George Q. Cannon
Born: 11 January 1827
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 26 August 1860
Called as Superintendent of the Sunday School Presidency: 1867
Called as Counselor in the First Presidency: 8 June 1873 (Brigham Young)
Called as First Counselor in the First Presidency: 10 October 1880 (John Taylor)
Called as First Counselor in the First Presidency: 7 April 1889 (Wilford Woodruff)
Called as First Counselor in the First Presidency: 13 September 1898 (Lorenzo Snow)
Died: 12 April 1901
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 26 August 1860
Called as Superintendent of the Sunday School Presidency: 1867
Called as Counselor in the First Presidency: 8 June 1873 (Brigham Young)
Called as First Counselor in the First Presidency: 10 October 1880 (John Taylor)
Called as First Counselor in the First Presidency: 7 April 1889 (Wilford Woodruff)
Called as First Counselor in the First Presidency: 13 September 1898 (Lorenzo Snow)
Died: 12 April 1901
Biographical Articles
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 1
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Juvenile Instructor, 15 February 1877, Early Experience in Preaching
Young Woman's Journal, December 1892, How I Obtained My Testimony of the Truth
Juvenile Instructor, 15 January 1900, Lives of Our Leaders--The Apostles. George Q. Cannon
Improvement Era, May 1901, President George Q. Cannon
Juvenile Instructor, 1 May 1901, Our Late Superintendent
Young Woman's Journal, May 1901, President George Q. Cannon
Juvenile Instructor, 15 May 1901, A Glorious Triumph: In Memory of President George Q. Cannon
Juvenile Instructor, 1 June 1901, Resolutions of Respect to the Late President George Q. Cannon
Young Woman's Journal, June 1901, President George Q. Cannon
Juvenile Instructor, November 1911, An Interesting and Faith-Promoting Letter by George Q. Cannon
Young Woman's Journal, October 1915, Experience of George Q. Cannon on the Hawaiian Islands
Young Woman's Journal, December 1915, Divine Help in the Performance of Duty
Instructor, October 1940, The Cover Picture: George Q. Cannon - Our First Superintendent
Instructor, January 1944, George Q. Cannon, A Little Boy Cries in the Night
Instructor, February 1944, George Q. Cannon, II. A Visit from a Man of God
Instructor, March 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Restless Spirit of Gathering
Instructor, April 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Tragedy at Nauvoo
Instructor, May 1944, George Q. Cannon, V. The Outcasts Undertake a Glorious Exploit
Instructor, June 1944, George Q. Cannon, Roots Strike Deep in the Desert Soil
Instructor, July 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Desert
Instructor, August 1944, George Q. Cannon, Two Missions During One Absence
Instructor, September 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Gospel Touches the Hawaiian Hearts
Instructor, October 1944, George Q. Cannon, Nephi Record Translated for Descendants
Instructor, November 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Mission to California
Instructor, December 1944, George Q. Cannon, A Mission Against Prejudice
Instructor, January 1945, George Q. Cannon, Four Year Mission to Europe
Instructor, February 1945, George Q. Cannon, The Missionary Turns into Man of Affairs
Instructor, March 1945, George Q. Cannon, Fighting Proscriptive Legislation
Instructor, April 1945, George Q. Cannon, Experiences As a Delegate to Congress
Instructor, May 1945, George Q. Cannon, Interview with Samuel J. Tilden
Instructor, June 1945, George Q. Cannon, Relations With Brigham Young
Instructor, July 1945, George Q. Cannon, Has a Most Interesting Financial Transaction
Instructor, August 1945, George Q. Cannon, A Capricious Judge Gives Him a Prison Sentence
Instructor, September 1945, George Q. Cannon, George Q. Cannon Chosen as One of the First Presidency
Instructor, October 1945, George Q. Cannon, End of His Legislative Career
Instructor, November 1945, George Q. Cannon, Visits David Whitmer
Instructor, March 1946, George Q. Cannon, Recollections of My Father
Instructor, February 1949, George Q. Cannon - First General Superintendent
Improvement Era, August 1950, Excerpts from the Journal of George Q. Cannon
Instructor, January 1952, George Q. Cannon - Sunday School Pioneer
Instructor, November 1956, Little Deeds from Big Lives
Instructor, March 1959, He Obeyed Each Call
Instructor, October 1970, Inspiration from the Lives of Eight Men
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Juvenile Instructor, 15 February 1877, Early Experience in Preaching
Young Woman's Journal, December 1892, How I Obtained My Testimony of the Truth
Juvenile Instructor, 15 January 1900, Lives of Our Leaders--The Apostles. George Q. Cannon
Improvement Era, May 1901, President George Q. Cannon
Juvenile Instructor, 1 May 1901, Our Late Superintendent
Young Woman's Journal, May 1901, President George Q. Cannon
Juvenile Instructor, 15 May 1901, A Glorious Triumph: In Memory of President George Q. Cannon
Juvenile Instructor, 1 June 1901, Resolutions of Respect to the Late President George Q. Cannon
Young Woman's Journal, June 1901, President George Q. Cannon
Juvenile Instructor, November 1911, An Interesting and Faith-Promoting Letter by George Q. Cannon
Young Woman's Journal, October 1915, Experience of George Q. Cannon on the Hawaiian Islands
Young Woman's Journal, December 1915, Divine Help in the Performance of Duty
Instructor, October 1940, The Cover Picture: George Q. Cannon - Our First Superintendent
Instructor, January 1944, George Q. Cannon, A Little Boy Cries in the Night
Instructor, February 1944, George Q. Cannon, II. A Visit from a Man of God
Instructor, March 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Restless Spirit of Gathering
Instructor, April 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Tragedy at Nauvoo
Instructor, May 1944, George Q. Cannon, V. The Outcasts Undertake a Glorious Exploit
Instructor, June 1944, George Q. Cannon, Roots Strike Deep in the Desert Soil
Instructor, July 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Desert
Instructor, August 1944, George Q. Cannon, Two Missions During One Absence
Instructor, September 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Gospel Touches the Hawaiian Hearts
Instructor, October 1944, George Q. Cannon, Nephi Record Translated for Descendants
Instructor, November 1944, George Q. Cannon, The Mission to California
Instructor, December 1944, George Q. Cannon, A Mission Against Prejudice
Instructor, January 1945, George Q. Cannon, Four Year Mission to Europe
Instructor, February 1945, George Q. Cannon, The Missionary Turns into Man of Affairs
Instructor, March 1945, George Q. Cannon, Fighting Proscriptive Legislation
Instructor, April 1945, George Q. Cannon, Experiences As a Delegate to Congress
Instructor, May 1945, George Q. Cannon, Interview with Samuel J. Tilden
Instructor, June 1945, George Q. Cannon, Relations With Brigham Young
Instructor, July 1945, George Q. Cannon, Has a Most Interesting Financial Transaction
Instructor, August 1945, George Q. Cannon, A Capricious Judge Gives Him a Prison Sentence
Instructor, September 1945, George Q. Cannon, George Q. Cannon Chosen as One of the First Presidency
Instructor, October 1945, George Q. Cannon, End of His Legislative Career
Instructor, November 1945, George Q. Cannon, Visits David Whitmer
Instructor, March 1946, George Q. Cannon, Recollections of My Father
Instructor, February 1949, George Q. Cannon - First General Superintendent
Improvement Era, August 1950, Excerpts from the Journal of George Q. Cannon
Instructor, January 1952, George Q. Cannon - Sunday School Pioneer
Instructor, November 1956, Little Deeds from Big Lives
Instructor, March 1959, He Obeyed Each Call
Instructor, October 1970, Inspiration from the Lives of Eight Men
Jenson, Andrew. "Cannon, George Quayle." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 1. pg. 42-51.
CANNON, George Quayle, first counselor to Presidents John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow successively, was born on Thursday, Jan. 11, 1827, in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. His parents, George Cannon and Ann Quayle, were natives of Peel, on the Isle of Man. The Cannon or Cannan family came originally from the borders of England and Scotland. The earliest mention of the name in the parish record of Kirk Michael, on the Isle of Man, is the burial in 1598, of one Marian Cannan. The name is spelled on the records both Cannan and Cannon, though Cannan appears to be the earlier and more common style. The family removed from Scotland to the Isle of Man on account of political or religious troubles, in which they became involved, and they had to flee there for refuge. Several of the Cannons were engaged in the wars of that period. The name of the place, which has been owned by the family on the Isle of Man for nearly three hundred years, and which is still in the possession of an older branch (the present owner being a cousin of George Q.'s grandfather), is Cooilshallagh. Train, in his History of the Isle of Man, Vol. 1, page 85, note 2, alluding to this homestead, says: "Cooil, in the Manx language, signifies a 'hiding-place' ". He then mentions Cooilshallagh in Kirk Michael. Whether this place received its name from the Cannons because of it having proved a "hiding-place" or place of refuge for the family, does not appear, though it is not improbable.
George Q. Cannon was the eldest of his parents' children. The other children were: Mary Alice Cannon, wife of the late Charles Lambert, of Salt Lake City; Anne Cannon, widow of Brother Orrin N. Woodbury, of St. George, Angus M. Cannon; David H. Cannon; Leonora Cannon, the wife of Brother Robert Gardner, of St. George; and Elizabeth Cannon (the daughter of his father by a second marriage), the wife of Brother William Piggott of Bloomington. These are all alive and in full fellowship today in the Church. Miss Leonora Cannon, his father's sister, had a very intimate friend who married a gentleman by the name of Bacon, a colonel in the British army, who had received the appointment of Secretary to the governor of Canada. This friend exacted a promise from her that when she married and went to Canada, she (Miss Cannon) should accompany her on her wedding tour to that country. She kept the promise and sailed with her friend; and while in Canada, she being a devout Methodist and greatly attached to her religion, made the acquaintance of the late President John Taylor, who was at that time a local preacher in the Methodist church. This was in the city of Toronto. She had fully expected, when she left her home, to return there; but in consequence of a dream which she had, she felt convinced that it was her duty to accept the offer of marriage, which she had received from John Taylor, and remain in Canada. Some time after their marriage. Elder Parley P. Pratt visited Toronto, having been drawn there by the prayers of a number of persons who were diligently seeking for the truth, among whom President Taylor was very prominent. They felt that Methodism was not strictly in accordance with the Scriptures, and that there were many blessings and gifts which God had given to His church in ancient days, of which their church was destitute. They met together often, examined the Scriptures with great earnestness and care, and prayed fervently for additional light, and that, if there was a church on the earth which possessed these heavenly powers and gifts, they might be made acquainted with it. Elder Pratt's arrival in the city of Toronto in the summer of 1836 created some excitement. A few of this band of seekers after truth received his testimony and were baptized into the Church; among them Bro. John Taylor and his wife. The history of the events connected with Bro. Taylor's espousal of the truth are related in his own biography. Suffice it to say, that after his wife received the gospel, she was convinced in her own mind that her brother George would receive it also; for when she had, previous to her departure for Canada, reasoned with him and urged him to espouse religion, that his soul might be saved, he had, on one occasion, remarked to her that her religion could not satisfy him; that it was not according to the Bible, which he could prove to her. "But," continued he, "of what use is it for me to unsettle you in your faith; it gives you joy and satisfaction, and I cannot offer you anything better; but it would not satisfy me." From this and other conversations which they had had, she was convinced that he was only waiting for the true gospel to be preached to receive it gladly. When her husband, therefore, with the other brethren of the Twelve Apostles, took their mission to England in 1840, he repaired, upon his landing at Liverpool, to the house of his brother-in-law, George Cannon. The latter was not at home at the time, and after conversing with his wife, he (President Taylor) returned to the vessel. After he went out of the house, George Q.'s mother remarked to him, he being then a child of twelve years of age, "Your uncle is a man of God." As soon as he preached the gospel,. therefore, to the family she was ready to be baptized, knowing for herself, as she said, that the principles which he taught were the true gospel of the Son of God. Her husband. George Cannon, the father of George Q., read the Book of Mormon through carefully twice before his baptism, and on laying it down after finishing it the second time, he remarked, "No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so." They joined the Church, and three of their children, who were old enough to enter the Church, were baptized some months afterwards (June 18. 1840). Upon hearing the doctrines of the Church taught by his uncle and his fellow-laborer, Elder Joseph Fielding. George Q., though so young, drank them in eagerly. He believed every word they said, and his joy was unbounded; for he had been a close reader of the Bible, and had asked his father why it was that the ancient gifts and blessings of the gospel were not manifested in these days as they were anciently. More than once he had wept because it had been his privilege to live in the days of the Savior and His Apostles and witness the mighty works which they performed. His gratitude to the Lord, therefore, was great when he learned that once more, and in his own days, the gospel had been restored to the earth in the plenitude of its power, and that the everlasting Priesthood had been again given to man to administer its ordinances. Long before his marriage, the father of the
