John Taylor: From British Convert to OUTLAW PROPHET

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.

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