Ezra Thayer — From Angry Skeptic to Passionate Believer Through the Power of the Spirit

Ezra Thayer (also spelled Thayre, c. 1791–1862) was a successful builder of bridges, dams, and mills near Palmyra, New York. He knew the Smith family — he had employed Joseph Sr., and his sons — and when word spread in 1830 that Joseph Jr. had translated and published a 'gold Bible,' Thayer was furious. He called it 'blasphemy' and forbade his family from attending any meetings about it.

But his brother persisted, and Thayer reluctantly agreed to hear Hyrum Smith preach at the Smith farm in Manchester. As Hyrum spoke, something unexpected happened. Thayer later wrote: 'Every word touched me to the inmost soul. I thought every word was pointed to me… The tears rolled down my cheeks. I was very proud and stubborn. There were many there who knew me… I sat until I recovered myself before I dare look up.'

When Hyrum then showed him a copy of the Book of Mormon, the moment he opened it he was filled with 'exquisite joy.' He purchased it on the spot, and when Martin Harris affirmed it was true, Thayer replied that he 'need not tell me that, for I knew that it is true as well as he.'

In the days that followed, neighbors flooded his house to dissuade him — even convincing his wife he had 'gone crazy.' His friends mocked him. A newspaper editor told him he 'knew nothing concerning God' without a liberal education. But Thayer stood firm, declaring: 'I could not say that I believed it. I knew it.'

He then received a dream in which a man brought him a roll of paper and a trumpet and told him to blow it. Though he had never played one, he put it to his lips and produced 'the most beautiful sound that I ever heard.' Days later, when a revelation was given to him (now Doctrine and Covenants 33) calling him to 'lift up your voices as with the sound of a Trump,' Thayer recognized the dream immediately: 'The roll of paper was the revelation on me and Northrop Sweet.'

He was baptized by Parley P. Pratt and confirmed by Joseph Smith. He then opened his barn — 50 by 18 feet — and filled it to overflowing for a preaching meeting by Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer Jr., and Ziba Peterson. His transformation from bitter opponent to devoted convert stands as one of the most vivid conversion miracles of the early Restoration.