William Gerrie's Miraculous Healing and Restoration of Sight
Published October 12, 2026 at 6:11 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
William Gerrie of New Pitsligo, Scottish Conference, had been confined to his bed for months with severe sickness and was blind for thirty years. Doctors had given up on him. Elders visited him and, through prayer and the power of God, promised him he would recover and be baptized. Following the baptismal ordinance in August 1893, his sight was restored, allowing him to see the Elders and walk home.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 55, No. 36 (September 4, 1893), p. 574):
Brother William Gerrie, of New Pitsligo, who has been confined to his bed for months, and who has been blind for thirty years, was baptized by Elder Birnie on the 24th of August. His sight was restored, and he was able to see the Elders and walk home.
In Their Own Words
“Brother Birnie and I went down to see the sufferer. We found him alive, but he was very low. Still he knew us both, and asked us to pray for him, as he thought he was dying. We kneeled down and prayed that, if it was the Lord's will, He would restore him to health. As we prayed we felt the power of God with us, and were impressed by His Spirit to tell this man that he would get better again, and that he would be restored to his usual health and strength, living to see the day when he would have the privilege of being baptized for.the remission of his sins by the authority of God, and become a member in His kingdom. ... We promised him when he entered the water of baptism that the Lord would restore his sight to him, and that this. would, ‘be a great testimony to him of the divinity of this work. ... In the month of August, 1893, he grew so much better that he applied for baptism. Two Elders from Salt Lake City were laboring as missionaries in New Pitsligo at this time. They led this man to the river two miles from town and baptized him for the remission of sins. He acknowledged to me, when he came up out of the water, that his eyes were opened, and he saw the Elders and Brother Birnie stand on the banks of the river, and that he could see to walk home as the others did. — Millennial Star 58:24”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 11 June 1896 (Vol. 58, No. 24). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1896-06-11_58_24 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 55, No. 36 (September 4, 1893), p. 574 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1893_55_36
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