George Q. Cannon

Family Background

1827. January 11: Born George Quayle Cannon in Liverpool, England. In 1854 he married Elizabeth Hoagland, and later married plural wives Jane Jenne, Eliza Lamercia Tenny, Martha Telle, and Caroline Young Croxall, daughter of Brigham Young.

His thirty-five children included John Q., counselor to the Presiding Bishop; Abraham H., member of the Quorum of the Twelve; and Frank J., Utah's first U.S. Senator.

On one occasion he stopped in a cutlery shop in London and ordered three of their finest Sheffield razors for three sons who were turning twenty-one that month. "Triplets?" asked the clerk. "Why no, indeed," replied Cannon, "they were born several days apart throughout the month."

Orphan

1842. George's family was converted to the Church by his uncle John Taylor. His mother died on the ocean voyage from Liverpool and his father died in Nauvoo. George was taken into the Taylor home and worked for his uncle on the Times and Seasons. He was adopted to John Taylor in the Nauvoo Temple in 1846.

Missionary

1849. Two years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Cannon was called on a gold-mining mission to California. "There was no place I would not rather have gone to at that time than California. I heartily despised the work of digging gold."

1850. Cannon and nine others were called to open missionary work in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). Discouraged when white settlers would not listen, five elders returned to Utah.

"I felt resolved to stay there, master the language and warn the people of those islands, if I had to do it alone." Through the efforts of the remaining missionaries, four thousand native Hawaiians joined the Church in four years.

Printer, Editor, and Publisher

He began translating the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian after hearing the language for only one month. "In the beginning my method was to translate a few pages… and explain to Brother Napela [a Hawaiian judge] the ideas. I would then read the translation to him… and learn from him the impression the language conveyed to his mind. In this way I was able to correct any obscure expression which might be used, and secure the Hawaiian idiom."

After a brief trip to Salt Lake City to be married, he returned to San Francisco, where he and Parley P. Pratt published the Hawaiian Book of Mormon. He also published and edited the Church's Western Standard in San Francisco.

1858. With the approach of the Utah Expeditionary Force, the Deseret News press was moved to Fillmore and Cannon was appointed editor. Later in his life he edited and published in the Millennial Star and Juvenile Instructor, and with his sons established the George Q. Cannon & Sons Publishing Company.

General Authority

1858. On one day's notice Cannon was sent to preside over the Eastern States Mission, with the special charge to influence Eastern editors against the rising "anti-Mormon feeling." At the time, Cannon's "family had no place to live in … I had not time to do anything in relation to a house and they were left to shift for themselves."

1860. Returning from the East in August, Cannon was ordained an apostle by Brigham Young. He later testified, "I know that God lives. I know that Jesus lives, for I have seen him." Six weeks after his return from the East, Cannon started for England with Charles C. Rich and Amasa M. Lyman to preside over the European Mission.

1862. Called home to serve as a "senator" to petition for statehood, Cannon had no legal standing with Congress, but represented the "state of Deseret" with W.H. Hooper. When the petition was denied and the first federal anti-polygamy legislation was enacted, Cannon returned to England.

By 1871 a tradeoff was being considered in which Utah would become a state in exchange for Church abandonment of plural marriage. Brigham Young sent Cannon east again to convince editors and Congressmen that the Church would not compromise "the principle."

Served as a member of the general superintendency of the Deseret Sunday School Union from 1867 to his death in 1901.

Beginning with a call as special counselor in the First Presidency, he served as counselor to Presidents Brigham Young (1873-77), John Taylor (1880-87), Wilford Woodruff (1889-98), and Lorenzo Snow (1898-1901).

Brigham Young Estate Executor

1864. As Brigham Young's personal secretary, Cannon was appointed chief executor of the will.

Settlement of the estate was complicated by a suit filed by several Young heirs, resulting in three weeks imprisonment for Cannon and his co-executors Brigham Young, Jr., and Albert Carrington. In prison Cannon entertained many visitors and frequently granted inmate requests to "preach to the spirits in prison."

Council of Fifty Member

1885. February 4: At an informal Council of Fifty meeting attended by seven apostles and two secretaries, George Q. Cannon anointed John Taylor "King, Priest, and Ruler over Israel on Earth." The ordination was in response to a revelation President Taylor had received and written, but never published.

