Charles E. Rowan Jr. October 1934
Working on this blog, I come across some interesting people in church history. Charles E. Rowan Jr was one of those interesting people. Rowan was born on October 18, 1885, in Coyote (Now known as Antimony) Utah to Charles E. Rowan Sr and Delilah King Rowan. He was sent to spread the gospel to the southern states in 1903 to 1905. A few years after his mission, in 1913, he married Irene Noble at the age of 27 and had eight children with her. He was called to be president of the Texas mission on January 8, 1935, and was released on March 23, 1935. He passed away on May 5 1963 in Pheniox Arizona and was buried in the Provo City Cemetery in Provo Utah.
I have shared a previous talk of his, where he shares a story with an elderly woman embracing the gospel. I wanted to share another talk of his, where he shares another story, this one about a man in need of medical attention.
Elder Charles E. Rowan Jr
President of the Texas Mission
My brethren and sisters, I feel it is a great privilege to be in attendance at this conference. I desire to add my testimony to the tributes that have been paid here this morning with reference to the loss that we have sustained in this great church.
I bring you greetings from the Texas Mission and am delighted to say that your sons and daughters, in the main, are well and happy. I believe that without an exception they are enjoying the Spirit of the Lord, that they are enjoying their labors, and that they are anxious to put the message of Mormonism before the people in that part of the Lord's vineyard. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity of serving among those fine people.
I am happy to say to you, this morning, that the mission, so far as I am able to interpret, is going forward. Saturday, as I left the office, the secretary of the Sunday Schools of the mission handed me his report, and he said all of the Sunday Schools have reported the Dime Fund except nine, and ten of them have reported more than one hundred per cent collection. I believe that condition is reflected in most all of the auxiliaries in the Texas Mission.
These branches and these auxiliaries are officered by men and women who have embraced and accepted the Gospel in the mission field. I am happy, my brethren and sisters, I say, to be associated with those fine people. We have had some wonderful things happen to us during this year. The Lord has been kind in opening up the way for our Elders to preach the Gospel. I am sure President Bennion will be happy when I tell him that in one of the southern cities in which, I believe, we have never been privileged before to preach the Gospel, this summer the Elders have been granted the opportunity of preaching on the streets, and they are meeting with a wonderful reception. As I passed through Dallas Sunday morning, I met one of the young men who was instrumental in the hands of the Lord in securing permission from the mayor and the chief of police to preach on the streets in that city, and he was telling me of the splendid reception they were having. In this city they have a higher school of learning which is operated by one of the great churches, and he told me that one of the leading professors in that institution had offered him a scholarship if he would come and attend that institution. A wonderful spirit is prevailing, and many people are being led into the Church. We are grateful for these things.
I rejoice in the testimony that the missionaries have. I rejoice in the power and manifestation of the Spirit of God that is present in that mission field. I have here a testimony that I would like to read that seems to me to be rather unusual. It is about a young man who lives in Evanston, Wyoming. He has been a student in the East. I think he spent four years studying to become a doctor. After that I understand that he specialized in abnormal psychology and was employed in that profession at the time this accident occurred. I am going to just take the time to read the story as it was written to me by the sister of this good man.
With a group of friends Carlton went to Galveston Bay to swim. There were many people there enjoying the swimming and diving. My brother became separated from his friends, but as he ran along the pier and was about to make a dive his feet slipped and he fell, striking the bottom of the Bay, breaking his neck (6th and 7th Cervical). Strange as it may seem, he was not knocked unconscious, and the first thought that came was that he was at the end of his life; no one had seen the accident. He was determined to hold his breath as long as possible, but just when he realized his end was near, and he had found it was impossible to move on account of being totally paralyzed from his neck down, he found that someone had found him and was bringing him to the surface of the water. Strange as it may seem, one of his companions stopped for a moment on the pier and amid those hundreds of people saw this man disappear and found that he did not come to the surface. He dived in after Carlton, and when he brought him to the surface found it was his friend. He said: "Carlton, put your arm around me. I did not know that I was rescuing you." Carlton replied and said: "I can't move I have broken my neck. Get me to the hospital as quickly as possible."
Arriving at the hospital the best doctors were called into consultation. They marveled, when they had Carlton on the operating table, that he helped to diagnose his own case. He asked their opinion about the possibility of his living. He was informed that it would be impossible for him to live three days. He smiled and said: "Well, I just can't die. Life is sweet. I must live for Mother."
The next morning after the operation the doctors expected him to be unconscious, but when they opened the door of his room, he greeted them and said: "Good morning, doctors. I have a hard fight before me, but I am going to win."
Awaking from a short sleep he saw a minister standing over him and he said : "Young man, I have come to have you make peace with God before the end." Carlton asked him to please leave the room; that his church had always taught him to love God.
For two weeks after his loved ones arrived from the West they tried to locate the Elders, and finally located President Rowan. President Rowan and Brother Baxter came to the hospital and administered to Carlton, and from that time on Carlton began to improve. So wonderful was his recovery that the doctors marveled. They were impressed with the fine young missionaries who came from time to time to visit. They were eager to know who the group of fine men were. Those doctors did not take credit unto themselves for this miraculous recovery, but said : "It is Carlton's faith in God that has accomplished this." Another one said : "Give all the credit to God. It is Carlton's fine clean living and his faith that has accomplished this."
I talked with a lady, the sister of the president of that stake, yesterday, and she told me that he was continuing to improve. They removed him from the hospital in Houston, and he has been brought back to Wyoming, where he continues to improve. We feel that the Lord was unusually kind to; him.
During the summer we have had a little sickness among the Elders. One of them developed heart trouble, circulatory trouble of the heart. We took him to one of the best heart specialists in the South, and discovered, when we found this man, that he was a friend to the Church; he was a friend to the members of the Church. He was born and raised in Canada, a highly educated man. He told me with his own lips that in 1907 he spent three months practicing in the state of Utah, in a little country town, and that his association with the Mormon people had been most pleasant. Said he to me: "Brother Rowan, I realize that there is power in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
This doctor gave a remarkable testimony of a case of healing that came under his observation. He said a woman had been attended by a midwife and she, after several days, had developed blood-poisoning and was in a very critical condition. They called in this doctor. "Too late," he said, but he worked with all his might, with all the power he could muster, and with all of the intelligence that he had. He said two men came into the home and asked him if he would have any objection to them going in and administering to this woman, and he said : "None whatever." Then he asked these men if they had any objection to his going in with them. He said this bishop went in, together with his companion, clothed in overalls, and one of them poured oil on the head of this woman. The other, in company with his companion, laid his hands upon her head and gave her a marvelous blessing. Then a beautiful smile came over her face and she said : "Now I shall live, doctor" ; and she lived. I have his letter with me, and he says in this letter that it was a power greater than his that restored the life of that individual.
May God bless you, brethren and sisters. May you live your religion. May each of us appreciate our heritage, and may we live in such a manner that the Lord our God will continue to bless us, I humbly pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Bibliography
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Charles Elliot Rowan, Jr..” Charles Elliot Rowan, Jr. | Church History Biographical Database, Church History Biographical Database, history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/individual/charles-elliot-rowan-jr-1885?lang=en. Accessed 5 July 2025.
“Charles Elliot Rowan Jr. (1885-1963) - Find a...” Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/21061702/charles_elliot-rowan. Accessed 5 July 2025.
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