William W. Taylor

Who was William W. Taylor?

William Whitaker Taylor was a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature, member of the Presidency of the Seventy in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a son of LDS Church president John Taylor. He was a half brother to John W. Taylor, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who was dropped from the body and excommunicated for refusing to give up plural marriage, and a brother-in-law to George Q. Cannon.

William served a mission in England with his half brother John, but before leaving married the youngest daughter of Abraham Hoagland and Agnes Taylor, 20-year-old Sarah Taylor Hoagland, with whom he eventually had six children.

William reported that while crossing the ocean with John on the Steamship Dakota on the way to England, he had a dream in which Jesus Christ appeared to him, took him by the hand, looked in his face, and asked "Will you ever doubt again?"

Two years after returning from his mission, William was named one of the First Seven Presidents of the Seventy at the age of 26. Soon thereafter he was also appointed to the Council of Fifty.