History of Mormonism: John Taylor

In the History of Mormonism, John Taylor was the third president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Born November 1, 1808, in Milnthrope, Westmorland England, John Taylor received formal schooling until he was 14, where he received training in wood turning and cabinetmaking.  He originally joined the Church of England, but then switched to a Methodist church at the age of 16.  In 1830, he and his family moved to Ontario Canada.  John met his future wife, Leonora Cannon in a Canadian Methodist church.  He married her in 1833.
When Parley Pratt went on a mission, he went to Canada and met the Taylor's.  Leonora was converted first, and then John decided to join.  They both were baptized, and did not realize how much they would contribute to the church.  In 1838, John was ordained an Apostle, and in 1839, he went with some elders and served a mission into England.
Taylor returned to Nauvoo, Illinois to serve as a city councilman, a chaplain, a colonel, a newspaper editor, and a judge advocate for the Nauvoo Legion.  
John was there with Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Carthage Jail when a large mob came to the jail.  They successfully murdered Joseph and Hyrum, and John was severely wounded, but his life was spared when a musket ball hit him in the chest and his pocket watch caught the ball, saving his life.  
John went with the saints to Salt Lake, and after Brigham Young died, he presided as President of the Church.  
He died of congestive heart failure in 1887, and is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.