Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-01-15
The Successor Of Brigham Young.

4As SlcCesSor or Brigham Young.
 l The Mormon question among the peo- l pie and m Congress Is fast assuming the excited phase which always precedes a course of action, when action has been long delayed. Whatever may be the disposition of the question, the portrait and biography of the present head of | the Church must be of interest.
 Elder John Taylor, the successor to Brigham Young as the President of the l Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more generally known as Nor mons, was born in Winthrop, County of ! Nestmoreland, England, November 1, 1 loCS. In llIs bOyhoOd he received the advantage Of good, sound English edu- cation, and m early manhood joined the Methodist Church, and became a local preacher Tn that sect. In his twenty fourth year he emigrated to Canada to Ioln hls fathers family who had preced- cd him two years. Shortly after his ar rlval he married Miss LenOra Cannon. a Manx lady, who was residing in Canada as the companion of ile wife of the Governor of the Province This lady tnow deceased) was the unt of Hon. Geo. c. Cannon, Delegate to Congress from Utah.
 Nh Taylor soon became locally con- splcuOus as a religious teacher and re- former in Toronto, and was associated with body Of thoughtful men and wo- men who were dissatisfied with the ex- lstlng forms of religion, and seeking Bible truth by all legitimate means In this state of inquiry, Farley P. Pratt one of the Twelve Apostles of. the Latter-day Church, visited Toronto, which visit re- suited in MT. and Mrs. Taylor and a number of their friends and associates being baptized NIT. Taylor was very shortly afterwards ordained an Elder. and before long appointed to preside over the churches in that region.
 In a short time Elder Taylor visited the main body of the Church to which he had allied himself, in hirtland, Ohio. Here he became conspicuous for the zeal and courage in defending the tenets of MormOnism, and his strong personal friendship for the Prophet, Joseph Smith. He went with the Church to Missouri, where he was ordained one of the Twelve Apostles. He suffered with hls co-religIonists the miseries that at- tended the expulsion of the Mormons from that State in 1855. He took prominent part Tn the reorganization of the fugitive Saints in Illinois, and in the building of the city of Nauvoo. There he became editor of the official journal of the Church, The Times and Seasons. and also of political weekly paper, en- titled the NauvoO Neighbor. He was PssSY9}Se;iated PssY} l9, in the city government as a General and Chaplain, with rank of Colonel in the NauvOO Legion.
 When the two brothers, Joseph and Hiram Smith were confined prisoners m the Carthage jail. Elder Taylor stayed l with them as a friend aad visitor. When they were assassinated he was present, and was himself shot in four places by l the mob. For some months his life l trembled III the balaUce, and he carries one ball in his body to this day. When ! the Mormons were exlled from NauvOo, 1 Elder Taylor accompanied them to the 1 Missouri River. From that point he was sent. with two others, by the Council Of | the Twelve Apostles, on mission to | Encland to regulate the business affairs | of the Church in that land. Leaving hls ! family camped on the river and exposed to all the deprivations and annoyances ! incidental to their situation, he departed | in answer to this call, from which he re- turned the year following tlo4D, when he found bis family encamped at Winter Quarters, about six miles above where l Omaha now stands. He then, as one of the Apostles, took a prominent part ID the organization and guidance of the companies of expatriated Saints who followed the pioneers under Brigham Young in their tOilsOme and perllous journey across the plains and the Rocky Mountains. He was also among the
 most energetic in the formation Of the
 Mormon Battalion of 900 men who en- listed to serve as volunteers m the wal
 with Mexico. He arrived in Salt Lake City in lSf7, and has since been con
 spicuous in the councils of the Churci
 in Utah. He has also been on several preaching missions to foreign lands; chief amon4
 which was one of the earliest to grea
 Britain: those to France and Germanl
 from ISi9 to 1852, when he arranged fo ? and superintended the translation O the Book of Mormon into the trenci 1 and German languages, and m late
 years in the Eastern States, when h % published the Mormon newspaper Il
 New York. At home for number O years he was Speaker of the Ierrltorla
 House of Representatives, was tWlc I elected Territorial Superintendent O
 Schools, and also acted as Probate Judg Q in Utah county. ,e--
 When Brigham Young died, m lol' Elder Taylor stood, by seniority, at tn
 head of the Council of Apostles, an
 consequently was de facto head or tn
 church. For nearly three years tn
 Apostles regulated the affairs of th Church. when the first Presidency wa . reappointed and Elder Taylor was cleo
 ted President, with George z. Canno
 and Joseph r. Smith as hls Counselor
 This is the position he holds to-da.
 He has also been elected trustee l
 Trust for the Church. and holds prom
 inent position as President or Dlrecte
 in most of the business concerns l z which the Church has an interest:
 President TaylOr has been ID hls tim
 and is now for his age, a handsome maj
 Weis of dark complexion, about SIX ie'
 high. of commanding presence, ere,
 carriage and great natural dignity. Il
 ;s Inv many considered the finest pulp
 orator in his church. He has alWa!
 baen noted for great independence
 tbourht and action, uncompromlslng d
 termination and great wlll power. ii
 zeal and fiery eloquence made hlm
 marked man in the earlier years or h
 association with the Mormon peopl
 His policv. thus far, during his Pres
 dency, has been marked for its eonSer cons
 alive character. He has enumerated I
 new doctrines, proposed no innovation
 but determinedly carried out the poi' of his predecessors. Dc Resides his numerous missionary d
 ties President Taylor has written T. number of works on the tenets or n Ny sect and is at present engaged on thr
 or four doctrinal treaties, the most ela or crate of which Is An Examination ID ed inc Doctrine of the Atonement Of O -er Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
 On Amended compliment: A maiden te. advanced years and very plain appe' ns ance having been told by a gentlem ith that she reminded him of lady on ed famed as a belle and who at sixty s' nd retained many traces of her torn tI on beautv. was so elated by the complIl,m1t !, { ,on that she communicated 1t to all