family had a dream concerning the death of his wife, and when emigration was talked about, they both seemed to be aware that she would not live to reach Zion. Her relatives remonstrated with her for going with the Saints, but in reply she said to them, that though she knew she never would live to reach the body of the Church, she was determined to undertake the journey for the sake of her children, and she never shrank at the prospect before her. The manifestation that they had received proved to be true. They started for Zion, sailing from Liverpool in the ship "Sidney," Sept. 17, 1842, but she died and was buried in the ocean. The family continued their journey until they reached Nauvoo. The day after their arrival there was a large gathering of people at the steamboat landing to meet a company of Saints who had arrived from St. Louis. Among them were the Prophet Joseph, his brother Hyrum, and a number of other leading men who had gone there to welcome the people. Though no one had pointed the Prophet out to George Q., and he had never seen a portrait of him. he knew him instantly. It seemed to him as if he had always been acquainted with him. and that he would have known him to be the Prophet Joseph anywhere in the world. August 19, 1844. George Q. and his brothers and sisters were bereft of their father, who died at St. Louis while there on a short visit from Nauvoo. At that time President Taylor was editor and publisher of the "Times and Seasons" and the "Nauvoo Neighbor." George Q. Cannon learned the printing business in his office, having gone to live with him shortly after the arrival of the family at Nauvoo. From that time until October, 1849. he was a member of the household of President Taylor. He was ordained an Elder, under the hands of President Taylor. Feb. 9, 1845. and on the same day was ordained a Seventy and became a member of the 19th Quorum of Seventy. He acted in the capacity of clerk to that quorum for several years. In 1846 he traveled with the main body of the Saints from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters, and from Winter Quarters to Great Salt Lake valley in the summer of 1847. arriving in the valley on the 3rd of October of that year. During the two following years he was occupied in all the labors incident to the founding of Great Salt Lake City, and in the fall of 1849, with a number of other brethren, was called to go to California, under the direction of Brother Charles C. Rich. After a hazardous journey, during which they attempted to reach California by way of a "cut off" that added greatly to the dangers and duration of the trip, the company reached Lower California in a starving condition. During the remainder of 1849 and the greater part of 1850 he was in various parts of California, which had not then become a State. In the latter part of the summer of 1850 he was called, in company with nine others, to go on a mission to the Sandwich Islands. Elder Hiram Clark was appointed to preside. Apostle Charles C. Rich, before leaving for home, set them all- apart, and they landed at Honolulu Dec. 12,1850. Though they were sent to preach to the whites, the Elders soon saw that but little could be done among this class on the Islands. The majority of the Elders were in favor of returning without attempting to teach the natives; but Brother George Q., seeing himself surrounded by a whole nation which was ignorant of the principles of the gospel and who ought to be taught the message of salvation which God had empowered them to carry, was so powerfully impressed with the feeling that he ought to stay and warn the nation, that he declared that if all should leave, he would, though the youngest of the party, remain and learn the language and do his duty as an Elder to that people, even if he did not baptize a soul. Consequently he, together with Elders Henry W. Bigler, James Keeler, William Farrer and James Hawkins, remained, acquired the language, and were the means in the hands of God of bringing large numbers to the knowledge of the truth. George Q. acquired the language with great ease, and was soon able to preach and baptize, and organize branches. He also translated the Book of Mormon into the Hawaiian language. This translation demanded much care. Elder Cannon
could get no aid from white men in this labor; but he had the assistance of several of the natives, who were pretty well educated in their own language. He read his translation to them as it progressed, and conversed with them upon the principles to see if they obtained the same idea from the translation that the English edition gave to its readers. In this way he went through the whole book very carefully while the work of translation was going on. After the work was completed, he went through it again with a number of the best educated and most intelligent natives he could meet, all of whom were members of the Church. He afterwards examined the translation carefully with the aid of Brother William Farrer and a native who belonged to the Church, who was credited with being the best master of the Hawaiian language in the kingdom. When Elder Cannon, accompanied by other Elders, sailed from Honolulu on his return to America, July 29, 1854, there were upwards of four thousand members in the Church in Hawaii. Elder Cannon remained in San Francisco about six weeks, helping Brother Parley P. Pratt on his autobiography, and then repaired to San Bernardino, and thence traveled, in company with Elder Charles C. Rich, to Great Salt Lake City, where he arrived Nov. 28, 1854. Before returning from the Islands, he was chosen to be one of the presidents of th 30th Quorum of Seventy, and upon his arrival at Great Salt Lake City was set apart to that position. He was soon afterwards notified to prepare for another mission to the Islands, as the Elders there desired him to return and take charge of the press which he and they had purchased, and which had arrived after his departure. Subsequently, however, the press and printing materials, with the stock of paper sent with it, were forwarded to Elder Parley P. Pratt, at San Francisco, and he wrote to the First Presidency desiring the return of Elder Cannon to California, to assist him in the publication of a paper; the prospectus of which he had issued. Consequently, Elder Geo. Q. Cannon left Great Salt Lake City May 10, 1855, accompanied by his wife and two missionaries—Elders Joseph Bull and Matthew F. Wilkie—having been appointed to publish the Book of Mormon in the Hawaiian language and to assist Elder Parley P. Pratt in the publication of a paper. Elder Orson Hyde, who was appointed at the same time to establish a settlement at Carson Valley and to labor in California, had also been instructed to assist in this work. Upon Brother Cannon's arrival at San Francisco, he found that Elder Parley P. Pratt had started on his return home. He followed him to the place appointed for the camp to start from, and had an interview with him, and was by him set apart to preside over the mission in California and Oregon. The difficulties which he had to contend with in establishing an office in San Francisco, in printing the Book of Mormon, and afterwards in the publication of the "Western Standard," form a very interesting chapter of history. It required great energy and the exercise of much faith and perseverance to accomplish the work entrusted to them; but the mission was a successful one. In printing the book, he had no one to help him read the proofs, as Brothers Bull and Wilkie, who set the type, could not understand the language, though they acquired remarkable facility before the work was finished in reading the manuscript and setting the type. His method of reading the proofs was to have his wife read from the English Book of Mormon, while he read the proofs in Hawaiian, and, from his familiarity with the language, he was able to correct the proofs. The entire translation thus underwent three revisions, in addition to the first reading and examination. The book was printed and bound and sent to the Islands; the "Western Standard" was published, and did creditable work in defending and advocating the principles of the gospel. When the news of the march of Buchanan's army and the attitude assumed by Governor Brigham Young and the Saints in regard thereto reached California, it created great excitement; and as it was thought that perhaps evil would befall the army, it was strongly advocated in one or two of the leading journals that George Q. Cannon should be seized and held as a hostage for the safety of the officers of the army. All this talk, however, was confined to the newspapers. Before matters had progressed that far, he thought it wise under the circumstances to send his wife and child home with those who were leaving for Utah and in charge of his brother David, who had joined him on a mission in California. He remained to attend to affairs there until Elder Orson Pratt, Ezra T. Benson, John A. Ray, John M. Kay, William Miller and John Scott came to San Francisco from England, on their way to the Valley. Under the counsel of the two Apostles he wound up his business and arranged the affairs of the mission to the best possible advantage, and left with them for Great Salt Lake City, by way of San Bernardino. He reached the city Jan. 19, 1858. On the night of his arrival home he was appointed adjutant in the standing army that was being organized for defense, and from that time until the move southward was decided upon the ensuing spring, he was busily engaged in organizing and arranging for service. After the decision was reached that Great Salt Lake City and the settlements north should be abandoned with the view to their being burned. President Young appointed Brother George Q. Cannon to take the "Deseret News" press and a portion of its material, with a few printers, and move to Fillmore^ where the President wished that paper to be, issued in reduced size. He reached Fillmore in April, and from that time until the succeeding September published the paper there. On his return from Fillmore with his family, he was met at Payson, Utah county, in September, 1858, by a messenger from President Young, who bore a note to him, in which it was stated that he had been appointed a mission to the Eastern States, and that a company of brethren were waiting for him who expected to start the next day. As the note was dated on Sunday, and the next day was the day that he received the message, he saw that there was no time to be lost. He had just stopped for dinner at the house of Brother Wm. B. Preston, who was then residing at Payson. In three-quarters of an hour after receiving the message he was ready for his mission, and left his family on the road side, in the care of his brother David, who was but a youth, and to the tender mercies of his Heavenly Father. He had no home in Great Salt Lake City or anywhere else, but he felt that the same kind Providence which had blessed him thus far in his life, would still care for his loved ones, if he manifested willingness to do his duty. Probably this was as short a notice as any Elder in the Church ever received for a mission of such duration. He reached Great Salt Lake City the next morning before daylight, and after receiving his instructions, started the same day for the States, and was gone only a few days short of two years. This mission was of a semi-political character. At the time that Buchanan's army had been sent to Utah the whole country had been flooded with misrepresentation and falsehoods concerning Utah and its condition. These falsehoods had furnished the administration with a basis for its action in sending the army. It had been charged that the court records and the Territorial library had been destroyed, that the lives of the federal judges had been threatened and endangered, and that Utah was in a state of rebellion. The whole affair had been ingeniously and artfully worked up by persons who were interested in creating hostility between the general government and the people of Utah. Besides the politicians, the contractors were deeply interested in the scheme, and it became literally a contractors' war; for the government made the most extravagant contracts for transportation, etc., with various parties who in many instances had contributed to create the prejudice against the people of Utah, and who were in this way profiting by their villainous schemes. When the peace commissioners, sent by President Buchanan, came to Utah, they found how baseless the stories were which had obtained currency in the country. Governor Cumming had already informed the government that the court records and territorial library were intact, and that he had found upon his arrival here that the government had been grossly deceived. These representations had been made and authenticated, but scarcely a word had been permitted to leak out to give the public a true knowledge of the situation. The feeling in the United States was very general that Utah had actually been in rebellion, and that the "Mormons" merited severe punishment. It was to help correct these falsehoods that Brother George Q. was sent to the States. By means of influential friends, especially the late General Thomas L. Kane, he secured excellent letters of introduction to leading editors and to prominent senators and members of Congress, and labored assiduously to bring a true knowledge of the condition of affairs to public men generally. By this means much ignorance which existed concerning Utah and her people was removed, and many falsehoods were corrected. Besides attending to this business, he had been appointed to take charge of the branches of the Church in the East, and in 1859 and 1860 he acted as agent of the emigration at New York. He also purchased oxen, wagons and provisions for the people at the frontiers and organized them into companies to cross the plains. In this labor at Florence the first year (1859) he worked with the late Elder Joseph W. Young, being assisted also by the experienced supervision of President Horace S. Eldredge. While on that mission he received notification from the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles that he had been chosen to fill the place made vacant in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by the death of Elder Parley P. Pratt. He was selected to this office Oct. 2, 1859, and his ordination took place, after his return from his mission, Aug. 26, 1860. He was ordained by President Brigham Young. Six weeks after his return he started on another mission, being appointed, together with Elders Chas. C. Rich and Amasa M. Lyman (who had preceded him to Liverpool), to preside over the European Mission. The duties assigned him by the First Presidency were to take charge of the "Millennial Star" and the publishing business connected therewith, and also of the business of the emigration. He reached Liverpool on the night of Dec. 21, 1860. Soon after his arrival he established a Church printing office, the printing for the Church up to that time having been done by contract with other offices. These three Apostles presided over the European Mission until May 14, 1862, when Elders Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich returned home, and Elder George Q. Cannon repaired to Washington, D. C, to which place, he had been called by a dispatch from home, which informed him that he and Hon. W. H. Hooper had been elected United States Senators, and that he was to join Brother Hooper at Washington and endeavor to get the Territory admitted into the Union as a State. They labored faithfully in this direction until the adjournment of Congress; after which Brother George Q. returned again to England, reaching there July 26, 1862; and from that time until his return home in 1864. he presided over the European Mission, visiting twice the branches of the Church in Scandinavia, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and France. During the four years he was on this mission and in charge of the emigration business, there were upwards of thirteen thousand Saints shipped from Liverpool for Zion, and it was a cause of pleasure to all engaged in the work at that time to know that more souls had joined the Church during the same period than had emigrated. In company with Elder John W. Young he sailed from Liverpool Aug. 27, 1864, but they were detained in New York and at Atchison by an Indian war, in which the settlements on the frontiers and many of the stage stations were destroyed. They went through by the first stage after the interruption and incurred considerable risk in making the journey. His return from this mission was almost fifteen years to a day from the time of his departure in 1849 on his first mission. During these fifteen years he had been constantly away from Great Salt Lake City on missions with the exception of about nine months. Upon his arrival home at this time President Brigham Young desired him to be his private secretary. He acted in this capacity for the three succeeding years. The comparatively barren results of the labors of the Elders abroad in the missionary field had drawn his attention to the vast field of usefulness open and only imperfectly occupied at home. Thousands of children were growing up, whose opportunities for becoming acquainted with the doctrines and history of the Church were too meagre. During the winter after his return from Europe (1864-65) he organized and taught a Sunday school in the 14th Ward of Great Salt Lake City. In January, 1866, he commenced the publication of the "Juvenile Instructor," designed expressly for the education and elevation of the young. This periodical has now entered upon the thirty-sixth year of its publication, and has been of great value in giving to the children and youth of Zion a knowledge of the principles of the gospel and of the historical events connected with the establishment of the Latter-day Saints Sunday Schools. George Q.
