,  he  visited  the  Llanelly 
branch  of  the  Church,  where  he  held  meeting  out  of  doors  in 
the  forenoon  and  in  the  afternoon  attended  a  sacrament  meeting. 
At  the  latter  meeting  permission  was  given  for  any  of  the 
Saints  to  speak  as  they  might  feel  led  by  the  Spirit.  Among 
others  Elder  Giles  was  moved  upon  to  speak  in  tongues,  and 


66  EARLY  SCENES   IN   CHURCH   HISTORY. 

the  interpretation  of  what  he  said  was  given  to  the  president 
of  the  branch,  Elder  John  Morgan,  as  follows:  "My  servant, 
watch,  for  thy  life  is  in  danger ;  but  through  thy  faith  thy  life 
shall  be  spared ! ' ' 

Feeling  sure  that  there  was  something  prophetic  about  this, 
Elder  Griles  warned  Brother  Morgan  at  the  close  of  the  meeting 
to  be  careful,  and  not  to  be  out  late  at  night,  lest  some  plot 
might  be  laid  by  his  enemies  to  take  his  life.  He  also  said 
that  he  would  try  to  take  care  of  himself,  and  avoid  danger, 
lest  it  might  be  himself  that  the  warning  was  intended  for. 

On  the  following  Wednesday,  the  26th  of  July,  Brother 
Giles  went  to  his  work  as  usual  in  the  coal  mine,  and  in  a 
short  time  after  he  had  commenced  work  a  large  piece  of  coal, 
weighing  about  two  thousand  pounds  fell  upon  him.  He  was 
in  a  stooping  posture  at  the  time,  being  about  to  pick  up  a 
piece  of  coal  that  lay  in  front  of  him,  and  when  he  was 
knocked  down  his  head  lodged  between  this  and  the  mass  of 
coal  that  fell  upon  him.  His  head  was  split  open  from  the 
back  of  the  crown  down  to  his  ej^es.  One  of  his  eyes  was 
also  completely  cut  out  of  the  socket,  and  the  other  crushed 
so  that  it  ran  out. 

He  was  taken  home,  and  two  physicians  came  and  examined 
his  head.  They  declined  doing  anything  for  him,  as  they  said 
it  was  not  possible  for  him  to  live  over  two  hours.  However, 
after  a  great  deal  of  persuasion,  they  consented  to  wash  off  his 
head,  pick  the  pieces  of  coal  out  of  it  and  sew  up  the  wounds. 
They  also  left  medicine  for  him  to  take,  such  as  they  thought 
suitable  for  the  case,  but  he  refused  to  take  a  drop  of  it.  He 
remembered  the  promise  of  the  Lord,  that  through  faith  his 
life  should  be  spared,  and  felt  to  hold  on  to  it  and  claim  a 
blessing  at  the  hands  of  the  Almighty.  The  Saints  of  the 
branch  in  which  he  lived  were  very  faithful  and  kind,  and  did 
all  they  possibly  could  under  the  circumstances  for  his  com- 
fort. 

On  the  third  day  after  the  accident  Elder  William  S. 
Phillips,  the  president  of  the  Welsh  mission,  anointed  him 
with  consecrated  oil,  laid  his  hands  upon  his  head  and  blessed 
him  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  Brother  Giles  testifies  that 
the  healing  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  did  rest  upon  him  at  that 


DEAF  AND  DFMB  MAN   HEALED.  67 

time,  for  he  got  out  of  bed  and  walked  across  two  rooms,  back 
and  forth.  On  the  ninth  day  after  the  accident  he  sang  a 
song  for  some  of  his  friends  who  had  called  to  see  him,  and  in 
four  weeks  he  traveled  twelve  miles  in  company  with  two  of 
the  brethren  to  visit  his  father  and  mother  and  the  president  of 
the  branch.  On  the  fourth  Sunday  after  the  accident,  being 
called  upon,  he  spoke  in  a  public  meeting  in  the  afternoon  and 
evening. 

Soon  after  that  he  was  called  upon  to  travel  throughout  the 
mission  and  bear  his  testimony  and  preach  to  the  people,  in 
company  with  Elder  John  Jones,  and  he  did  so. 

While  thus  engaged  he  visited  Newport,  and  learned  the 
particulars  of  a  miracle  that  had  occurred  there  a  short  time 
previous.  A  young  man  named  Reuben  Brinkworth,  who  had 
been  deaf  and  dumb  for  a  number  of  years,  manifested  a  desire 
to  be  baptized,  and  on  receiving  that  ordinance  at  the  hands  of 
Elder  Nash,  in  whose  house  he  resided,  both  his  hearing  and 
speech  were  immediately  restored  to  him. 

Brother  Griles  visited  this  young  man  and  questioned  him  in 
regard  to  the  miracle,  and  was  assured  by  him  that  when  he 
went  into  the  water  to  be  baptized  he  could  neither  hear  nor 
speak,  but  as  soon  as  he  was  baptized  he  could  do  both. 
Brother  Nash  also  bore  his  testimony  to  the  same  facts. 

Near  the  same  time  that  Brother  Giles  met  with  his  accident 
a  friend  of  his,  named  David  Davis,  who  was  living  in  Merthyr, 
was  almost  crushed  to  a  pulp  by  the  roof  of  a  coal  mine  falling 
upon  him.  When  he  was  dug  out  Elder  William  Phillips  and 
some  other  brethren  laid  their  hands  upon  him  and  promised 
him  that  he  should  live  and  be  healed.  While  their  hands 
were  upon  his  head,  his  broken  ribs  and  other  bones  were 
heard  coming  together  with  a  noise  which  was  ({uite  percep- 
tible. Brother  Davis,  who  was  a  truthful,  honest  man,  lived 
to  travel  about  Wales  and  testify  of  this  miracle  and  follow 
his  daily  labor  as  if  no  such  accident  had  ever  occurred.  He 
afterwards  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  and  is  perhaps  yet 
alive. 


68  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER      YII. 

SCENE    IN    THE    EXPERIENCE    OF  WM.   J.    SMITH— A  STRANGE 
PROPHECY  AND  ITS  WONDERFUL  FULFILLMENT. 

TN  February,  1856,  Elder  William  J.  Smith,  who  was  on  a 
•*■  mission  in  England,  was  appointed  by  the  Presidency  of 
the  Church  in  that  land  to  preside  over  the  Warwickshire 
conference.  Under  his  ministrations  many  were  baptized  into 
the  Church  in  Coventry,  which  stirred  up  the  clergy  of  that 
city  against  him  to  such  an  extent  that  they  specially  enjoined 
it  upon  their  scripture  readers  to  warn  the  people  against  going 
to  hear  the  "Mormons." 

Elder  Smith  determined  to  deliver  a  series  of  eight  lectures 
on  the  first  principles  of  the  gospel,  at  Spurn  End  chapel,  the 
regular  meeting  place  of  the  Saints;  and  to  secure  attendance  he 
placarded  Coventry  with  large  bills  announcing  his  intention. 
This  caused  many  to  come  and  hear  him. 

On  the  Sunday  morning  announced  for  the  sixth  lecture 
Elder  Smith  was  so  sick  that  he  was  unable  to  arise  from  his 
bed.  In  this  extremity  he  prayed  earnestly  to  the  Lord  to 
heal  him,  so  that  he  could  fill  his  appointment.  It  was  with 
much  difficulty  that  he  went  to  the  morning's  meeting,  but 
being:  resolved  to  do  his  utmost,  he  addressed  the  Saints,  and, 
the  Spirit  of  God  resting  upon  him,  he  was  much  strengthened 
and  was  enabled  to  fill  his  appointment  in  the  afternoon. 

The  meeting  was  a  very  crowded  one ;  all  classes  apparently 
were  represented ;  scripture  readers  were  present  to  take  notes, 
while  numbers,  probably  hundreds,  were  unable  to  obtain 
admission. 

In  the  rear  of  the  chapel  ran  the  line  of  railway  that  con- 
nected Coventry  with  Nuneaton,  and  in  that  portion  of  its 
road  it  was  built  upon  arches  high  above  the  ground.  These 
were  so  near  the  chapel  that  whenever  a  train  passed,  it  not 
only  made  a  great  noise,  but  perceptibly  shook  the  building. 


A  STRANGE  :PROPHECY  FULFILLED.  69 

Elder  Smith's  audience,  tliough  so  large,  was  a  very  attentive 
one,  but  shortly  after  he  had  commenced  speaking  a  train  came 
thundering  by,  causing  the  minds  of  the  people  to  be  distracted 
from  his  teachings.  Feeling  annoyed  at  the  interruption,  the 
speaker  suddenly  stopped  talking,  paused  for  a  few  moments 
and  then  exclaimed,  "Babylon!  confusion!  I  cannot  speak  an 
hour  without  being  interrupted  by  the  railway,"  and  then, 
stretching  out  his  hand,  he  continued,  "In  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  my  Master,  that  railway  arch  shall  fall  to  the  ground." 
Elder  Smith  then  continued  his  sermon.  When  he  had  done, 
he  had  mingled  feelings ;  he  could  scarcely  understand  why  he 
was  prompted  to  utter  such  a  prophecy ;  he  felt  that  if  he  had 
left  that  out  it  would  have  been  the  best  discourse  he  ever 
preached.  But  the  words  were  uttered  and  could  not  be 
recalled ;  they  had  been  heard  by  scores,  many  of  whom  were 
not  friends  of  the  Saints ;  still  he  felt  impressed  that  what  he 
had  prophesied  was  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  gave  him 
peace. 

His  words  were  reported  to  nine  clergymen,  who  made  it 
their  business  to  have  competent  judges  examine  the  arches 
and  discover  if  possible  if  there  was  any  cause  for  a  state- 
ment and  prophecy  such  as  his.  These  gentlemen  declared 
the  arches  to  be  sound,  that  there  were  no  better  in  England, 
and  consequently  Brother  Smith  was  ridiculed  and  derided  as 
a  false  prophet. 

Shortly  afterwards  Elder  Smith  was  called  away  from 
Coventry  by  the  presidency  of  the  mission,  and  appointed  to 
succeed  Elder  Henry  Lunt  in  the  presidency  of  the  Newcastle- 
on-Tyne  pastorate.  He  left  Warwickshire  without  seeing  his 
prophecy  fulfilled  ;  but  within  a  few  weeks  a  heavy  rain  fell 
and  undermined  the  arches,  and  nineteen  out  of  twenty-one 
fell  to  the  ground,  leaving  only  two  standing.  Through  this 
fall  much  damage  was  done  to  the  contiguous  residences  and 
other  property. 