A member of the council since 1867, Cannon served as recorder and for many years had the only key to the safe which contained council minutes since 1844.

Congressional Delegate

1872. Elected Utah's territorial delegate with "voice but no vote." In Congress he came forward with the rest of the delegates to be sworn in, when, according to an Ohio Representative, "a fool from the other side jumped up and objected, and afterward offered a resolution. Mr. Cannon walked out cooly to one side and stood there, and I was struck with admiration at the manner in which he went through the scene; he showed such pluck and betrayed so little agitation. He looked as though he didn't care a damn whether they swore him in or not."

After nine years in the House of Representatives, Cannon was expelled as a polygamist in violation of the 1882 Edmunds Act.

Church Benefactor

1878. "I have been desirous to … restore to the Church all I had ever drawn from it for services, so my labors might be gratuitous. I have paid tolerably heavy tithing and I felt if I could square up these credits I should be grateful," Cannon said. For twenty years of Church service and the funds he had drawn to build his "Big House," Cannon's "debt" totaled $39,914. He offered the $75,000 house to cancel the amount, but his fellow apostles declined the offer. Finally he deeded the house to the Church, his account was cancelled, and he received a credit of $20,000.

On the Underground

1886. Due to his commanding presence, President Taylor's advanced age, and Joseph F. Smith's "exile" in Hawaii, George Q. Cannon was considered "the power behind the throne." Non-Mormons referred to him as "the Mormon Richelieu," and a bounty was offered for information leading to his arrest on "unlawful cohabitation" charges.

At one point Cannon proposed to President Taylor that every man living in plural marriage should surrender himself to the court, pleading: "I entered into this covenant of celestial marriage with a personal conviction that it was an order revealed by our Father in Heaven for the salvation of mankind. I have kept my covenant in purity. I believed that no constitutional law of the country could forbid this practice of a religious faith. As the laws of Congress conflict with my sense of submission to the will of the Lord, I now offer myself, here, for whatever judgment the courts of my country may impose."

President Taylor, concerned for his counselor's safety, sent him to Mexico to negotiate a land contract. En route, he was apprehended by federal marshals near Humbolt Wells, Nevada. The returning party occupied a stateroom in the rear of one of the railroad cars. During a night-time bathroom trip, Cannon stepped outside the rear of the car to assess the possibilities of escape. The train lurched; he was thrown from the car and later recaptured in a dazed condition, bleeding profusely from a badly broken nose.

Boasts were made that Cannon would be imprisoned for life and that he would be sent to a distant prison where his condition would be "unbearable." On the advice of President Taylor and with the approval of his bondsmen, Cannon returned to the underground and forfeited a $45,000 bond.

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


	George Q. Cannon (1827-1901)

		George Q. Cannon was a counselor to four prophets and a Church publisher. Photograph courtesy of Utah State Historical Society.