Cannon's name has always been identified with the Sunday school movement. At the organization of the Sunday School Union in 1867, he was made general superintendent, which position he held till the last day of his earthly career. His heart was in this work and thousands upon thousands of the children of Zion will revere his name and memory. He was also a strong supporter of the other church schools. He was a member of the General Board of Education from the day of its organization, April 5, 1888, and never relaxed his interest and energies in that capacity. Besides his labors on the "Juvenile Instructor" he wrote many interesting works, such as "My First Mission," "Life of Joseph Smith," "Life of Nephi," "The Latter-day Prophet," etc., and assisted in writing "The Life of Brigham Young," and other publications. In the fall of 1867, by the appointment of President Brigham Young, he took charge of the "Deseret News" and issued a daily edition this being the commencement of the "Deseret Evening News." For a number of years he continued to occupy the position of editor and publisher of the "Deseret News," traveling, as circumstances would permit, with the First Presidency and the Twelve, during the summer months through the various settlements and holding meetings with them, as was the custom in those days, every year. During the fall of 1871 a great many articles appeared in various papers on the subject of admitting Utah into the Union as a State, on the condition that the Latter-day Saints relinquish their practice of plural marriage. So much was said in favor of, and so little said In opposition to, this method of dealing with the question, that Presidents Brigham Young and Geo. A. Smith, who were then at St. George, felt that there was danger of the Latter-day Saints being put in a false position, and they telegraphed Brother George Q. Cannon to proceed at once to Washington. D. C, and define the true position of the Saints on this important point. He remained in Washington until Congress adjourned for the holidays, when he returned to Utah. A constitutional convention met early in February, 1872, and he was elected a member and helped to frame the constitution which was then adopted. Together with Hon. Thomas Fitch and Hon. Frank Fuller, he was chosen a delegate to present the constitution to Congress and work for Utah's admission as a State. With them he proceeded to Washington, and remained there with Delegate Hooper, until the adjournment of that session. Upon Brother Hooper declining to be again nominated for delegate. George Q. Cannon was nominated and elected in August, 1872. He spent the next winter with Delegate Hooper, at Washington. At four successive elections he carried the Territory as delegate to Congress by a very heavy majority in his favor. The history of the part he took, in Congress during his terms of office—and the success of his efforts and labors in that capacity, form an important chapter in the history of the Latter-day Saints, and, when compiled, will prove interesting reading. To the chagrin of a great many enemies, and to the surprise of many of the Latter-day Saints, he obtained his seat when first elected, though a most determined effort was made to prevent this. It was only by Governor Murray breaking his official oath, and being guilty of an infamous abuse of the authority of his position, that he was refused his certificate of election in 1881. Though George Q. Cannon had been elected by a vote of 18,568—a majority of 17,211 votes over his competitor—this man Murray determined to bring matters to an issue by refusing to give him the certificate of election, but which he gave to his opponent, who had only received 1,357 out of 19,925 votes. But the instrument whom these conspirators used—for Murray was not alone in this conspiracy against the rights of the people—did not have the satisfaction of getting his seat. Congress was not prepared to readily join in a scheme of any of this, transparent character, though there were many public men who hated the "Mormons" sufficiently to take advantage of the opportunity which Murray's perfidy offered to them. It was not, however, until the Edmunds hill had passed and become law—March 2, 1882—that Congress took action on the case. It is probable that a majority of the House could not have been secured in favor of denying George Q. Cannon his seat had not the Edmunds bill been passed; and this was rushed through with unceremonious and indecent haste, and by wilfully and flagrantly trampling upon the rules of the House, in order to furnish members who had scruples respecting this transaction with a justifiable basis of action Vol. 1, No. 4. in voting against the measure. April 19, 1882, the case came before the House and was decided against the duly elected delegate taking his seat, by a vote of 123 against 79. Before, however, taking his departure from the place where he had labored for so many years, he had the opportunity of delivering a speech in vindication of his own case and that of the people whom he represented. President Brigham Young died Aug. 29, 1877. He had made his will in 1873, and had sent his son Brigham and Elder George Q. Cannon east to get a form of will that would be suitable to his circumstances and family relations. This will was adopted by him, and under his direction, Brother George Q. Cannon prepared it and was made the principal executor, Brigham Young, jun., and Albert Carrington being the co-executors. The settlement of this estate during 1878 and 1879 engrossed nearly his entire time when he was not in Washington. In 1879 a suit was commenced by some few dissatisfied heirs against the Church and against the executors. The executors were under $300,000 bonds, but Judge Boreman was determined to place them under additional bonds and so decided. This they refused to comply with, thinking the bonds they had already given sufficient for all purposes, and they were adjudged by him guilty of contempt and ordered to the penitentiary. They accepted the alternative and went to the penitentiary. Aug. 4, 1879, and remained there upwards of three weeks, when they were released by action of Chief Justice Hunter, who had been recently appointed chief justice of the Territory. Shortly afterwards the suit was settled, and the settlement of the estate was proceeded with. Probably no estate in America had ever presented so many difficulties in the settlement as this had, because of the various interests involved and the number of heirs to be settled with. In October,
1880, the Church having been under the presidency of the Twelve Apostles for a little more than three years, the First Presidency was re-organized with John Taylor as President, George Q. Cannon as first counselor and Joseph F. Smith as second counselor. In 1880, when the anti-polygamy raid under the Edmunds art was inaugurated. President Cannon accompanied President Taylor into seclusion, and they directed the affairs of the Church in secrecy, their residences being searched for them by deputy marshals on several occasions. Under counsel from President Taylor President Cannon took train for California, but was arrested at Humboldt Wells, Feb. 13. 1886. On the way back he fell from the train while in rapid motion and injured his face somewhat and was badly shaken up. Marshal Ireland sent for a company of soldiers to guard his prisoner, and he was brought into Salt Lake City under military escort. He was placed under bonds in $20,000 and again in $25,000, making the enormous sum of $45,000 while he was only charged with a simple misdemeanor, namely, living with his wives; but under two indictments for the same offense. The feeling against the "Mormon" leaders was so bitter, that President Taylor counseled him not to appear when his case was called, so his excessive bail was declared forfeited. But subsequently the amount was restored, an act of Congress being passed to reimburse him, he having previously settled in full with his sureties. In 1888 affairs having assumed a less passionate state in the courts, President Cannon surrendered himself to U. S. Marshal Dyer, Sept. 17, 1888, and was sentenced by Judge Sanford under the two indictments to 175 days' imprisonment and a fine of $450. He served the time and paid the fine and was released Feb. 21, 1889. At the decease of President Taylor, the Twelve Apostles again took charge of the Church, and Presidents Cannon and Smith resumed their places in the Quorum of the Apostles. On the accession of Wilford Woodruff to the presidency, George Q. Cannon was chosen again as first counselor and Joseph F. Smith as second counselor. After the death of President Woodruff, and when President Lorenzo Snow succeeded to the presidency Sept. 13, 1898, he also selected George Q. Cannon as his first counselor, and Jos. F. Smith as his second counselor. This was ratified at the general conference on Oct. 9th of the same year. President Cannon remained in this important position until his demise. In addition to the onerous duties of his position as one of the First Presidency of the Church, in which he traveled very extensively among the Stakes of Zion, attending conferences, dedicating meeting houses, counseling the people in things temporal and spiritual, he was engaged in many enterprises of importance to the public He was a director in the Union Pacific Railroad company, and in the Salt Lake and Los Angeles company. He was vice president and director of Z. C. M. I. for many years. He founded the publishing and book firm of George Q. Cannon and Sons Co., of which he was president. He was president of the Utah Sugar Co.; vice president and director of Zion's Savings Bank and Trust Co.; director of the Co-op. Wagon and Machine Co.; president of Brigham Young Trust Co.; president of the Utah Light and Power Co.; director of the Bullion-Beck and Champion Mining Co.; also of the Grand Central Mining Co. He recently organized the George Q. Cannon association, of which he was the president, and in which he placed all his property. In the interest of these associations he took repeated trips to the East and the West and gave them each the benefit of his wisdom and experience. He was president of the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress for one term and attended all its sessions as a member with great regularity. He was also president and afterwards vice president of the Irrigation Congress and addressed its meetings on several occasions as an authority on irrigation and kindred affairs. Nov. 29, 1900, President Cannon, accompanied by a few friends, left Salt Lake to attend the jubilee of the Sandwich Islands mission, which was held December 12th and 13th. He landed at Honolulu December 10th, and the next day received the most magnificent greeting ever accorded a guest in Hawaii. The native Saints fairly adored him as the instrument in the hands of God in the introduction of the gospel among them. Some of them he baptized fifty years before. He was crowned with the yellow lei, the emblem of royalty. Several prominent people in the present and former governments also waited upon him. During the festivities, lasting several days, he was honored and almost worshipped by the islanders. Ex-Queen Lilioukalani also attended a meeting at which he spoke half an hour in Hawaiian, which he was able to recall in a surprising manner. President Cannon afterwards visited the ex-queen, and at her request blessed her. On the day of his departure to return home he was literally covered with flowers. He arrived in Salt Lake City, January 16th, and by request addressed the great Live-Stock convention which met in the Assembly Hall that morning, and was received with immense applause. The health of President Cannon had been occasionally interrupted by spells of sickness for some time before the fatal attack. He had been robust and strong until the fall from the train already mentioned. After that he experienced once in a while a weakness in contrast to his former vigor. While on visits to the East he was seized with serious symptoms. At New York in November, 1889, he was severely attacked with pneumonia, and but for his abstemious life and good constitution would probably have then succumbed. This undoubtedly prepared the way for the last illness that laid him low. Early in March, 1901, he was stricken with the grippe, which caused a number of unfavorable complications to arise; and it was decided that a change of climate would do him good. Consequently, he left Salt Lake City, March 13, 1901, for Monterey, Cal., where quarters were secured for him in a large and comfortable cottage situated on an eminence overlooking the bay, where he could receive the full benefits of the gentle ocean breezes; but the change failed to restore him to health, though his condition seemed to improve for a few days. He gradually grew worse and early on the morning of April 12, 1901, he passed away. The remains were brought home and the funeral took place from the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 16, 1901. President Cannon left a large family—four wives and twenty-eight children—to mourn his demise. He was a good husband, a considerate parent and wise counselor, who always provided well for the needs of those dependent upon him. He was a strong advocate of the patriarchal family system, and was never happier than when surrounded by the members of his own household while some reunion was being held or birthday celebrated. He was firmly of the opinion that such occasions were productive of untold benefit. The last family gathering held at his home was just after his return from Hawaii in January. 1901, when his seventy-fourth birthday was observed in a most pleasant manner. President Cannon was a man of medium height, well rounded and erect. His shapely head, which in his younger days was crowned with a liberal growth of black hair, and his high, broad forehead, impressed everyone who met him. His nose was somewhat large and aquiline, almost approaching the Israelitish in contour; a pair of grey eyes, and a well-formed mouth expressed amicability and kindness at all times. He was a gifted speaker, and for many years he ranked among the foremost speakers of the nation. In his earlier experience he was much more deliberate in utterance than later in life. Added to his wide range of information and deep and sometimes tremendous earnestness, he was aided by a clear, resonant voice. When warmed to his theme he occasionally reached the highest flights of oratory, thrilling and captivating his hearers by the forcefulness of his thought and the persuasiveness of his address.
CANNON, George Quayle, first counselor to Presidents John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow successively, was born on Thursday, Jan. 11, 1827, in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. His parents, George Cannon and Ann Quayle, were natives of Peel, on the Isle of Man. The Cannon or Cannan family came originally from the borders of England and Scotland. The earliest mention of the name in the parish record of Kirk Michael, on the Isle of Man, is the burial in 1598, of one Marian Cannan. The name is spelled on the records both Cannan and Cannon, though Cannan appears to be the earlier and more common style. The family removed from Scotland to the Isle of Man on account of political or religious troubles, in which they became involved, and they had to flee there for refuge. Several of the Cannons were engaged in the wars of that period. The name of the place, which has been owned by the family on the Isle of Man for nearly three hundred years, and which is still in the possession of an older branch (the present owner being a cousin of George Q.'s grandfather), is Cooilshallagh. Train, in his History of the Isle of Man, Vol. 1, page 85, note 2, alluding to this homestead, says: "Cooil, in the Manx language, signifies a 'hiding-place' ". He then mentions Cooilshallagh in Kirk Michael. Whether this place received its name from the Cannons because of it having proved a "hiding-place" or place of refuge for the family, does not appear, though it is not improbable.