Brother  Henry  Russell,  who  now  lives  at  Union,  in  Salt 
Lake  County,  was  at  that  time  a  lamp-Hghter  in  Coventry. 
He  was  engaged  in  lighting  the  street  lamps  when  this 
destruction  took  place.  He  was  just  about  to  pass  under  one 
of  the  arches  when  it  fell,  and  he  probably  would  have  been  killed 


70  EARLY  SCENES   IN   CUtJRCH  HISTORY. 

had  he  not  been  stopped  by  a  policeman  and  detained  until  the 
danger  was  over. 

Thus  is  the  saying  of  the  Lord  corroborated,  that  what  His 
servants  declare  by  His  Spirit  He  will  fulfill. 


REMARKABLE    HEALINGS. 


MARTIN  H.  peck's  TESTIMONY  OF  A  NUMBER  OF  REMARK- 
ABLE CASES  OF  HEALING — A  BROKEN  ARM,  A  CRUSHED 
LEG,   ETC.,   HEALED   IMMEDIATELY. 

BROTHER  MARTIN  H.  PECK,  of  Salt  Lake  City, 
relates  a  series  of  cases  of  healing  that  occurred  in  his 
family  and  under  his  administration.  He  joined  the  Church 
in  Vermont,  in  1 833,  and  about  two  j^ears  later,  while  on  a  visit 
to  a  place  about  nine  miles  from  where  he  lived,  he  received 
word  from  his  wife  at  home  that  their  child  was  lying  at  the 
point  of  death  and  she  desired  him  to  come  home  immediately 
and  bring  an  Elder  with  him.  He  was  not  more  surprised  at 
learning  of  his  son's  dangerous  condition  than  of  the  faith  in 
the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  which  his  wife  manifested,  by 
wanting  an  Elder  to  lay  hands  on  the  child ;  for  she  had  not 
then  joined  the  Church  or  manifested  much  interest  in  the 
gospel.  He  was  therefore  almost  as  much  pleased  on  his 
wife's  account  as  he  was  pained  on  account  of  his  child  on 
receiving  the  news.  Taking  Elder  James  Snow  with  him,  he 
hastened  home,  and  found  the  little  fellow  lying  helpless  and 
in  a  very  low  condition  in  his  mother's  arms.  Brother  Peck 
only  held  the  office  of  a  Priest  at  the  time,  so  Elder  Snow 
administered  to  the  child  alone,  and  while  doing  so  the  little 
fellow  dozed  off  into  a  quiet  slumber,  and  when  he  awoke  he 
was  as  well  as  he  ever  had  been. 

Soon  afterwards  Brother  Peck  himself  was  taken  extremely 
ill,  and  to  all  appearances  seemed  about  to  die.  He  even  lost 
his  sight  and  was  in  the  greatest  agony,  but  Elder  John  Badger 
was  called  in  and  rebuked  the  disease  and  blessed  him,  a^d 


1 


ELDER  M.    H.   PECK's  TESTIMONY*  71 

he  was  healed  iiumediately.  On  describing  his  symptoms 
afterwards  to  a  friend  who  was  an  experienced  physician,  he 
was  assured  that  his  was  an  extreme  case,  and  it  was  doubtful 
if  medical  skill  could  have  saved  him. 

Near  the  same  time  his  son  Joseph  was  troubled  with  a 
couple  of  swellings  on  the  glands  of  his  neck  which  threatened 
to  choke  him.  After  various  remedies  had  been  tried  without 
avail  a  physician  was  consulted,  who  declared  the  boy  could 
not  live  long  if  they  continued  to  grow,  and  recommended  that  a 
surgical  operation  be  performed  to  remove  them,  although  even 
that,  he  admitted,  would  be  very  dangerous.  Brother  Peck 
concluded  not  to  act  upon  his  advice,  and  he  sent  for  some 
Elders  instead  and  had  them  anoint  and  lay  hands  upon  him 
The  result  was  that  in  a  few  days  the  swellings  had  entirely 
disappeared. 

From  Vermont  Brother  Peck  removed  to  Ohio,  and  while 
there  a  great  deal  of  sickness  prevailed  and  many  deaths 
occurred  in  his  neighborhood.  The  doctors  seemed  to  be 
entirely  baffled  in  their  efforts  to  cope  with  the  disease.  Among 
others  stricken  down  was  Brother  Peck's  son,  William.  He 
lay  unconscious  all  day  with  his  eyes  turned  back  in  his  head, 
and  apparently  in  a  dying  condition,  A  number  of  neighbors 
called  in  to  see  him  and  urged  Brother  Peck  to  send  for  a 
doctor.  He  told  them,  however,  that  he  could  not  have  much 
confidence  in  doctors'  skill  after  seeing  the  children  which 
they  attended  die  off,  as  they  had  done,  like  rotten  sheep.  He 
preferred  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  them.  Nor  did  he  feel 
like  administering  to  the  boy  while  unbelievers  were  in  the 
house.  His  wife  happened  to  be  away  from  home,  and  he 
felt  confident  that  when  she  returned  their  united  faith  would 
result  in  obtaining  a  blessing  from  the  Almighty.  Some  of 
the  neighbors  in  their  solicitude  stayed  with  the  boy  all 
day,  and  doubtless  thought  Brother  Peck  an  unfeeling 
wretch,  as  he  would  not  send  for  a  doctor.  On  the  return  of 
Sister  Peck  she,  too,  refused  to  have  a  physician,  and  so  the 
neighbors  left  in  disgust.  As  soon  as  they  had  done  so  the 
parents  called  mightily  upon  the  Lord  to  spare  their  child's 
life  and  Brother  Peck  rebuked  the  disease,  and  he  was  healed 
instantly. 


72  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH   HISTORY. 

But  a  few  days  Lad  elapsed  when  their  son  James  was 
taken  suddenly  very  sick,  and  a  neighbor  hastened  to  Brother 
Peck's  shop  to  inform  him  if  something  were  not  done  immedi- 
ately for  his  relief  he  would  be  dead.  He  also  offered  his 
services  to  wait  upon  him.  Brother  Peck  thanked  him  for  his 
kindness  but  declined  accepting  the  offer.  On  reaching  his 
home  and  seeing  the  condition  of  the  child,  which  was  truly 
alarming,  he  and  his  wife  referred  the  case  to  the  Lord,  with 
the  same  result  as  in  the  previous  case. 

A  rather  curious  case  was  that  of  a  young  lady  who  lived 
in  Brother  Peck's  family  who  was  afflicted  with  a  most  distress- 
ing cough,  from  which  she  could  get  no  relief  It  seemed  as 
if  she  would  almost  choke  with  it.  On  being  administered  to 
by  the  Elders  she  was  relieved  immediately,  and  never  coughed 
again  for  two  weeks,  when,  on  getting  in  a  passion,  the  cough 
returned. 

There  was  a  doctor  by  the  name  of  Harvey  Tate  living 
neighbor  to  Brother  Peck  in  Ohio,  who  became  somewhat  inter- 
ested in  the  doctrines  of  the  Latter-day  Saints,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  more  concerning  them  made  a  visit  to  his 
house.  While  he  was  there  Brother  Peck's  son  James  was 
brought  home  with  a  broken  arm,  caused  by  his  falling  from  a 
tree.  The  fracture  was  about  three  inches  above  the  wrist 
joint,  and  so  complete  that  his  arm  formed  a  right  angle  at  the 
place  where  it  was  broken.  The  doctor  set  and  bandaged  it, 
and  the  boy  was  put  in  bed.  The  pain  was  so  great,  however, 
that  he  could  scarcely  endure  it,  and  after  the  doctor  had  gone 
he  begged  his  father  to  "bless"  him,  saying  he  knew  that 
would  cure  him. 

Brother  Peck  accordingly  administered  to  him  and  the  })ain 
immediately  ceased.  He  slept  well  during  the  night  and  on 
getting  up  the  next  morning  played  about  with  his  fellows  as  if 
nothing  had  ever  been  the  matter  with  his  arm,  not  even 
having  it  in  a  sling.  The  next  day  he  was  sent  to  the  doctor 
to  show  him  his  arm,  and  when  he  entered  his  house,  the 
doctor  noticed,  to  his  surprise,  that  the  boy  took  hold  of  a  chair 
with  his  lame  hand  and  lifted  it  forward  to  sit  down  upon. 
Taking  the  little  fellow  by  the  hand,  he  then  asked  him  if  he 
felt  any  pain  in  his  arm  or  hand,  and  the  boy  answered  frankly 


DYING  WOMAN  INSI'ANTLV  RESTORED  TO  UEALTtl.  73 

that  he  did  not.  The  doctor  bent  his  fingers  and  saw  that  he 
had  free  use  of  them,  then  examined  his  hand  and  wrist  and 
saw  that  there  was  no  sign  of  swelUng,  and  declared  that  it 
was  the  power  of  Grod  which  had  healed  the  broken  limb,  for 
nothing  else  could  have  done  it  in  so  short  a  time.  This 
incident  probably  influenced  Dr.  Tate  in  favor  of  the  I«atter- 
day  Saints,  as  he  soon  afterwards  joined  the  Church.  He  was 
baptized  by  Elder  John  E.  Page,  and  ordained  an  Elder,  and 
for  some  time  was  quite  a  faithful  and  efficient  member,  but 
he  subsequently  lost  the  faith.  He  had  abundant  evidence, 
however,  while  he  remained  'in  the  Church  that  the  power  of 
God  was  with  the  Saints,  as  he  saw  it  manifested  on  several 
occasions  so  plainly  that  he  could  not  deny  it.  But  he  may 
have  been  like  some  others  of  whom  it  has  been  said  that  they 
joined  the  Church  through  seeing  a  miracle  performed  and 
apostatized  because  they  could  not  see  one  every  day. 

On  one  occasion  he  and  Elder  Peck  were  called  upon  to  go  a 
distance  of  ten  miles  to  see  a  sister  in  the  Church  who  was 
thought  to  be  dying.  They  traveled  with  all  possible  speed, 
and  on  arriving  at  the  place  found  the  woman  in  a  very  critical 
condition.  The  doctor,  although,  used  to  scenes  of  sickness, 
allowed  Brother  Peck  to  take  the  lead  in  directing  what  should 
be  done  for  the  relief  of  the  patient,  and  he  proposed  to  anoint 
and  lay  hands  upon  her.  They  accordingly  did  so,  and  she 
was  healed  immediately,  and  arose  and  prepared  supper  for 
them.  While  returning  home  the  doctor  remarked  jocularly, 
that  the  experience  of  that  evening  presented  a  new  phase  in 
his  medical  practice.  He  had  never  taken  that  course  before 
to  cure  patients,  nor  was  he  in  the  habit  of  going  that  distance 
to  visit  them  without  charging  for  it. 

