John Taylor
John Taylor was born into a large family in 1812. His parents were William and Elizabeth Patrick Taylor.
William and Elizabeth lived in North Carolina and Kentucky. Then they made the difficult journey to eastern Missouri and settled in Monroe County in 1830 or 1831. Their son Pleasant Green later described that area in his autobiography as follows: "This part of Missouri at that time was a wilderness, inhabited by the Red man, and numerous wild animals abounded here. It was a beautiful country, consisting of prairie and timber land. William had a home consisting of 640 acres of very valuable land."
Three Patrick/Taylor families coming from Warren County, Kentucky, were all established in Monroe County, Missouri during the year 1831. William and Elizabeth Taylor sold their 1831 grant to John F. Grigsby on 3 April 1832. They then obtained three other land grants, the first dated 9 May 1832, described as "the East Quarter of Section #4, Township No. 53, Range 8 West." The second one adjoining the previous two, was obtained 23 April 1834.
Evidently some missionaries of the Church of Christ [Latter Day Saints] found the William Taylor family in Monroe County sometime in 1832--probably springtime. William thought he was the first person to be baptized into the Church in the State of Missouri. Baptized after hearing only one sermon, he was soon ordained an Elder and became an earnest expounder of the doctrines of the Church. He became a member of the Salt River Branch which was organized in that area, also known as the Bowling Green Branch.
The family joined the early Mormon church and John visited Jackson County before the expulsion to check out the church colony experiment. The family moved to Caldwell around 1837. John's father moved to Caldwell County and purchased land in Township 7, W ½ of SE ¼ of sec 19, 80 acres, on 8-26-1837. John's brother Allen also purchased land nearby: Township 7 SE ¼ of SE ¼ of sec 19, 40 acres, on 8-30-1836. This was at what became the Allred Settlement, ten miles or so southeast of Far West. John married and things went well for a time, until the 1838 Missouri Mormon War broke out. The Taylor family moved into Far West for safety and to help defend the city.
After the surrender of the city, the Taylors returned to their home, a distance of eight miles. There they found that about 7,000 of the mob had camped for two nights at or near their place, turning their horses into the Taylor's cornfield. The mob ate or destroyed about 300 bushels of potatoes, 75 geese, 100 chickens, several head of cattle, 40 head of hogs, 20 stands of bees; too, they had burned about one mile of rail fence in their campfires.
But, John's wife, Eleanor, was expecting a child so they remained behind in Far West until the child was born in early March 1839.
John's Return to Long Creek
Temple Lot Suit Testimony
Q. When did you leave Far West?
A. …I moved from Far West down on what is called Long Creek, about ten or twelve miles from Far West to where my father was, and I was fixing to move, for my father had teams and I had no team, so my father fixed me out with a team.
Q. Now at the time, -what time of the year was it that you left Far West and went down to your fathers place, -what time of the year was that, and how long before you started for Illinois?
A. Well I think it was, -well now I think my wife was confined, -well it was about two weeks I think before I went down to my fathers. I think the child was about two weeks old before or at the time I started for my fathers place. …I don't know exactly the distance it was to my fathers place, but it was down on what was called Long Creek, - it was seven or eight miles, perhaps further, -or something like that. [John Taylor, testimony, P51, box 1, folder 12, page 412, Temple Lot Suit depositions, Community of Christ Archives, Abstract of Testimony Temple Lot Suit, 188-194].
On 8 February 1839, the extended Taylor Family moved again, en route to Quincy, Illinois. They left 1000 bushels of corn in a crib, for which they received an old neck yoke, valued at $2.50. They received nothing for their farm and improvements. Together with other faithful Saints, they were expelled from their homes and from the State of Missouri by order of Governor Boggs.
John Taylor was born 5 December 1812 near Richardsville, Warren, Kentucky. He married on 8 April 1834, Eleanor Burkett, at Liberty, Clay, Missouri. John and Eleanor led an adventuresome life. According to the Journal of John's brother-in--law, Hosea Stout, John and Eleanor went to Texas in 1844 (after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith) with the Lyman Wight settlement. They also lived in Oklahoma apparently, according to the birthplaces for some of their children. They raised livestock. It is said that John was good friends with Zachary Taylor, and with Governor Sam Houston. He came to Utah in the summer of 1854, according to Hosea Stout. He then went to Montana and tried his hand at gold mining. He eventually moved back to Utah and settled at Plain City, Weber, Utah, which is west of Harrisville. He resided there until he died on 7 February 1896. Both he and Eleanor were buried at the Ogden City Cemetery, Weber, Utah.
Eleanor Burkett was born 2 July 1815 at Butler, Ross, Ohio. She was the daughter of George Burkett and Sarah Jane Smith. She had 13 children, with two sets of twins. She died 11 June 1905 at Plain City, Weber, Utah. [http://www.taylorassociation.org/biographies/taylor/taylor_john_1812-1896.htm]
Taylor, Allen- b: 1815-1891 (s/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Amanda Malvina- b: 1835 d: 1845 (d/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Elizabeth (Patrick)- b: December 9, 1793 d: October 25, 1880 (w/o William Taylor)
Taylor, Elizabeth Ann- b: 1821 d: 1906 (d/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, James Caldwell- b: 1837 d: 1907 (s/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, John- b: 1812 d: 1896 (s/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Joseph- b: 1825 d: 1900 (s/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Julie Ann- b: 1816 d: 1898 (d/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Levi- b: 1830 d: 1909 (s/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Louisa- b: 1819 d: 1853 (d/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Mary Ann- b: 1818 d: 1842 (d/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Nancy Jane- b: 1833 d: 1900 (d/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Pleasant Green- b:1827 d: 1917 (s/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, Sarah K.B.- b: 1823 d: 1909 (d/o William and Elizabeth (Patrick) Taylor)
Taylor, William- b: March 21, 1787 d: September 9, 1839 (h/o Elizabeth (Patrick)
[http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilhancoc/Nauvoo.html]