George Q. Cannon was the eldest of his parents' children. The other children were: Mary Alice Cannon, wife of the late Charles Lambert, of Salt Lake City; Anne Cannon, widow of Brother Orrin N. Woodbury, of St. George, Angus M. Cannon; David H. Cannon; Leonora Cannon, the wife of Brother Robert Gardner, of St. George; and Elizabeth Cannon (the daughter of his father by a second marriage), the wife of Brother William Piggott of Bloomington. These are all alive and in full fellowship today in the Church. Miss Leonora Cannon, his father's sister, had a very intimate friend who married a gentleman by the name of Bacon, a colonel in the British army, who had received the appointment of Secretary to the governor of Canada. This friend exacted a promise from her that when she married and went to Canada, she (Miss Cannon) should accompany her on her wedding tour to that country. She kept the promise and sailed with her friend; and while in Canada, she being a devout Methodist and greatly attached to her religion, made the acquaintance of the late President John Taylor, who was at that time a local preacher in the Methodist church. This was in the city of Toronto. She had fully expected, when she left her home, to return there; but in consequence of a dream which she had, she felt convinced that it was her duty to accept the offer of marriage, which she had received from John Taylor, and remain in Canada. Some time after their marriage. Elder Parley P. Pratt visited Toronto, having been drawn there by the prayers of a number of persons who were diligently seeking for the truth, among whom President Taylor was very prominent. They felt that Methodism was not strictly in accordance with the Scriptures, and that there were many blessings and gifts which God had given to His church in ancient days, of which their church was destitute. They met together often, examined the Scriptures with great earnestness and care, and prayed fervently for additional light, and that, if there was a church on the earth which possessed these heavenly powers and gifts, they might be made acquainted with it. Elder Pratt's arrival in the city of Toronto in the summer of 1836 created some excitement. A few of this band of seekers after truth received his testimony and were baptized into the Church; among them Bro. John Taylor and his wife. The history of the events connected with Bro. Taylor's espousal of the truth are related in his own biography. Suffice it to say, that after his wife received the gospel, she was convinced in her own mind that her brother George would receive it also; for when she had, previous to her departure for Canada, reasoned with him and urged him to espouse religion, that his soul might be saved, he had, on one occasion, remarked to her that her religion could not satisfy him; that it was not according to the Bible, which he could prove to her. "But," continued he, "of what use is it for me to unsettle you in your faith; it gives you joy and satisfaction, and I cannot offer you anything better; but it would not satisfy me." From this and other conversations which they had had, she was convinced that he was only waiting for the true gospel to be preached to receive it gladly. When her husband, therefore, with the other brethren of the Twelve Apostles, took their mission to England in 1840, he repaired, upon his landing at Liverpool, to the house of his brother-in-law, George Cannon. The latter was not at home at the time, and after conversing with his wife, he (President Taylor) returned to the vessel. After he went out of the house, George Q.'s mother remarked to him, he being then a child of twelve years of age, "Your uncle is a man of God." As soon as he preached the gospel,. therefore, to the family she was ready to be baptized, knowing for herself, as she said, that the principles which he taught were the true gospel of the Son of God. Her husband. George Cannon, the father of George Q., read the Book of Mormon through carefully twice before his baptism, and on laying it down after finishing it the second time, he remarked, "No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so." They joined the Church, and three of their children, who were old enough to enter the Church, were baptized some months afterwards (June 18. 1840). Upon hearing the doctrines of the Church taught by his uncle and his fellow-laborer, Elder Joseph Fielding. George Q., though so young, drank them in eagerly. He believed every word they said, and his joy was unbounded; for he had been a close reader of the Bible, and had asked his father why it was that the ancient gifts and blessings of the gospel were not manifested in these days as they were anciently. More than once he had wept because it had been his privilege to live in the days of the Savior and His Apostles and witness the mighty works which they performed. His gratitude to the Lord, therefore, was great when he learned that once more, and in his own days, the gospel had been restored to the earth in the plenitude of its power, and that the everlasting Priesthood had been again given to man to administer its ordinances. Long before his marriage, the father of the
family had a dream concerning the death of his wife, and when emigration was talked about, they both seemed to be aware that she would not live to reach Zion. Her relatives remonstrated with her for going with the Saints, but in reply she said to them, that though she knew she never would live to reach the body of the Church, she was determined to undertake the journey for the sake of her children, and she never shrank at the prospect before her. The manifestation that they had received proved to be true. They started for Zion, sailing from Liverpool in the ship "Sidney," Sept. 17, 1842, but she died and was buried in the ocean. The family continued their journey until they reached Nauvoo. The day after their arrival there was a large gathering of people at the steamboat landing to meet a company of Saints who had arrived from St. Louis. Among them were the Prophet Joseph, his brother Hyrum, and a number of other leading men who had gone there to welcome the people. Though no one had pointed the Prophet out to George Q., and he had never seen a portrait of him. he knew him instantly. It seemed to him as if he had always been acquainted with him. and that he would have known him to be the Prophet Joseph anywhere in the world. August 19, 1844. George Q. and his brothers and sisters were bereft of their father, who died at St. Louis while there on a short visit from Nauvoo. At that time President Taylor was editor and publisher of the "Times and Seasons" and the "Nauvoo Neighbor." George Q. Cannon learned the printing business in his office, having gone to live with him shortly after the arrival of the family at Nauvoo. From that time until October, 1849. he was a member of the household of President Taylor. He was ordained an Elder, under the hands of President Taylor. Feb. 9, 1845. and on the same day was ordained a Seventy and became a member of the 19th Quorum of Seventy. He acted in the capacity of clerk to that quorum for several years. In 1846 he traveled with the main body of the Saints from Nauvoo to Winter Quarters, and from Winter Quarters to Great Salt Lake valley in the summer of 1847. arriving in the valley on the 3rd of October of that year. During the two following years he was occupied in all the labors incident to the founding of Great Salt Lake City, and in the fall of 1849, with a number of other brethren, was called to go to California, under the direction of Brother Charles C. Rich. After a hazardous journey, during which they attempted to reach California by way of a "cut off" that added greatly to the dangers and duration of the trip, the company reached Lower California in a starving condition. During the remainder of 1849 and the greater part of 1850 he was in various parts of California, which had not then become a State. In the latter part of the summer of 1850 he was called, in company with nine others, to go on a mission to the Sandwich Islands. Elder Hiram Clark was appointed to preside. Apostle Charles C. Rich, before leaving for home, set them all- apart, and they landed at Honolulu Dec. 12,1850. Though they were sent to preach to the whites, the Elders soon saw that but little could be done among this class on the Islands. The majority of the Elders were in favor of returning without attempting to teach the natives; but Brother George Q., seeing himself surrounded by a whole nation which was ignorant of the principles of the gospel and who ought to be taught the message of salvation which God had empowered them to carry, was so powerfully impressed with the feeling that he ought to stay and warn the nation, that he declared that if all should leave, he would, though the youngest of the party, remain and learn the language and do his duty as an Elder to that people, even if he did not baptize a soul. Consequently he, together with Elders Henry W. Bigler, James Keeler, William Farrer and James Hawkins, remained, acquired the language, and were the means in the hands of God of bringing large numbers to the knowledge of the truth. George Q. acquired the language with great ease, and was soon able to preach and baptize, and organize branches. He also translated the Book of Mormon into the Hawaiian language. This translation demanded much care. Elder Cannon
could get no aid from white men in this labor; but he had the assistance of several of the natives, who were pretty well educated in their own language. He read his translation to them as it progressed, and conversed with them upon the principles to see if they obtained the same idea from the translation that the English edition gave to its readers. In this way he went through the whole book very carefully while the work of translation was going on. After the work was completed, he went through it again with a number of the best educated and most intelligent natives he could meet, all of whom were members of the Church. He afterwards examined the translation carefully with the aid of Brother William Farrer and a native who belonged to the Church, who was credited with being the best master of the Hawaiian language in the kingdom. When Elder Cannon, accompanied by other Elders, sailed from Honolulu on his return to America, July 29, 1854, there were upwards of four thousand members in the Church in Hawaii. Elder Cannon remained in San Francisco about six weeks, helping Brother Parley P. Pratt on his autobiography, and then repaired to San Bernardino, and thence traveled, in company with Elder Charles C. Rich, to Great Salt Lake City, where he arrived Nov. 28, 1854. Before returning from the Islands, he was chosen to be one of the presidents of th 30th Quorum of Seventy, and upon his arrival at Great Salt Lake City was set apart to that position. He was soon afterwards notified to prepare for another mission to the Islands, as the Elders there desired him to return and take charge of the press which he and they had purchased, and which had arrived after his departure. Subsequently, however, the press and printing materials, with the stock of paper sent with it, were forwarded to Elder Parley P. Pratt, at San Francisco, and he wrote to the First Presidency desiring the return of Elder Cannon to California, to assist him in the publication of a paper; the prospectus of which he had issued. Consequently, Elder Geo. Q. Cannon left Great Salt Lake City May 10, 1855, accompanied by his wife and two missionaries—Elders Joseph Bull and Matthew F. Wilkie—having been appointed to publish the Book of Mormon in the Hawaiian language and to assist Elder Parley P. Pratt in the publication of a paper. Elder Orson Hyde, who was appointed at the same time to establish a settlement at Carson Valley and to labor in California, had also been instructed to assist in this work. Upon Brother Cannon's arrival at San Francisco, he found that Elder Parley P. Pratt had started on his return home. He followed him to the place appointed for the camp to start from, and had an interview with him, and was by him set apart to preside over the mission in California and Oregon. The difficulties which he had to contend with in establishing an office in San Francisco, in printing the Book of Mormon, and afterwards in the publication of the "Western Standard," form a very interesting chapter of history. It required great energy and the exercise of much faith and perseverance to accomplish the work entrusted to them; but the mission was a successful one. In printing the book, he had no one to help him read the proofs, as Brothers Bull and Wilkie, who set the type, could not understand the language, though they acquired remarkable facility before the work was finished in reading the manuscript and setting the type. His method of reading the proofs was to have his wife read from the English Book of Mormon, while he read the proofs in Hawaiian, and, from his familiarity with the language, he was able to correct the proofs. The entire translation thus underwent three revisions, in addition to the first reading and examination. The book was printed and bound and sent to the Islands; the "Western Standard" was published, and did creditable work in defending and advocating the principles of the gospel. When the news of the march of Buchanan's army and the attitude assumed by Governor Brigham Young and the Saints in regard thereto reached California, it created great excitement; and as it was thought that perhaps evil would befall the army, it was strongly advocated in one or two of the leading journals that George Q. Cannon should be seized and held as a hostage for the safety of the officers of the army. All this talk, however, was confined to the newspapers. Before matters had progressed that far, he thought it wise under the circumstances to send his wife and child home with those who were leaving for Utah and in charge of his brother David, who had joined him on a mission in California. He remained to attend to affairs there until Elder Orson Pratt, Ezra T. Benson, John A. Ray, John M. Kay, William Miller and John Scott came to San Francisco from England, on their way to the Valley. Under the counsel of the two Apostles he wound up his business and arranged the affairs of the mission to the best possible advantage, and left with them for Great Salt Lake City, by way of San Bernardino. He reached the city Jan. 19, 1858. On the night of his arrival home he was appointed adjutant in the standing army that was being organized for defense, and from that time until the move southward was decided upon the ensuing spring, he was busily engaged in organizing and arranging for service. After the decision was reached that Great Salt Lake City and the settlements north should be abandoned with the view to their being burned. President Young appointed Brother George Q. Cannon to take the "Deseret News" press and a portion of its material, with a few printers, and move to Fillmore^ where the President wished that paper to be, issued in reduced size. He reached Fillmore in April, and from that time until the succeeding September published the paper there. On his return from Fillmore with his family, he was met at Payson, Utah county, in September, 1858, by a messenger from President Young, who bore a note to him, in which it was stated that he had been appointed a mission to the Eastern States, and that a company of brethren were waiting for him who expected to start the next day. As the note was dated on Sunday, and the next day was the day that he received the message, he saw that there was no time to be lost. He had just stopped for dinner at the house of Brother Wm. B. Preston, who was then residing at Payson. In three-quarters of an hour after receiving the message he was ready for his mission, and left his family on the road side, in the care of his brother David, who was but a youth, and to the tender mercies of his Heavenly Father. He had no home in Great Salt Lake City or anywhere else, but he felt that the same kind Providence which had blessed him thus far in his life, would still care for his loved ones, if he manifested willingness to do his duty. Probably this was as short a notice as any Elder in the Church ever received for a mission of such duration. He reached Great Salt Lake City the next morning before daylight, and after receiving his instructions, started the same day for the States, and was gone only a few days short of two years. This mission was of a semi-political character. At the time that Buchanan's army had been sent to Utah the whole country had been flooded with misrepresentation and falsehoods concerning Utah and its condition. These falsehoods had furnished the administration with a basis for its action in sending the army. It had been charged that the court records and the Territorial library had been destroyed, that the lives of the federal judges had been threatened and endangered, and that Utah was in a state of rebellion. The whole affair had been ingeniously and artfully worked up by persons who were interested in creating hostility between the general government and the people of Utah. Besides the politicians, the contractors were deeply interested in the scheme, and it became literally a contractors' war; for the government made the most extravagant contracts for transportation, etc., with various parties who in many instances had contributed to create the prejudice against the people of Utah, and who were in this way profiting by their villainous schemes. When the peace commissioners, sent by President Buchanan, came to Utah, they found how baseless the stories were which had obtained currency in the country. Governor Cumming had already informed the government that the court records and territorial library were intact, and that he had found upon his arrival here that the government had been grossly deceived. These representations had been made and authenticated, but scarcely a word had been permitted to leak out to give the public a true knowledge of the situation. The feeling in the United States was very general that Utah had actually been in rebellion, and that the "Mormons" merited severe punishment. It was to help correct these falsehoods that Brother George Q. was sent to the States. By means of influential friends, especially the late General Thomas L. Kane, he secured excellent letters of introduction to leading editors and to prominent senators and members of Congress, and labored assiduously to bring a true knowledge of the condition of affairs to public men generally. By this means much ignorance which existed concerning Utah and her people was removed, and many falsehoods were corrected. Besides attending to this business, he had been appointed to take charge of the branches of the Church in the East, and in 1859 and 1860 he acted as agent of the emigration at New York. He also purchased oxen, wagons and provisions for the people at the frontiers and organized them into companies to cross the plains. In this labor at Florence the first year (1859) he worked with the late Elder Joseph W. Young, being assisted also by the experienced supervision of President Horace S. Eldredge. While on that mission he received notification from the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles that he had been chosen to fill the place made vacant in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by the death of Elder Parley P. Pratt. He was selected to this office Oct. 2, 1859, and his ordination took place, after his return from his mission, Aug. 26, 1860. He was ordained by President Brigham Young. Six weeks after his return he started on another mission, being appointed, together with Elders Chas. C. Rich and Amasa M. Lyman (who had preceded him to Liverpool), to preside over the European Mission. The duties assigned him by the First Presidency were to take charge of the "Millennial Star" and the publishing business connected therewith, and also of the business of the emigration. He reached Liverpool on the night of Dec. 21, 1860. Soon after his arrival he established a Church printing office, the printing for the Church up to that time having been done by contract with other offices. These three Apostles presided over the European Mission until May 14, 1862, when Elders Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich returned home, and Elder George Q. Cannon repaired to Washington, D. C, to which place, he had been called by a dispatch from home, which informed him that he and Hon. W. H. Hooper had been elected United States Senators, and that he was to join Brother Hooper at Washington and endeavor to get the Territory admitted into the Union as a State. They labored faithfully in this direction until the adjournment of Congress; after which Brother George Q. returned again to England, reaching there July 26, 1862; and from that time until his return home in 1864. he presided over the European Mission, visiting twice the branches of the Church in Scandinavia, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and France. During the four years he was on this mission and in charge of the emigration business, there were upwards of thirteen thousand Saints shipped from Liverpool for Zion, and it was a cause of pleasure to all engaged in the work at that time to know that more souls had joined the Church during the same period than had emigrated. In company with Elder John W. Young he sailed from Liverpool Aug. 27, 1864, but they were detained in New York and at Atchison by an Indian war, in which the settlements on the frontiers and many of the stage stations were destroyed. They went through by the first stage after the interruption and incurred considerable risk in making the journey. His return from this mission was almost fifteen years to a day from the time of his departure in 1849 on his first mission. During these fifteen years he had been constantly away from Great Salt Lake City on missions with the exception of about nine months. Upon his arrival home at this time President Brigham Young desired him to be his private secretary. He acted in this capacity for the three succeeding years. The comparatively barren results of the labors of the Elders abroad in the missionary field had drawn his attention to the vast field of usefulness open and only imperfectly occupied at home. Thousands of children were growing up, whose opportunities for becoming acquainted with the doctrines and history of the Church were too meagre. During the winter after his return from Europe (1864-65) he organized and taught a Sunday school in the 14th Ward of Great Salt Lake City. In January, 1866, he commenced the publication of the "Juvenile Instructor," designed expressly for the education and elevation of the young. This periodical has now entered upon the thirty-sixth year of its publication, and has been of great value in giving to the children and youth of Zion a knowledge of the principles of the gospel and of the historical events connected with the establishment of the Latter-day Saints Sunday Schools. George Q.
