Birth of Parley P. Pratt's Son Parley Jr., Fulfilling Heber C. Kimball's Prophecy (March 25, 1837, Kirtland)

About eleven months after Elder Heber C. Kimball gave a prophecy over her head that she would conceive and bear a son, Thankful Pratt (Parley P. Pratt’s first wife) gave birth in Kirtland, Ohio. As Parley recorded, “On the 25th of March 1837, my son Parley was born, in fulfillment of a prophecy delivered on the head of my wife, about eleven months previous, by Elder H. [Heber] C. Kimball.” The prophecy’s promise that she would see and embrace her child was fulfilled, but Thankful died about two hours after his birth. The event is recounted in Parley P. Pratt’s published history and autobiography, which record the prophecy, the March 25, 1837 birth of the child named Parley, and the mother’s death shortly thereafter.

In the spring of 1836, Parley P. Pratt was heavily in debt and his wife Thankful was seriously ill, leading him to hesitate about serving another mission. Heber C. Kimball blessed Parley with specific promises that Thankful would be healed, that she would conceive and bear a son (their first after nine years of marriage), and that Parley would fulfill a mission in Canada which would serve as a crucial stepping-stone for the gospel to be taken to England.