Essentials in Church History / A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"

by Joseph Fielding Smith

At the death of President Brigham Young, there was rejoicing among the enemies of the Church, who thought it was due to his strong personality and force of character that “Mormonism” endured. They did not, and could not, comprehend that the Church had been restored for the last time, and was destined to endure forever with the stamp of divine approval upon it, for the Power by which it was upheld was higher and greater than the personality of any man. The Lord Jesus Christ was its founder, and he had promised to protect and watch over it unto the end.

The death of President Young again made the council of Twelve Apostles the presiding quorum of the Church, and as such they were unanimously sustained at the October conference in 1877, with President John Taylor at their head. President John Taylor was born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, England, November 1, 1808. About the year 1828 he left his native land and came to Canada, where he received the Gospel in 1836, through the preaching of Elder Parley P. Pratt. He was called to the apostleship in December, 1838, and was actively engaged in the ministry from that time forth. He filled numerous missions and opened the door for the preaching of the Gospel in France in 1850. He superintended the translation of the Book of Mormon in French and German, and was engaged in literary work at home and abroad covering a period of many years. President Taylor was a man of high integrity and strong conviction. He was painfully wounded in Carthage jail—four balls entered his body— at the time of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph and Patriarch Hyrum Smith. Under his administration the Church grew and expanded notwithstanding the fierce and cruel persecution through which it was forced to go, when the government of the United States, without mercy, was arrayed against it.

The Twelve Apostles continued to act as the Presidency of the Church until October, 1880, a little more than three years, when the First Presidency again was organized.

The Decision in the Reynolds Case

The case of Elder George Reynolds, which had been appealed to the supreme court of the United States in 1875, was argued before that body in November 1878. January 6, 1879, that court handed down a decision unanimously confirming the sentence of the courts of Utah, and also declaring the anti-bigamy law of 1862 to be constitutional. This decision was of the utmost concern to the Latter-day Saints, who were confident that the supreme court, in justice, could not give confirmation to a law which they sincerely believed to be an infringement of their religion.

President Taylor’s Comment

President John Taylor, convinced that this decision was an assault on the exercise of religion guaranteed by the Constitution, stated in an interview and in answer to questions from O. J. Hollister, United States internal revenue collector in Utah, the following:

“When the Constitution of the United States was framed and adopted, those high contracting parties did positively agree that they would not interfere with religious affairs. Now, if our marital relations are not religious, what is? This ordinance of marriage was a direct revelation to us through Joseph Smith, the Prophet. You may not know it, but I know that this is a revelation from God and a command to his people, and therefore it is my religion. I do not believe that the Supreme Court of the United States has any right to interfere with my religious views, and in doing it they are violating their most sacred obligations. . . .

“We acknowledge our children; we acknowledge our wives; we have no mistresses. We had no prostitution until it was introduced by monogamy, and I am now told that these other diabolical deeds are following in its train. The courts have protected these people in their wicked practices. We repudiate all such things, and hence I consider that a system that will enable a man to carry out his professions, and that will enable him to acknowledge his wife or wives and acknowledge and provide for his children and wives, is much more honorable than that principle which violates its marital relations and, whilst hypocritically professing to be true to its pledges, recklessly violates the same and tramples upon every principle of honor, which sits down and coolly and deliberately decides how many children shall be murdered and how many shall live.”

An Unjust Sentence

The sentence including “hard labor” pronounced against Elder Reynolds was in excess of the law. On that ground the attempt was made to have the case reopened and the proceedings quashed, but the supreme court of the United States refused to issue such an order. It did, however, remand the case to the supreme court of Utah, with instructions “to cause the sentence of the district court to be set aside, and a new one entered on the verdict in all respects like that before imposed, except so far as it requires the imprisonment to be at hard labor.” A petition from over thirty thousand citizens of the territory, asking for the pardon of the defendant was forwarded to President Rutherford B. Hayes, who ignored it.