Cannon's name has always been identified with the Sunday school movement. At the organization of the Sunday School Union in 1867, he was made general superintendent, which position he held till the last day of his earthly career. His heart was in this work and thousands upon thousands of the children of Zion will revere his name and memory. He was also a strong supporter of the other church schools. He was a member of the General Board of Education from the day of its organization, April 5, 1888, and never relaxed his interest and energies in that capacity. Besides his labors on the "Juvenile Instructor" he wrote many interesting works, such as "My First Mission," "Life of Joseph Smith," "Life of Nephi," "The Latter-day Prophet," etc., and assisted in writing "The Life of Brigham Young," and other publications. In the fall of 1867, by the appointment of President Brigham Young, he took charge of the "Deseret News" and issued a daily edition this being the commencement of the "Deseret Evening News." For a number of years he continued to occupy the position of editor and publisher of the "Deseret News," traveling, as circumstances would permit, with the First Presidency and the Twelve, during the summer months through the various settlements and holding meetings with them, as was the custom in those days, every year. During the fall of 1871 a great many articles appeared in various papers on the subject of admitting Utah into the Union as a State, on the condition that the Latter-day Saints relinquish their practice of plural marriage. So much was said in favor of, and so little said In opposition to, this method of dealing with the question, that Presidents Brigham Young and Geo. A. Smith, who were then at St. George, felt that there was danger of the Latter-day Saints being put in a false position, and they telegraphed Brother George Q. Cannon to proceed at once to Washington. D. C, and define the true position of the Saints on this important point. He remained in Washington until Congress adjourned for the holidays, when he returned to Utah. A constitutional convention met early in February, 1872, and he was elected a member and helped to frame the constitution which was then adopted. Together with Hon. Thomas Fitch and Hon. Frank Fuller, he was chosen a delegate to present the constitution to Congress and work for Utah's admission as a State. With them he proceeded to Washington, and remained there with Delegate Hooper, until the adjournment of that session. Upon Brother Hooper declining to be again nominated for delegate. George Q. Cannon was nominated and elected in August, 1872. He spent the next winter with Delegate Hooper, at Washington. At four successive elections he carried the Territory as delegate to Congress by a very heavy majority in his favor. The history of the part he took, in Congress during his terms of office—and the success of his efforts and labors in that capacity, form an important chapter in the history of the Latter-day Saints, and, when compiled, will prove interesting reading. To the chagrin of a great many enemies, and to the surprise of many of the Latter-day Saints, he obtained his seat when first elected, though a most determined effort was made to prevent this. It was only by Governor Murray breaking his official oath, and being guilty of an infamous abuse of the authority of his position, that he was refused his certificate of election in 1881. Though George Q. Cannon had been elected by a vote of 18,568—a majority of 17,211 votes over his competitor—this man Murray determined to bring matters to an issue by refusing to give him the certificate of election, but which he gave to his opponent, who had only received 1,357 out of 19,925 votes. But the instrument whom these conspirators used—for Murray was not alone in this conspiracy against the rights of the people—did not have the satisfaction of getting his seat. Congress was not prepared to readily join in a scheme of any of this, transparent character, though there were many public men who hated the "Mormons" sufficiently to take advantage of the opportunity which Murray's perfidy offered to them. It was not, however, until the Edmunds hill had passed and become law—March 2, 1882—that Congress took action on the case. It is probable that a majority of the House could not have been secured in favor of denying George Q. Cannon his seat had not the Edmunds bill been passed; and this was rushed through with unceremonious and indecent haste, and by wilfully and flagrantly trampling upon the rules of the House, in order to furnish members who had scruples respecting this transaction with a justifiable basis of action Vol. 1, No. 4. in voting against the measure. April 19, 1882, the case came before the House and was decided against the duly elected delegate taking his seat, by a vote of 123 against 79. Before, however, taking his departure from the place where he had labored for so many years, he had the opportunity of delivering a speech in vindication of his own case and that of the people whom he represented. President Brigham Young died Aug. 29, 1877. He had made his will in 1873, and had sent his son Brigham and Elder George Q. Cannon east to get a form of will that would be suitable to his circumstances and family relations. This will was adopted by him, and under his direction, Brother George Q. Cannon prepared it and was made the principal executor, Brigham Young, jun., and Albert Carrington being the co-executors. The settlement of this estate during 1878 and 1879 engrossed nearly his entire time when he was not in Washington. In 1879 a suit was commenced by some few dissatisfied heirs against the Church and against the executors. The executors were under $300,000 bonds, but Judge Boreman was determined to place them under additional bonds and so decided. This they refused to comply with, thinking the bonds they had already given sufficient for all purposes, and they were adjudged by him guilty of contempt and ordered to the penitentiary. They accepted the alternative and went to the penitentiary. Aug. 4, 1879, and remained there upwards of three weeks, when they were released by action of Chief Justice Hunter, who had been recently appointed chief justice of the Territory. Shortly afterwards the suit was settled, and the settlement of the estate was proceeded with. Probably no estate in America had ever presented so many difficulties in the settlement as this had, because of the various interests involved and the number of heirs to be settled with. In October,
1880, the Church having been under the presidency of the Twelve Apostles for a little more than three years, the First Presidency was re-organized with John Taylor as President, George Q. Cannon as first counselor and Joseph F. Smith as second counselor. In 1880, when the anti-polygamy raid under the Edmunds art was inaugurated. President Cannon accompanied President Taylor into seclusion, and they directed the affairs of the Church in secrecy, their residences being searched for them by deputy marshals on several occasions. Under counsel from President Taylor President Cannon took train for California, but was arrested at Humboldt Wells, Feb. 13. 1886. On the way back he fell from the train while in rapid motion and injured his face somewhat and was badly shaken up. Marshal Ireland sent for a company of soldiers to guard his prisoner, and he was brought into Salt Lake City under military escort. He was placed under bonds in $20,000 and again in $25,000, making the enormous sum of $45,000 while he was only charged with a simple misdemeanor, namely, living with his wives; but under two indictments for the same offense. The feeling against the "Mormon" leaders was so bitter, that President Taylor counseled him not to appear when his case was called, so his excessive bail was declared forfeited. But subsequently the amount was restored, an act of Congress being passed to reimburse him, he having previously settled in full with his sureties. In 1888 affairs having assumed a less passionate state in the courts, President Cannon surrendered himself to U. S. Marshal Dyer, Sept. 17, 1888, and was sentenced by Judge Sanford under the two indictments to 175 days' imprisonment and a fine of $450. He served the time and paid the fine and was released Feb. 21, 1889. At the decease of President Taylor, the Twelve Apostles again took charge of the Church, and Presidents Cannon and Smith resumed their places in the Quorum of the Apostles. On the accession of Wilford Woodruff to the presidency, George Q. Cannon was chosen again as first counselor and Joseph F. Smith as second counselor. After the death of President Woodruff, and when President Lorenzo Snow succeeded to the presidency Sept. 13, 1898, he also selected George Q. Cannon as his first counselor, and Jos. F. Smith as his second counselor. This was ratified at the general conference on Oct. 9th of the same year. President Cannon remained in this important position until his demise. In addition to the onerous duties of his position as one of the First Presidency of the Church, in which he traveled very extensively among the Stakes of Zion, attending conferences, dedicating meeting houses, counseling the people in things temporal and spiritual, he was engaged in many enterprises of importance to the public He was a director in the Union Pacific Railroad company, and in the Salt Lake and Los Angeles company. He was vice president and director of Z. C. M. I. for many years. He founded the publishing and book firm of George Q. Cannon and Sons Co., of which he was president. He was president of the Utah Sugar Co.; vice president and director of Zion's Savings Bank and Trust Co.; director of the Co-op. Wagon and Machine Co.; president of Brigham Young Trust Co.; president of the Utah Light and Power Co.; director of the Bullion-Beck and Champion Mining Co.; also of the Grand Central Mining Co. He recently organized the George Q. Cannon association, of which he was the president, and in which he placed all his property. In the interest of these associations he took repeated trips to the East and the West and gave them each the benefit of his wisdom and experience. He was president of the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress for one term and attended all its sessions as a member with great regularity. He was also president and afterwards vice president of the Irrigation Congress and addressed its meetings on several occasions as an authority on irrigation and kindred affairs. Nov. 29, 1900, President Cannon, accompanied by a few friends, left Salt Lake to attend the jubilee of the Sandwich Islands mission, which was held December 12th and 13th. He landed at Honolulu December 10th, and the next day received the most magnificent greeting ever accorded a guest in Hawaii. The native Saints fairly adored him as the instrument in the hands of God in the introduction of the gospel among them. Some of them he baptized fifty years before. He was crowned with the yellow lei, the emblem of royalty. Several prominent people in the present and former governments also waited upon him. During the festivities, lasting several days, he was honored and almost worshipped by the islanders. Ex-Queen Lilioukalani also attended a meeting at which he spoke half an hour in Hawaiian, which he was able to recall in a surprising manner. President Cannon afterwards visited the ex-queen, and at her request blessed her. On the day of his departure to return home he was literally covered with flowers. He arrived in Salt Lake City, January 16th, and by request addressed the great Live-Stock convention which met in the Assembly Hall that morning, and was received with immense applause. The health of President Cannon had been occasionally interrupted by spells of sickness for some time before the fatal attack. He had been robust and strong until the fall from the train already mentioned. After that he experienced once in a while a weakness in contrast to his former vigor. While on visits to the East he was seized with serious symptoms. At New York in November, 1889, he was severely attacked with pneumonia, and but for his abstemious life and good constitution would probably have then succumbed. This undoubtedly prepared the way for the last illness that laid him low. Early in March, 1901, he was stricken with the grippe, which caused a number of unfavorable complications to arise; and it was decided that a change of climate would do him good. Consequently, he left Salt Lake City, March 13, 1901, for Monterey, Cal., where quarters were secured for him in a large and comfortable cottage situated on an eminence overlooking the bay, where he could receive the full benefits of the gentle ocean breezes; but the change failed to restore him to health, though his condition seemed to improve for a few days. He gradually grew worse and early on the morning of April 12, 1901, he passed away. The remains were brought home and the funeral took place from the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 16, 1901. President Cannon left a large family—four wives and twenty-eight children—to mourn his demise. He was a good husband, a considerate parent and wise counselor, who always provided well for the needs of those dependent upon him. He was a strong advocate of the patriarchal family system, and was never happier than when surrounded by the members of his own household while some reunion was being held or birthday celebrated. He was firmly of the opinion that such occasions were productive of untold benefit. The last family gathering held at his home was just after his return from Hawaii in January. 1901, when his seventy-fourth birthday was observed in a most pleasant manner. President Cannon was a man of medium height, well rounded and erect. His shapely head, which in his younger days was crowned with a liberal growth of black hair, and his high, broad forehead, impressed everyone who met him. His nose was somewhat large and aquiline, almost approaching the Israelitish in contour; a pair of grey eyes, and a well-formed mouth expressed amicability and kindness at all times. He was a gifted speaker, and for many years he ranked among the foremost speakers of the nation. In his earlier experience he was much more deliberate in utterance than later in life. Added to his wide range of information and deep and sometimes tremendous earnestness, he was aided by a clear, resonant voice. When warmed to his theme he occasionally reached the highest flights of oratory, thrilling and captivating his hearers by the forcefulness of his thought and the persuasiveness of his address.
Jenson, Andrew. "Cannon, George Q." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 4. pg. 313, 322.
CANNON, George Q., president of the British Mission from 1862 to 1864. (See Bio. EIncy., Vol. 1, p. 42.)
CANNON, George Q., president of the California Mission from 1856 to 1858, died in California April 10, 1901. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 42.)
CANNON, George Q., president of the British Mission from 1862 to 1864. (See Bio. EIncy., Vol. 1, p. 42.)
