George Reynolds

George Reynolds (January 1, 1842 – August 9, 1909) was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), a longtime secretary to the church's First Presidency, and a party to the 1878 United States Supreme Court case Reynolds v. United States, the first freedom of religion case to issue from that court.

Early life

Reynolds was born in Marylebone, England, to George Reynolds and Julia Ann Tautz. He spent much of his childhood under the care of his maternal grandmother. His grandmother employed a maid, Sarah White, who invited nine-year-old Reynolds to attend an LDS Church meeting with her. Reynolds received permission from his grandmother to do so; Reynolds attended a sacrament meeting of the church's Paddington Branch with White, and almost immediately decided that he wished to become a member.

Reynolds's parents refused to allow him to be baptized a member of the church. Often, he would disobey his parents and attend church in Paddington. When Reynolds was 14 years old, he attended the church's Somers Town Branch and asked to be baptized. Reynolds was baptized on May 4, 1856; Reynolds was confirmed a member of the church by the branch president, George Teasdale, on May 11, 1856.

In December 1856, Reynolds was given the Aaronic priesthood and ordained to the office of deacon. In May 1857, at the age of 15, Reynolds was ordained to the office of priest. Reynolds engaged in open-air preaching in the streets of London, usually with an adult elder of the church. After Reynolds began street preaching, his parents discovered that he had become a Latter-day Saint.