| 779 visited Canada in 1837, Elder Taylor was by them ordained a high priest.
On July 8, 1838, he, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, and Willard Richards, were designated by revelation to fill the places of the two Johnsons, McLellin, and Boynton in the Quorum of Twelve. He soon after removed to Kirtland, thence to Missouri.
December 19,1838, he was ordained an apostle, by Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball.
He shared in the troubles of the saints in Missouri, and took an active part in petitioning for redress. In 1839 and 1840 he accompanied his quorum in prosecuting a mission in England. His labors extended to Scotland and the Isle of Man.
He returned to America in 1841, and at the October conference of that year was appointed one of a committee to petition Congress for a redress of wrongs. In November, 1842, he became the editor of the Times and Seasons, and continued to act in that capacity until the paper was discontinued in February, 1846.
He was voluntarily in Carthage jail when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were assassinated, June 27, 1844, and was severely wounded by four balls, from which he subsequently recovered.
He was among the members of his quorum who sustained the measures of Brigham Young in 1844, and shared the fortunes of the people who followed him in their western exodus. Having remained in Utah after the pioneers left there in 1847, he was not present at the reorganization under Brigham Young which took place at Council Bluffs in December, 1847.
In October, 1880, he was chosen by the Utah people as President of their organization, to succeed Brigham Young, who died August 29,1877. In this capacity he served the remainder of his life. He died July 25, 1887, presumably at Kaysville, Utah. He was at the time in hiding to escape arrest at the hands of United States officers, as he had some time before been indicted for polygamy or unlawful cohabitation.
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