CANNON, George Q., president of the California Mission from 1856 to 1858, died in California April 10, 1901. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 42.)
Cannon, George Q. “Early Experience in Preaching.” Juvenile Instructor. 15 February 1877. pg. 48.
Early Experience in Preaching
IT is most interesting to listen at meetings to the different testimonies which the Latter-day Saints bear concerning the work of God. The experience of no two persons is exactly the same, and yet all are true. One is impressed with an evidence of the truth in one way and another in another way. So also it is with the experience of the Elders, the experience of each varies according to the constitution and temperament, the bent of mind and the circumstances which surround each one. We have met with a few men in our life who never seemed to know what it was to be timid in standing up before an audience. They always seemed to be perfectly self possessed, and did not suffer in the least from fear; while we have known others who felt that it was impossible for them to stand on their feet and address an audience. Some Elders in starting out, quickly conquer their feelings of timidity. They soon get into the habit of thinking and talking upon their feet. They seem to care nothing about the congregation, while others require a long time to get accustomed to speaking to audiences and are easily embarrassed.
We firmly believe that the Lord will help every man to overcome this timidity when sent upon a mission to preach the gospel. If he does not conquer the feeling of fear, it is because he allows it to master him, and does not use that faith which he should to shake it off.
The writer started out as a missionary when he felt that he was but a comparative youth, lie was exceedingly timid, and had a mortal dread of standing up before a congregation. He sometimes thought that no one could have suffered from this feeling as he did. But there was one thing that he made up his mind to do—to never shrink from the discharge of his duty. If he were called upon to pray, to bear testimony or to speak, he was resolved that he would do his best, and put bis trust in the Lord to help him out. With the exception of a few meetings, his first experience as a missionary was in preaching in a strange language to a foreign people. This was doubtless more embarrassing than it would have been to speak to the people in his mother tongue, because there was his awkwardness in the use of the language in addition to the ordinary feelings of timidity to contend with. lie well remembers the feelings that he had prior to the first meeting. If he could have run away, and done so honorably, he would have done it, but this would have been disgraceful. He did the best he could and suffered considerably from embarrassment; and though he baptized some nineteen souls in the ensuing five weeks, yet he suffered at each meeting from the same feelings of dread. Something occurred on the sixth Sunday to arouse him and make him somewhat angry. The conduct of some preachers and opponents of the gospel was very hateful, and in attending meeting that day he enjoyed greater liberty than he had at any time previously. A fearless spirit took possession of him, and the Spirit was able to speak through him as it had not done before.
The feeling of fear when it rest, upon a man drives away the Spirit of God. The two spirits cannot exist in the same bosom. One must have the mastery. If the Spirit of God has the mystery, it drives away all fear and enables a man to speak under its influence with power. If the spirit of fear has the master, the Spirit of God is checked, and the man is not able to tell the people the will and counsel of the Lord.
After six weeks preaching in this locality, the writer visited another place where the people were very anxious to hear. He succeeded in getting a large meeting house to preach in, and when he arose to give out the hymns and to pray the sound of his own voice in the building frightened him. The congregation was a larger one than he had ever addressed before; but he had prayed earnestly to the Lord for help. He knew that no power but God's could assist him and enable him to declare the truth. After reading a portion of the Scripture, he commenced speaking, and continued to address the people for upwards of an hour. He was completely carried away by the Spirit, and fear was banished. Tears coursed down the cheeks of the congregation, and many felt the power of God to so great an extent that they came forward and offered themselves for baptism. A great work was done in that place and the vicinity, and from that time to the present, nearly thirty years, the writer has never suffered from fear as he did previous to that day. It is true that many men never can arise before a congregation without feeling some degree of embarrassment and trepidation. The writer is one of these; but that fear that paralyzes the mind, that impairs the memory and produces a feeling of dread and utter forgetfulness of everything that one knows, he has never experienced from that time.
We relate this instance in our experience to show how differently Elders are affected. Some can speak without any difficulty or fear after the first time they get on their feet. It takes others, as in our own case, a longer time io overcome this feeling, probably arising from the fact that some have by nature more of that man-fearing spirit. Others, again, may require a still longer time; and what we wish to impress upon our young readers, and upon all who read our pages, is that they should not be discouraged because the first time they get on their feet, or the second or third, they do not speak with that freedom they desire. When the Spirit of God takes possession of a man, and he will yield to its influence, it will take away all fear and enable him to tell the truth in great plainness; and if he will persevere, nothing doubting, we dare promise every Elder that he will be able to overcome his feelings of fear and embarrassment, and be filled with holy boldness to declare the gospel unto the people in whose midst he is appointed to labor.
G. Q. C.
Early Experience in Preaching
IT is most interesting to listen at meetings to the different testimonies which the Latter-day Saints bear concerning the work of God. The experience of no two persons is exactly the same, and yet all are true. One is impressed with an evidence of the truth in one way and another in another way. So also it is with the experience of the Elders, the experience of each varies according to the constitution and temperament, the bent of mind and the circumstances which surround each one. We have met with a few men in our life who never seemed to know what it was to be timid in standing up before an audience. They always seemed to be perfectly self possessed, and did not suffer in the least from fear; while we have known others who felt that it was impossible for them to stand on their feet and address an audience. Some Elders in starting out, quickly conquer their feelings of timidity. They soon get into the habit of thinking and talking upon their feet. They seem to care nothing about the congregation, while others require a long time to get accustomed to speaking to audiences and are easily embarrassed.
We firmly believe that the Lord will help every man to overcome this timidity when sent upon a mission to preach the gospel. If he does not conquer the feeling of fear, it is because he allows it to master him, and does not use that faith which he should to shake it off.
The writer started out as a missionary when he felt that he was but a comparative youth, lie was exceedingly timid, and had a mortal dread of standing up before a congregation. He sometimes thought that no one could have suffered from this feeling as he did. But there was one thing that he made up his mind to do—to never shrink from the discharge of his duty. If he were called upon to pray, to bear testimony or to speak, he was resolved that he would do his best, and put bis trust in the Lord to help him out. With the exception of a few meetings, his first experience as a missionary was in preaching in a strange language to a foreign people. This was doubtless more embarrassing than it would have been to speak to the people in his mother tongue, because there was his awkwardness in the use of the language in addition to the ordinary feelings of timidity to contend with. lie well remembers the feelings that he had prior to the first meeting. If he could have run away, and done so honorably, he would have done it, but this would have been disgraceful. He did the best he could and suffered considerably from embarrassment; and though he baptized some nineteen souls in the ensuing five weeks, yet he suffered at each meeting from the same feelings of dread. Something occurred on the sixth Sunday to arouse him and make him somewhat angry. The conduct of some preachers and opponents of the gospel was very hateful, and in attending meeting that day he enjoyed greater liberty than he had at any time previously. A fearless spirit took possession of him, and the Spirit was able to speak through him as it had not done before.
The feeling of fear when it rest, upon a man drives away the Spirit of God. The two spirits cannot exist in the same bosom. One must have the mastery. If the Spirit of God has the mystery, it drives away all fear and enables a man to speak under its influence with power. If the spirit of fear has the master, the Spirit of God is checked, and the man is not able to tell the people the will and counsel of the Lord.
After six weeks preaching in this locality, the writer visited another place where the people were very anxious to hear. He succeeded in getting a large meeting house to preach in, and when he arose to give out the hymns and to pray the sound of his own voice in the building frightened him. The congregation was a larger one than he had ever addressed before; but he had prayed earnestly to the Lord for help. He knew that no power but God's could assist him and enable him to declare the truth. After reading a portion of the Scripture, he commenced speaking, and continued to address the people for upwards of an hour. He was completely carried away by the Spirit, and fear was banished. Tears coursed down the cheeks of the congregation, and many felt the power of God to so great an extent that they came forward and offered themselves for baptism. A great work was done in that place and the vicinity, and from that time to the present, nearly thirty years, the writer has never suffered from fear as he did previous to that day. It is true that many men never can arise before a congregation without feeling some degree of embarrassment and trepidation. The writer is one of these; but that fear that paralyzes the mind, that impairs the memory and produces a feeling of dread and utter forgetfulness of everything that one knows, he has never experienced from that time.
We relate this instance in our experience to show how differently Elders are affected. Some can speak without any difficulty or fear after the first time they get on their feet. It takes others, as in our own case, a longer time io overcome this feeling, probably arising from the fact that some have by nature more of that man-fearing spirit. Others, again, may require a still longer time; and what we wish to impress upon our young readers, and upon all who read our pages, is that they should not be discouraged because the first time they get on their feet, or the second or third, they do not speak with that freedom they desire. When the Spirit of God takes possession of a man, and he will yield to its influence, it will take away all fear and enable him to tell the truth in great plainness; and if he will persevere, nothing doubting, we dare promise every Elder that he will be able to overcome his feelings of fear and embarrassment, and be filled with holy boldness to declare the gospel unto the people in whose midst he is appointed to labor.
G. Q. C.
“How I Obtained My Testimony of the Truth.” Young Woman's Journal. December 1892. pg. 123-125.
HOW I OBTAINED MY TESTIMONY OF THE TRUTH.
"Did you ask how I got my testimony of the truth of Mormonism? Why, I never got one. ”
Such was the reply of Pres. Cannon to my interrogation, and I suppose I must have shown my astonishment in my countenance, I for he smiled quietly, and added, "The reason why I received none, was because I did not have to get one. It was born with me. Since I first heard the gospel, or Mormonism as it is called, I have always known it to be true. It seemed to be a part of my very nature. I can remember, though in my early boyhood that I felt very badly because I had no especial gift, and I used to think I was not a favored child of God, else I would have received the gift of tongues or some other such gift. When, however, I went upon my mission to the Sandwich Islands, I did receive the gift of interpretation and also was assisted by the gift of tongues in the most satisfying manner. I became thoroughly proficient in the language of the islands in a very brief period, and these gifts became of practical service to me at a time when I absolutely needed them to fulfill my mission. To enumerate the cloud of testimonies which 1 have received and do receive to the truth and power of our religion would be too much for my time and perhaps your patience. As a part of my very life is my knowledge that God spoke through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and also that those who reject the gospel of Christ will be under sure condemnation.”
"You know, Pres. Cannon, many of our young people wish to have a testimony of this gospel, and they say they don’t know how to get it, and many of them don’t know what it is when it comes. Perhaps the}’ have been born with the testimony in their hearts, and there they let it lie, expecting some supernatural manifestation. This is the greatest reason I had for desiring to prepare these articles, in order to bring before the minds of our young people, the many and simple ways in which this precious testimony has come to our greatest and best men and women.”
"If you know of any young persons who think they have no testimony, just say to them that if the Lord were to withdraw His Spirit from them they would be apt to find the awful condition they would be in. I heard of one man who thought he did not have any testimony of the authenticity or divinity of the Book of Mormon, and he asked the Lord if the Book was true, to withdraw’ from him His spirit for a space of time as a testimony to him that he might know’ by that evidence that it was divine. The Lord answered his request. The effect was of the most startling kind. His experience was of such a terrible nature that he prostrated himself in supplication before the Lord for a speedy return of the precious gift he had voluntarily cast from him. After suffering past description the Spirit returned; he knew for himself then that the Book of Mormon was true and that this gospel was the plan of life and salvation. Such an experience was awful, and it ought to be a lesson to every member of the Church. Many undervalue, if they do not despise, the precious gift which God has given them. Instead of cherishing and cultivating it, they think it of no worth. Of course where this is the case, the gift does not grow. Faith does not increase, neither does it blossom into knowledge, and gradually the Spirit of the Lord is withdrawn.”
This was President .George Q. Cannon’s view as he expressed it to me. In conclusion I would most warmly urge our girls to cherish and place a high value on the gift of the Holy Ghost which they have received. Do they need a testimony? Let them look around and see the condition of those who have once had the Spirit of God and lost it. See the darkness, the blindness of mind, the hardness of heart which they exhibit. Ought this not to be a testimony to every soul that this is the work of God and that He has bestowed the Holy Ghost upon those who have submitted to the ordinances of the gospel and who keep His commandments? Also, that He withdraws the Holy Ghost from those who do wrong? Is not this plain to every child in this Church who is capable of reflection? Then, if there are those who think they do not have a testimony, is not this a testimony? Do they want the Spirit of God, with the peace, the light and the happiness which it brings, withdraw from them to prove this to them? Do they want the darkness, the unhappiness, the uncertainty which Satan stands ready to give, to take possession of them, in order that they may see the contrast? God forbid that any of our girls should be so dissatisfied with that which God has given her as to let it slip from her and the darkness of the adversary take its place.
HOW I OBTAINED MY TESTIMONY OF THE TRUTH.
"Did you ask how I got my testimony of the truth of Mormonism? Why, I never got one. ”
Such was the reply of Pres. Cannon to my interrogation, and I suppose I must have shown my astonishment in my countenance, I for he smiled quietly, and added, "The reason why I received none, was because I did not have to get one. It was born with me. Since I first heard the gospel, or Mormonism as it is called, I have always known it to be true. It seemed to be a part of my very nature. I can remember, though in my early boyhood that I felt very badly because I had no especial gift, and I used to think I was not a favored child of God, else I would have received the gift of tongues or some other such gift. When, however, I went upon my mission to the Sandwich Islands, I did receive the gift of interpretation and also was assisted by the gift of tongues in the most satisfying manner. I became thoroughly proficient in the language of the islands in a very brief period, and these gifts became of practical service to me at a time when I absolutely needed them to fulfill my mission. To enumerate the cloud of testimonies which 1 have received and do receive to the truth and power of our religion would be too much for my time and perhaps your patience. As a part of my very life is my knowledge that God spoke through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and also that those who reject the gospel of Christ will be under sure condemnation.”
