Preservation of Wilford Woodruff and Harry Brown from a mob in Jackson County

On January 13, 1835, Wilford Woodruff and Harry Brown, who were serving as missionaries traveling without purse or scrip, left the home of Lyman Wight near Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, to travel south to preach the gospel. Carrying a petition to the Governor of Missouri seeking redress for the wrongs suffered by the Saints who had been driven from their homes in Jackson County, the two men crossed the Missouri River via a ferry into the hostile territory of Jackson County. Upon stepping onto the bank, they were observed by two horsemen who watched them closely but did not speak. Recognizing the danger of their mission—specifically that the discovery of their petition could lead to their deaths—they knelt and prayed for divine protection from the mob and for the judgments of God to cleanse the land of the wickedness of those who had shed the blood of the Saints. While traveling south through the county, they were miraculously preserved from an encounter with a mob of about sixty men assembled at a grog-shop along their route.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

On the 13th of Jan 1835 I left Brother Lyman Wights in company with my Beloved Brother Henry Brown to go forth to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ without purse or scrip to the people in the South. We crossed the Missouri River in a ferry boat & landed in Jackson County as we steped upon the bank two horsemen went into the boat they Eyed us vary close but said nothing to us. this was the first time that my feet had ever troad the soil of Jackson County Missouri and I felt to thank God for the privilege we bowed down upon our knees before God & offered up our petitions & thanksgivings unto God while at the same time that Land was polluted by wicked and ungodly men. We had a petition to the Governor of Missouri for the redress of the wrongs of the Saints who had been driven from their homes in Jackson County. We bent our way south through Jackson County without any harm yet in one instance we were miraculously preserved from a large mob of about 60 assembled at a grog shop which we had to pass.