Jesse W. Crosby miraculously healed by Benjamin Brown

Multiple contemporary accounts recount that in the mid–to–late 1830s (variously dated c.1835, 1836, and 1839) Elder Benjamin Brown laid hands on Jesse W. Crosby and administered a priesthood blessing in the name of Jesus Christ, after Crosby had been gravely ill and near death. Witnesses reported that Crosby was immediately and completely restored to health—an abrupt and total recovery that amazed those present. In Brown’s own retellings this episode was given as a notable demonstration of the healing power of the priesthood restored through Joseph Smith and as evidence of Brown’s faith and authority as an elder. Different tellings emphasize the same core events (Brown’s laying on of hands, the instantaneous recovery, and the strengthening of faith among those present) while varying the exact year within the 1830s.