Zachary Pearson and miners' miraculous rescue from Brierly-hill Colliery
Published October 5, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Zachary Pearson, George Skidmore, John Handley, Thomas Hunt, the boy Timmins, and Pearson's son Joseph were trapped in a coal mine for nearly 140 hours following a flood. Despite the lack of food, deadly carbon gases, and the freezing water, they maintained prayer and managed to survive until rescued by a raft. Joseph Pearson, in particular, was noted for his endurance and lack of complaint despite his hunger.
In Their Own Words
“‘Well, sir,’ continued Zachary, ‘there we were, counting the hours and following sinking water an inch at a time, as you may say, with nothing else to do except walk about a bit, and sometimes sit and pray to God to deliver us, or to take care of our families if it wasn’t to be. It lasted till Sunday morning, and then Ben Higgs began to lose his head.’ — Millennial Star 31:15”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 10 April 1869 (Vol. 31, No. 15). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1869-04-10_31_15 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)
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