Wilford Woodruff Healed of Chill Fever at Terre Haute After the Brethren Lay Hands on Him (1840)
Published October 4, 2026 at 4:46 AM
Contributed by
Times and Seasons Research
While traveling from Commerce toward Kirtland, Wilford Woodruff suffered from recurring attacks of chill fever. During a severe episode in Terre Haute, he was taken from a wagon and laid on a bed, where a doctor, the doctor's wife, and Elder Young watched over him through the night to keep him alive. Before the rest of the company departed, Woodruff requested that the brethren lay their hands on him and pray for him, which they did. The following morning, he was able to arise from his bed and eventually resume his journey.
In Their Own Words
“I was very sick during most part of this journey; sometimes I thought I scarcely could live. We put up at Doctor Madiset's. I was here taken out of the wagon and laid upon the bed; the doctor, his wife, and Elder Young were obliged to watch almost all the night in order to keep a breath of life in me. Next morning the brethren came to us: my feelings were for them to go on their journey and leave me and Brother Young with me, I requested them to lay their hands on me and pray for me, which they did, and in about an hour after they departed: I arose from my bed; and in a few days was started on our journey.”
— Wilford Woodruff, Times and Seasons 6:6
Sources & References
Times and Seasons (Commerce, later Nauvoo, Illinois, November 1839–February 1846), 1 April 1845 (Vol. 6, No. 6). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1845-04-01_6_6 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: Times and Seasons, Vol. 6, No. 6, April 1, 1845, p. 858 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1845-04-01_6_6
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