Wilford Woodruff Journal 1: A Woman Possessed by an Evil Spirit — They Cast It Out in the Name of Jesus Christ (1837)

During his first mission to the Fox Islands off the coast of Maine in 1837, Wilford Woodruff recorded one of the most dramatic spiritual confrontations of his early ministry.

He encountered a woman who was possessed of an evil spirit. She was greatly afflicted — much of the time rendered mute by the possession, unable to speak normally. She had heard of the missionaries and their authority, and she believed in Jesus Christ. She called upon Woodruff and his companions and asked them to cast the devil out of her.

Woodruff recorded the event directly in his journal:

'A woman was possessed of the devil and greatly afflicted, much of the time was dumb; four of us laid hands upon her, and cast the devil out in the name of Jesus Christ.'

According to his *Leaves from My Journal* account, the room was full of unbelievers who had come specifically to witness whether a miracle would occur — to see 'the devil cast out.' When the attempt was initially hindered, they cleared the unbelievers from the room. Then, with faith, the four elders laid hands upon her and commanded the evil spirit to depart in the name of Jesus Christ.

The woman was freed. But the account did not end there. The evil spirit, having left the woman, then entered her child. The missionaries had to deal with the aftermath.

Woodruff summarized his first Fox Islands mission: 'The sick were healed, devils were cast out, and the lame were made to walk.' He later named Sister Mary Pitt specifically among those healed — she had been unable to walk for eleven years; after the elders laid hands on her, she rose from her chair and walked.