While  journeying  to  Missouri  with  the  "KirtlandCamp," 
Brother  Peck's  son,  Edwin,  had  his  leg  accidentally  run  over  by 
a  heavily  loaded  wagon,  on  a  very  hard  road.  When  he  was 
picked  up  the  limb  appeared  to  be  flattened  as  if  almost 
crushed  to  a  pulp,  and  the  flesh  was  laid  open.  Brother  Peck 
had  seen  the  power  of  Grod  manifested  in  so  many  instances 
then,  and  he  had  such  confidence  in  the  Almighty  hearing  and 
answering  his  prayers,  that  he  never  thought  of  summoning  a 
surgeon,  but  immediately  administered  to  the  boy  and  then 


'3'4  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

placed  him  in  the  wagon.  In  an  hour  afterwards  he  examined 
his  leg  and  found  that  it  was  entirely  well,  the  only  sign  of  the 
injury  left  being  a  slight  scar  which  had  the  dry  and  scaly 
appeaance  of  an  old  sore,  long  since  healed  up.  The  place  was 
not  even  discolored.  There  were  numbers  of  witnesses  to  this 
miracle,  many  of  whom  are  living  to-day. 


PHILO    DIBBLES    NARRATIVE. 


CHAPTER   I. 

II  IS  EARLY  LIFE— CONVERSION — CURIOUS  SIGNS— JOSEPH 
REMOVES  TO  KIRTLAND — WONDERFUL  MANIFESTATIONS 
— A  MIRACULOUS  CASE  OF  HEALING— SIDNEY  RIG  DON 
IN  DARKNESS— JOSEPH  PREDICTS  THAT  THE  EVIL  ONE 
WILL  HANDLE  HIM,  AND  THE  PREDICTION  IS  FUL- 
FILLED. 

I  AM  the  second  son  of  Orotor  and  Bulali  Dibble,  and  was 
born  June  6th,  180G,  at  Peru,  Pittsfield  County,  Massa- 
chusetts. When  I  was  quite  young  my  father  removed  to  the 
town  of  Granby,  where  he  died  when  I  was  ten  years  old,  leav- 
ing my  mother  with  nine  children.  My  elder  brother,  Philander, 
and  I  were  taken  by  one  Captain  Apollos  Phelps,  living  at 
Suffield,  Connecticut,  to  raise  until  we  were  twenty-one  years 
old,  he  having  no  children  of  his  own.  Morally  speaking,  he 
was  a  good  man,  and  taught  us  good  principles,  and  treated 
us  as  though  we  were  his  own  sons. 

I  remained  with  him  four  or  five  months  after  I  became  of 
age,  when  I  resolved  to  travel.  I  then  visited  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  its  harbor,  and  saw  the  ship  Java,  that  was 
fitted  out  with  six  hundred  soldiers  to  protect  the  merchants 
against  the  pirates.  I  also  visited  several  islands  and  many  of 
the  surrounding  towns  and  then  returned  to  Suffield,  where  I 


EARLY  LIFE  OF  ELDER  PIIILO  DIBBLF.  75 

became  acquainted  with  Miss  Celia  Kent,  daughter  of  Benajah 
Kent,  of  Suffield,  and  married  her;  the  Rev.  Calvin  Phileo 
performing  the  ceremony.  I  was  then  twenty-three  years  of 
age. 

My  wife  having  some  property  in  Ohio,  we  sold  our  posses- 
sions in  Connecticut  and  removed  to  that  part.  While  crossing 
Lake  Erie  from  Buffalo  to  Fairport  we  encountered  a  terrible 
storm,  and  our  destruction  seemed  imminent,  but  through  an 
overruling  Providence  we  were  saved  and  landed  safely. 
We  passed  through  Chardon,  Ohio,  and  located  three  miles 
west  of  that  city,  at  a  place  called  King  Street,  which  was 
within  five  miles  of  Kirtland.  I  there  purchased  a  farm  and 
entered  into  the  business  of  buying  and  seUing  wild  lands. 

One  morning  I  was  standing  at  my  gate  when  two  men 
drove  up  in  a  two-horse  wagon,  and  asked  me  to  get  in  and 
go  home  with  them,  about  quarter  of  a  mile  distant. 
On  the  way,  one  asked  me  if  I  had  heard  the  news,  and 
informed  me  that  four  men  had  come  to  Kirtland  with  a  golden 
Bible  and  one  of  them  had  seen  an  angel.  They  laughed  and 
ridiculed  the  idea,  but  I  did  not  feel  inclined  to  make  hght  of 
such  a  subject.  I  made  no  reply,  but  thought  that  if  angels 
had  administered  to  the  children  of  men  again  I  was  glad  of 
it;  I  was  afraid,  however,  it  was  not  true.  On  my  return 
home  I  told  my  wife  what  I  had  heard. 

The  next  day  I  was  intending  to  go  fifty  miles  south  to  the 
town  of  Suffield,  Ohio,  to  pay  some  taxes,  but  my  wife  think- 
ing that  one  or  two  days  would  not  make  much  difference 
about  that,  proposed  that  we  should  hunt  up  those  strange 
men  in  Kirtland. 

The  next  morning  I  took  my  wife,  another  man  and  his  wife, 
and  started  for  Kirtland.  When  we  arrived  there,  the  men 
we  were  seeking  had  gone  to  the  town  of  Mayfield,  but  were 
to  return  to  Kirtland  the  next  day.  The  following  morning  I 
hitched  up  my  carriage  and  again  drove  to  Kirtland,  one  of 
my  neighbors  accompanying  us  with  his  team  and  family.  On 
arriving  there,  we  were  introduced  to  Oliver  Cowdery,  Ziba 
Peterson,  Peter  Whitmer,  Jr. ,  and  Parley  P.  Pratt.  I  remained 
with  them  all  day,  and  became  convinced  that  they  were  sincere 
in  their  professions.      I  asked  Oliver  what   repentance  con- 


76  EARLY  SCtlNES  IN  CHURCtI  HlSlX)Rr. 

sisted  of,  and  he  replied,  '  'Forsaking  sin  and  yielding  obedience 
to  the  gospel ! ' ' 

That  evening  he  preached  at  Brother  Isaac  Morley's,  and 
bore  his  testimony  to  the  administration  of  an  angel  at  noon- 
day. He  then  dwelt  upon  the  subjects  of  repentance  and 
baptism  and  the  bestowal  of  the  Holy  Grhost,  and  promised 
that  all  who  embraced  these  principles  with  honesty  of  heart 
should  receive  a  testimony.  He  also  requested  all  who  wished 
to  be  baptized  to  make  it  manifest  by  arising.  Five  persons, 
among  whom  were  William  Gaboon  and  myself,  arose.  I  then 
made  preparations  for  baptism  by  borrowing  a  suit  of  clothes. 
My  wife  thought  I  was  too  hasty,  and  said  if  I  would  wait 
awhile  perhaps  she  would  go  along  with  me.  She  was  a 
Baptist  by  persuasion.  I  paid  no  heed  to  her,  but  went  forth- 
with and  was  baptized  by  Parley  P.  Pratt.  This  was  on  the 
16th  of  October,  1830.  When  I  came  out  of  the  water,  I 
knew  that  I  had  been  born  of  water  and  of  the  spirit,  for  my 
mind  was  illuminated  with  the  Holy  Grhost. 

I  spent  that  evening  at  Dr.  F.  Gr.  Williams'.  While  in  bed 
that  night  I  felt  what  appeared  to  be  a  hand  upon  my  left 
shoulder  and  a  sensation  like  fibers  of  fire  immediately  enveloped 
my  body.  It  passed  from  my  right  shoulder  across  my  breast 
to  my  left  shoulder,  it  then  struck  me  on  my  collar  bone  and 
went  to  the  pit  of  my  stomach,  after  which  it  left  me.  I  was 
enveloped  in  a  heavenly  influence,  and  could  not  sleep  for 
joy. 

The  next  morning  I  started  home  a  happy  man.  All  my 
neighbors  were  anxious  to  know  the  result  of  my  visit  to  Kirt- 
land,  and  I  was  visited  by  two  Campbellite  preachers,  named 
respectively  Scott  and  Williams,  one  of  whom  remarked,  "Mr. 
Dibble,  I  understand  you  have  joined  the  'Mormons.'  What 
reason  have  you  to  believe  they  have  the  truth?" 

I  told  them,  "The  scriptures  point  to  such  a  work,  which 
should  come  forth. ' ' 

He  then  asked  me  where  I  found  it.  I  took  the  Bible  and 
opened  it  where  it  speaks  of  truth  springing  out  of  the  earth, 
and  righteousness  looking  down  from  above.  He  read  it 
and  handed  it  to  the  other  preacher.  They  made  no  com- 
ments. 


GIFTS  OF  THE  GOSPEL  ENJOYED.  77 

I  bore  my  testimony  to  them  of  what  I  had  received,  and 
Mr.  Scott  said,  "I  don't  doubt,  Mr.  Dibble,  that  you  have 
received  all  you  say,  because  you  are  honest,  but  they  are 
impostors. ' ' 

I  then  asked  Mr.  Scott  if  he  believed  the  Lord  would  bless 
the  labors  of  a  false  prophet,  to  which  they  did  not  stop  to 
reply  but  left,  and  told  the  people  it  was  no  use  talking 
to  me. 

One  of  my  neighbors  came  to  me  and  said,  "We  have  sent 
a  man  down  to  York  State  to  find  out  the  truth  of  this  work, 
and  he  is  a  man  who  will  not  lie.  If  he  returns  and  says  it  is 
false,  will  you  believe  him  ?' ' 

I  told  him  I  would  believe  the  truth,  and  asked  him  if  that 
man  (whose  name  was  Edward  Partridge)  should  come  back 
and  say  it  was  false  if  he  would  believe  him. 

He  replied,  "Yes;  for  he  is  a  man  who  would  not  lie  for  his 
right  arm  ! ' ' 

I  then  added,  "If  he  says  it  is  true,  will  you  then  believe 
him  ?' '  to  which  he  reluctantly  replied  that  he  would. 

Shortly  after  this,  however,  when  Brother  Partridge  wrote 
back  and  said  that  he  had  been  baptized,  and  was  then  preach- 
ing the  gospel,  this  man  shunned  me,  and  for  a  long  time  after- 
wards gave  me  no  chance  to  talk  with  him.  But  when  we 
met,  I  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  Brother  Partridge,  and 
he  replied  that  he  was  honest,  but  had  been  deceived. 

