Miraculous Healing of the Wife of Johnston F. Lane by David W. Patten
Published October 4, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
During a missionary visit in Tennessee, David W. Patten was asked to minister to the wife of Johnston F. Lane, who had been incapacitated for five years and bedridden for the previous year. The accounts place the event in 1834 or 1836. Patten came with missionary companions; the records name Warren Parrish and Abraham O. Smoot, and identify Smoot as an eyewitness. At her bedside, Patten asked whether she had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When she answered affirmatively, he commanded her in the name of Jesus Christ to arise. She immediately sat up. Patten then placed his hands upon her head, rebuked her disorder, and blessed her, promising that she would bear children, although she had been married for seven years without children. She was healed; the accounts continue with further details of her recovery and the fulfillment of the promise.
In Their Own Words
“I remember on one occasion when I was laboring with him as a missionary in Tennessee he was sent for to administer to a woman [the wife of Mr. Johnston F. Lane] who had been sick for five years and bed-ridden for one year and not able to help herself. Brother Patten stepped to her bedside and asked her if she believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. She replied that she did. He then took her by the hand and said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, arise!" She immediately sat up in bed, when he placed his hands upon her head and rebuked her disease, pronounced blessing upon her head and promised that she should bear children. — Abraham O. Smoot, in Early Scenes in Church History, Faith-Promoting Series, 1882”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, 31 December 1896 (Vol. 58, No. 53). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1896-12-31_58_53 (account extracted from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high). Full first-person account: Life of David W. Patten, the first A… The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, 2 July 1864 (Vol. 26, No. 27). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1864-07-02_26_27 (account extracted from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high). Additional sources (periodical research): Abraham O. Smoot, 'David …
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