Agnes Taylor

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Agnes Taylor
Agnes Taylor
Born October 2, 1821(1821-10-02)
Westmoreland, England
Died December 12, 1911 (aged 90)
Salt Lake City, Utah
Spouse John Rich
Abraham Hoagland
Wilhelm Schwartz

Agnes Taylor Rich Hoagland Schwartz (October 2, 1821–December 11, 1911) was a Mormon pioneer who played a key role in helping her brother, Mormon church president John Taylor, evade authorities during the federal crackdown on polygamy in the mid-1880s. She was also the mother-in-law of later church president Joseph F. Smith and of William W. Taylor, and a wife of Abraham Hoagland.

Taylor was born to James and Agnes Taylor in an English village called Hale in Westmorland. Her older brother, John, would later become president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1838, 17-year-old Taylor married John Rich in Carthage, Illinois. They eventually settled in Nauvoo and had four children before divorcing when Taylor wanted to go west with the main body of Latter Day Saints in the late 1840s.[1][2]

In 1847, Taylor married 50-year-old Abraham Hoagland at age 26.[3] They had five children together[4] before divorcing in 1861[5] upon the recommendation of Brigham Young.[6] Their daughter Sarah married William Whitaker Taylor.

In 1862, Taylor was 41 when she married Wilhelm Schwartz, a 24-year-old Prussian immigrant.[7] They had two children together, the second of whom, Mary Taylor Schwartz, married 43-year-old Joseph F. Smith in 1884 at the age of 18.

Gardo House, Salt Lake City, Utah
Gardo House, Salt Lake City, Utah

By the time her brother became church president, the Edmunds-Tucker Act began putting intense pressure on him to observe the anti-bigamy law. He sought to comply with the law by moving into the Gardo House with Agnes.[8] She took over management of the mansion while he continued his duties as president.[9][10] In March 1885, soon after John Taylor's final public appearance, federal marshals made a massive raid on the mansion to capture him. This and subsequent raids were unsuccessful, and his "tough-minded sister ... often held raiding marshals and deputies at bay at the front door of the mansion, admitting no one unless he presented papers properly signed by a federal judge."[11][12] After her brother's 1887 death, Taylor vacated the house.[13][14]

Taylor died in Salt Lake City, Utah.[15] Joseph F. Smith, Francis M. Lyman, Charles W. Penrose, Frank Y. Taylor, and Hyrum M. Smith each spoke at her funeral.[16][17]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Black, Susan Easton. Members, LDS, 1830-1848, Vol 42, 539, 615, 616. 
  2. ^ Black, Susan Easton (1980). Pioneers of 1847, 76. 
  3. ^ Hancock County Marriage Register, 38. 
  4. ^ "" (1940). The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine: vi. Genealogical Society of Utah. 
  5. ^ Summary of Abraham Hoagland Journals: 1857 to 1870 (.pdf) 5. George Q. Cannon Family Association. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
  6. ^ Arrington, Leonard J.. Brigham Young: American Moses, 317-318. 
  7. ^ "" . Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude 4: 3021. 
  8. ^ Cowley, Matthias F. (2006). Prophets and Patriarchs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Kessinger Publishing, 68. ISBN 1428601805. 
  9. ^ Taylor, Samuel Woolley (1976). The Kingdom Or Nothing: The Life of John Taylor, Militant Mormon. Macmillan, 302. ISBN 0026166003. 
  10. ^ Larson, Gustive Olof (1976). The "Americanization" of Utah for Statehood. Utah: Huntington Library, 166-167. OCLC 155085. 
  11. ^ "" (March 13, 1885). Journal History. 
  12. ^ The Gardo House: A History of the Mansion and Its Occupants. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
  13. ^ "Letter from Wilford Woodruff to Agnes T. Schwartz." August 20, 1887 First Presidency Letterpress Copy Books. 1887—August–September.
  14. ^ First Presidency Letterpress Copy Books. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
  15. ^ Jenson, Andrew. "December 12, 1911 (Tuesday)", Church Chronology. 
  16. ^ "Tributes to Worth of Mrs. Agnes Schwartz: President Smith and Others Speak Highly of Life of Noble Woman", Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News, Friday, December 15, 1911. 
  17. ^ Agnes Schwartz Biography. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
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