Frank J. Cannon

Family Background

1859. January 25: Born Franklin Jenne Cannon in Salt Lake City to George Q. Cannon and Jane Jenne. He married Martha Brown in 1878; they had four children. After Martha's death in 1908, Frank married her sister May.

A Wayward Cannon

1882. Spared excommunication for fathering an illegitimate child only through a reluctant public confession. For years afterward, Cannon continued his drunken sprees at Kate Flint's brothel in Salt Lake City.

1886. In an attempt to obtain evidence against George Q. Cannon, District Attorney Dickson ruthlessly grilled plural wife Martha Telle Cannon. Frank J., his brother Hugh, and cousin Angus M. assaulted the prosecutor as he was leaving the Continental Hotel in downtown Salt Lake. Frank served a brief prison sentence before his brother Abraham arranged bond.

Author

1886. A gifted writer, Cannon apparently wrote most of the Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet shortly after his release from prison. Because of his unsavory reputation, the biography was published under his father's name.

Church Lobbyist

1890. Sent to Washington by his father, Cannon worked to prevent passage of the Cullom-Strubble Bill, which would have disfranchised all Mormons. He argued, "It is a poor reward that this bill proposes to bestow—to inflict the same political deprivations on the men who are obeying the law as have been imposed upon offenders."

Cannon later claimed that assurances given to national leaders by him and his father regarding the abandonment of plural marriage were decisive in Wilford Woodruffs decision to issue the Manifesto.

Utah's First United States Senator

1891. Cannon was prominent in the organization of the Republican Party in Utah. He was a delegate to the national convention in 1892 and 1896, and served as Utah's territorial delegate to Congress from 1895 to 1896.

As Utah neared statehood, Cannon hoped to become Utah's first senator. On January 4, 1896, President Grover Cleveland proclaimed Utah a state, ending Cannon's service as a territorial delegate. That evening he received a coded telegram from President Woodruff which translated: "It is the will of the Lord that your father shall be elected Senator from Utah. We want you to tell us how to bring it about." "President Woodruff," Cannon replied, "you have received the revelation on the wrong point. You do not need a voice from heaven to convince anyone that my father is worthy to go to the Senate, but you will need a revelation to tell how he is to get there."

President Woodruff pointed out, "The legislators are pledged to you. Will you not release them from their promises and tell them to vote for your father?" "No," Cannon responded. "And my father would not permit me to do it, even if I could. He knows that I gave my word of honor to my supporters to stand as a candidate, no matter who might enter against me. He knows that he and I have given our pledges at Washington that political dictation in Utah by the heads of the Mormon Church shall cease." George Q. Cannon, with President Woodruffs approval, withdrew from the race. Frank J. Cannon was elected Utah's first United States Senator.

"Silver Republican"

1896. During his three years in the Senate, Cannon denounced Spanish rule in Cuba. He was one of the Senate leaders of the first ill-fated movement against the control of the Republican Party by financial interests he viewed as "piratical."

Cannon was a militant advocate of the remonetization of silver, an issue which gained national attention during the presidential campaign of 1896. Cannon delivered a [p.47] strong speech at the Republican National Convention which nominated William McKinley, but unable to have their way, Cannon and the other "Silver Republicans" left the floor and threw their support behind Democrat William Jennings Bryan.

1898. Cannon's platform contained fourteen "Reasons for Voting for Cannon"—seven of which pertained to silver. But silver was not the issue in Utah; sugar was. The Church had extensive sugar interests. Cannon's 1897 vote against the Dingley Tariff was, in the words of his father, "a great mistake… alienating the friends who have done so much for us. … When a man's head is high, it is easily hit."

Cannon was the sole Republican voting nay. His vote cost him Church support and the election of 1898. In 1900 he joined the Democratic Party, serving as the Utah State Democratic Chairman in 1902.

The last decade of Cannon's life was devoted almost exclusively to bimetallism. He served as chairman of the International Silver Commission, and as president of the Bimetallical Association in Denver, Colorado.

"Furious Judas"

1903. As editor of the Democrat Utah State Journal, Cannon tried to gain "restoration of political freedom in Utah and to remonstrate against the new polygamy." When the Journal failed, Cannon became editor of the Salt Lake Tribune. Believing that the Reed Smoot confirmation hearings provided ample evidence that "the tyranny of the Prophet's absolutism had been re-established with a fierceness I had never even seen in the days of Brigham Young," Cannon began a relentless editorial attack on Church leaders—especially Joseph F. Smith.

