David Whitmer's preservation of the Book of Mormon manuscript during a cyclone

On June 1, 1878, a sudden and devastating cyclone struck Richmond, Missouri, destroying one-third of the city and leaving five hundred people homeless. Among the structures affected was the two-story, seven-room home of David Whitmer, located at 213 East Main Street. Built in 1843, the house was completely destroyed when a neighboring building was blown through it by the force of the storm. David Whitmer, an elderly man, sustained injuries from flying timbers during the destruction. Remarkably, one small room of the house—which served as an extension of the porch—remained entirely unscathed amidst the surrounding wreckage. Not a single shingle was removed, no cracks appeared in the plastering, and the windows remained intact. This specific room held the Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon. Recognizing the unusual nature of the preservation, a committee of local citizens was formed to examine the site and document the event. For the remainder of his life, David Whitmer and his family maintained that the protection of this room and its sacred contents was an act of divine providence.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 53, No. 12, March 23, 1891):

On the 1st of June, 1878, a cyclone passed through Richmond, Ray County, Missouri, which destroyed about one-third of the town. Mr. Whitmer's house was among those destroyed. It was a two-story building, and was completely demolished. Mr. Whitmer was in the house at the time, and was quite severely injured by the falling timbers. But, wonderful to relate, the room in which the manuscript of the Book of Mormon was kept, although it was a part of the house, and was not more substantially built than the other parts, was left uninjured. Not a shingle was removed, nor a crack made in the plastering, while the rest of the house was a complete wreck. It stood there, amidst the ruins, a monument of the protecting care of the Almighty over the sacred record.