Emma Spiring, Blinded by Boiling Fat, Sees Instantly the Moment the Elder Removes His Hands at London (1849)
Published October 4, 2026 at 6:34 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Emma Spiring suffered an eye injury from boiling fat that left her unable to see from Friday to Sunday. After being anointed by an elder, she regained her sight instantly when he removed his hands.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 11, No. 13, 1 July 1849, p. 203):
Emma Spiring, of London, had her eyes burnt with boiling fat, so that she could not see from Friday until Sunday; she was anointed by an elder, and the moment he took his hands off her head, she saw as well as ever.
In Their Own Words
“Sister Emma Spiring met with an accident while frying some meat: the pan was overturned, and the boiling fat went into her eye and on her face, and from the Friday to the Sunday she could not see with the eye. I, in the name of the Lord, anointed her with oil, and laid my hands on her, and the moment I took my hands off her head, she, in the presence of a large assembly, said she could see, and all pain was gone. — Millennial Star 11:13”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 1 July 1849 (Vol. 11, No. 13). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1849-07-01_11_13 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 11, No. 13, 1 July 1849, p. 203 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1849-07-01_11_13
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