Agnes Taylor
Agnes Taylor Taylor was born on August 22, 1787, to John Taylor and Agnes Whittington Taylor in Pooley, Barton Parish, Westmorland County in England’s Lake District. She lived in several villages in the county until she left home in her late teens, presumably to work in a local manor house, as was the custom for girls her age. She married James Taylor (no relation to her) on December 23, 1805, and they settled in Ackenthwaite. Beginning in 1819, they lived on an estate in Hale that James inherited from an uncle. The family immigrated to the Toronto area of Canada in 1830. In 1833 they left Canada to join the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, then on to Far West, Missouri.
Agnes and James had ten children, five of whom died. One of their surviving sons was John Taylor, who became president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He baptized his parents in May 1836. The Prophet Joseph Smith stayed with Agnes and James for a total of three weeks in 1842 when he needed a place of retreat. They were part of the group of Saints that were forced to leave Nauvoo, but before she crossed the Mississippi River, she was endowed on January 27, 1846. In a company led by John Taylor, the family went by wagon to the Salt Lake Valley, arriving in September 1847. They settled in Salt Lake.
She died on November 15, 1868.
Sources
Leonard Arrington, Susan Arrington Madsen, and Emily Madsen Jones, Mothers of the Prophets, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2009).
