Newman Bulkley's Prophetic Vision of the Last Days (January 8, 1886)
Published August 26, 2026 at 6:55 AM
Contributed by
Todd Morgan
Beaumont, CA, 92223
Newman Bulkley (1817–1893) was a veteran of the Mormon Battalion and an early settler of Springville, Utah. On the night of 8 January 1886 — three years after the death of his wife, Jane Draper — Bulkley retired to rest about nine o'clock in the evening and was given a remarkable vision. In his own recorded words, 'after having retired to rest, all of a sudden' he found himself caught up in a prophetic vision of future events pertaining to the Latter-day Saints and the judgments of the last days. The vision, given to a humble Battalion veteran, circulated widely among the Saints and was preserved in compilations of Latter-day Saint dreams and visions; a copy is held in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University. Bulkley remained a faithful member of the Church until his death in Springville on 13 September 1893.
In Their Own Words
“I retired to rest about 9 o'clock in the evening. In a short time I drowsed off to sleep, and it seemed as if the spirit of my dead wife was hovering round about me. Suddenly I awoke, and sleep departed from me, and the vision of my mind was opened, and I beheld the members of the Senate of the United States. And while in session they were hurled from the hall by an unseen power... I saw, also, that all the old men who had honored their Priesthood, became spry and young again... I saw no preparation of any warlike demonstration in the midst of the Saints, but all appeared to have the spirit of peace and contentment.”
— Newman Bulkley, Mormon Battalion veteran and early settler of Springville, Utah, describing his vision of January 8, 1886, three years after the death of his wife Jane Draper (his own written account, preserved in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University, and reproduced in Ogden Kraut, Visions of the Latter Days, p. 112)
Sources & References
Newman Bulkley, vision recorded 8 January 1886, Springville, Utah; reproduced in Ogden Kraut, Visions of the Latter Days, p. 112; copy also held in L. Tom Perry Special Collections, BYU (Newman Bulkley vision concerning Utah and the Latter-day Saints, 1880s). See also Church History Biographical Database, 'Newman Bulkley' (1817–1893). ; Full vision text reproduced at http://ogdenkraut.com/?page_id=214 (Ogden Kraut, Visions of the Latter Days, pp. 109-112)
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