Science Fair Project Encyclopedia John Taylor (1808-1887) - For
others named John Taylor, see John Taylor. Taylor was born in
Milnthorpe, Westmorland (now Cumbria), England. He had formal
schooling up to age fourteen, and then he served an
apprenticeship to a cooper before becoming a woodturner and
cabinetmaker. He was christened in the Church of England, but
joined the Methodist church at sixteen. He was appointed a lay
preacher a year later, and even then felt a calling to preach in
America. His family emigrated to Canada in 1832, where he
married Leonora Cannon from the Isle of Man on January 28, 1833.
Taylor and his wife were baptized as Mormons in 1836 after
meeting with Church apostle Parley P. Pratt in Toronto, and they
were active in the preaching and organization of the church in
Canada. They then moved to Far West, Missouri, where Taylor was
ordained an Apostle on December 19, 1838. He assisted other
church members as they fled frequent conflict to Commerce,
Illinois. In 1839 he and some of his fell