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All He Needs is a Coffin

Andrew May was born February 22, 1871, at Call’s Fort, north of Brigham City in Box Elder County, Utah. It was there in June 1894 that Andrew suffered a terrible injury. He was up on a loose haystack. This is Andrew’s own account of what happened:

“It was about eleven AM In the forenoon and Conrad Nelson was running the Jackson fork. The hay was green. A load came up and I called to Nelson to trip it and I thought the fork had gone over me. As I raised up, the long fork tine stuck me in the back and went right through my body. The tine broke my ribs and pushed the bones through my breast.

“Hyrum G. Smith (late Patriarch of the Church) was working across the fence and was one of the first to reach me. He helped carry me on a sheet into Brother Wright’s house. They sent to Brigham City for Dr. Carrington, who arrived about 5 PM. He just looked me over, probed the wound, took some blood out of my lungs through my breast and said… ‘There is no use doing anything for a dead man, all he needs is a wooden overcoat (a coffin). He will not need anything more. I cannot do anything for him…’”

The doctor declared that even if Andrew by some miracle did survive, he would be weak and sickly the rest of his life. And with that, the doctor returned to Brigham City without treating him. Andrew continues:

“President Lorenzo Snow was in Brigham City and the next morning he heard of my accident…and came to our house to see me. He and my father were good friends. He came in, looked me over, and my wife asked him to administer to me. Instead of doing so, he stood by the bedside and asked if I had been anointed. He was told that I had. He then put his hands on my head and gave me a wonderful blessing. The doctor said I was going to die, but President Snow said to me I would not die, but that I would live just as long as life was desirable unto me. He said if I would be faithful to the gospel, I would hold responsible positions in the Church and that I would fill a mission.”

The local Brigham City Bugler reported:

“He seemed to almost immediately revive, and now declares that at the time he heard and felt the pieces of the broken rib reunite. He has practically suffered no pain since, from the terrible wound, and has been able to sleep comfortably every night since the accident. His recovery has been so steady and rapid as to be a marvel to his friends.”

As to serving a mission, Andrew was called to serve as a missionary in New York, where the Church began. He was a bold and courageous missionary.

On June 28, 1908, Andrew was called as bishop of the Rockland Idaho Ward, a position he would hold longer than any other man in that ward – just under seventeen years. His ward members said of him, “Bishop May was a jovial man. He could get a laugh out of most any occurrence, yet he had a tender heart. He was not easily offended. He was like a green sapling, which, when bent to the ground by a rude hand, would spring back to normal once the hold was released.”

Andrew May concluded his testimony by saying:

“I have been, and am now Representative in the Idaho Legislature, from Power County, Idaho. President Snow said I would always be active and that I would take pleasure in my work. I have good health. Everything President Snow said has been fulfilled. I have borne this testimony hundreds of times.”

And as to the long life promised by President Snow, Andrew May passed away February 6, 1958, just sixteen days short of his eighty-seventh birthday.

Sources:

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWCY-HLL

Story recommended by Aaron Clegg