John Taylor — Providential Survival of the Attack

During the martyrdom, John Taylor was shot four times by the mob. One bullet struck his pocket watch, which Richards and other historical accounts suggest may have prevented him from falling out the window into the mob below or absorbed the force of a fatal shot. Despite his severe wounds, Taylor survived the ordeal, which Richards presents as a providential preservation of his life so that he could later serve as the third President of the Church.