The  four  missionaries  who  had  visited  Kirtland  proceeded  on 
westward  to  the  borders  of  the  Limanites,  in  Jackson  County, 
Missouri,  on  the  mission  to  which  they  had  been  called  by 
revelation  through  Joseph  the  Prophet,  leaving  the  few  con- 
verts they  had  made  to  themselves.  Meetings  were  held  occa- 
sionally by  the  members  of  the  Church  in  Kirtland,  all  of 
which  I  attended.  All  manner  of  spirits  were  there  made 
manifest,  and  no  one  to  detect  them.  Many  persons  were 
operated  upon  in  a  very  strange  manner,  and  I  was  impressed 
that  the  spirits  which  inspired  them  were  from  the  evil  one. 

At  a  meeting  held  one  evening  at  Brother  Whitney's,  the 
heavens  were  opened  and  the  Spirit  of  Grod  filled  the  house 
and  rested  upon  all  the  congregation  to  overflowing,  little 
children  not  excepted.     Prophesying  and  singing  the  songs  of 


78  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

Zion  were  indulged  in  until  morning.  Brother  Whitney,  who 
had  not  then  yielded  obedience  to  the  gospel,  was  convinced  of 
the  truth,  and  shortly  after  was  baptized. 

I  will  here  observe  that  about  the  time  of  which  I  write, 
there  were  many  signs  and  wonders  seen  in  the  heavens  above 
and  in  the  earth  beneath  in  the  region  of  Kirtland,  both  by 
Saints  and  strangers.  A  pillar  of  light  was  seen  every 
evening  for  more  than  a  month  hovering  over  the  place  where 
we  did  our  baptizing.  One  evening  also,  as  Brother  William 
Blakesley  and  I  were  returning  home  from  meeting,  we  observed 
that  it  was  unusually  light,  even  for  moonlight ;  but,  on  reflec- 
tion, we  found  the  moon  was  not  to  be  seen  that  night.  Although 
it  was  cloudy,  it  was  as  light  as  noonday,  and  we  could  seem- 
ingly see  a  tree  farther  that  night  than  we  could  in  the  day 
time. 

Soon  after  this  Joseph  with  his  father's  family  came  to  Kirt- 
land, and  said  the  Lord  had  sent  him  there,  and  he  or  tlie 
devil  would  have  to  leave. 

This  was  the  first  time  I  had  beheld  Joseph.  After  he 
arrived  the  false  spirits  which  had  been  operating  through  the 
members  of  the  Church  ceased  for  awhile. 

I  held  myself  in  readiness  to  assist  the  Smith  family  with 
my  means  or  my  personal  services  as  they  might  require,  as 
they  were  financially  poor.  They  were  living  on  a  farm  owned 
by  F.  Gr.  Williams,  in  Kirtland,  upon  which  there  was  a  debt 
of  four  hundred  dollars  due,  which  had  to  be  paid  within  a 
stated  time  or  the  farm  would  revert  to  its  former 
owner. 

Joseph  Coe,  who  was  required  to  raise  this  amount  to  save  the 
farm,  said  he  could  not  do  so,  for  his  wife  held  the  money  and 
she  did  not  belong  to  the  Church.  Being  present  with 
Joseph  when  the  subject  came  up,  I  said  to  him,  "I  can 
raise  the  money ! ' '  and  he  replied  that  if  I  would,  I  should 
be  blessed. 

I  explained  to  him  how  I  would  have  to  raise  the  money. 
I  owned  twelve  hundred  acres  of  land  lying  twenty  miles 
south  of  Elyria,  which  was  worth  three  dollars  per  acre. 
In  order  to  raise  the  money  then  I  would  have  to  sell  a  portion 


A  WOMAN  WITH  A  LAME  ARM  HEALED.  79 

of  it  for  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  and  I  accord- 
ingly did  so  and  paid  Joseph  the  four  hundred  dollars. 

When  Joseph  came  to  Kirtland  his  fame  spread  far  and 
wide.  There  was  a  woman  living  in  the  town  of  Hiram, 
forty  miles  from  Kirtland,  who  had  a  crooked  arm,  which  she 
had  not  been  able  to  use  for  a  long  period.  She  persuaded  her 
husband,  whose  name  was  Johnson,  to  take  her  to  Kirtland  to 
get  her  arm  healed. 

I  saw  them  as  they  passed  my  house  on  their  way.  She 
went  to  Joseph  and  requested  him  to  heal  her.  Joseph 
asked  her  if  she  believed  the  Lord  was  able  to  make  him  an 
instrument  in  healing  her  arm.  She  said  she  believed  the 
Lord  was  able  to  heal  her  arm. 

Joseph  put  her  off  till  the  next  morning,  when  he  met  her 
at  Brother  Whitney's  house.  There  were  eight  persons 
present,  one  a  Methodist  preacher,  and  one  a  doctor.  Joseph 
took  her  by  the  hand,  prayed  in  silence  a  moment,  pronounced 
her  arm  whole,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  turned  and 
left  the  room. 

The  preacher  asked  her  if  her  arm  was  whoje,  and  she 
straightened  it  out  and  replied:  "It  is  as  good  as  the  other." 
The  question  was  then  asked  if  it  would  remain  whole.  Joseph 
hearing  this,  answered  and  said:  "It  is  as  good  as  the  other, 
and  as  liable  to  accident  as  the  other." 

The  doctor  who  witnessed  this  miracle  came  to  my  house  the 
next  morning  and  related  the  circumstance  to  me.  He 
attempted  to  account  for  it  by  his  filse  philosophy,  saying  that 
Joseph  took  her  by  the  hand,  and  seemed  to  be  in  prayer,  and 
pronounced  her  arm  whole  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  which 
excited  her  and  started  perspiration,  and  that  relaxed  the 
cords  of  her  arm. 

I  subsequently  rented  my  farm  and  devoted  all  my  time  to 
the  interest  of  the  Church,  holding  myself  in  readiness  to  jiake 
Joseph  wherever  he  wished  to  go. 

On  invitation  of  Father  Johnson,  of  Hiram,  Joseph 
removed  his  family  to  his  home,  to  translate  the  New  Testa- 
ment.    This  was  in  the  year  1831. 

At  this  time  Sidney  Rigdon  was  left  to  preside  at  Kirtland 
and  frequently  preached  to  us.      Upon  one  occasion  he  said 


BO  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHtTRrH  HISTORY. 

the  kevij  of  the  kingdom  ^ere  taken  from  us.  On  hearing 
this,  many  of  his  hearers  wept,  and  when  some  one  undertook 
to  dismiss  the  meeting  by  prayer  he  said  praying  would  do 
them  no  good,  and  the  meeting  broke  up  in  confusion. 

Brother  Hyrum  came  to  my  house  the  next  morning  and 
told  me  all  about  it,  and  said  it  was  false,  and  that  the  keys  of 
the  kingdom  were  still  with  us.  He  wanted  my  carriage  and 
horses  to  go  to  the  town  of  Hiram  and  bring  Joseph.  The 
word  went  abroad  among  the  people  immediately  that  Sidney 
was  going  to  expose  "Mormonism." 

Joseph  came  up  to  Kirtland  a  few  days  afterwards  and  held 
a  meeting  in  a  large  barn.  Nearly  all  the  inhabitants  of  Kirt- 
land turned  out  to  hear  him.  The  barn  was  filled  with  people, 
and  others,  unable  to  get  inside,  stood  around  the  door  as  far  as 
they  could  hear, 

Joseph  arose  in  our  midst  and  spoke  in  mighty  power,  say- 
ing: "I  can  contend  with  wicked  men  and  devils — ^j^es  with 
angels.  No  power  can  pluck  those  keys  from  me,  except  the 
power  that  gave  them  to  me;  that  was  Peter,  James  and 
John.  But  for  what  Sidney  has  done,  the  devil  shall  handle 
him  as  one  man  handles  another." 

Thomas  B.  Marsh's  wife  went  from  the  meeting  and  told 
Sidney  what  Joseph  had  said,  and  he  replied:  "Is  it  possible 
that  I  have  been  so  deceived?  But  if  Joseph  says  so,  it 
is  so." 

About  three  weeks  after  this,  Sidney  was  lying  on  his  bed 
alone.  An  unseeen  power  lifted  him  from  his  bed,  thew  him 
across  the  room,  and  tossed  him  from  one  side  of  the  room  to 
the  other.  The  noise  being  heard  in  the  adjoining  room,  his 
family  went  in  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and  found  him 
going  from  one  side  of  the  room  to  the  other,  from  the  effects 
of  which  Sidney  was  laid  up  for  five  or  six  weeks.  Thus  was 
Joseph's  prediction  in  regard  to  him  verified. 

When  Joseph  was  ready  to  go  back  to  Hyrum,  I  took  him 
in  my  carriage.  Soon  afterwards  I  had  occasion  to  visit  Hyrum 
again.  On  my  way  there  I  was  persuaded  to  stop  at  the 
Hulet  settlement  and  attend  a  meeting.  When  I  arrived  at 
Father  Johnson's  the  next  morning,  Joseph  and  Sidney  had 
just  finished  washing  up  from  being  tared  and  feathered  the 


AID  IN  SETTLING  JACKSON  COUNTY,    MO.  81 

night  before.  Joseph  said  to  Sidney:  "We  can  now  go  on 
our  mission  to  Jackson  County"  (alluding  to  a  commandment 
given  them  while  they  were  translating,  but  which  they  con- 
cluded not  to  attend  to  until  they  had  finished  that  work).  1 
felt  to  regret  very  much  that  I  had  not  been  with  them  the 
evening  before,  but  it  was  perhaps  providential  that  I  was  not. 
On  a  subsequent  visit  to  Hiram,  I  arrived  at  Father  Johnson's 
just  as  Joseph  and  Sidney  were  coming  out  of  the  vision 
alluded  to  in  the  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  in  which 
mention  is  made  of  the  three  glories.  Joseph  wore  black 
clothes,  but  at  this  time  seemed  to  be  dressed  in  an  element 
of  glorious  white,  and  his  face  shone  as  if  it  were  transparent, 
but  I  did  not  see  the  same  glory  attending  Sidney.  Joseph 
appeared  as  strong  as  a  lion,  but  Sidney  seemed  as  weak  as 
water,  and  Joseph,  noticing  his  condition  smiled  and  said, 
"Brother  Sidney  is  not  as  used  to  it  as  I  am." 


CHAPTEB    II. 

