A Company of Saints Saved from Steamboat Disaster by the Spirit's Warning
Published March 25, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Contributed by
Todd Morgan
Beaumont, CA, 92223
In one of the most dramatic accounts of divine deliverance, Wilford Woodruff documented how the Holy Ghost saved an entire group of Saints from death. As Wilford recorded: 'A Company of Saints Saved from a Steam-boat Disaster by the Spirit's Warning.' During travel on a steamboat, the Spirit warned Wilford and others of impending danger. Acting on this divine warning, the company left the vessel before disaster struck. Their obedience to the spiritual prompting proved to be life-saving, as the steamboat was subsequently destroyed in an accident. All in the group survived because they heeded the warning voice of the Spirit, while those who remained on board faced the catastrophic disaster. This account demonstrates how the Holy Ghost actively watches over and warns the faithful of dangers, and how precious life is preserved through strict obedience to spiritual guidance. It became a powerful testimony in Wilford's teaching that 'the result of...obeying the voice of the Spirit' is divine protection and preservation.
In Their Own Words
“I will here relate an incident which occurred while I was traveling on the Ohio river. I had taken passage on a steamboat, and when we arrived at the wharf, I felt a strong impression to leave the boat. I asked the captain if he was going to stop at the next landing. He said he was not. I felt so uneasy that I took my trunk and went ashore, although I had paid my passage. I felt that I was in danger if I remained on the boat. There were several brethren with me, and they also left the boat. We waited for another boat, and while we were waiting, the one we had left started on its journey. When it had gone about five miles down the river, it took fire, and the tiller ropes were burned, so that the vessel could not reach the shore. The fire spread with such rapidity that the passengers were compelled to jump into the river, and about three hundred persons were either burned to death or drowned. When I heard of the disaster, I felt to thank the Lord for the warning I had received, for I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord that had prompted me to leave the boat, and thus saved my life.”
— Wilford Woodruff, Leaves from My Journal
Sources & References
Wilford Woodruff, Leaves from My Journal (1882), Chapter XXVI Full first-person account: Wilford Woodruff, Leaves from My Journal (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882), 101-102. https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/documents/11947e8e-ba52-4039-a6e3-59781ce48462/page/2e3a73e4-2ed7-4e89-92c7-b0faca11d380
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