	Family Background 1827. January 11: Born George Quayle Cannon in Liverpool, England. In 1854 he married Elizabeth Hoagland, and later married plural wives Jane Jenne, Eliza Lamercia Tenny, Martha Telle, and Caroline Young Croxall, daughter of Brigham Young. His thirty-five children included John Q., counselor to the Presiding Bishop; Abraham H., member of the Quorum of the Twelve; and Frank J., Utah's first U.S. Senator. On one occasion he stopped in a cutlery shop in London and ordered three of their finest Sheffield razors for three sons who were turning twenty-one that month. "Triplets?" asked the clerk. "Why no, indeed," replied Cannon, "they were born several days apart throughout the month." Orphan 1842. George's family was converted to the Church by his uncle John Taylor. His mother died on the ocean voyage from Liverpool and his father died in Nauvoo. George was taken into the Taylor home and worked for his uncle on the Times and Seasons. He was adopted to John Taylor in the Nauvoo Temple in 1846. Missionary 1849. Two years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Cannon was called on a gold-mining mission to California. "There was no place I would not rather have gone to at that time than California. I heartily despised the work of digging gold." 1850. Cannon and nine others were called to open missionary work in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). Discouraged when white settlers would not listen, five elders returned to Utah. "I felt resolved to stay there, master the language and warn the people of those islands, if I had to do it alone." Through the efforts of the remaining missionaries, four thousand native Hawaiians joined the Church in four years. Printer, Editor, and Publisher He began translating the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian after hearing the language for only one month. "In the beginning my method was to translate a few pages… and explain to Brother Napela [a Hawaiian judge] the ideas. I would then read the translation to him… and learn from him the impression the language conveyed to his mind. In this way I was able to correct any obscure expression which might be used, and secure the Hawaiian idiom." After a brief trip to Salt Lake City to be married, he returned to San Francisco, where he and Parley P. Pratt published the Hawaiian Book of Mormon. He also published and edited the Church's Western Standard in San Francisco. 1858. With the approach of the Utah Expeditionary Force, the Deseret News press was moved to Fillmore and Cannon was appointed editor. Later in his life he edited and published in the Millennial Star and Juvenile Instructor, and with his sons established the George Q. Cannon & Sons Publishing Company. General Authority 1858. On one day's notice Cannon was sent to preside over the Eastern States Mission, with the special charge to influence Eastern editors against the rising "anti-Mormon feeling." At the time, Cannon's "family had no place to live in … I had not time to do anything in relation to a house and they were left to shift for themselves." 1860. Returning from the East in August, Cannon was ordained an apostle by Brigham Young. He later testified, "I know that God lives. I know that Jesus lives, for I have seen him." Six weeks after his return from the East, Cannon started for England with Charles C. Rich and Amasa M. Lyman to preside over the European Mission. 1862. Called home to serve as a "senator" to petition for statehood, Cannon had no legal standing with Congress, but represented the "state of Deseret" with W.H. Hooper. When the petition was denied and the first federal anti-polygamy legislation was enacted, Cannon returned to England. By 1871 a tradeoff was being considered in which Utah would become a state in exchange for Church abandonment of plural marriage. Brigham Young sent Cannon east again to convince editors and Congressmen that the Church would not compromise "the principle." Served as a member of the general superintendency of the Deseret Sunday School Union from 1867 to his death in 1901. Beginning with a call as special counselor in the First Presidency, he served as counselor to Presidents Brigham Young (1873-77), John Taylor (1880-87), Wilford Woodruff (1889-98), and Lorenzo Snow (1898-1901). Brigham Young Estate Executor 1864. As Brigham Young's personal secretary, Cannon was appointed chief executor of the will. Settlement of the estate was complicated by a suit filed by several Young heirs, resulting in three weeks imprisonment for Cannon and his co-executors Brigham Young, Jr., and Albert Carrington. In prison Cannon entertained many visitors and frequently granted inmate requests to "preach to the spirits in prison." Council of Fifty Member 1885. February 4: At an informal Council of Fifty meeting attended by seven apostles and two secretaries, George Q. Cannon anointed John Taylor "King, Priest, and Ruler over Israel on Earth." The ordination was in response to a revelation President Taylor had received and written, but never published. A member of the council since 1867, Cannon served as recorder and for many years had the only key to the safe which contained council minutes since 1844. Congressional Delegate 1872. Elected Utah's territorial delegate with "voice but no vote." In Congress he came forward with the rest of the delegates to be sworn in, when, according to an Ohio Representative, "a fool from the other side jumped up and objected, and afterward offered a resolution. Mr. Cannon walked out cooly to one side and stood there, and I was struck with admiration at the manner in which he went through the scene; he showed such pluck and betrayed so little agitation. He looked as though he didn't care a damn whether they swore him in or not." After nine years in the House of Representatives, Cannon was expelled as a polygamist in violation of the 1882 Edmunds Act. Church Benefactor 1878. "I have been desirous to … restore to the Church all I had ever drawn from it for services, so my labors might be gratuitous. I have paid tolerably heavy tithing and I felt if I could square up these credits I should be grateful," Cannon said. For twenty years of Church service and the funds he had drawn to build his "Big House," Cannon's "debt" totaled $39,914. He offered the $75,000 house to cancel the amount, but his fellow apostles declined the offer. Finally he deeded the house to the Church, his account was cancelled, and he received a credit of $20,000. On the Underground 1886. Due to his commanding presence, President Taylor's advanced age, and Joseph F. Smith's "exile" in Hawaii, George Q. Cannon was considered "the power behind the throne." Non-Mormons referred to him as "the Mormon Richelieu," and a bounty was offered for information leading to his arrest on "unlawful cohabitation" charges. At one point Cannon proposed to President Taylor that every man living in plural marriage should surrender himself to the court, pleading: "I entered into this covenant of celestial marriage with a personal conviction that it was an order revealed by our Father in Heaven for the salvation of mankind. I have kept my covenant in purity. I believed that no constitutional law of the country could forbid this practice of a religious faith. As the laws of Congress conflict with my sense of submission to the will of the Lord, I now offer myself, here, for whatever judgment the courts of my country may impose." President Taylor, concerned for his counselor's safety, sent him to Mexico to negotiate a land contract. En route, he was apprehended by federal marshals near Humbolt Wells, Nevada. The returning party occupied a stateroom in the rear of one of the railroad cars. During a night-time bathroom trip, Cannon stepped outside the rear of the car to assess the possibilities of escape. The train lurched; he was thrown from the car and later recaptured in a dazed condition, bleeding profusely from a badly broken nose. Boasts were made that Cannon would be imprisoned for life and that he would be sent to a distant prison where his condition would be "unbearable." On the advice of President Taylor and with the approval of his bondsmen, Cannon returned to the underground and forfeited a $45,000 bond.


