Zadoc Knapp Judd Healed of Chronic Croup/Phthisic by Priesthood Administration (1835-1836)

In the 1830s, young Zadoc Knapp Judd suffered from a chronic and debilitating respiratory condition known as phthisic or croup that plagued him repeatedly throughout his childhood.

Zadoc records: "They preached new doctrine. My father went to their preaching and after hearing two or three sermons I heard him make the remark if the Methodists would preach as they do and prove up all their points of doctrine like that how I would like it. The elders frequently came to our house [and] on one occasion found me laid up with an attack of the phthisic or perhaps I should call it croup, a something that up to this time in my life I had been subject to frequent attacks. It often made me crazy."

This was not an isolated incident but a recurring ailment. The condition was severe enough that Zadoc describes it as making him "crazy"—indicating the severity and distressing nature of his episodes. Each attack left him incapacitated and confined to bed.

When the Mormon elders John E. Page and James Bleaksley came to the Judd home, they found young Zadoc suffering from yet another of these terrible attacks. With his father's consent, the elders offered to administer to him using the priesthood power.

Zadoc testifies of the result: "The elders proposed administering to me and with Father's consent they did so and I was speedily healed and that was the last attack I ever had of that complaint."

The healing was complete and permanent. After that priesthood administration, Zadoc never suffered another attack of croup or phthisic for the rest of his life. A chronic condition that had caused him repeated suffering was miraculously ended through the power of the priesthood.

This miracle occurred in Canada before the Judd family's conversion was complete. The healing became powerful testimony to Zadoc's father of the divine power accompanying the restored gospel. "In the fall of 1836 father, mother and the older children joined the church."

Zadoc himself was baptized on April 27, 1837, by James Bleaksley, and went on to become a faithful member of the Church, later serving in the Mormon Battalion and living a full and active life in the Restoration.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

They preached new doctrine. My father went to their preaching and after hearing two or three sermons I heard him make the remark if the Methodists would preach as they do and prove up all their points of doctrine like that how I would like it. The elders frequently came to our house [and] on one occasion found me laid up with an attack of the phthisic or perhaps I should call it croup, a something that up to this time in my life I had been subject to frequent attacks. It often made me crazy. The elders proposed administering to me and with Father's consent they did so and I was speedily healed and that was the last attack I ever had of that complaint. In the fall of 1836 father, mother and the older children joined the church.