Grampa Bill must admit that Elder Gaylord has him completely stymied. Perhaps the gentlereader can help. Read on.
Both the LDS Biographical Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of Mormonism give his date of birth as July 12, 1797. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism gives his date of death July 17, 1878 and states that he was married to Elvira Edmonds. So Far, so good. The dates given fit in well with other events in Elder Gaylord's life. But in an attempt to fill in a few blanks, Grampa visited Family Search dot org and checked the
International Genealogical Index, (IGI) and the Ancestral File, (AF). Whoa!!! No such person appears in either.
The Grampa then visited Roots Web dot com. Well... yeah... they do have a John Gaylord about the same time period but the dates are completely different. His date of birth is January 21, 1779 and his date of death is October 28, 1844. OK, it's a different John Gaylord... except that the Roots Web John Gaylord died in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois!!! Wow! Well, maybe the Rootsweb John Gaylord is the father of our John Gaylord. Did he perchance have a son named John Gaylord? Well, yes he did... but the son died at age of three. Any of you good folks have any answers?
John Gaylord was one of the Seven Presidents of
Seventies, from 1837 to 1838. Whatever his date of birth, he joined the
Church at an early day. He was ordained a Seventy by Hazen
Aldrich Dec. 20, 1836, and set apart as one of the Seven Presidents
of Seventies April 6, 1837, under the hands of Sidney
Rigdon and Hyrum Smith, replacing Sylvester Smith, who had been previously ordained a High Priest
Apostasy and alienation from the leadership of the
Church were rampant in the Kirtland, Ohio area after the failure of the
Kirtland Safety Society. Apparently this spirit of apostasy also affected
Elder Gaylord. At a meeting of the High Council held in Kirtland, Ohio,
Jan. 13, 1838, Elder Gaylord, together with many others, were excommunicated
from the Church for rising up in rebellion against the higher Church authorities.
Henry Harriman was subsequently called to fill the
vacancy in the First Council of Seventies.
Afterwards John Gaylord rejoined the Church on October
5, 1839 and was with the Saints in Nauvoo, where he received his endowments
in the Temple before the Church left for the wilderness. On October 18, 1840,
he was listed as clerk pro tem for the Kirtland Elders Quorum. However
this may be a reconstruction of callings held at an earlier time.
On July 27, 1845 (Sunday), the 28th and 29th quorums
of Seventy were organized in Nauvoo, with John Gaylord and Augustus
A. Farnham as senior presidents.
According to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, John was
married to Elvira Edmonds on Decemer 31, 1840. This information undoubtedly was derived from the Times and Seasons, [a newspaper printed in Nauvoo between 1839 and 1846], Hymenial: [list of marriages] "In Walnut Grove Knox co. Ill. Dec. 31st, 1840, by Elder Wm. Burton Mr. John Gaylord to Miss Elvira Edmonds, both of the same place."
According to Roots Web, their John
was married to Joanna Bagg Daecember 12, 1799 in West Springfield, Hampshire, Massachussetts.This is somewhat corroberated by Elder Luman Shurtliff, who in his autobiograpy states, "About the middle of October, 1828, a man and his family, John Gaylord by name and his wife, Joanne Bagg Gaylord, moved into our neighborhood. They had a large family of children, among them four young persons, two young men and two young women."
Elder Gaylord is said to have died July 17, 1878, place not given, or was it
October 28, 1844 in Nauvoo? I dunno; do you? If he lived to 1878, did he travel west with the saints? I dunno; do you? My final speculation is that the two John Gaylords are father and son (the death at age three notwithstanding) but which of them served in the Preidency of the Seventy, I have not a clue. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
