Cannon, George Q. (George Quayle), 1827-1901
Dates
- Existence: 1827 - 1901
Biographical History
George Q. Cannon (1827-1901) worked as the Utah Territory Delegate to the United States House of Representative for several years. He also served as a missionary, mission president, and apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
George Q. Cannon was born in Liverpool, England, on January 11, 1827. He was the oldest child of George and Ann Quayle Cannon. The Cannon family sailed to the United States in 1842 after being converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and baptized by John Taylor, the husband of George's aunt, Leonora Cannon. Shortly after arriving in Nauvoo, Illinois, George Cannon lost both of his parents. He was raised in John and Leonora Taylor's home and worked as a printer's apprentice.
George Cannon moved west to Utah with the Taylor family, arriving in 1847. Soon after their arrival, George served a mission first in California, and then to the Sandwich Islands, where he mastered the Hawaiian language. He later served as mission president over the California/Oregon, Eastern States, and European missions. He was also commissioned by the church to do work on several different newspapers. In addition, George Cannon was ordained an apostle for the Church in 1859.
In 1862, George Cannon was elected to represent the Utah Territory in the United States Congress. He only served one term in this capacity but in 1872 returned to Washington, D.C., as the Utah Delegate to Congress. He remained a prominent figure in Utah's plea for statehood and as a representative for the church to the federal government for ten years. He left his seat in Congress following the Edmunds Act, which limited the rights of Utah's polygamists. George Cannon was forced into seclusion until 1888 when he surrendered himself and consequently served nearly six months imprisonment in the Utah State Penitentiary for cohabitation.
George Cannon's first (and only legal) marriage was to Elizabeth Hoagland Cannon just following his first mission for the church. She bore him eleven children, six of whom reached adulthood. In 1858, George Cannon took his second wife, Sarah Jane Jenne Cannon, who raised seven children, one of which was adopted. His third wife, Eliza L. Tenney Cannon, had three sons. George Cannon married Martha Telle Cannon in 1868, and eventually nine children came of their union. George Cannon's fifth wife, Emily Hoagland Little Cannon, was sister to Elizabeth Hoagland Cannon. Emily was a widow, and Elizabeth encouraged the match due to concern over her sister's welfare. George Cannon and Emily Hoagland had no children together. Caroline Young Croxall Cannon became George Cannon's sixth and last wife nearly three years after Elizabeth's death. She was a daughter of Brigham Young, and George Cannon's only legal wife during the time they were married. George Cannon adopted her five children from a previous marriage, and together they raised four more children. In all, George Cannon reared thirty-five children (seven of which were adopted), but forty-three are sealed to him eternally.
In 1880, George Cannon became the first counselor in the first presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under John Taylor. He also served as first counselor under the presidencies of Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow before his death in 1901, at age seventy-four.
Found in 64 Collections and/or Records:
George Q. Cannon
George Q. Cannon correspondence, 1880
George Q. Cannon correspondence, including one letter from George Q. Cannon to Sarah A. Telle King in New York, 1880.
Marinda Goff autograph book from the Utah Territorial Penitentiary
John C. Graham papers
Collection includes photocopies of two journals by John C. Graham for the period of 1862 to 1874, which describe his work with George Q. Cannon in the offices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Liverpool, England. Also includes newpaper clippings from 1949, and programs for the Provo, Utah theater production of The Curtain from 1885.
Edward H. Holt papers
Contains correspondence regarding admission to Brigham Young Academy, theology class assignments, petitions, essays, talks by Lorenzo Snow and George Q. Cannon, papers regarding credit, advanced standing, student clubs, and miscellaneous correspondence and reports from Holt's files. Materials date from between 1899 and 1938.
Francis D. Hughes papers
Photographs, letters, and six volumes of diaries kept by Francis D. Hughes, 1861-1872.
Kane family photographs, approximately 1840-1900
Contains photographs and related materials of the Kane family that were not found in the three-volume family photograph album. These include a steel printing plate of a portrait of Thomas L. Kane in his Civil War uniform, five prints made from that plate, a photograph of George Q. Cannon, and two photographs of unknown people. Materials are largely undated and unlabeled, but presumably date from the mid 19th century to early 20th century.
Scott G. Kenney research materials
Photocopies of correspondence, minutes, journals, and subject research files of Scott Kinney. These materials relate to Joseph F. Smith (1832-1918) sixth President of the LDS Church. The bulk of the collection deals with the years 1870 to 1918. These research files are documentation for Kinney's proposed biography of Smith.
Abraham Alonzo Kimball family papers
Charles Lambert materials
Charles Lambert's personal history and various materials related to the Cannon family, 1816-1892.