The Baptist Witness. Pittsburgh, PA, March 1, 1875.
In 1875, A. H. Dunlevy cited Dr. Lammi Rigdon, of Hamilton, Ohio, regarding his younger brother:
“..Sidney Rigdon, when quite a boy, living with his father some fifteen miles south of Pittsburgh on a farm, was thrown from his horse, his foot entangled in a stirrup and dragged some distance before relieved. In this accident he received such a contusion of the brain as ever after seriously to affect his character and in some respects, his conduct. In fact, his brother always considered Sidney a little deranged in his mind by that accident. His mental powers did hot seem to be impaired, but the equlibrium in his intellectual exertions seemed thereby to have been sadly affected. He still manifested great mental activity and power, but he was to an equal degree inclined to run into wild and visionary views on almost every question. Hence he was a fit subject for any new movement in the religious world…”
http://solomonspalding.com/docs/1882PatA.htm#pg436b
In the Braden-Kelley debate of 1884, Clark Braden, a minister in the Disciples of Christ, described Rigdon’s preaching & illness, attributing it to an accident in his youth:
“As [a] Baptist and Disciple preacher he [Rigdon] was noted for his spread eagle eloquence and ability to get up revival excitements. He had been hurt in youth and it left him with a tendency to epileptic spells. He would often while preaching, especially in revival excitements, have such spells and see visions and swoon, have trances, etc. This tendency caused his preaching to be wild, visionary and extravagant…His preaching attracted the visionary and fanatical.”