Healing / Medical Reversal & Remission

Sarah Ann Peterson's Healing from Cholera by Canute Peterson

Published October 12, 2026 at 6:12 AM

1840s · 1849
En route to Council Bluffs

Contributed by

Millennial Star Research

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While traveling across the plains toward Council Bluffs in 1849, Sarah Ann Peterson contracted cholera and became dangerously ill. Canute Peterson, having known her since childhood, went to a grove of trees to pray, where he received a gift of healing from God. He returned to the wagon, reached under the cover, and laid his hand on her head, rebuking the disease in the name of the Lord. Sarah Ann reported feeling a power thrill through her system and was recovered within the hour, shortly thereafter beginning to assist others.

The event took place at Chardon Point, Iowa, approximately 200 miles into the journey in 1849. Sarah Ann was being attended to by a nurse named Anna when Canute Peterson approached the wagon to inquire about her condition. Following the blessing, Sarah Ann audibly confirmed her recovery by exclaiming 'I am healed!' to which Canute inquired if she was truly free from pain before she confirmed the miracle.

In Their Own Words

“He went down into a grove of trees by the river side and there wrestled with the Lord in earnest prayer. He received a marvelous answer to his prayer. The Spirit of God came upon him in a manner he had never before experienced. He felt that the gift of healing had been bestowed upon him, and without allowing his thoughts to be directed upon any other subject he went straight up to the wagon where Sister Peterson was lying, and as there were several sisters in the wagon he could not enter it, but put his hand under the wagon cover and laid it upon her head and in the name of the Lord rebuked the disease and commanded it to depart. The relief was immediate; within half an hour she was up and trying to help others. She said in telling her experience on one occasion that as soon as she felt his hand upon her head she knew whose it was although she could not see him, and she felt a power thrill through her whole system removing her intense suffering at once. — Millennial Star 58:27”

Sources & References

The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 2 July 1896 (Vol. 58, No. 27). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1896-07-02_58_27 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Megan Withers Roxas, 'In Every Footstep, Part Two: Miracle on the Plains', Friend, Aug. 2012, 22–23. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2012/08/in-every-footstep-part-two-miracle-on-the-plains?lang=eng

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