In May, 1830, he was employed to run a flour mill for Mr. Samuel Collins of Collinsville, Connecticut. At first he went to board with about thirty young men. These being of a worldly turn of mind, he did not enjoy their influence and therefore took up his residence in the family of Mr. Dudley D. Sackett. About this time, under the influence of a religious revival, his brother Asahel made profession of religion and seemed very devoted. Wilford became specially anxious to know the will of the Lord. "I prayed night and day, and the Lord blest me with much of His spirit. These began to be the happiest days of my life. I felt that the sun, moon, and stars; the mountains, hills, and valleys; and that all creation were united in the praise of the Lord." "My work in the mill was very light and I passed much of my time in reading, in meditation, and in prayer. I read the Bible and it was like a new book to me. I received much light in perusing its sacred pages. If I was cast down, tried, or {28} tempted, I found in it relief in connection with the Spirit of God. The religious reformation continued in Farmington and a number of my relatives were actively engaged in the service of the Lord according to the best light they had. Among them were my Uncle Ozem Woodruff and his wife Hannah. They were good people and I was much attached to them, having lived with them a good deal in my early life. I enjoyed their society very much. "A short distance from the mill was a beautiful island upon the top of which was a level field covered with flowers. The island was surrounded by a rapid current of water dashing over the rocks. The banks of the current were thickly studded by tall, waving pines. I chose this pleasant retreat on the top of the island as my place of prayer and supplication. I retired to it many times, both by day and by night and offered up my soul in prayer to the Lord. I never shall forget the happy hours I spent alone in mediation and prayer upon that solitary island. When sitting there alone, there would come to my mind the words of Robert Pollock: 'In the wide desert where the view was large, Pleasant were many scenes, but most to me The solitude of vast extent untouched by hand Whose nature sowed herself and reaped her crop; Whose garments were the clouds; whose minstrels, brooks; Whose lamps, the moon and stars; whose organ choir, The voice of many waters; whose banquets, The falling leaves; whose heroes, storms; whose warriors, Mighty winds; whose lovers, flowers; Whose orators, the thunderbolt of God; Whose palaces, the everlasting hills; Whose ceilings, Heaven's unfathomable blue; And from whose rocky turrets battled high Prospects immense spread out on all sides in air, Lost now between the welkin and the main, Now walked with hills that slept above the storm.'