"You know, Pres. Cannon, many of our young people wish to have a testimony of this gospel, and they say they don’t know how to get it, and many of them don’t know what it is when it comes. Perhaps the}’ have been born with the testimony in their hearts, and there they let it lie, expecting some supernatural manifestation. This is the greatest reason I had for desiring to prepare these articles, in order to bring before the minds of our young people, the many and simple ways in which this precious testimony has come to our greatest and best men and women.”
"If you know of any young persons who think they have no testimony, just say to them that if the Lord were to withdraw His Spirit from them they would be apt to find the awful condition they would be in. I heard of one man who thought he did not have any testimony of the authenticity or divinity of the Book of Mormon, and he asked the Lord if the Book was true, to withdraw’ from him His spirit for a space of time as a testimony to him that he might know’ by that evidence that it was divine. The Lord answered his request. The effect was of the most startling kind. His experience was of such a terrible nature that he prostrated himself in supplication before the Lord for a speedy return of the precious gift he had voluntarily cast from him. After suffering past description the Spirit returned; he knew for himself then that the Book of Mormon was true and that this gospel was the plan of life and salvation. Such an experience was awful, and it ought to be a lesson to every member of the Church. Many undervalue, if they do not despise, the precious gift which God has given them. Instead of cherishing and cultivating it, they think it of no worth. Of course where this is the case, the gift does not grow. Faith does not increase, neither does it blossom into knowledge, and gradually the Spirit of the Lord is withdrawn.”
This was President .George Q. Cannon’s view as he expressed it to me. In conclusion I would most warmly urge our girls to cherish and place a high value on the gift of the Holy Ghost which they have received. Do they need a testimony? Let them look around and see the condition of those who have once had the Spirit of God and lost it. See the darkness, the blindness of mind, the hardness of heart which they exhibit. Ought this not to be a testimony to every soul that this is the work of God and that He has bestowed the Holy Ghost upon those who have submitted to the ordinances of the gospel and who keep His commandments? Also, that He withdraws the Holy Ghost from those who do wrong? Is not this plain to every child in this Church who is capable of reflection? Then, if there are those who think they do not have a testimony, is not this a testimony? Do they want the Spirit of God, with the peace, the light and the happiness which it brings, withdraw from them to prove this to them? Do they want the darkness, the unhappiness, the uncertainty which Satan stands ready to give, to take possession of them, in order that they may see the contrast? God forbid that any of our girls should be so dissatisfied with that which God has given her as to let it slip from her and the darkness of the adversary take its place.
Anderson, Jas. H. “Lives of Our Leaders—The Apostles. George Q. Cannon.” Juvenile Instructor. 15 January 1900. pg. 33-40.
LIVES OF OUR LEADERS—THE APOSTLES. GEORGE Q. CANNON. THROUGH the merciful kindness of the Lord, people who dwell in this age of the world have the inestimable privilege of receiving instruction from the words and example of living Apostles, whose inspired testimony is added to that of Apostles of ancient times in forming a body of scripture to call our minds to the saving principles of the Gospel. It is therefore fitting to open this paper with a character sketch of President George Q. Cannon as he was seen by one who knew him first as an Apostle, in the discharge of the duties of that high calling, and who describes him then and since in that capacity. This pen picture was requested of Elder John Nicholson, who says: My first meeting with George Q. Cannon was in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1862. On the invitation of several brethren of the local branch of the Church, I accompanied them in a friendly call upon him at the house at which he was stopping during a brief visit to the Scottish capital. He was at that time presiding over the European mission. I was then a youth of twenty-two years, and afflicted with diffidence, amounting to embarrassment in the presence of strangers, and therefore on this occasion confined myself strictly to the exercise of observation, listening to the conversation and replying tersely to questions directed personally to myself. I was at once struck with the strength of the personality of the distinguished visitor—a handsome, vigorous man of thirty-five years. His figure of medium height, well rounded and erect; the shapely head crowned with a liberal growth of black hair; the cheeks and upper lip clean shaved; the chin adorned with a close hirsute growth. Up to that time his was one of the most striking faces I had seen; a forehead broad and high—the breadth being specially observable in the upper section; a somewhat large, aquiline nose, almost approaching the Israelitish in contour; a well-formed mouth, without rigidity and with an expression of amiability. The large, clear, grey eyes impressed me most. In the course of conversation, in which he took the lead, the characteristic mobility of his countenance was exhibited. My acquaintance with the subject of this personal sketch covers the period from 1852 to the present. At times it has been close- -notably while he was at the head of the Deseret News establishment and editor of that journal, commencing in November, 1867, and continuing for several years. Necessarily I had opportunities of becoming familiar with many of his traits. One of these was his regard for detail and appearances. While presiding in Europe he insisted that the clerks employed in the office at Liverpool should write with neatness and legibility. All those who worked under him in that capacity became excellent penmen. The importance he attaches to appearances is not only apparent in his own unvarying personal neatness, but in his requiring, under proper circumstances, the same condition on the part of others. Hence in the missionary field in Europe he directed that every Elder should be clad in a full suit of black, of clerical cut, and surmounted by a tall silk hat. Frequently when a group of missionaries arrived he would commission one of the office clerks to take the lot to a clothing establishment where they were thus equipped. Occasionally, but rarely, some of the boys from the far West objected. One of these is now a Bishop in Idaho. While the latter labored abroad he insisted on dispensing with the use of suspenders, in wearing a suit with some semblance of antiquity and not of the regulation cut or color, and a somewhat unsymmetrical article for head-gear. Brother Cannon sometimes good-humoredly referred to this unconventional but really estimable individual. President Cannon is a gifted speaker. In his earlier experience he was much more deliberate in utterance than later in life. In this he showed his usual fidelity to detail. If he happened to make the slightest error in grammar he would there and then correct himself by repeating a sentence. This was noticeable in the first discourse I heard him deliver. It was on the subject . of the necessity of continuous revelation, which he explained with striking clearness. For many years he has ranked among the foremost public speakers of the nation. Added to his wide range of information and deep and sometimes tremendous earnestness, he has been aided by a clear, resonant voice. When warmed to his theme he has on occasions reached the highest flights of oratory, thrilling and captivating his auditors by the forcefulness of his thought and the persuasiveness of his address. There never was a man within the range of my acquaintance who could so readily as he adapt his speech to convey important thoughts to the minds of little children. This is one of the rarest of gifts. It is natural to him, and he developed it to a high degree of excellence by cultivation. Hence his speech has a wide applicability, ranging from the undeveloped children to the most cultivated audiences of mature people. His addresses have been far from being confined to theological and moral subjects, but have embraced a wide variety of themes, including civil government and other matters associated with the general well-being of humanity. He is an intense lover of little children, in whom he takes a deep interest. This trait has always been manifested in his visits to families. He never fails to give a liberal share of attention to the little ones, with whom he pleasantly converses. In this capacity he has exhibited marked tenacity of memory by calling each child of a household by name after a lapse of two or three years between a former and a later visit. His love for and interest in his own progeny are hardly exceeded. This patriarchal instinct prompts him to group the members of his family and their branches around himself, he being the center of the aggregation. The wisdom of this is apparent. It is the process of patriarchal populous expansion. Its perpetuation means an incalculably wonderful result. So long as the organization and solidification are preserved, the accretion must necessarily be ceaseless. This practical effect of his personality is but one of numerous evidences of the communal tendency of his thoughts and far-reaching character of his ideals. It must not be supposed that Brother Cannon's interest in and affection for children are merely of a centralized character. On the contrary these sentiments are, with him, decidedly expansive. His work at the head and front of the Sunday School system, now so conspicuous a feature among the Latter-day Saints, places this beyond question. He took hold of this labor when the enterprise had scarce an existence as an organization. Now it extends to every settlement where the Saints are found, and has numbers of scattered branches in the nations abroad. I have no idea that this beneficent establishment has its equal in completeness and efficiency in the world. The spectacle presented by the Jubilee celebration held in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Oct. 8th, 1899, was of such a character as to impress any intelligent beholder with this thought. Who can count the number of precious souls whose feet have been directed and maintained in the path of rectitude and salvation by the agency of this great institution? If the subject of this sketch had performed no other work in life than that which he has accomplished in connection with the Sunday School cause, it would entitle him to have his name handed down as a benefactor, to the latest generation. What he has produced under the blessing of God, through this agency, radiates beyond the limits of time and stretches into eternity, where the multiplication of its effects will parallel duration. The man about whom I write has been conspicuous for the strength of his personal magnetism. As a rule he captivates those who come in contact with him. The influence of his personal atmosphere has not only been felt among his co-religionists but has extended to all classes of men whom he has met in the world. I should say that he is a natural statesman. This has been virtually admitted by national characters of this Republic, while he occupied the position of Delegate to the Congress of the United States from the Territory of Utah, and since. While acting in that capacity he showed his usual appreciation of the necessity for familiarity with details. Not only did he acquaint himself with the functions of government and the features indicating the limitation lines between its different departments, but likewise with the names, constituencies, and some personal particulars regarding every member of each branch of the national legislature. He was therefore regarded by his contemporaries in that body as a kind of individual intelligence bureau. When any one member made inquiry of another about some particular Senator or member of Congress, it was by no means unusual for the gentleman interrogated to say, "I don't know. Inquire of Mr. Cannon from Utah. He seems to know everybody." This species of information was doubtless useful to the gentleman who possessed it. As a rule, men are pleased when they observe evidences of being remembered. Running through the career of this striking character are strong evidences of his adherence to duty as he has understood it. This ideal has been sustained under circumstances that have demanded, at the time, much personal sacrifice. His responses to calls made upon him by his superiors in office in the Church of Christ have been prompt and unhesitating. I have found in my observation of men this statement of Carlyle to be unqualifiedly correct: "Great minds are respectfully obedient to all that is over them. Only small souls are otherwise." The standard of the subject of this sketch in relation to charity has always been of the highest order. His exalted ideal in this respect has not only been exhibited in his public and private teachings but, without doubt, is personally exemplified in his entire mortal career to the present This eminent position regarding the most important subject that occupy human contemplation has undergone in him but a single change— a modification in his views in relation to those who have not practically occupied the same elevated moral position as himself. Has Brother Cannon exhibited faults? Ask me if he is human. Imperfections are the lot of humanity. Where there is light there is shadow —the more brilliant the light the deeper the shadow appears by contrast. The failings of mere men of the world pass without notice, while the defects of individuals conspicuous for great qualities appear abnormally large by immediate contrast with their opposite. In this case I speak not of imperfections. They should be buried in oblivion by the overwhelming weight of his virtues. In the previous issue of the Juvenile Instructor was a life-sketch of an Apostle whose term of service in that eminent position is longer than that of any other man now among us—President Lorenzo Snow, who became a member of the Twelve more than fifty years ago. President George Q. Cannon, first counselor to President Snow in the First Presidency of the Church, is the second, of those now living, in point of years' service since entering the council of the Apostles. This is his fortieth year since being called to meet the responsibilities of the Apostleship, and he is the twenty-fifth person selected to occupy a position among the Twelve. He was a young man when the summons came, and, while he has reaped the benefits of experience and ever-increasing knowledge, he has not become aged in the common application of the term as it relates to the intellectual vigor, the devotion, the inspirational power—in brief, the intelligence conferred by the Almighty to meet the exalted requirements made of His servants. George Quayle Cannon was born in the humbler ranks of life; not among the lower classes, for his parents had a wealth of uprightness, honesty, integrity, probity, and Christian devotion which made them respected and esteemed in the community where they dwelt; they were honored for their worth by the people good and true with whom they associated. The date of birth was Thursday, January 11, 1827; the place, Liverpool, England; and his parents, George and Ann Quayle Cannon, were natives of Peel, Isle of Man, the family line being traceable on the island for centuries back. In early life George Q. was a careful reader of the Bible. By the knowledge thus acquired of the dealings of God with His children, there was laid the foundation for a deep and abiding faith in the Ruler of the universe. As a youth he had wept for the privilege of witnessing the mighty works of the Savior and His Apostles; and he noted that the gifts and blessings enjoyed anciently were not manifested among the various denominations of Christendom. This faculty of thoughtful discrimination between teachings and practices was of inestimable value to him in after life; it is one too often neglected in cultivation by young people, whose failure in this regard limits their powers of discernment. Its use enabled George Q. to recognize more readily than would have been possible otherwise a system of religion that conformed in practice to the Bible plan. His aunt, Leonora Cannon, had moved to Canada, and there became the wife of John Taylor, then a Methodist local preacher. When the Gospel was carried to Canada, John Taylor and his wife received it, and the former ultimately became President of the Church. In 1840, Elder Taylor was one of the Latter-day Saint missionaries sent to England, and during his preaching there the Cannon family were among those who investigated and accepted the divine message, realizing that it was the plan of salvation taught by the Savior. The family started for Nauvoo in 1842, and Sister Cannon died on the way, being buried at sea. Two years later her husband passed from this life, and the children were left without mother or father. When the family reached Nauvoo, in 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith was among those who came to the landing to meet the immigrants. George recognized him at once, as readily as though he always had been acquainted with him, though he had never seen even his portrait. In Nauvoo, George Q. became a member of his uncle's family, and as Elder Taylor was publishing a paper, the young man learned the printing business in his office. When the Latter-day Saints were compelled to leave Nauvoo, in 1846, Elder Cannon traveled with the main body to Winter Quarters, and the succeeding year crossed the plains, arriving in the Great Salt Lake valley October 3, 1847; thus being one of Utah's pioneers, whose arduous labors he shared cheerfully. Two years later he was