A stoker's repentance through the kindness of a colored woman
Published October 23, 2026 at 9:51 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
An English steamship stoker attempted to play a mean trick on an elderly colored woman in Boston by bumping into her and spilling her basket of apples. When he stood by to laugh at her reaction, she did not respond with anger, but instead calmly picked up her apples and, with dignity, said 'God forgive you, my son, as I do.' This act of grace so softened the man's heart that he gave her all the money he had and promised he would never be cruel again.
In Their Own Words
“The rudeness that had counted on a bitter berating was softened in an instant. The man's coarse lips parted, his hard eyes fell, he tried to speak; then he thrust his hands into his pockets and pulled out all the silver he had. This he forced upon the silent woman. 'Take it,' he said, and then added, as she looked at him in astonishment, 'God bless you, mother! I'll never do it again.' — Millennial Star 83:30”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), Vol. 83, No. 30 (1921). https://archive.org/details/millennialstar8330eng (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)
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