Elder Datwyler’s Providential Discovery of a Purse
Published October 13, 2026 at 4:25 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While traveling without funds in Germany, Elder Datwyler and his companion found a purse containing thirty marks on a table in a post office where they had been working. They waited for an owner to return, but when no one appeared, they took the money, which provided for their immediate needs.
Fuller account of this event (as retold in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 63, No. 20 (16 May 1901), p. 315):
On one of Brother Datwyler’s trips without money, he and his companion found a purse in a post office where they were doing some writing. They did not notice it until they were ready to go, and there it was on the table before them. They examined it and found that it contained thirty marks. Thinking that the owner would return for it, they waited a short time, but no one came, so they took it with them. They never heard anything about the owner afterwards, or how it came to be there.
In Their Own Words
“On one of Brother Datwyler’s trips without money, he and his companion found a purse in a post office where they were doing some writing. They did not notice it until they were ready to go, and there it was on the table before them. They examined it and found that it contained thirty marks. Thinking that the owner would return for it, they waited a short time, but no one came, so they took it with them. They never heard anything about the owner afterwards, or how it came to be there.— Millennial Star 63:20”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 16 May 1901 (Vol. 63, No. 20). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1901-05-16_63_20 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Fuller account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 63, No. 20 (16 May 1901), p. 315 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1901-05-16_63_20
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