Matthias F. CowleyMatthias Foss Cowley (August 25, 1858 – June 16, 1940) was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1897 to 1905. He resigned from the Quorum of the Twelve because he refused to accep the church's prohibition of plural marriage. He and John W. Taylor are the most recent LDS Church apostles to resign from their positions. Cowley was born in the Utah Territory city of Salt Lake City. On October 7, 1897, church president Wilford Woodruff consecrated him as an apostle. Moses Thatcher, who had been ousted from the Quorum in the April 1896 general conference, was replaced by him. Cowley was well-known in the church for his doctrinal sermons. Cowley resigned from the Quorum of the Twelve on October 28, 1905, at the request of church president Joseph F. Smith, since his membership in the hierarchy jeopardized the church's position in the Reed Smoot hearings. Cowley was well-known for performing marriages that violated the church's 1890 Manifesto, which forbade the formation of new plural marriages. Read More Read Less