Taylor's son, Samuel, became his biographer and a prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction.

Taylor was a staunch believer in the doctrine of plural marriage, and had in total six wives and 36 children.

[3] As a result, three new apostles were called to replace them and Merrill: George F. Richards, Orson F. Whitney, and David O. McKay.

He died of stomach cancer at his home in Forest Dale, Salt Lake County, Utah, at age 58.

Taylor was posthumously officially rebaptized by proxy and reinstated into the church and on May 21, 1965, received the ordinance of Restoration of Blessings by proxy under the hands of Joseph Fielding Smith, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, with the unanimous approval of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

As an apostle, Taylor had made considerable efforts to assist the Latter-day Saint settlers in Canada.