Requested by friends Ben Rich and J. Golden Kimball to formally withdraw from the Church, Cannon refused. His February, 1905, editorial charged that President Smith "violated the laws [revelations] of his predecessors," took "the bodies of the daughters of his subjects and bestowed them upon his favorites," and "impoverished his subjects by a system of elaborate exactions [tithes] in order to enrich 'the crown.'"

1905. President Smith, privately referring to his nemesis as "Furious Judas," proceeded against him in the Church tribunals. Cannon refused to attend a meeting of his stake's high council convened to hear his case. He was excommunicated on March 14 for "unchristianlike conduct and apostasy." He responded in a Tribune editorial: "To be disfellowshipped by littleness is to be parted from dragging things. To be excommunicated by bigotry is to be set free to dwell in grandeur."

1911. Cannon published Under the Prophet in Utah, a vituperative attack on President Joseph F. Smith:"I undertake, in fact, in this narrative, to expose and to demonstrate what I do believe to be one of the most direful conspiracies of treachery in the history of the United States." In 1913 he wrote Brigham Young and His Mormon Empire.

Death

1933. July 25: Cannon developed a serious infection following a minor surgical procedure and died in Denver. He was buried in the Ogden, Utah, Cemetery.

Sources
Cannon, Frank J., and Higgins, Harvey J. Under the Prophet in Utah. Boston: G. M. Clark Publishing Co., 1911.
Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Church Archives. Abraham H. Cannon Journal.
_____. George F. Gibbs Papers.
_____. Joseph F. Smith Letters.
Salt Lake Tribune, 7 March 1905, 26 July 1933.
Snow, Reuben Joseph. "The American Party in Utah: A Study of Political Party Struggles During the Early Years of Statehood" Master's thesis, University of Utah, 1964.
Whitney, Orson F. History of Utah. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, 1890-1904.

	A Book of Mormons Richard S. Van Wagoner and Steven C. Walker Copyright 1982, Signature Books Salt Lake City, Utah Contents


	Frank J. Cannon (1859-1933)

		Frank J. Cannon was a publisher and Utah's first United States Senator, sometimes called "Furious Judas." Photograph courtesy Utah State Historical Society.


