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Video Transcript:
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we hear a lot about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. But we don’t hear much about the 3rd president of the Church, John Taylor. And that’s a shame because the guy had a wild life. Let’s talk about him.
First things first—Did you guys know John Taylor was born in England? We’ve had a British prophet! He was born in 1808 and was the second oldest out of 10 kids. He grew up in the Church of England but converted to Methodism at about 16 years old. In 1832, John followed his family and emigrated to Toronto, Canada. In Toronto, he and several others would get together to “investigate the doctrines of the Christian religion as contained in the Bible.” Through their investigations, they became convinced that Methodism lacked true priesthood authority. John subsequently retained his membership but lost his office in Methodism, which wasn’t a huge deal because he didn’t believe the church had any authority anyway.
Enter stage right: My man, the Latter-day Saint apostle, Parley P. Pratt. Why was Parley in Toronto? Well, because in a blessing given to him by Heber C. Kimball, Parley was told to “go to Upper Canada, even to the city of Toronto, the capital, and there thou shalt find a people prepared for the gospel….” But it wasn’t all butterflies and rainbows at first.
John had heard various rumors about the Latter-day Saints and did not give Parley a particularly warm welcome. Eventually, though, he was allowed to preach in John’s study group. After Parley’s preaching, John said to the group, “We are here, ostensibly in search of truth. Hitherto we have fully investigated other creeds and doctrines and proven them false. Why should we fear to investigate Mormonism? … I desire to investigate his doctrines and claims to authority … If I find his religion true, I shall accept it, no matter what the consequences may be; and if false, then I shall expose it.” John and his wife, Leonora, were baptized soon after, on May 9th, 1836.
John presided over the Church in Canada for a time, and then in 1837, he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Once John Taylor was converted, he stayed converted. The dude was all-in from beginning to end, come what may. When even Parley P. Pratt faltered, John Taylor was there to help him back. A couple of years after his baptism, he was preparing to preach in a town near Columbus, Ohio. Some fellow Latter-day Saints tried to stop him because they’d heard that some of the townsfolk were planning to tar and feather him.
John went anyway. He began his preaching by passionately commending the congregation’s patriotic ancestors who fought for the rights and liberties offered in America. He then verbally thrashed those who wished to trample on those freedoms by planning to tar and feather him. You can pause and read what he said. He tore open his vest and continued, “Gentlemen, come on with your tar and feathers; your victim is ready, and ye shades of the venerable patriots, gaze upon the deeds of your degenerate sons!” No one budged, and John went on to preach for another three hours or so.
John Taylor was with Joseph and Hyrum Smith on June 27, 1844, when they were murdered. He didn’t have to be. He wasn’t a prisoner. He knew the risk of danger and even asked Joseph if he could go back to Nauvoo to gather some men to break Joseph and Hyrum out of jail, but Joseph refused. The mob came. John ended up being shot once in the left thigh, once below the left knee, once in the left hip, and once in the left forearm. If you’d like the more graphic account of John’s injuries, you can pause and read how B. H. Roberts described them.
Needless to say, John survived and healed. In 1846, he served a mission to England and made it back in time in 1847 to help lead 1,500+ Saints across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. He accepted another mission call to Europe in 1849, serving in France and Germany. While there, he helped supervise the translation of the Book of Mormon into French and German.
In addition to being an eloquent speaker, John was also a skilled writer. He was the editor of the Times and Seasons, the Wasp, and the Nauvoo Neighbor in the 1840s. For a few years in the 1850s, he published a periodical in New York called The Mormon to counter Eastern rumors about the Saints in the West. My favorite thing about this publication was the scroll featured on the left side of the header, which just says “Mormon Creed. Mind Your Own Business.”
You see, the hot topic of the day, and the next few decades, was plural marriage. Like many others, John was initially repulsed by the teaching but came to accept, practice, and ardently defend it. Researcher J. Lewis Taylor noted that “John had at least sixteen wives; the more well-known seven bore thirty-four children, and with one adoption, he had thirty-five in all—twenty-two sons and thirteen daughters. Apparently, he did not live in an intimate conjugal relationship with several wives, serving only as guardian.”
John Taylor became the 3rd president of the Church in October of 1880, a couple of years after the death of Brigham Young. In April of 1882, at general conference, John warned the membership that a storm was coming. That storm was the passing of the 1882 Edmunds Act, which made polygamy a felony and cohabitation a misdemeanor. Soon, Latter-day Saint polygamists were being hunted down by federal officials and arrested. Many polygamist men went into hiding. John sent some families south to start settlements in Mexico beyond the reach of American laws. Some of those “Mormon Colonies” are still around today, though they, of course, no longer practice polygamy. Ultimately, in 1885, President Taylor himself had to leave the iconic Gardo House and also go into hiding. He ran the Church and communicated with his family largely via letters. His ability to lead the Church was severely limited during this time, but at the end of the day, he helped keep the Church’s head above water during a very trying time. In 1887, John passed away at the age of 78 while still in exile.
The guy was stalwart, faithful, and apparently a pretty good singer. He was succeeded by Wilford Woodruff, whose life sort of played out like a Final Destination movie, but that’s another story.
Learning More:
— “The Life of John Taylor,” by B. H. Roberts, available online here: http://tinyurl.com/55xcx6an
— See also, “Presidents of the Church,” by Manschill, Freeman, & Wright (not available online).
— “Classic Stories from the Lives of Our Prophets,” by Leon R. Hartshorn, available online here: http://tinyurl.com/mpv6u75z
— “The Life and Ministry of John Taylor,” via the Church’s website: http://tinyurl.com/33fwxwmx
— “Why a Prophet Was Forced into Hiding (+ How He Managed to Still Lead the Church),” via LDSLiving: http://tinyurl.com/vk4s6n5z
— “John Taylor’s Pocket Watch,” via the Church History Library (results of a multi-year investigation into whether the watch was struck by a bullet or not): http://tinyurl.com/vhn892ze
— “John Taylor: Family Man,” by J. Lewis Taylor (BYU RSC): http://tinyurl.com/yck8dbtw
— John Taylor, Adopted Son of America,” by Casey Paul Griffiths (BYU RSC): http://tinyurl.com/8rkvs5ne
— “Administration from the Underground,” by Eric Perkins and Mary Jane Woodger (BYU RSC): http://tinyurl.com/mfs83rhn
— “The Gardo House: A History of the Mansion and Its Occupants,” via HistoryToGo: http://tinyurl.com/asb4sz6z
— “The John Taylor Nauvoo Journal: January 1845-September 1845,” by Dean Jessee (BYU Studies): http://tinyurl.com/5dctc3jm