Before Benny Hinn, there was Jeremiah of Breathitt County:
Breathitt is the only county in the State which has the honor of producing a man who professed to be endowed with supernatural and divine power. He was known as Jeremiah, (Lovelace) the Prophet, and I was intimately acquainted with him. He professed that by laying on of his hands he could perform miracles-heal the sick, restore the blind to sight, relieve the most excruciating pain, and also walk upon water. To prove his claims he exhibited his divine power before an audience by treating several patients with great success, as testified by the statements of several subjects upon whom he operated.
Many of those present at the exhibition believed in his divinity, but there were several "Doubting Thomases" present who were not and could not be convinced of his infallibility until they could see him walk upon the water. So, for that purpose he made an appointment to meet them near his residence below the mouth of Frozen creek, on the Kentucky, on an evening of the following week.
In the meantime he procured three thick planks, ten feet long and about eighteen inches wide. Then he made three trestles and placed them in the river about nine feet apart and six inches below the surface of the water, and on these trestles he placed three planks, running them straight out in the river and the end of the first plank being near the water's edge on the ground and about eight inches below the surface.
The boys of the neighborhood suspected the deception he was trying to play on the public, and when they investigated and found the planks, they removed the middle one without the Prophet's knowledge. At the time appointed a big crowd assembled to witness the performance. It was about dark, but the moon was shining brightly when the Prophet made his appearance, arrayed in a long white robe, and after offering up a short prayer he gave directions to the audience to sing a familiar hymn when he commenced walking on the water. He then started for the water, and about the time the audience had sung the last line of the first verse he reached the end of the first plank. On his next step he went overboard into the water, where he struggled for some time, his long robe being an obstacle to his swimming.
He was about to drown when he called to his audience: "Brethren, save me or I perish!" A man in the crowd answered, "Can't give you any assistance-all dam'd fools like you ought to drown!" He finally got ashore, but was never known to walk on the water again. I was not present on this occasion, but afterwards did see the planks upon which it was said he walked.
.jpg)
.jpg)
