Benjamin Matthew Hancock's Healing of Blindness

“At Burrville, in southern Utah, a few years ago, there lived a man named Benjamin Matthew Hancock. He had been a great hunter, possessing a keen sight, but four years before I first saw him he had begun to lose it. For three years his eyes grew dimmer and dimmer, until he could see nothing. He had consulted physicians, but they could do nothing for him. For twelve months before our coming he had been stone blind. Elder Brigham H. Roberts and I were traveling by carriage from Loa to the railroad station, and we stopped at Burrville to hold a meeting. While we were there, a young man came in and asked if we would administer to a blind man, his cousin. He assured us that if we would consent, the man would be healed, for he had seen us in a dream come and heal him. I inquired whether he had faith to be healed and he said, No; he had no faith. I then asked him if he would accept the Gospel if he were healed, and he said he would. Under these conditions I anointed his head and eyes with oil, and we administered to him. It was a year before I returned to that settlement. I learned, however, that he could now see as well as anybody. I saw him myself, and he told me that he began to see light a few days after we left. In four months he could see us well as ever; and was able to hunt deer or do anything else he wished. He had not, however, joined the Church, and I felt that he had not kept his promise.”

— Unidentified author, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star