Born in Harpersfield, Ohio; parents baptized when he was six; served mission to Scotland, 1846–48, during which he married Mary Carruth; immigrated with Mary to Salt Lake Valley in 1848; went to California in 1850; living in Greenwood Valley, California, in October 1850; returned to Utah by 1854; served as bishop of South Cottonwood (Murray, Utah) Ward, 1854–72; left the Church because of personal disagreement with Church leaders; died in Murray, Utah. (See Jenson, BE, 4:443; Shurtleff and Cahoon, Reynolds Cahoon and His Stalwart Sons, 99–138; Davies, Mormon Gold, 190, 193; GQC journal, Oct. 18–19, 1850.)