Leonora Cannon Taylor
- Feb 21, 2022
- 3 min read
Married John Taylor at age 37.
Background
Leonora was born on the Isle of Man on October 6, 1796. Her father was a successful sea captain who provided well for his family. In 1832, Leonora moved with the family she worked for to Canada, which is where she met and married John Taylor. She and her husband joined the church in 1836 due to the missionary efforts of Parley P Pratt. Her husband later served a mission to England, where he met and baptized her brother George and helped spread the word of the gospel to England. She died at the age of 72 in Salt Lake City.
Accomplishments
After her father was killed when she was 14, she and her siblings had to leave home and begin work to support their family. She moved to England, where she became a companion to a wealthy woman named Mrs. Vail. Later, she moved back to the Isle of Man and lived with the family of the governor. The connections she made through this employment would bless her more than she could know. She "frequently met with many distinguished people from England," one of which being a Mr. Mason. She became good friends with is daughter. Such good friends, in fact, that when Mr. Mason received a job offer in Canada, his daughter refused to move unless Leonora could come with her. Originally, Leonora did not want to go and rejected the initial invitation. However, the Masons were insistent. Leonora then had a dream in which she was directed to move to Canada. She followed that direction and moved with the family. It is in Canada that she later meets her husband, John Taylor.
John was constantly away from home because of his many assignments as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Leonora learned to support herself and her young children with very few resources. On one such occasion, John was called on a mission to England shortly after his family had arrived in Montrose, a settlement across the Mississippi river from Nauvoo. However, John's departure was delayed for a time, due to a malaria epidemic that swept through Montrose and Nauvoo. When it came time for John to leave, Leonora was still in bed with a fever. He left her alone to care for their three children. Since she was unable to do much, her oldest child George, only six years old at the time, was given the responsibility to fetch water. He would take a bucket to the well and wait there until someone passed by and could fill it for him. Despite these challenges, she and all her children recovered and Leonora was able to continue caring for her family in John's absence.
"The thought of [John] going forth at the command of the God of Israel to revisit my native land, to unfold the principles of eternal truth and make known the things God had revealed for the salvation of the world overcame every other feeling." - Leonora Taylor, about her husband's mission call
Stories
Before joining the Mormon Church, Leonora was a devout Methodist. She began attending a local congregation in Toronto soon after she moved there. The class leader there was a young man named John Taylor. He was 25 at the time, and she was 36. While he quickly took an interest in her, she was not impressed. She thought he was handsome, but he was young, and he had not received a university education. She felt he was not as distinguished as she was. So, she refused his initial marriage proposal. However, like her decision to move to Canada, she had a dream that directed her to marry John. She accepted his second proposal, and they went on to have 4 children together.
When Parley P. Pratt arrived in Toronto, he stopped at the home of John Taylor. John had heard things about the Mormons and was not interested in listening. John claims he was "courteous" but not "cordial" to the missionary. He allowed Parley to stay at his home for one night, but then encouraged him to find lodging elsewhere. Leonora, however, felt differently from her husband. She prayed to know what to do, as she wanted to hear more of his message. Around the time Parley was preparing to leave, the Taylors' neighbor, Isabella Walton, felt prompted to stop by and visit. When she arrived, Leonora explained who Parley was and said, “He may be a man of God; I am sorry to have him depart.” Her friend felt similarly, saying "I feel by the Spirit that he is a man sent by the Lord with a message which will do us good." Mrs. Walton invited Parley to stay at and preach from her home. Through this association, over time, John Taylor's heart was softened and he and Leonora were baptized.
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