[George Q. Cannon]
About the middle of the afternoon Bros. A. W. Davis and John W. Woolley drove up in a covered wagon, bringing President Joseph F. Smith with them. I was exceedingly pleased to meet him and we embraced. I have for weeks and months desired his presence; for I felt that in the condition that President Taylor was he should be with us. I have had to bear the whole burden and, it may be said, responsibility of the affairs resting upon the First Presidency for months. President Taylor's health has not been good since last January, and much of the time it has been apparent to me that if decisions were reached and action taken in certain directions, I must assume the responsibility, and have done so, though there are many things that I have not been able to do – which I would liked to have done. President Taylor has been unwilling to have them done, and, of course, I have felt restrained by his wishes or feelings. Yet if there had been two counselors with him it might have been different. ... I had President Taylor's attendants withdraw from the room and took Bro. Joseph F. Smith in, and we were alone. I tried to convey to President Taylor who it was. He was barely conscious and, I think, recognized Bro. Smith. I said to him, among other things, "This is the first time the First Presidency have been together for two years and eight months; how do you feel?" The response came back, in a scarcely distinguishable whisper: "I feel to thank the Lord." To me this meeting was a very affecting one, as it was to Brother Smith also, for he could not but help feel with greater force, because of his absence, the great change that had taken place in President Taylor since he saw him last.
[The Journal of George Q. Cannon, Church Historian's Press, https://churchhistorianspress.org/george-q-cannon]
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