REMOVAL  TO  MISSOURI — THE  SAINTS '  GUNS  PURCHASED  FOR 
MOBOCRATS  BY  A  SECTARIAN  PREACHER— ATTACK  OF 
THE  MOB  ON  THE  WHITMER  SETTLEMENT— THE  WRITER 
SHOT— SUBSEQUENT  EXPOSURE  AND  SUFFERING — CRITI- 
CAL CONDITION — HEALED  MIRACULOUSLY— HOW  ZION'S 
CAMP    WAS    PRESERVED    ON  FISHING  RIVER— A  VISION. 

IN  1832  I  sold  my  possessions  in  Ohio,  and,  we  being  called 
upon  by  Joseph  to  advance  monies  to  purchase  the  land  in 
Jackson  County,  I  paid  fifty  dollars  for  that  purpose  and  also 
gave  Brother  Parley  P.  Pratt  fifty  dollars  to  assist  him  as  a 
pioneer.  I  was  then  called  on  for  money  to  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  Brothers  Whitney  and  Gilbert,  who  were  going  to 
New  York  to  purchase  goods  to  take  up  to  Jackson  County, 
and  gave  them  three  hundred  dollars. 

I   joined  in  with  a  company  led  by  Brother  Thomas  B. 
Marsh,  and  arrived  in  Independence,  Jackson  County,  on  the 

4 


82  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

10th  of  November.  I  remained  in  Independence  until  spring 
and  then  removed  to  the  Wliitmer  settlement,  farther  west, 
where  I  built  a  house,  fenced  twenty  acres  of  land  and  put  in 
a  garden. 

In  the  fall  of  1833,  a  sectarian  preacher  by  the  name  of 
M'Coy  came  to  the  Whitmer  settlement  where  I  was  living  to 
buy  up  all  the  guns  he  could,  representing  that  he  wanted 
them  for  the  Indians.  We  suspected  no  trouble,  and  quite  a 
number  of  us  sold  our  guns  to  him.  The  sequel  of  his  action 
was,  however,  soon  apparent  to  us,  for  rumors  soon  reached  us 
of  mobs  assembling  and  threats  being  made  to  drive  us  from 
the  County. 

When  the  mob  first  began  to  gather  and  threaten  us,  I  was 
selected  to  go  to  another  County  and  buy  powder  and  lead. 
The  brethren  gave  me  the  privilege  of  choosing  a  man  to  go 
with  me.  I  took  with  me  a  man  by  the  name  of  John  Poor- 
man.  We  thought  we  were  good  for  four  of  the  mob.  We 
went  to  the  town  of  Liberty,  Clay  County,  and  purchased  the 
ammunition,  and  returned  safely. 

Soon  after  I  returned  a  mob  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
came  upon  us  in  the  dead  hour  of  night,  tore  down  a  number 
of  our  houses  and  whipped  and  abused  several  of  our  brethren. 
I  was  aroused  from  my  sleep  by  the  noise  caused  by  the  falling 
houses,  and  had  barely  time  to  escape  to  the  woods  with  my 
wife  and  two  children  when  they  reached  my  house  and  pro- 
ceeded to  break  in  the  door  and  tear  the  roof  ofi".  I  was  some 
distance  away  from  where  the  whipping  occurred,  but  I  heard 
the  blows  of  heavy  ox  goads  upon  the  backs  of  my  brethren 
distinctly.  The  mob  also  swore  they  would  tear  down  our 
grist  mill,  which  was  situated  at  the  Colesville  branch,  about 
three  miles  from  the  settlement,  and  lest  they  should  really  do  so> 
and  as  it  was  the  only  means  we  had  of  getting  our  grain  ground, 
we  were  counseled  to  gather  there  and  defend  it.  We  accord- 
ingly proceeded  there  the  next  morning.  The  following  night 
two  men  came  into  our  camp,  pretending  they  wanted  to  hire 
some  men  to  work  for  them.  Brother  Parley  ordered  them  to 
be  taken  prisoners,  when  one  of  them  struck  him  a  glancing 
blow  on  the  head  with  his  gun,  inflicting  a  severe  wound.  We 
then  disarmed  them  and  kept  them  as  prisoners  until  mom- 


FIGHT  WITH  THE  MOB— WOUNDED.  83 

ing  when  we  gave  them  back  their  arms  and  let  them  go. 

The  next  day  we  heard  firing  down  in  the  Whitmer  settle- 
ment, and  seventeen  of  our  brethren  volunteered  to  go  down 
and  see  what  it  meant.  Brother  George  Beebe  was  one  of 
these  volunteers  and  also  one  of  the  men  who  was  whipped  the 
night  previous.*  When  these  seventeen  men  arrived  at  the 
Whitmer  settlement,  the  mob  came  against  them  and  took 
some  prisoners.  Brother  David  Whitmer  brought  us  the  news 
of  this  and  said:  "Every  man  go,  and  every  man  take  a 
man ! ' ' 

We  all  responded  and  met  the  mob  in  battle,  in  which  I  was 
wounded  with  an  ounce  ball  and  two  buck  shot,  all  entering 
my  body  just  at  the  right  side  of  my  navel.  The  mob  were 
finally  routed,  and  the  brethren  chased  them  a  mile  away.  Several 
others  of  the  brethren  were  also  shot,  and  one,  named  Barber, 
was  mortally  wounded.  After  the  battle  was  over,  some  of 
the  brethren  went  to  administer  to  him,  but  he  objected  to 
their  praying  that  he  might  live,  and  asked  them  if  they  could 
not  see  the  angels  present.  He  said  the  room  was  full  of  them, 
and  his  greatest  anxiety  was  for  his  friends  to  see  what  he  saw, 
until  he  breathed  his  last,  which  occurred  at  three  o'clock  in 
the  morning. 

A  young  lawyer  named  Bazill,  who  came  into  Independence 
and  wanted  to  make  himself  conspicuous,  joined  the  mob,  and 
swore  he  would  wade  in  blood  up  to  his  chin. 

He  was  shot  with  two  balls  through  his  head,  and  never 
spoke.  There  was  another  man,  whose  name  I  fail  to  remem- 
ber, that  lived  on  the  Big  Blue,  who  made  a  similar  boast. 
He  was  also  taken  at  his  word.  His  chin  was  shot  off,  or  so 
badly  fractured  by  a  ball  that  he  was  forced  to  have  it  ampu- 
tated, but  lived  and  recovered,  though  he  was  a  horrible  sight 
afterwards. 

After  the  battle  I  took  my  gun  and  powder  horn  and  started 
for  home.  When  I  got  about  half  way  I  became  faint  and 
thirsty.  I  wanted  to  stop  at  Brother  Whitmer' s  to  lay  down. 
The  house,  however,  was  full  of  women  and  children,  and. 

* Brother  Beebe  carried  the  marks  of  this  whipping  to  his  grave,  as 

the  brethren  who  laid  him  out  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  December,  1881,  at 
ProYO,  Utah  County,  can  testify. 


84  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

they  were  so  frightened  that  they  objected  to  my  entering,  as 
the  mob  had  threatened  that  wherever  they  found  a  wounded 
man  they  would  kill  men,  women  and  children. 

I  continued  on  and  arrived  home,  or  rather  at  a  house  in  the 
field  that  the  mob  had  not  torn  down,  which  was  near  my  own 
home.  There  I  found  my  wife  and  two  children  and  a  number 
of  other  women  who  had  assembled.  I  told  them  I  was 
shot  and  wanted  to  lay  down. 

They  got  me  on  the  bed,  but  on  thinking  of  what  the  mob 
had  said,  became  frightened,  and  assisted  me  up  stairs.  I  told 
them,  however,  that  I  could  not  stay  there,  my  pain  was  so 
great.  They  then  got  me  down  stairs  again,  and  my  wife 
went  out  to  see  if  she  could  find  any  of  the  brethren.  In 
searching  for  them  she  got  lost  in  the  woods  and  was  gone  two 
hours,  but  learned  that  all  the  brethren  had  gone  to  the 
Colesville  branch,  three  miles  distant,  taking  all  the  wounded 
with  them  save  myself 

The  next  morning  I  was  taken  farther  ofi"  from  the  road, 
that  I  might  be  concealed  from  the  mob.  I  bled  inwardly 
until  my  body  was  filled  with  blood,  and  remained  in  this  con- 
dition until  the  next  day  at  five  p.  m.  I  was  then  examined 
by  a  surgeon  who  was  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  who  said 
that  he  had  seen  a  great  many  men  wounded,  but  never  saw 
one  wounded  as  I  was  that  ever  lived.  He  pronounced  me  a 
dead  man. 

David  Whitmer,  however,  sent  me  word  that  I  should  live 
and  not  die,  but  I  could  see  no  possible  chance  to  recover. 
After  the  surgeon  had  left  me.  Brother  Newell  Knight  came 
to  see  me,  and  sat  down  on  the  side  of  my  bed.  He  laid  his 
right  hand  on  my  head,  but  never  spoke.  I  felt  the  Spirit 
resting  upon  me  at  the  crown  of  my  head  before  his  hand 
touched  me,  and  I  knew  immediately  that  I  was  going  to  be 
healed.  It  seemed  to  form  like  a  ring  under  the  skin,  and 
followed  down  my  body.  When  the  ring  came  to  the  wound, 
another  ring  formed  around  the  first  bullet  hole,  also  the 
second  and  third.  Then  a  ring  formed  on  each  shoulder  and 
on  each  hip,  and  followed  down  to  the  ends  of  my  fingers  and  toes 
and  left  me.  I  immediately  arose  and  discharged  three 
quarts  of  blood  or  more,  with  some  pieces  of  my  clothes  that 


HEALED  BY  THE  POWER  OF  GOD.  85 

had  been  driven  into  my  body  by  the  bullets.  I  then  dressed 
myself  and  went  out  doors  and  saw  the  falling  of  the  stars, 
which  so  encouraged  the  Saints  and  frightened  their  enemies. 
It  was  one  of  the  grandest  sights  I  ever  beheld.  From  that  time 
not  a  drop  of  blood  came  from  me  and  I  never  afterwards  felt  the 
slightest  pain  or  inconvenience  from  my  wounds,  except  that  I 
was  somewhat  weak  from  the  loss  of  blood. 

The  next  day  I  walked  around  the  field,  and  the  day  follow- 
ing I  mounted  a  borse  and  rode  eight  miles,  and  went  three 
miles  on  foot. 

The  night  of  the  battle  many  of  the  women  and  children 
ran  into  the  woods.  One  sister,  not  being  able  to  take  all  of 
her  children  with  her,  left  her  little  boy  four  years  old  in  a  corn 
shock,  where  he  remained  until  morning.  Some  went  out  on 
the  burnt  prairie.  The  mob  gathered  and  swore  they  would 
go  and  massacre  them.  When  they  got  ready  to  go,  the  heavens 
were  lit  up  with  the  falling  of  stars.  This  brought  to  us  a 
perfect  redemption  at  that  time. 