	1888. Frank J. Cannon persuaded President Grover Cleveland to replace punitive federal judges in Utah with more lenient judges. As part of the agreement, George Q. Cannon voluntarily appeared before Judge Elliott Sandford, pleaded guilty to two charges of "unlawful co-habitation," and was fined $450 and sentenced to 175 days in the Utah Territorial Prison. In his own words, entering prison proved that "the leading men are willing to suffer but not to concede." His presence among other Mormon prisoners created a feeling that the Church was making no concessions on plural marriage. While imprisoned, he wasted no time. He collaborated on a biography of Joseph Smith with his sons, wrote magazine articles, organized a Sunday School and taught a Bible class, acquired an organ for the prison, and entertained hundreds of visitors.

			George Q. Cannon (center, front row) at the territorial penitentiary. Photograph courtesy Utah State Historical Society.


	Businessman Director of the Bullion-Beck and Champion Mining Company (from which most of his wealth was derived), Union Pacific Railroad, Co-op Wagon and Machine Company, and Grant Central Mining Company; vice-president of ZCMI and Zion's Savings Bank and Trust Company; and president of George Q. Cannon Publishing Company, Utah Sugar Company, Brigham Young Trust Company, and Utah Light and Power Company. Author Cannon's writings include My First Mission, The Life of Nephi, The Latter-day Prophet: Young People's History of Joseph Smith, and Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet (written primarily by his son Frank J.), three hundred discourses, and thousands of editorials. Death 1901. April 12: Died of "la grippe" (influenza) in Monterey, California, at the age of seventy-four. Buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. A family publication honored him as a "Dedicated Apostle—Grimy Gold-Miner! Distinguished Statesman—Energetic Emigration Agent! Spell-Binding Missionary—Intransigent Federal Prisoner! Brilliant Writer and Orator—Thirteen-year-old 'school dropout.'" They remembered him, too, as a faddish dieter and health food enthusiast, a lover of ice baths, a man prone to seasickness and abnormally afraid of mice. Sources Cannon, Frank J., and Higgins, Harvey J. Under the Prophet in Utah. Boston: G. M. Clark Publishing Co., 1911. Cannon, Mark W. "The Mormon Issue in Congress, 1872-1882: Drawing on the Experience of Territorial Delegate George Q. Cannon." Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University, 1960. Cannon, M. Hamlin. "Prison Diary of a Mormon Apostle." Pacific Historical Review 16 (November 1947):395-409. Evans, Beatrice Cannon, and Cannon, Janath Russell, eds. Cannon Family Historical Treasury. Salt Lake City: G. Q. Cannon Family Association, 1967. Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson Historical Company, 1901-1936. Journal of Discourses, 12:290-291, 297. Quinn, D. Michael. "The Council of Fifty and Its Members: 1844-1945." Brigham Young University Studies 20 (Winter 1980):163-197. Roberts, B. H. Comprehensive History, 6:381-382. Salt Lake City, Utah. LDS Church Archives. Abraham H. Cannon Journal.