Elder O. A. Bates and Missionary's Escape from Mob Threat in Mississippi
Published October 6, 2026 at 3:13 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Elder O. A. Bates and the writer were sick with chills and fever. During their illness, a mob of twenty-five men, some armed, ordered them to leave the county in seven days or face consequences. They did not leave and were not molested, which the writer attributes to 'an overruling Providence.' They managed to escape the county before being compelled to leave for self-preservation, as they were informed that citizens were 'toting arms' for the purpose of waylaying them, accusing the missionaries of poisoning people.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 48, No. 34, 23 August 1886, p. 539):
Elder O. A. Bates and the writer were sick with chills and fever. During their illness, a mob of twenty-five men, some armed, ordered them to leave the county in seven days or face consequences. They did not leave and were not molested, which the writer attributes to an overruling Providence. They managed to escape the county before being compelled to leave for self-preservation, as they were informed that citizens were toting arms for the purpose of waylaying them, accusing the missionaries of poisoning people.
In Their Own Words
“On the 15th of August I was taken ill with chills and fever, and during my illness, which lasted nearly two months, Elder O. A. Bates and myself were waited upon by a mob of twenty-five men (some of them armed) and ordered to leave the county in seven days or take the consequences. However we did not, nor could I have done so in the time specified, as I was not able to stand on my feet more than five minutes at a time. However, we were not molested, owing, as I have ever felt, to the kind of an overruling Providence.”
— Millennial Star 48:34
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 23 August 1886 (Vol. 48, No. 34). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1886-08-23_48_34 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 48, No. 34, 23 August 1886, p. 539 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1886-08-23_48_34
Related Miracles
Similar miracle types and stories from the 1880s.
Miracle of the Week
One remarkable, documented account in your inbox every Monday, drawn from the full archive.