George John Taylor

1834– 1914

Son of John and Leonora Taylor; cousin of GQC; born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada; shared his home at Nauvoo, Illinois, with GQC; crossed the plains to Utah in the same wagon train as GQC in 1847; member of first Sunday School class in Salt Lake Valley, started by Richard Ballantyne in 1849; accompanied his father, Angus Cannon, and others on mission to eastern U.S. in 1854; helped publish the Mormon in New York City; served as president of New York conference; presided over Church affairs in the eastern U.S. after his father returned to Utah in 1857; subsequently served mission to England, where he helped publish the Millennial Star; taught grammar and geography at University of Deseret (later University of Utah); established humor paper published in Salt Lake City titled Keep-A-Pitchinin; actively involved in lumber, mercantile, and mining enterprises in later life; died in Salt Lake City. (See “George John Taylor is Called by Death,” Deseret Evening News, Dec. 15, 1914; Taylor, Kingdom or Nothing, 403; Johnson, “On the Edge,” 50–51; Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church, 507–8; Journal History, Mar. 29, 1857; Mormon, Apr. 4, 1857; “Sunday School Jubilee,” 83; GQC journal, July 2, 1851; Mar. 26, May 17, Dec. 31, 1853; Mar. 3, 1854.)