Raised A Man From The Dead
William Branham frequently claimed in his healing revivals that he had raised people from the dead and that these miracles were supported by verifiable, "bona-fide" statements, but newspaper investigations found that at least one major claim collapsed under scrutiny: when Branham told Canadian audiences that he had raised a man from the dead in a Jeffersonville undertaking parlor, reporters contacted the Jeffersonville Evening News, whose staff found no record of such a sensational event and traced the story instead to Elijah Perry, a sick railroad worker whom Branham himself had apparently pronounced dead without a physician present, revealing how Branham's stage persona transformed an unverified private prayer episode into a public resurrection claim.
William Branham frequently claimed to have raised people from the dead during his sermons.[1] According to Branham, he had collected "bona-fide" statements from those who returned to life,[2] claims that could be verified. [3] When newspaper reporters attempted to verify such claims, however, evidence to support such claims could not be found.
And by the way, a man that laid in the morgue, pronounced dead by three doctors when I went in to where he was at, he’s driving a Pennsylvania locomotive tonight, and still they don’t believe. That’s true. That is true. They won’t believe.[4]
On July 23, 1947, the Jeffersonville Evening News put one such claim to rest. During his meetings in Canada, Branham claimed that he had raised a man from the dead after the man had been sent to the undertaking parlor - a claim easily verified. Shortly after Branham's meeting at the Zion Church in Winnipeg,[5] Ted Shrader, a newspaper reporter from the Winnipeg Tribune, attempted to verify the claim by contacting the Jeffersonville Evening News. Jeffersonville reporters informed the Winnipeg Tribune that Branham's claim was false, commenting on how such a startling occurrence would have certainly made the news. After their investigation, Branham's claim to raise the dead could not be substantiated.
This newspaper keeps abreast of local news in Jeffersonville and Clark County, and has been doing so for nearly 75 years, but nowhere in its annals appears such a startling occurrence, and the Winnepeg newspaper was sent a wire saying that we could not substantiate this reported phenomenon.[6]
William Branham frequently made claims that he said could be verified by anyone in his hometown of Jeffersonville. From the "mayor of the city" to "anyone you want to" ask, Branham said that anyone in his hometown could verify the claims made in his revivals. There have been a limited number of people over time who defended Branham from his hometown, but that number is usually limited to those in his cult of personality and mostly by repeating the claims that he made on his recordings.
Go back down through the cities and the places where I’ve come from, ask the city where I come from, Jeffersonville, call the mayor of the city, anyone you want to. Ask them if anything has been said, or—or predicted, but what’s come to pass, just exactly at the time and the place It said it would. See? That’s right. See? Therefore, it’s—it’s true.[7]
After William Branham's faithful was insistent that William Branham had raised a person from the dead, Jeffersonville newspaper reporters investigated.[8] Apparently, Branham came to the aid of one Elijah Perry, 49, at Fairview Avenue, and not in the city morgue. There were no physicians present, and Branham himself was the person who pronounced death.
Though later versions of William Branhams' stage persona claimed that his alleged gift of healing came to him by an angelic visitation in 1947, Branham was claiming in 1946 to have raised a man from the dead in 1939
A sister of Mr. Pery, Mrs. Joseph Frazer, who also lives on Fairview Avenue, talked freely of the occurrence, however, saying that her brother was saved from death in 1939. He as then living on Graham Street between Court avenue and Maple Street. An employee of the Pennsylvania Road, he had suffered injuries in a wreck, and a rib-pierced lung developed into a serious condition. Ill two years, he became worse, and his family believing that life was extinct called Branham in to pray. At that point the man thought to be dying raised from his bed and began praising the Lord. Perry has since recovered sufficiently to be able to do part time work, according to Mrs. Frazer. At the time of Perry's supposed death, there was no physician present.
The Winnepeg Tribune at Winnepeg Manchester, Canada, contacted The Evening News yesterday, stating that Rev. Branham "claims that he raised a man from the dead in a Jeffersonville undertaking parlor" and asked for details.[9]
Jeffersonville Evening News, July 24, 1947