Rebuke of Contagion on Emigrant Ships
Published October 4, 2026 at 7:58 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
During the 1855 emigration season, contagious diseases appeared on board several ships carrying Saints. The priesthood, having been given solemn charges and instructions to maintain the Holy Spirit, successfully rebuked these contagions, preventing the Destroyer from taking the life of a single soul.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 17, No. 31, 4 August 1855, p. 491):
The cholera has been on board several ships, but the Priesthood have rebuked it, and it has been stayed, and not a soul has been lost by it.
In Their Own Words
“It gives us the most heartfelt satisfaction to know that, these whisperings of the Spirit being faithfully observed, those contagions which appeared on ship-board were successfully rebuked, so that the Destroyer had not power to take the life of a single soul.— Millennial Star 17:31”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 4 August 1855 (Vol. 17, No. 31). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1855-08-04_17_31 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 17, No. 31, 4 August 1855, p. 491 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1855-08-04_17_31
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