Powell's survival after skull fracture
Published October 4, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
During the conflict at Far West in 1838, a man named Powell was beaten on the head with the breech of a gun until his skull was fractured and his brains were visible in two or three places. Despite this severe injury, he remained alive and resided in the county.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 21, No. 24 (11 June 1859), p. 373):
A man named Powell was beaten on the head with the breech of a gun until his skull was fractured, and his brains were visible in two or three places; yet he is still alive and resides in the county.
In Their Own Words
“There was another man, whose name is Powell, who was beat on the head with the breech of a gun until his skull was fractured, and his brains ran out in two or three places. He is now alive and resides in this county, but has lost the use of his senses. — Millennial Star 21:24”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 11 June 1859 (Vol. 21, No. 24). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1859-06-11_21_24 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 21, No. 24 (11 June 1859), p. 373 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1859-06-11_21_24
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