The  night  of  the  battle,  the  mob  took  all  my  household 
furniture,  and  after  my  recovery  I  crossed  the  river  to  Clay 
County,  leaving  behind  me  a  drove  of  hogs,  three  cows  and  all 
of  my  crop,  which  I  never  recovered. 

In  Clay  County  I  enjoyed  some  rest  from  persecution,  and 
had  two  children  born  to  me,  Emma  and  Philo,  Jun.  1  was 
there  when  Zion's  camp  came  up.  I  met  them  on  Fishing 
river.  There  the  power  of  the  Lord  was  manifested  by  His 
sending  a  thunder  storm,  which  raised  Fishing  river  ten  feet 
higher  than  it  was  ever  known  to  rise  before.  I  saw  the  cloud 
coming  up  in  the  west  when  I  was  ten  miles  from  Fishing 
river  in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  As  it  moved  on  east- 
wardly  it  increased  in  size  and  in  blackness,  and  when  it  got 
over  the  camp  it  stopped,  and  in  the  night  the  rain  and  hail 
poured  down  in  torrents,  and  the  lightning  flashed  from 
the  cloud  continuously  for  three  hours. 

Just  before  night,  two  men  came  into  camp  and  asked  where 
Mr.  Smith  was.  Joseph  said,  "I  am  the  man."  They  then 
advised  him  to  disband  his  camp,  "for,"  said  they,  "the  mob 
are  gathering,  and  there  won't  be  one  of  you  left  to-morrow 
morning!" 


86  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

Joseph  smiled,  and  said:  "I  guess  not."  Seeing  that 
Joseph  did  not  believe  what  they  came  to  tell  him,  they  went 
off  vexed. 

We  learned  afterwards  that  the  hail  was  so  heavy  on  the 
mob,  that  they  were  forced  to  seek  shelter,  and  the  leader 
of  them  swore  he  would  never  go  against  the  "Mormons" 
again. 

Zion's  camp  was  disbanded  on  Fishing  river.  The 
leading  men  of  Liberty  being  desirous  for  peace,  called  a  meet- 
ing and  invited  our  leading  men  to  meet  with  them,  which 
they  did.  They  told  our  committee  that  if  they  could  have 
peace,  we  should  have  a  County  to  ourselves,  and  if  we  had 
not  money  enough  to  buy  out  the  old  settlers  of  Caldwell 
County  they  would  lend  us  money  to  buy  them  out. 

This  settled  our  difficulties  at  that  time. 

In  the  meantime  a  conference  was  held  in  Liberty,  Clay 
County,  at  which  I  was  ordained  a  Teacher  under  the  hands  of 
David  Whitmer. 

We  then  commenced  settling  Caldwell  County,  to  which  I 
removed,  built  a  house,  entered  seven  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  land  and  bought  a  lot  in  town.  I  also  entered  land 
for  many  of  the  brethren,  and  for  this  purpose  had  to  go  the 
distance  of  eighty  miles,  where  the  land  office  was  located. 

On  my  return  home,  when  I  got  to  Liberty,  midway  between 
Lexington  and  Far  West,  I  concluded  I  would  travel  from 
there  home  by  night,  as  it  was  very  warm  during  the  day. 
The  road  led  through  a  strip  of  timber  for  four  miles,  and 
after  that  across  a  prairie  for  twenty  miles. 

When  I  had  traveled  about  two-thirds  of  the  way  across  the 
prairie,  riding  on  horseback,  I  heard  the  cooing  of  the  prairie 
hens.  I  looked  northward  and  saw,  apparently  with  my 
natural  vision,  a  beautiful  city,  the  streets  of  which  ran  north 
and  south.  I  also  knew  there  were  streets  running  east  and 
west,  but  could  not  trace  them  with  my  eye  for  the  buildings. 
The  walks  on  each  side  of  the  streets  were  as  white  as  marble, 
and  the  trees  on  the  outer  side  of  the  marble  walks  had  the 
appearance  of  locust  trees  in  autumn.  This  city  was  in  view 
for  about  one  hour-and-a-half,  as  near  as  I  could  judge,  as  I 
traveled  along.     When  I  began  to  descend  towards  the  Crooked 


A  VISION.  87 

river  the  timber  through  which  I  passed  hid  the  city  from  my 
view.  Every  block  in  this  mighty  city  had  sixteen  spires,  four 
on  each  corner,  each  block  being  built  in  the  form  of  a  hollow 
square,  within  which  I  seemed  to  know  that  the  gardens  of 
the  inhabitants  were  situated.  The  corner  buildings  on  which 
the  spires  rested  were  larger  and  higher  than  the  others,  and 
the  several  blocks  were  uniformly  aUke.  The  beauty  and 
grandeur  of  the  scene  I  cannot  describe.  While  viewing  the 
city  the  buildings  appeared  to  be  transparent.  I  could  not 
discern  the  inmates,  but  I  appeared  to  understand  that  they 
could  discern  whatever  passed  outside. 

Whether  this  was  a  city  that  has  been  or  is  to  be  I  cannot 
tell.  It  extended  as  far  north  as  Adam-ondi-Ahman,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  twenty-eight  miles.  Whatever  is  revealed  to  us 
by  the  Holy  Grhost  will  never  be  forgotten. 


CHAPTER    III. 

MILITIA  ORGANIZED  AT  FAR  WEST— LIBERIT  POLE  STRUCK 
BY  LIGHTNING  —  GENERAL  ATCHISON  DEFENDS  THE 
PROPHET  IN  A  LAWSUIT— ATCHISON  REMOVED  FROM 
OFFICE  FOR  BEING  FRIENDLY  TO  THE  SAINTS — ^FAR 
WEST  BESIEGED — BETRAYED  FOR  A  PRICE — ^ESCAPE  TO 
QUINCY. 

TDAIIT  of  Zion's  camp  went  back  to  Kirtland,  and  also 
*-  Brother  Joseph,  but  in  consequence  of  the  mobs  and  apos- 
tates the  Church  organization  in  Kirtland  was  broken  up.  Some 
of  the  apostates  left  Kirtland  and  came  up  to  Far  West.  They 
called  meetings  and  told  the  people  that  Joseph  was  a  fallen 
prophet,  and  they  were  determined  to  put  David  Whitmer 
in  his  place.  Some  of  the  brethren,  including  the  president 
of  the  branch  I  lived  in,  fell  in  with  the  views  of  the  apostates. 
I  being  a  Teacher  in  the  branch,  took  up  a  labor  with  them, 
first  going  to  our  president  and  taking  with  me  a  Deacon.  Our 
president  said  if  he  had  got  to  become  an  enemy  to  David  to 
be  a  friend  to  Joseph,  he  could  not  be  a  friend  to  Joseph.     He 


88  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

then  called  the  branch  together  in  order  to  put  me  out  of 
office  as  a  Teacher,  but  the  branch  sustained  me.  He  after- 
wards cited  me  to  appear  for  trial  before  Bishop  Partridge, 
who  gave  me  two  weeks  to  make  satisfaction,  and  I  appealed 
my  case  to  the  High  Council,  who  decided  there  was  no  cause 
of  action. 

Joseph  and  family  soon  arrived  at  Far  West.  Soon  after  a 
regiment  was  organized  by  W.  W.  Phelps,  Geo.  M.  Hinkle, 
Lyman  Wight  and  Reed  Peck,  they  having  received  their 
commissions  from  the  governor.  An  election  of  officers  was 
called  and  Gr.  W.  Robinson  was  elected  colonel,  I  lieutenant 
colonel  and  Seymour  Brunson  major. 

While  celebrating  the  4th  ol'  July  at  Far  West,  there  came 
up  a  thunder  shower,  and  the  lightning  struck  our  liberty  pole 
and  shivered  it  to  pieces.  Joseph  walked  around  on  the 
splinters  and  said:  "As  that  pole  was  splintered,  so  shall  the 
nations  of  the  earth  be  ! " 

When  the  trouble  with  the  mob  commenced,  Colonel  Robin- 
son took  about  one-half  of  the  force  to  Adam-ondi-Ahman  to 
defend  that  place.  Joseph,  Hyrum  and  Sidney  also  went  with 
them,  leaving  me  in  command  at  Far  West.  The  detachment 
returned  in  about  four  daj^s. 

A  few  days  afterwards  Joseph  Smith  and  T  took  a  walk  out 
upon  the  prairie,  and  in  the  course  of  our  conversation  I  sug- 
gested to  him  to  send  for  General  Atchison  to  defend  him  in 
the  suit  then  brought  against  him,  as  he  was  in  command  of 
the  third  division  of  the  militia  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and 
was  a  lawyer  and  a  friend  to  law.  Joseph  made  no  reply,  but 
turned  back  immediately  to  Far  West,  and  a  man  was  selected, 
with  the  best  horse  to  be  found,  to  go  to  Liberty  for  General 
Atchison. 

The  next  day  General  Atchison  came  to  Far  West  with  a 
hundred  men  and  camped  a  little  north  of  the  town. 

On  consulting  with  Joseph  Smith,  Atchison  told  him  that 
he  did  not  want  any  one  to  go  with  them  to  his  trial, 
which  was  to  take  place  midway  between  Far  West  and 
Adam-ondi-Ahman.  Joseph  at  first  hesitated  about  agreeing 
to  this,  but  Atchison  reassured  him  by  saying :   '  'My  life  for 


FAR  WEST  BESIEGED.  89 

When  they  arrived  at  the  place  of  trial  quite  a  number  of 
the  mob  had  gathered,  and  on  seeing  Joseph  commenced  to 
curse  and  swear.  Atchison,  however,  checked  them  by  saying : 
"Hold  on  boys,  if  you  fire  the  first  gun  there  will  not  be  one 
of  you  left!'* 

Joseph  was  cleared  and  came  away  unmolested.  Soon  after- 
wards the  governor,  thinking  Atchison  was  too  friendly  towards 
the  Saints,  took  his  command  from  him  and  placed  General 
Clark  in  command  of  the  militia. 

