been called upon to war with poison & mortiforcation in my system
untill now, but I am satisfyed to day that I have this enemy to mee[t]
& that to in its worst form their is but a small chance for a man to
live that is innoculated with poison & mortification by dissecting
the body of either man or beast it is much worse than drinking poi[so]n
or being bit by poisonous serpents for it is in a much more deadly
form. several have died this spring by skining cattle who have died
all should be more cautious than what I have been in this matter
& not run the risk of looseing their lives by trying to save the skins of
Animals who die with disease, the following Account will show
the operation of this disease with me from day to day & how near
I came of loosing my life in fact I was ownly saved through the power
& mercy of God. This morning the affected spot upon my wrist had
grown about the size of a dime had risen above the arm & main flesh
about half an inch & turned black as ink my arm began to swell
& pain me & I felt its workings through my system I called upon
President Young & showed him Arm and asked his advice He
counciled me to go to immediately & clense my stomach & bowels
& poultice my Arm with onions, Earth, or any thing that would
draw it from my system. He also advised me to show it to
Dr Sprague. I did so & he in addition to what President Young
had recommended dug me up soom sum dock Elecompane &
Blazing star roots & advised me to make a tea of it & drink
it also to make a poultice of it & put it on my Arm I went
immediately home & began to put these things into execution
for I saw that I had a strong warfare in order to save my life

April 29, 1856 ~ Tuesday

29^th [FIGURE] Tuesday this was a trying day to my life the poison
had so circulated through my system that it was affecting
my whole body seriously I became so weak I could not stand upon
my feet, it took two persons to lead me from the fire to my bed
I could not talk no more than if I had been drunk. my stomach
& bowels sceased to Act And to Judge from outward appearances it
seemed as though I should not live 24 hours my wife & friends labored
with me through the day faithfully & with Emetics & injections
& with raw onion poltices upon my arm I got my whole system
in operation before night. President Brigham Young called
upon me in company with Dr Sprague at about evening I
was some better than I had been through the day Brothers
Young & Sprague laid hands upon me & blessed me the
following is a synopsis of the blessing which He pronounced
upon my head which I wrote from Memory After my recovery

Brother Wilford in the name of Jesus Christ & by virtue of the Holy priesthood
I lay my hands upon your head to Bless you And I ask my Father
in heaven to stay the deisease which is resting upon you & to cleanse your
Blood & to heal you up & I say in the name of Jesus Christ that
you shall not die but shall live to finish your work which is
appointed you to do upon the Earth. the Adversary has sought many
times to destroy your life from the Earth but the Lord has preserved
you & will preserve you untill your work is done I feel to say that all is
right here I fell to ask the Lord to bless all the means you make use of for
your recovery. You shall be healed up from this deisease & live to
enjoy the society of your family & your children shall grow
up around you & you shall be a blessing to them let your heart
be comforted all shall be well with you. And I seal these Blessings
upon you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

been called upon to war with poison & mortification in my system untill now, but I am satisfyed to day that I have this enemy to meet & that to in its worst form their is but a small chance for a man to live that is innoculated with poison & mortification by dissecting the body of either man or beast it is much worse than drinking poison or being bit by poisonous serpents for it is in a much more deadly form. several have died this spring by skining cattle who have died all should be more cautious than what I have been in this matter & not run the risk of looseing their lives by trying to save the skins of Animals who die with disease, the following Account will show the operation of this disease with me from day to day & how near I came of loosing my life in fact I was ownly saved through the power & mercy of God. This morning the affected spot upon my wrist had grown about the size of a dime had risen above the arm & main [illegible] about half an inch & turned black as ink my arm began to swell & pain me & I felt its workings through my system I called upon President Young & showed him Arm and asked his advice He counciled me to go to immediately & clense my stomach & bowels & poultice my Arm with onions, Earth, or any thing that would draw it from my system. He also advised me to show it to Dr Sprague. I did so & he in addition to what President Young had recommended dug me up sum dock Elecompance & Blazing star roots & advised me to make a tea of it & drink it also to make a poultice of it & put it on my Arm I went immediately home & began to put these things into execution for I saw that I had a strong warfare in order to save my life

April 29, 1856 ~ Tuesday

29th FIGURES Tuesday this was a trying day to my life the poison had so circulated through my system that it was affecting my whole body seriously I became so weak I could not stand upon my feet it took two persons to lead me from the fire to my bed I could not talk no more than if I had been drunk. my stomach & bowels sceased to Act And to Judge from outward appearances it seemed as though I should not live 24 hours my wife & friends labored with me through the day faithfully & with Emetics & injections & with raw onion poltices upon my arm I got my whole system in operation before night. President Brigham Young called upon me in company with Dr Sprague at about evening I was some better than I had been through the day Brothers Young & Sprague laid hand upon me & blessed me the following is a synopsis of the blessing which He pronounced upon my head which I wrote from memory After my recovery

Brother Wilford in the name of Jesus Christ & by virtue of the Holy priesthood I lay my hands upon your head to Bless you And I ask my Father in heaven to stay the disease which is resting upon you & to cleanse your Blood & to heal you up & I say in the name of Jesus Christ that you shall not die but shall live to finish your work which is appointed you to do upon the Earth, the Adversary has sought many times to destroy your life from the Earth but the Lord has preserved you & will preserve you untill your work is done I feel to say that all is right here I fell to ask the Lord to bless all the means you make use of for your recovery. You shall be healed up from this disease & live to enjoy the society of your family & your children shall grow up around you & you shall be a blessing to them let your heart be comforted all shall be well with you And I seal these Blessings upon you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen