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Illiterate Until His Twenties
Started working in mill fields at age six. His wife Polly taught him to read and write using only the King James Bible.
An uneducated Yorkshire plumber who could not read until his wife taught him using the Bible, Smith Wigglesworth became one of the best-known figures of the Pentecostal movement. Biographical accounts report that he prayed for people who were said to have returned to life.
CORE CONVICTION
“I am not moved by what I see. I am moved only by what I believe.”
LESSER-KNOWN FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT
According to the account attributed to Wigglesworth, in 1914 he was summoned to the home of Mrs. Clarke in Bradford after she had succumbed to illness and had been pronounced dead by her attending doctor. The account says that after he prayed, her breath returned and she walked across the room. It was later described as corroborated by local doctors and church members.
HISTORICAL RECORDS
Started working in mill fields at age six. His wife Polly taught him to read and write using only the King James Bible.
He refused to read newspapers, magazines, or secular books, declaring that he wanted nothing in his mind that could dilute his absolute trust in scripture.
Ran a busy commercial plumbing business in Bradford until his late forties, often praying for homeowners while fixing pipes and seeing them healed.