Levi E. Young's Deliverance from Austrian Prison
Published October 13, 2026 at 5:56 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
President Levi E. Young of the Swiss mission was arrested in Innsbruck, Austria, while traveling to visit Saints in Vienna. He was held as a prisoner in a jail for two days and a night on the charge of being a Mormon missionary attempting to send a family to Utah. Following an examination, he was set free on Christmas Eve.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 66, No. 3, 21 January 1904, p. 45):
President Levi E. Young of the Swiss mission was arrested in Innsbruck, Austria, while traveling to visit Saints in Vienna. He was held as a prisoner in a jail for two days and a night on the charge of being a Mormon missionary attempting to send a family to Utah. Following an examination, he was set free on Christmas Eve.
In Their Own Words
“Just before Christmas I went into Austria. On my way to Vienna, where I went to visit our brethren and see our Saints, I stopped off in the city of Innsbruck to visit some friends. I was taken from my hotel before daylight one morning, and for two days and a night I was a prisoner in an Austrian prison. If you can imagine a hell on earth, you can know what a jail in that country is. The police found out that I was a Mormon missionary, and as a result, I was arrested on the charge of coming there to send a family to Utah. Of course after a thorough examination I was set free. I was released on Christmas eve and continued my journey well and happy. — Millennial Star 66:3”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 21 January 1904 (Vol. 66, No. 3). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1904-01-21_66_3 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 66, No. 3, 21 January 1904, p. 45 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1904-01-21_66_3
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