Shortly  before  Far  West  was  besieged,  I  was  taken  sick,  and 
Colonel  Hinkle  came  into  military  command  under  his  old 
commission.  I  gave  up  my  horse,  saddle  and  bridle,  and  also 
my  rifle  and  sword  for  Brother  Lysander  Gee  to  use  in  defense 

When  General  Clark's  army  came  up  agamst  Far  West, 
Colonel  Hinkle  betrayed  the  First  Presidency  of  the  Church 
into  their  hands  for  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Then 
Joseph  and  Hyrum,  Sidney,  and  Lyman  Wight  were  taken  by 
the  mob,  who  held  a  court-martial  over  them  and  sentenced 
them  to  be  shot  the  next  morning  at  eight  o'clock  on  the 
public  square.  Lyman  Wight  told  them  to  "shoot  and  be 
damned."  Generals  Atchison  and  Doniphan  immediately 
rebelled  against  the  decision,  and  Doniphan  said,  if  men 
were  to  be  murdered  in  cold  blood,  he  would  withdraw  his 
troops,  which  he  did.  General  Atchison  then  went  to  Liberty 
and  gave  a  public  dinner,  and  delivered  a  speech,  in  which 
he  said,  "If  the  governor  does  not  restore  my  commission 
to  me,  I  will  kill  him,  so  help  me  God!"  On  hearing 
this  the  audience  became  so  enthusiastic  that  they  took  him 
upon  their  shoulders  and  carried  him  around  the  public 
square. 

After  the  surrender  of  Far  West,  the  mob  sent  ofiicers  to 
get  me,  but  finding  that  I  was  sick  they  went  back  and  so 
reported.  They  came  the  second  time  and  went  back  and 
reported  the  same.  The  third  time  they  came  they  swore 
they  would  have  me  if  they  had  to  take  me  on  a  bed.  I  lived 
one-and-a-half  miles  west  of  the  town,  and  told  my  folks  if 
they  could  dress  me  and  help  me  on  my  horse  I  would  under- 
take to  leave  for  Quincy.     A  young  man  named  Joel  Miles 


90  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

was  to  go  with  me  to  help  me  off  and  on  my  horse.  Leaving 
Far  West  on  my  left,  I  arrived  at  Quincy  unmolested. 

I  will  here  digress  from  my  narrative,  and  state  that  while  I 
was  at  Far  West  the  battle  of  Crooked  river  occurred,  in  which 
David  W.  Patten  was  killed,  also  the  massacre  at  Haun's  Mill. 
Brother  Joseph  had  sent  word  by  Haun,  who  owned  the  mill, 
to  inform  the  brethren  who  were  living  there  to  leave  and  come 
to  Far  West,  but  Mr.  Haun  did  not  deliver  the  message.  I 
should  also  have  mentioned  that  while  at  Far  West  an  election 
was  held  to  elect  an  assessor.  Isaac  lligbee,  myself  and  a 
Missourian  were  the  candidates.  The  brethren  held  a  caucus 
meeting  and  advised  one  of  us  to  withdraw  our  name  lest  the 
Missourian  might  gain  the  election,  and  proposed  that  Higbee 
and  I  cast  lots  for  it.  Two  tickets  were  put  into  a  hat  for  us 
to  draw  from.  There  was  a  large  crowd  gathered  around  and 
Joseph  Smith  among  them.  He  said,  "I  am  going  to  prophesy 
that  Philo  will  get  it. ' '     Sure  enough  I  drew  it. 

On  my  arrival  in  Quincy,  knowing  that  our  people  would 
soon  be  flocking  there  in  great  numbers  to  cross  the  river,  I 
rented  the  ferry  at  nine  dollars  per  day  for  thirty  days.  I  ran 
the  boat  about  ten  days  and  ferried  the  Saints  across  on  their 
own  terms,  and  still  made  money  at  it.  Some  of  the  brethren, 
however,  on  arriving,  assumed  the  right  to  dictate  me,  and 
wanted  that  I  should  give  up  the  ferry  into  their  hands.  The 
man  who  owned  it  said  if  I  would  give  it  up  he  would  release 
me  from  paying  that  day^s  rent,  which  I  agreed  to  do,  sup- 
posing it  would  go  into  the  hands  of  the  brethren.  But  when 
I  gave  up  the  papers  to  him,  he  informed  the  brethren  that 
they  must  pay  him  full  fare  or  else  make  boats  and  ferry 
themselves  at  half  price.  This  caused  a  great  deal  of  extra 
and  unnecessary  expense  to  our  people. 

Before  I  left  Far  West,  I  made  arrangements  with  a  man 
to  bring  my  family  through  to  Quincy,  for  which  I  paid  him 
sixty  dollars  in  gold  on  their  arrival. 

In  the  spring  of  1839,  Sidney  Rigdon  came  to  me  and  said 
he  knew  of  a  man  who  owned  a  farm  three  miles  east  of 
Quincy  and  wanted  to  rent  it  to  some  good  man  whom  he 
could  recommend,  and  that  I  could  have  the  chance.  I  gladly 
accepted  the  offer  and  rented  the  farm  of  two  hundred  acres. 


HEALED  MIRACULOUSLY.  91 


CHAPTER   lY. 

SUCCESSFUL  FARMING— SICKNESS— PROVIDENTIAL  RECOVERY — 
INSPIRED  TO  PREACH— REMOVAL  TO  NAUVOO — DEATH  OF 
MY  WIFE — SECOND  MARRIAGE — PREMONITION  OF  DEATH 
— WARNING  FROM  THE  PROPHET — A  DREAM  AND  ITS 
FULFILLMENT— A  PROPHECY  AND  ITS  FULFILLMENT — 
EVIL  SPIRITS  CAST  OUT  OF  A  MAN— JOSEPH  SMITH'S 
TRUST  IN  THE  LORD. 

I  TOOK  four  other  brethren — Simeon  Crandall  and  three 
of  his  sons,  to  help  me  carry  on  the  farm,  and  we  raised 
a  heavy  crop,  which  took  ns  all  the  fall  and  winter  to  market. 

While  living  upon  this  farm,  I  was  taken  sick.  Dr.  Williams 
attended  me,  and  after  awhile  said  he  could  do  no  more  for 
me.  I  then  called  for  the  Elders  to  administer  to  me  and 
Brother  A.  J.  Stewart,  his  brother,  Levi,  and  Brother  Killian 
were  called  in,  but  before  they  arrived  Mr.  Bobbins,  of  whom 
I  rented  the  farm,  called  to  see  me.  He  declared  that  I 
might  possibly  live  till  three  o'clock,  but  could  not  live  till 
morning. 

When  the  Elders  administered  to  me,  Brother  Killian 
being  mouth,  I  was  in  bed.  He  poured  the  oil  on  my  fore- 
head and  I  jumped  right  out  of  bed  and  put  on  my  clothes. 
On  hearing  that  Bobbins  was  going  to  Quincy  in  the  morning, 
I  walked  up  to  his  house,  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  and  went 
with  him  in  his  carriage  tq  Quincy,  remained  all  day  and 
returned  with  him  at  night. 

Some  of  my  gentile  neighbors,  wishing  to  learn  about 
"Mormonism,"  sent  to  Quincy  for  Brother  John  P.  Greene  to 
come  out  and  preach  to  them.  When  he  came,  he  called  at 
my  house  and  wanted  to  know  of  me  what  subject  he  had 
better  treat  upon.  I  told  him  were  I  in  his  place  I  should 
speak  on  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  which  he  did.  There 
was  a  large  congregation  of  members  of  various  denominations 


92  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

present.  They  were  so  well  pleased  with  Brother  Greene's 
remarks,  that  they  would  not  let  him  off  until  he  left  another 
appointment  to  preach.  Before  the  appointed  time  arrived, 
howevor,  Brother  Grreene  was  taken  sick  and  could  not  come. 
A  large  congregation  had  gathered  at  the  place  appointed, 
and  only  three  Elders  present — A.  J.  Stewart,  his  brother 
Levi,  and  myself. 

Seeing  the  situation  of  things,  we  consulted  together  as  to 
what  should  be  done,  when  Brother  A.  J.  Stewart  said  he 
would  undertake  to  fill  Brother  Greene's  appointment,  but  that 
if  he  got  baulked  we  must  help  him  out.  I  remarked  I  could 
not  preach,  if  I  did  it  would  only  be  like  a  sectarian  telling 
his  experience,  but  said,  ''1  will  do  the  singing,"  which  I 
did. 

Brother  Stewart  arose,  opened  the  Bible  and  tried  to  read, 
but  had  to  spell  his  words,  and  broke  down  and  said  that  some 
of  the  brethren  would  take  up  the  subject  and  go  on  with  it. 
He  then  called  on  me.  I  arose  to  speak.  The  Holy  Ghost 
came  down  and  enveloped  me,  and  I  spoke  for  over  two  hours. 
When  I  found  the  Spirit  leaving  me  I  thought  it  time  to 
close,  and  told  my  hearers  it  was  the  first  time  I  had  spoken 
to  a  public  congregation. 

A  Brother  Mills  who  was  present,  felt  so  well  that  he  went 
home  with  me  and  declared  that  I  had  delivered  the  greatest 
discourse  he  had  ever  heard.  Said  I:  "Brother  Mills,  I 
don't  know  what  I  have  said.  It  was  not  me ;  it  was  the 
Lord!" 

In  the  spring  of  1840,  I  removed  to  Nauvoo,  then  called 
Commerce,  which  had  been  appointed  by  Joseph  for  the 
gathering  place.  During  the  next  year  my  wife  died,  and  left 
me  with  five  children,  two  daughters  and  three  sons.  I  con- 
cluded to  get  my  children  homes  and  then  travel  and  preach 
the  gospel;  but  when  I  had  obtained  homes  for  them  I  found 
I  had  not  only  lost  my  wife,  but  also  my  children,  and  they 
had  not  only  lost  their  mother,  but  also  their  father  and  each 
other's  society. 

On  the  nth  of  February,  1841,  I  married  a  second  wife — a 
Vv^idow  Smith  of  Philadelphia,  who  was  living  in  the  family 
of  the  Prophet.     He  performed  the  ceremony  at  his  house, 


WARNED   BY  THE  PROPHJIT.  93 

and  Sister  Emma  Smith  insisted  upon  getting  up  a  wedding 
supper  for  us.  It  was  a  splendid  affair,  and  quite  ar  large 
party  of  our  friends  were  assembled. 

I  then  rented  a  house  of  Hyrum  Kimball  on  the  river 
bank  for  ten  dollars  per  month,  and  kept  a  warehouse,  and 
also  boarders  and  a  bakery.  While  there  in  business,  I  saw  in 
vision  my  grave  before  me  for  two  weeks ;  it  mattered  not 
whether  my  eyes  were  open  or  shut  it  was  there,  and  I  saw  no 
way  of  escape.  One  day  Brother  Joseph  came  and  took 
dinner  with  us,  and  as  we  arose  from  the  table  I  walked  out 
upon  the  porch  and  sat  down  on  a  bench.  Joseph  and  my 
wife  followed  me,  and  he  came  before  me  and  said:  "Philo, 
you  must  get  away  from  here  or  you  will  die,  as  sure  as  Grod 
ever  spoke  by  my  mouth  ! "  He  then  turned  to  my  wife  and 
said:  "And  you  will  hardly  escape  by  the  skin  of  your 
teeth!" 

