Mary Bishop's Miraculous Energy at Age 99
Published October 6, 2026 at 3:12 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Mary Bishop, at nearly 100 years old, attended the Old Folks' Excursion and, upon receiving a gold medal, felt so happy that she performed a tip-toe dance as gracefully as if she were one-fourth her actual age.
Fuller account of this event (as retold in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 48, No. 30, July 26, 1886, p. 477):
At the Old Folks' excursion, held at American Fork, on the 15th inst., there were present 130 persons over 70 years of age. Among them was Sister Mary Bishop, who is in her 99th year. She was presented with a gold medal, as the oldest person present. Sister Bishop felt so happy over this unexpected honor that when the band, later in the day, struck up the 'Dundee,' she gave a tip-toe performance and danced as gracefully as if she had been only one-fourth of what they actually were.
In Their Own Words
“Mary Bishop felt so happy over this unexpected honor that when the band, later in the day, struck up the 'Dundee,' she gave a tip-toe performance and danced as gracefully as if she had been only one-fourth of what they actually were. — Millennial Star 48:30”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 26 July 1886 (Vol. 48, No. 30). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1886-07-26_48_30 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Fuller account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 48, No. 30, July 26, 1886, p. 477 https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/MStar/id/28192
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