Accidents / Survival / Dramatic Recovery

Allen Joseph Stout Saved from Drowning in Violent River

1820s · 1825
Ohio River
Allen Joseph Stout (age 9-10), old sailor/rescuer

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Allen Joseph Stout documented a remarkable preservation from death while traveling on the Ohio River as a child. As Stout recorded: 'One day as we were floating down the Ohio River, the wind was so high it sunk some corn and oats, and I saw the skiff bounding over the high waves. I thought it was a fine place to ride, so I got in, but the violence of the wind broke the cable, and away the skiff went up, up stream with the wind, and had it not been for an old sailor who swam out from the boat by what is called the Rocky Cave and brought me back, I should have been drowned.' This remarkable rescue by a stranger who saw the child in danger and swam out to rescue him saved young Allen from certain drowning in the violent Ohio River.

Sources & References

Allen Joseph Stout, Journal (1815-1848), HBLL

Miracles of the Restoration
A collection of faith-affirming accounts from the Restoration era to the present day.