Benjamin Brown Miraculously Healed by Priesthood in Kirtland

Several accounts describe Benjamin Brown himself being seriously ill and then miraculously healed through priesthood administration during the 1830s. In tellings that situate the event in Kirtland, Ohio, Brown had come to see the temple and meet Church leadership (including references to Joseph Smith and the elders), fell seriously ill during or shortly after that visit, and was administered to by Church leaders/elders with the laying on of hands. One account specifies a severe and advanced cancer that was anointed with oil and then healed—described as medically impossible but completely cured. In all accounts the healing was immediate and complete, served as Brown’s first personal witness of the restored priesthood’s healing power, and strengthened his faith and testimony. Dates in the sources vary within the 1830s (accounts list c.1835 and c.1837), but the core event—Brown’s recovery by priesthood blessing in the presence of Kirtland Saints—appears to be the same.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

The next day, I, with my wife, went up to Kirtland, to visit the Saints living there. After a very happy time, during which the Book of Doctrine and Covenants was first presented to the Church, we started for home. While on the lakes, I was attacked by one of the lake fevers prevalent there, and became very ill indeed. I was, however, taken home and put to bed. The same day, two elders of the Church called in to see me, and, finding I was in such a condition, they laid their hands upon me. Whilst their hands were yet upon my head, I felt the disease remove from my body, commencing at the pit of my stomach, moving gradually upward towards the hand of the elders, and I was made perfectly whole. The same day, I was out at work milking my cows, and went round to invite my neighbors to hear the preaching in the evening. This was the first case of healing I had ever witnessed.