I  immediately  stepped  into  Joseph's  carriage  and  rode  with 
him  to  the  south  part  of  town  and  rented  another  place,  after 
which  I  settled  up  my  business  as  fast  as  I  could,  and  made 
arrangements  to  remove.  Many  hearing  of  Joseph's  pre- 
diction about  me,  said  if  they  had  been  in  my  place  they 
would  have  remained  where  I  was  and  tested  the  truth  of  it, 
but  I  assured  them  if  they  had  been  in  my  place  they  would 
have  done  just  as  I  did. 

After  I  had  settled  my  business  and  removed  my  family, 
we  were  one  day  at  Joseph's  house,  when  he  said  to  my 
wife:  *'You  didn't  believe  what  I  told  Philo  the  other  day! 
Now,  I  will  tell  you  what  the  Lord  told  me  ;  He  told  me  to 
go  and  tell  Philo  to  come  away  from  there,  and  if  he  obeyed 
he  should  live;  if  not  he  should  die;  and  I  didn't  want  to 
see  you  a  widow  so  soon  again.  If  Philo  had  remained  there 
fourteen  days  longer,  he  would  have  been  a  corpse. ' ' 

One  night  Joseph  came  to  my  house  about  twelve  o'clock, 
and  called  me  up.  I  immediately  went  out  to  see  what  was 
wanted.  We  went  across  the  street  to  James  Allred's  and 
called  him  up,  and  we  three  went  back  to  Joseph's  house. 
On  the  way  he  told  us  that  a  flat  boat  with  about  thirty  men 
had  landed  just  below  his  house,  and  that  he  had  overheard 
some  of  their  conversation.     They  had  made  arrangements  to 


94  EARLY  SCENES  IN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

kidnap  him  that  night  and  sink  him  in  the  river.  Brother 
Allred  and  I  went  down  to  the  river ;  but  they  must  have 
seen  Joseph's  movements  as  we  found  nothing  of  them, 
although  we  got  up  some  more  of  the  brethren  and  searched 
up  and  down  the  river. 

When  Joseph  and  Emma  were  preparing  to  go  up  the  river 
to  Dixon,  to  make  a  visit  with  some  of  her  connections,  I  was 
at  their  house.  The  night  before  they  started,  I  had  a  dream, 
in  which  I  saw  Joseph  taken  prisoner  and  guarded  by  two 
men,  who  after  awhile  left  Joseph  in  Nauvoo  and  went  off 
cursing  and  swearing.  The  next  morning  I  related  my  dream 
to  Joseph ;  he  listened  to  me  but  made  no  reply. 

While  visiting  at  Dixon  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  sheriff 
of  Missouri  and  an  officer  of  Illinois,  but  instead  of  getting 
him  over  into  Missouri  as  they  had  planned  to,  he  was  brought 
to  Nauvoo.  There  they  left  Joseph  and  went  off  cursing 
and  swearing,  just  as  I  had  heard  them  in  my  dream. 

When,  on  the  advice  of  the  Prophet,  I  quit  my  situation 
on  the  river,  my  wife  felt  so  bad  at  the  loss  of  my  business 
prospects  that  she  said  we  might  as  well  die  by  the  sword  as 
by  famine.  I  asked  her  if  she  thought  it  would  be  worse  for 
us  temporally  to  obey  the  word  of  the  Lord.  I  prophesied 
that  before  the  year  would  pass  away  it  would  be  better  for 
us  than  if  we  had  remained  there. 

Wm.  Pratt  had  three  city  lots  upon  which  he  was  owing  a 
debt  of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  said  if  I  would  raise  the 
money  I  might  have  my  choice  of  the  three.  I  raised  the 
money  all  but  three  dollars,  but  was  at  a  loss  to  know  how  to 
get  the  balance.  It  was  a  hard  time  to  borrow  money.  On 
my  way  to  Brother  Pratt's,  I  picked  up  three  dollars  in  the 
street,  Brother  Stephen  Goddard  being  with  me  at  the  time. 

I  then  took  the  three  dollar  bill  which  I  found  to  Bishop 
Whitney's  and  requested  him  to  take  the  number  of  it,  and 
if  an  owner  came  for  it  to  say  that  I  would  refund  it  to  him, 
but  that  I  wanted  the  use  of  it  a  few  days.  I  soon  sold  the 
lot  for  four  hundred  dollars,  and  then  asked  my  wife  if  my 
prophecy  was  not  fulfilled. 

One  of  my  neighbors,  a  Brother  James  Moses,  who 
lived  across  the  street  from  me,  was  taken  sick,  and  for  six 


EVIL  SPIRITS  CAST  OUT.  95 

weeks  was  not  able  to  speak  above  his  breath.  I  went  occa- 
sionally to  see  him,  and  one  day  while  there  Brother  Bills  and 
I  were  asked  by  Sister  Moses  to  administer  to  him,  which  we 
did.  She  then  asked  us  what  we  thought  of  him,  and  I 
replied  that  I  had  no  testimony  that  he  would  live  or  that  he 
would  die ;  but  she  might  as  well  pour  water  upon  fire  to  make 
it  burn  as  to  give  him  medicine.  This  ofi'ended  her,  as  she 
had  a  doctor  by  the  name  of  Green  attending  him,  and  we  left. 

Soon  after  this  Brother  Kimball  (one  of  the  Apostles)  was 
called  on  to  administer  to  him,  when  Sister  Moses  asked  him 
what  he  thought  of  her  husband's  condition.  He  replied  in 
the  very  words  that  I  had  used,  but  advised  them  to  hold  on 
to  him.  Brother  Bills  and  I  happening  to  call  in  again  to-- 
see  him,  we  were  asked  if  we  would  anoint  him.  I  consented 
and  stepped  up  to  the  bed  to  put  some  oil  on  his  forehead, 
but  felt  impressed  to  stop  and  say  that  he  was  possessed  o  f 
evil  spirits,  and  that  they  would  kill  him  if  they  were  not  cast 
out  before  morning.  He  then  commenced  raving,  and  might 
have  been  heard  across  the  street. 

The  Twelve  Apostles  were  sent  for  and  three  of  them  came, 
Brother  W.  Bichards  being  one  of  them,  who  was  mouth  in 
prayer,  as  we  all  knelt  in  the  room.  After  prayer.  Brother  Rich- 
ards went  to  the  bed,  and,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  com- 
manded the  evil  spirits  to  leave  him  and  leave  the  house, 
which  they  did  instantly,  and  Brother  Moses  became  rational. 
He  afterwards  told  us  all  about  his  feelings  while  the  evil 
spirits  had  afflicted  him,  and  that  he  was  as  sore  as  a  boil  all 
over  from  the  eflfects  of  what  he  had  passed  through. 

When  Joseph  first  came  to  Nauvoo,  then  called  Commerce, 
a  Mr.  White,  living  there,  profi'ered  to  sell  him  his  farm  for 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars,  five  hundred  dollars  of  the 
amount  to  be  paid  down,  and  the  balance  one  year  from  that 
time.  Joseph  and  the  brethren  were  talking  about  this  offer 
when  some  of  them  said:  "We  can't  buy  it,  for  we  lack  the 
money."  Joseph  took  out  his  purse,  and,  emptying  out  its 
contents,  off'ered  a  half  dollar  to  one  of  the  brethren,  which 
he  declined  accepting,  but  Joseph  urged  him  to  take  it,  and 
then  gave  each  of  the  other  brethren  a  similar  amount,  which 
left  him  without  any.     Addressing  the  brethren,   he  then 


96  THE  END. 

said:  "Now  you  all  have  money,  and  I  have  none;  but  the 
time  will  come  when  1  will  have  money  and  you  will  have 
none!*'  He  then  said  to  Bishop  Knight.:  "You  go  back  and 
buy  the  farm  ! " 

Brother  Knight  went  to  White,  but  learned  from  him  that 
he  had  raised  the  price  one  hundred  dollars,  and  returned  to 
Joseph  without  closing  the  bargain.  Joseph  again  sent  him 
with  positive  orders  to  purchase,  but  Brother  Knight,  finding 
that  White  had  raised  the  price  still  another  hundred  dollars, 
again  returned  without  purchasing.  For  the  third  time  then 
Joseph  commanded  him  to  go  and  buy  the  farm,  and  charged 
him  not  to  come  back  till  he  had  done  so. 

When  Bishop  Knight  got  back  to  White,  he  had  raised 
another  hundred  on  the  place,  making  the  whole  amount 
twenty-eight  hundred  dollars.  However,  the  bargain  was 
closed  and  the  obligations  drawn  up,  but  how  the  money 
was  going  to  be  raised  neither  Brother  Knight  nor  the  other 
Brethren  could  see.  The  next  morning  Joseph  and  sev- 
eral of  the  brethren  went  down  to  Mr.  White's  to  sign  the 
agreement  and  make  the  first  payment  on  the  land.  A  table 
was  brought  out  with  the  papers  upon  it,  and  Joseph  signed 
them,  moved  back  from  the  table  and  sat  with  his  head 
down,  as  if  in  thought  for  a  moment.  Just  then  a  man  drove 
up  in  a  carriage  and  asked  if  Mr.  Smith  was  there.  Joseph 
hearing  it,  got  up  and  went  to  the  door.  The  man  said, 
*  'Good  morning,  Mr.  Smith ;  I  am  on  a  speculation  to-day. 
I  want  to  buy  some  land,  and  thought  I  would  come  and  see 
you."  Joseph  then  pointed  around  where  his  land  lay,  but 
the  man  said  :  "I  can't  go  with  you  to-day  to  see  the  land. 
Do  you  want  any  money  this  morning?" 

Joseph  replied  that  he  would  like  some,  and  when  the  stranger 
asked  "How  much?"  he  told  him  "Five  hundred  dollars." 

The  man  walked  into  the  house  with  Joseph,  emptied  a 
small  sack  of  gold  on  the  table,  and  counted  out  that  amount. 
He  then  handed  to  Joseph  another  hundred  dollars,  saying : 
"Mr.  Smith,  I  make  you  a  present  of  this!" 

After  this  transpired,  Joseph  laughed  at  the  brethren  and 
said  :  "You  trusted  in  money  ;  but  I  trusted  in  God.  Now  I 
have  money  and  you  have  none." 


F