May 8, 2024

As a biographical researcher for the Wilford Woodruff Papers, I am frequently asked if I have any great stories to share about Wilford Woodruff. Wilford had amazing faith in Jesus Christ. He was an exemplary missionary and Apostle. I am privileged to dive into his personal papers every day and learn straight from his hand, and I love to share his stories. But there are more people in the story than Wilford, and I often find myself focusing on them—the people who had no idea they were entertaining a future prophet. How did their interactions with Wilford Woodruff impact their lives? What can I learn from their examples?

One story I tell more often than not is about Benjamin Coombs. Benjamin was born June 27, 1789, on the South Island of Vinalhaven about fifteen miles off the coast of Maine. Like many of the people who lived on Vinalhaven, Benjamin was a captain and fisherman. He would sail north toward Newfoundland where the waters were full of fish. He would then bring his catch home, lay it out to dry, and sell it to merchants.

In the fall of 1837, Wilford Woodruff and his companion, Jonathan H. Hale, set sail for this group of islands, determined to share the restored gospel with its inhabitants.

On September 6, 1837, they stopped by the home of Benjamin Coombs. Benjamin fed them lunch and then showed them his “flakes of fish, which contained about one thousand quintals of cod, that were spread for drying . . . principally caught at Newfoundland.” Thereafter, Benjamin Coombs frequently hosted Wilford and his various companions when they visited the South Island. 

Wilford was very faithful in his charge to preach the gospel; he spoke and bore testimony almost daily. Over the next several months, many were baptized on the islands. Benjamin was surely a witness to Wilford Woodruff’s testimony. And yet, for whatever reason, he was never baptized.

September 6, 1837

Courage through Opposition

While many accepted the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, others found much to oppose. Principally, a Methodist minister who lived on the South Island rejected Wilford’s testimony and made it his purpose to stir the people up to anger against Wilford. As the winter months were giving way to spring, the persecution became so serious that Wilford was forced to leave the South Island amidst “threats of the people to mob, tar, feather, and kill [him] if [he] came there again.”

Despite the opposition against Wilford, Benjamin Coombs continued to welcome him into his home up until Wilford’s departure. So, the story I share of Benjamin is one of courage. He wasn’t part of the mob. He wasn’t afraid to stand up and do the right thing—he didn’t need to be a member of the Church to do that. He was just a good person.

President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018) said, “Inner courage also includes doing the right thing even though we may be afraid, defending our beliefs at the risk of being ridiculed, and maintaining those beliefs even when threatened with a loss of friends or of social status. He who stands steadfastly for that which is right must risk becoming at times disapproved and unpopular.”

Courage to Follow the Spirit

The day before he left, Wilford boldly preached what he thought might be his last testimony on the South Island. He wrote in his journal:

“I preached to a large congregation of Gentiles that were filled with unbelief, hardness of heart, & manifested malice against me & the cause which I advocated, but notwithstanding their indignation I bore my last testimony unto them of the fulness of the everlasting gospel that God hath brought forth in these last days.”

Wilford Woodruff

After his departure, Wilford spent a couple months traveling south through Maine, then to Boston, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. But he felt drawn to return to Maine. This wasn’t just because his wife, Phebe, was living in Maine with her parents that summer, although that was a very good reason. Wilford wrote that he “was determined to visit the saints once more upon that Island of the sea.” And so, directed by the Spirit, he traveled back up to Maine and took passage on a ship headed for Vinalhaven. 

It was there, on August 9, 1838, that Wilford received a letter from Thomas B. Marsh, who informed Wilford that he had been called as an Apostle of Jesus Christ.

Letter from Thomas B. Marsh dated July 14, 1838

The next day, Wilford sailed to the South Island—the island on which he was threatened with death should he ever return. With thoughts of his new calling on his mind, Wilford landed and walked to the homes of three men who had been baptized. And then together, they all walked to Benjamin Coombs’s. There, they were fed supper at Benjamin’s table, with him as their companion and friend.  

Wilford spent little time on the South Island during this visit—just enough to invite all who wanted to join the Saints in Missouri to sell their land and prepare to meet him in Scarborough, Maine, for the journey west in a couple months. He recorded, “The wrath of my enemies is great towards me through this Island.”

We can see that Wilford Woodruff was clearly led by the Spirit to return to Vinalhaven. But what about Benjamin Coombs and others who crossed Wilford’s path on this journey? For Benjamin, feeding a visitor might have just been the right thing to do in his mind. But a revelation and promise extended in Doctrine and Covenants 84:88–91 shows that Benjamin was a disciple of Jesus Christ, and therefore enabled with courage to follow the promptings of the Spirit: “Whoso receiveth you, there I will be also . . . Whoso receiveth you receiveth me; . . . and he who feeds you, or clothes you, or gives you money, shall in nowise lose his reward. . . . By this you may know my disciples.”

Courage in the Face of “Insidious Influences”

Wilford left Vinalhaven and did not return for another ten years. He never mentioned Benjamin Coombs again. I learned during my research that it was not long after the summer of 1838 that Benjamin Coombs moved away from Vinalhaven—he was living in Brooksville, Maine, in 1840, and by 1842, his residence was in Castine, Maine, a city situated on the mainland north of Vinalhaven. Benjamin Coombs lived in Castine until his death on June 10, 1851.

President Thomas S. Monson commented that all of us “are faced with persistent pressures and insidious influences tearing down what is decent. . . . Because of these and other challenges, decisions are constantly before us which can determine our destiny. In order for us to make the correct decisions, courage is needed—the courage to say no when we should, the courage to say yes when that is appropriate, the courage to do the right thing because it is right.” These “insidious influences” aren’t felt just in our day. They are ever present—and certainly they were felt during the early years of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I don’t know why Benjamin Coombs left his lifelong home of Vinalhaven. But I can read between the lines and wonder: Did he leave Vinalhaven because his neighbors made life difficult for him for being a friend to Wilford Woodruff? Or was it because he just didn’t want to be in a community filled with “insidious influences”?

Cultivating respect and charity for our neighbors helps us qualify for and acquire the attributes of Jesus Christ. Courage is one of His attributes, and it comes in many forms. In Benjamin Coombs, his courage manifested itself through his willingness to offer shelter, food, and friendship to Wilford when many of his neighbors would not. He was willing to risk his popularity and even position in society to do what was right. These are the traits I emphasize when I talk about Benjamin Coombs. Based on his actions, I know that Benjamin was a follower of Jesus Christ. I hope I can be as valiant.

Erin B. Hills is a Research Specialist with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project and a graduate of Brigham Young University–Idaho. Erin loves learning about the life of Wilford Woodruff and happily shares all her favorite stories with her family and friends. She lives with her husband and five children in Virginia.

The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation’s mission is to digitally preserve and publish Wilford Woodruff’s eyewitness account of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and make his records universally accessible in order to inspire all people, especially the rising generation, to study and to increase their faith in Jesus Christ. For more information, please explore wilfordwoodruffpapers.org.