Ezekiel Johnson — Vision of the Ancient Child
Contributed by
Bibliography Research
In approximately 1909, while working on the mesa flats near Blanding, Utah, Ezekiel "Zeke" Johnson accidentally disturbed an ancient, shallow grave. Upon uncovering the remains of a small child, Johnson experienced a profound spiritual manifestation. He described seeing the child restored to life and beauty before his eyes, an experience he later referred to as a "resurrection experience" or a glimpse of the child's eternal state. Johnson, who was a well-known guide in the San Juan region, later recorded this account in 1954 at the age of 85, expressing wonder that he, a "common man," was permitted to witness such a manifestation of God's power and the reality of the resurrection. The account emphasizes the divine nature of all children and the promise of the restoration of life.
In Their Own Words
“While I was plowing on that piece of ground, I noticed that my plow had turned out the skeleton of a small child, the skull and backbone, but most of the bones of course were decayed and gone... As I was looking at that little skeleton that I had plowed out and wondering, all of a sudden, to my surprise, I saw the bones begin to wiggle and they began to change position and to take different color and within a minute there lay a beautiful little skeleton. It was a perfect little skeleton. Then I saw the inner parts of the natural body coming in, the entrails, etc. I saw the flesh coming on, and I saw the skin come on the body when the inner parts of the body were complete. A beautiful head of hair adorned the top of the head... the child raised up on her feet... She looked at me and I looked at her, and for a quarter of a minute we just looked at each other smiling. Then in my ambition to get hold of her, I said, 'Oh you beautiful child.' I reached out as if I would embrace her and she disappeared.”
“I wondered and worried about it for years as to why I was allowed to see it, a common man like me – uneducated as I was. Why was I, just a common man, allowed to see such a marvelous manifestation of God's powers?... Since that time I have taken great comfort, great cheer, consolation, and satisfaction with praise in my heart and soul, until I haven't the words to express it, that it was I that uncovered that little body. Thank you for listening to me. I just can't tell this without crying.”
— Ezekiel "Zeke" Johnson, son of Joel Hills Johnson, recounting his experience of 1908–09 near Blanding, Utah; recorded in 1954 at age 85 (published in The Johnson Bulletin and in "A Nephite or Jaredite in Utah?")
Sources & References
Ezekiel Johnson, "O, You Beautiful Child" (1954 audio recording); Ezekiel Johnson Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Sept. 1971), p. 24; Adonis Findlay Robinson, Romance of a Church Farmhouse (1972), p. 5; full first-person account as told by Zeke Johnson: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/a-nephite-or-jaredite-in-utah/ ; FamilySearch memory "Resurrection Experience of Zeke Johnson" (reported by his grandson Bruce Johnson to compiler Glen W. Chapman, 1976): https://www.familysearch.org/en/memories/memory/24842643 (research confidence: high)