Prophetic Warning and Fulfillment of the Cholera Outbreak
Published September 3, 2026 at 8:31 AM
Newel Knight documented the fulfillment of a specific warning given by Joseph Smith regarding a plague that would strike the camp due to disobedience. Knight recorded that on the night of June 24, 1834 (noted as the 28th in some of his retrospective transcriptions), the cholera 'of which the brethren had been warned by the servant of God' broke out in Zion's Camp. Knight witnessed the sudden onset of the disease, which Joseph Smith had previously prophesied would come as a judgment if the camp did not remain united.
In Their Own Words
“On the 24th of June, we arrived at the fishing river, where we were met by a messenger who informed us that the mob were gathering to attack us. We were then in the midst of a heavy thunder storm, and the rain fell in torrents. We encamped on a high point of land, and the next morning the cholera broke out in our camp, as we had been warned by the servant of God. About twelve o'clock, cries and groans were heard from those who had been taken with the cholera, and they fell before the destroyer. So violent were the attacks that in some instances those who were standing on guard fell with their guns in their hands to the ground, and it was only by great exertion that we were enabled to take care of and attend to the sick and dying, for they fell on every hand. In the morning the camp was divided into several small bands and dispersed among the brethren.”
— Newel Knight, Autobiography and Journal (c. 1846)
Sources & References
Newel Knight, History (c. 1846–1847), reproduced in ‘The Rise of the Latter-day Saints: The Journals and Histories of Newel Knight,’ BYU Religious Studies Center: https://rsc.byu.edu/rise-latter-day-saints/new-york-ohio-missouri-1800-1834 ; also quoted at Doctrine and Covenants Central: https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/history/newel-knight/ ; public-domain reprint in ‘Scraps of Biography’ (Project Gutenberg): https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46734/46734-h/46734-h.htm Full first-person account: The Rise of the Latter-day Saints: The Journals and Histories of Newel Knight, BYU Religious Studies Center https://rsc.byu.edu/rise-latter-day-saints/new-york-ohio-missouri-1800-1834
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