Thomas Heaps — Divine Warning in the Lancashire Coal Mines

In the 1840s, before emigrating to Utah, Thomas Heaps worked as a coal miner deep in a mine in Lancashire, England. According to family history recorded by Pearl Gates Christensen and later noted in Pioneer Pathways and on WikiTree, Heaps experienced a sudden and powerful spiritual impression—a "still small voice" or urgent prompting—to move immediately from the specific spot where he was working. He obeyed and stepped back; moments later a massive portion of the mine ceiling collapsed onto the exact location he had occupied, an event that would have resulted in his certain death. He and his wife Suzannah (Suzannah Goldthrope Heaps) regarded his preservation as divine protection; Heaps frequently shared the account as a testimony and it is reported that this preservation allowed him to eventually lead his family to Utah.