	Family Background 1859. January 25: Born Franklin Jenne Cannon in Salt Lake City to George Q. Cannon and Jane Jenne. He married Martha Brown in 1878; they had four children. After Martha's death in 1908, Frank married her sister May. A Wayward Cannon 1882. Spared excommunication for fathering an illegitimate child only through a reluctant public confession. For years afterward, Cannon continued his drunken sprees at Kate Flint's brothel in Salt Lake City. 1886. In an attempt to obtain evidence against George Q. Cannon, District Attorney Dickson ruthlessly grilled plural wife Martha Telle Cannon. Frank J., his brother Hugh, and cousin Angus M. assaulted the prosecutor as he was leaving the Continental Hotel in downtown Salt Lake. Frank served a brief prison sentence before his brother Abraham arranged bond. Author 1886. A gifted writer, Cannon apparently wrote most of the Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet shortly after his release from prison. Because of his unsavory reputation, the biography was published under his father's name. Church Lobbyist 1890. Sent to Washington by his father, Cannon worked to prevent passage of the Cullom-Strubble Bill, which would have disfranchised all Mormons. He argued, "It is a poor reward that this bill proposes to bestow—to inflict the same political deprivations on the men who are obeying the law as have been imposed upon offenders." Cannon later claimed that assurances given to national leaders by him and his father regarding the abandonment of plural marriage were decisive in Wilford Woodruffs decision to issue the Manifesto. Utah's First United States Senator 1891. Cannon was prominent in the organization of the Republican Party in Utah. He was a delegate to the national convention in 1892 and 1896, and served as Utah's territorial delegate to Congress from 1895 to 1896. As Utah neared statehood, Cannon hoped to become Utah's first senator. On January 4, 1896, President Grover Cleveland proclaimed Utah a state, ending Cannon's service as a territorial delegate. That evening he received a coded telegram from President Woodruff which translated: "It is the will of the Lord that your father shall be elected Senator from Utah. We want you to tell us how to bring it about." "President Woodruff," Cannon replied, "you have received the revelation on the wrong point. You do not need a voice from heaven to convince anyone that my father is worthy to go to the Senate, but you will need a revelation to tell how he is to get there." President Woodruff pointed out, "The legislators are pledged to you. Will you not release them from their promises and tell them to vote for your father?" "No," Cannon responded. "And my father would not permit me to do it, even if I could. He knows that I gave my word of honor to my supporters to stand as a candidate, no matter who might enter against me. He knows that he and I have given our pledges at Washington that political dictation in Utah by the heads of the Mormon Church shall cease." George Q. Cannon, with President Woodruffs approval, withdrew from the race. Frank J. Cannon was elected Utah's first United States Senator. "Silver Republican" 1896. During his three years in the Senate, Cannon denounced Spanish rule in Cuba. He was one of the Senate leaders of the first ill-fated movement against the control of the Republican Party by financial interests he viewed as "piratical." Cannon was a militant advocate of the remonetization of silver, an issue which gained national attention during the presidential campaign of 1896. Cannon delivered a [p.47] strong speech at the Republican National Convention which nominated William McKinley, but unable to have their way, Cannon and the other "Silver Republicans" left the floor and threw their support behind Democrat William Jennings Bryan. 1898. Cannon's platform contained fourteen "Reasons for Voting for Cannon"—seven of which pertained to silver. But silver was not the issue in Utah; sugar was. The Church had extensive sugar interests. Cannon's 1897 vote against the Dingley Tariff was, in the words of his father, "a great mistake… alienating the friends who have done so much for us. … When a man's head is high, it is easily hit." Cannon was the sole Republican voting nay. His vote cost him Church support and the election of 1898. In 1900 he joined the Democratic Party, serving as the Utah State Democratic Chairman in 1902. The last decade of Cannon's life was devoted almost exclusively to bimetallism. He served as chairman of the International Silver Commission, and as president of the Bimetallical Association in Denver, Colorado. "Furious Judas" 1903. As editor of the Democrat Utah State Journal, Cannon tried to gain "restoration of political freedom in Utah and to remonstrate against the new polygamy." When the Journal failed, Cannon became editor of the Salt Lake Tribune. Believing that the Reed Smoot confirmation hearings provided ample evidence that "the tyranny of the Prophet's absolutism had been re-established with a fierceness I had never even seen in the days of Brigham Young," Cannon began a relentless editorial attack on Church leaders—especially Joseph F. Smith. Requested by friends Ben Rich and J. Golden Kimball to formally withdraw from the Church, Cannon refused. His February, 1905, editorial charged that President Smith "violated the laws [revelations] of his predecessors," took "the bodies of the daughters of his subjects and bestowed them upon his favorites," and "impoverished his subjects by a system of elaborate exactions [tithes] in order to enrich 'the crown.'" 1905. President Smith, privately referring to his nemesis as "Furious Judas," proceeded against him in the Church tribunals. Cannon refused to attend a meeting of his stake's high council convened to hear his case. He was excommunicated on March 14 for "unchristianlike conduct and apostasy." He responded in a Tribune editorial: "To be disfellowshipped by littleness is to be parted from dragging things. To be excommunicated by bigotry is to be set free to dwell in grandeur." 1911. Cannon published Under the Prophet in Utah, a vituperative attack on President Joseph F. Smith:"I undertake, in fact, in this narrative, to expose and to demonstrate what I do believe to be one of the most direful conspiracies of treachery in the history of the United States." In 1913 he wrote Brigham Young and His Mormon Empire. Death 1933. July 25: Cannon developed a serious infection following a minor surgical procedure and died in Denver. He was buried in the Ogden, Utah, Cemetery. Sources Cannon, Frank J., and Higgins, Harvey J. Under the Prophet in Utah. Boston: G. M. Clark Publishing Co., 1911. Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Church Archives. Abraham H. Cannon Journal. _____. George F. Gibbs Papers. _____. Joseph F. Smith Letters. Salt Lake Tribune, 7 March 1905, 26 July 1933. Snow, Reuben Joseph. "The American Party in Utah: A Study of Political Party Struggles During the Early Years of Statehood" Master's thesis, University of Utah, 1964. Whitney, Orson F. History of Utah. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, 1890-1904.