Brother Mackindlay Receives His Sight After Anointing and the Laying On of Hands at Oakley (1847)
Published October 4, 2026 at 6:16 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
In 1847, Brother Mackindlay of Oakley suffered sickness and blindness. Priest Brown administered to him, after which the sickness left but the blindness remained. William Atholl M'Master and Elder Huggar later administered to him by prayer, anointing with oil, and laying on of hands. M'Master asked whether Mackindlay believed in the Lord's power to restore his sight, anointed his eyes, and laid hands upon his head. Mackindlay received his sight immediately upon the elders' hands being removed; the account also states that he received his sight the night before M'Master left.
In Their Own Words
“I arrived at Oakley on the 14th of October, and found Brother Mackindlay in a very low state of health, and totally blind. He had been visited by Priest Brown, who administered to him, and the sickness left him, but his sight did not return. I felt a desire to administer to him, and on the 16th, in company with Elder Huggar, I visited him. I asked him if he believed that the Lord had power to restore his sight; he answered in the affirmative. I anointed his eyes with oil, in the name of the Lord, and laid hands on his head, and the night before I left the house he received his sight, and he rejoiced in the God of his salvation at the restoration of his sight.”
— William Atholl M'Master, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 9, No. 23
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 1 December 1847 (Vol. 9, No. 23). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1847-12-01_9_23 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 1 December 1847 (Vol. 9, No. 23). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1847-12-01_9_23 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, 1 December 1847, Vol. 9, No. 23, p. 366 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1847-12-01_9_23
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