called to go to California, and while there, in 1850, he was selected with others for a mission to the Sandwich Islands, where he landed on December 12, 1850. The Hawaiian Islands mission emphasizes a prominent trait in Elder Cannon's character. The missionaries had expected to preach to the white population, but the opportunity to do so was very limited, and most of the Elders were in favor of returning home. Elder Cannon was impressed by a sense of his duty to preach the Gospel; he could not feel that he had performed his part by stopping at the very threshold of his work; he] had put his hand to the plough and was not ready to turn back without making the furrow. The white people would not listen, but the native population was in need of Gospel teaching, and Elder Cannon determined to do his part in supplying that need. He informed his companions of his purpose, if he had to remain alone, and though he might not baptize one soul. His unflinching devotion to duty and unwavering faith that the Lord would bless his labors were the means of a great triumph in disseminating the Gospel message among the Hawaiian people. Four Elders remained with Brother Cannon,' and in three and a half years there were over four thousand members of the Church on the islands. The Elders had to learn the language—an accomplishment that came with remarkable ease to Elder Cannon, who also translated the Book of Mormon into the Hawaiian tongue. Returning from the Sandwich Islands in the summer of 1854, Elder Cannon assisted the late Apostle Parley P. Pratt for several weeks, with the latter's autobiography, then came on to Salt Lake City, where he was made one of the presidents of the Thirtieth quorum of Seventy, and shortly afterwards was notified to prepare for a second mission to the islands. Before the time came for starting in response to this appointment, Elder Cannon was called on a mission to California, to assist Elder P. P. Pratt in the publication of a paper. He left Salt Lake City on May 10th, 1855, and on reaching California was set apart to preside over the missionary work in that State and in Oregon, while Elder Pratt came to Utah. The publication of a paper, the Western Standard, and the fulfillment of duties involved in the mission, were a task which called for all of Elder Cannon's mental and physical energies, and these were willingly devoted thereto. Besides the labors connected with the Western Standard and the responsibilities of the mission, which had to contend in that day with severely adverse circumstances. Elder Cannon published the Book of Mormon in the Hawaiian language, the work being attended with great difficulties. When it was done, the news of the approach toward Utah of the Buchanan, or .Johnston's, army was received, and in obedience to counsel Elder Cannon closed up the mission affairs and returned home, reaching Salt Lake City on .January 19, 1858. On his arrival here Elder Cannon was appointed adjutant general in the army being organized for defense against invasion, and engaged in that service. Soon afterward he was directed by President Young to take a printing press and material to Fillmore, and there issue the Deseret News, which he did from April to September, 1858. Then he was sent on a mission to the Eastern States. The call for this reached him at Payson, as he was returning from Fillmore to Salt Lake City, and in three-quarters of an hour he was ready to start. The speedy preparation was remarkable, but his promptness was not a .surprise. It was a rule of his life to be on hand at the call of duty, and to lose no time in unnecessary delay. Time with him was too precious to waste. The eastern mission was of a delicate nature; so much prejudice against and misinformation concerning the Mormons prevailed, that the task of helping to correct the false impressions existing had to be performed judiciously to be effective. Elder Cannon engaged in the work with characteristic zeal and energy, and, by means of letters of introduction from the late Gen. Thomas L. Kane and others, was able to meet many leading editors, members of Congress, and other public men, and to present to them the true state of affairs in Utah. Besides doing this, he had charge of the branches of the Church in the east, and in 1859 and 1860 acted as Church emigration agent, in which position his careful attention to detail made his services highly valuable and satisfactory. While on this mission Elder Cannon was selected, October 23, 1859, to fill the vacancy in the council of Apostles occasioned by the death of Elder Parley P. Pratt; and on his return home ten months later, August 26, 1860 he was ordained an Apostle and became one of the Twelve. He was then thirty-three years of age. Soon after his ordination he was called on a mission to Croat Britain, and on December 21, 1860, reached Liverpool. A short time subsequently he established the Church printing office in that city. Returning to America, in May, 1862, Elder Cannon went to Washington, he and lion. Wm. H. Hooper having been elected Senators from Utah, in an endeavor to have the Territory admitted into the Union as a Slate. In July, 1862, Congress having adjourned, Elder Cannon again went to Europe, and presided over the mission there till 1864. In the autumn of that year there was an Indian war in the United States, and the journey over the plains to Utah was attended with many perils, but was made in safety. For the fifteen years preceding the date of his arrival, more than fourteen years of Elder Cannon's time had been spent in missionary labors away from his home. To return to his own residence from the mission field was not with him to lay aside the harness he had worn in teaching the Gospel. His fixed purpose was to be ever onward in the path of progress. There was ample opportunity to instruct and encourage the Saints at home; there were thousands of the youth who needed to receive the same testimony their parents had obtained of the divinity of the Gospel restored to earth, that they might in turn be valiant in its behalf and enjoy its blessings. In the winter of 1864-5 Elder Cannon organized a Sunday School in the Fourteenth Ward, Salt Lake City, and by the first of the year 1866 he was ready to enter the larger field of educating the youth through his experience and ability as a writer, as well as by his voice and immediate example. In January, 1866, he began the publication of the Juvenile Instructor. This magazine is now in its thirty-fifth year, and it is not boasting to say that it has been a great power for good among the young people. Notwithstanding the many and onerous duties that have fallen to the lot of President Cannon since 1866, some of which have required his absence from Utah, the periods when he has not given the Juvenile Instructor his personal attention have been few and brief indeed. In connection with the work of the Sunday Schools, which this magazine espoused from the first, Elder Cannon was made general superintendent of the Deseret Sunday School Union in 1867, and has acted in that position up to the present. Not long since he stated in public that he knew of no work in life that had given him greater satisfaction than his association with the cause of training the young people in the paths of righteousness and true knowledge In educational matters he was connected not only with the Sunday Schools, but with the public school system, being at one time chancellor of the University of Deseret; he is also actively engaged with the Church schools. In referring briefly to what Elder Cannon has done as editor, author and publisher, it may be mentioned that in 1867 he received another appointment from President Young to take charge of the Deseret News, then issued weekly and semi-weekly, and while in the capacity of editor he instituted the publication of the Deseret Evening News. Again, in 1877, in company with Elder Brigham Young, Jr., he was in charge of the Deseret News for a time. He is also author of a standard history of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of several smaller works, one of them being My First Mission, the initial volume of the Faith Promoting Series. The publishing house of which he is the head has issued a vast number of publications of the better class. In the way of business enterprises. Elder Cannon has taken a very active part. He was associated with the founding of Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution, and is now the only surviving member of the original board of directors of that great organization, in which he is still an officer. He has also been connected with railways, banks, and other financial and industrial enterprises to promote the business welfare and development of the inter-mountain region. In 1871 he was sent east on another mission to aid in correcting false impressions that were being created against the Latter-day Saints. In August, 1872, he was elected Delegate to Congress from Utah Territory—a position to which he was chosen five consecutive terms. He had had experience as a legislator in Utah; and in Congress, though he had no voice or vote on general legislation, his judgment and advice were sought after and valued by numbers of his associates in the national legislature. Owing to strong prejudice against the Latter- day Saints, he had numerous trying and even exciting experiences in Congress; but he made many warm friends in the national capital, and accomplished much for the people of Utah. Finally, in March, 1882, the outcry against the Latter-day Saints culminated in the passage of a law which rendered him ineligible to the office of Delegate. This was the Edmunds act disfranchising those who practiced polygamy as a religious rite. Before retiring from Congress, however, he had the opportunity of speaking in vindication of the people of Utah, and under the trying circumstances discharged his duty with boldness and emphasis, yet with diplomatic delicacy. By the will of President Brigham Young, who died in 1877, George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., and Albert Carrington were named as executors. The settlement of the estate required much attention, and was a source of considerable worry. In 1879 suit was begun by a few dissatisfied heirs, and Judge J. S. Boreman made an order increasing the bond of the administrators. As this rule by the court was a travesty on justice, the executors refused to obey it. They preferred the prospect of an indefinite term of imprisonment to submitting to the imposition required of them, and were committed to the penitentiary. After three weeks' imprisonment, Chief Justice Hunter, who had newly assumed the duties of office, set aside the unjust requirement and restored them to liberty. Soon after this, the intricacies and difficulties of settling the estate were proceeded with till the administration of its affairs was closed. The presidency of the Church was exercised by the council of Apostles from August, 1877, till October, 1880, when the First Presidency was reorganized. Apostle John Taylor was elected President of the Church, his counselors being Apostles George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith. Twice since then, in 1890 and in 1898, the First Presidency has been reorganized, the changes being rendered necessary by the death of President John Taylor and President Wilford Woodruff, respectively. In each organization the choice has fallen without hesitancy upon Elders Cannon and Smith for counselors. The selection in the First Presidency gave President Cannon still further opportunity for the exercise of his notable faculty of counseling and of meeting the spiritual duties to which he had advanced by a life's service. Nowhere has his influence been so potent for good or so far-reaching among the people as in association with his brethren in this capacity. His career in this respect is a powerful example to the youth of the inestimable value of a steady, conservative, vigorous and strict adherence to duty, whether in the humbler or higher ranks of society, in achieving success in life. In the year 1884 there began a specially persecutive assault on the Latter-day Saints, particularly aimed at the plural marriage feature of their religion. Owing to the intense bitterness of some who were engaged in this raid, it was felt, from the promptings of experience, to be advisable for the leading brethren of the Church to avoid coming directly within the power of the persecutors. There was not likely to be toward men less prominent the violence that characterized the days of Carthage jail; but to the leaders the severer result was almost certain unless something was done to avert it as far as possible. The desirable end was attained, though President Taylor died in exile. President Cannon was specially harassed, and passed through many close places, but finally the fury of the persecutive storm began to spend itself; the spirit of the law, itself severe in these cases, became predominant, and President Cannon and other leaders met the issue as early as it was reasonably safe for those in their position to do so, and were subjected to fine and imprisonment. President Cannon served a four months' term in the Utah penitentiary. The prison life of those who were thus incarcerated was no stain upon their character— it became a credit mark of their fidelity to their convictions of right. The experiences of President Cannon, as may be seen readily from a brief review thereof, have included so many hardships that wear on the physical being, and so much that draw on the intellectual faculties, as to impress an observer with the fact that it must have been a remarkably powerful physical and mental organization to bear up successfully under the pressure. In Brother Cannon's case, as in that of other notables among the leading men of the Church, a potent factor that has contributed to this success should be noted by the readers of the Juvenile Instructor. It is that the subject of this sketch recognized his mortal tabernacle as given him of God for a holy purpose, and that his duty was to take the best care he could of it under the circumstances he was placed in. This he sought to do ; and notably in connection with the Word of Wisdom he has contributed years to his life by observing the counsel of God given by revelation to the Saints. President Cannon has had severe attacks of illness, and there is not a doubt that his career on earth would have been closed long since if he had been less mindful of the rules of health. All men cannot reach old age through the best care they can give themselves; but the readers of this magazine can learn from President Cannon's example how not to shorten their lives, but to prolong them to the fullest extent for good and joy to themselves and associates. Even with the necessary brevity of a magazine article, this paper would be incomplete without making reference to an element that has entered largely into President Cannon's success as a writer and speaker, in public and in private. He has sought carefully for that polish, grace and understanding of words that enable him to express his thoughts forcibly, clearly, and in plain language that the people generally comprehend ; he exhibits a careful avoidance of mystifying phrases and unwieldy words. His aim is to use language as it should be used—to convey lessons of truth and beauty. But this manipulation' is to an extent mechanical—intelligently so, as the act of a skilled workman in securing and handling the best tools for his purpose. Back of it all is the pure and deep earnestness of a sincere soul which devotes the full energies of its intelligence to the task at hand. When he converses, or writes, or preaches, there is in President Cannon's every word and sentence the living fire of an intense earnestness, always in full measure for the occasion, always wrought up to that point which yearns for greater strength from divine inspiration, and does not yearn in vain. The limit of space for this imperfect sketch is reached; may the interest in its lessons be but thoroughly awakened, and it will have served its purpose. |
PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON.
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“President George Q. Cannon.” Improvement Era. May 1901. pg. 545-547.
PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON.
President George Q. Cannon died in Monterey, California, in the early morning of Friday, April 12, 1901. His body was brought to Salt Lake City, arriving on the evening of Monday, following.
In the passing away from this earth of this great and good man, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints loses a strong, conservative counselor; the State a mighty pillar of strength; the business world, a forceful and progressive man of affairs; and his family, a loving impartial brother, husband and father.
George Quayle Cannon was born in Liverpool, England, on the 11th day of January, 1827, and was the oldest son of George and Ann Quayle Cannon who were natives of Peel, on the Isle of Man. He joined The Church in 1840, being baptized by the late John Taylor, February 11th. In September, 1842, the family sailed for Nauvoo; the mother died and was buried in mid-ocean. On August 17, two years thereafter, the father died in St. Louis. George Q. entered into the printing business, working in the offices of the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor. At the time of the expulsion, he went to Winter Quarters, and in 1847, crossed the plains, arriving in the valley October 3. After laboring with the pioneers for his living, and enduring with them the hardships of the times for two years, he was called on a mission to California, under the direction of Elder Charles C. Rich. His subsequent call to the Sandwich Islands, and his faithful though difficult labors there in the introduction of the gospel to the natives, four thousand of whom joined The Church, his translation of the Book of Mormon, into the native language, his founding of the Western Standard, in California, and his literary labors thereon, are matters of well-known history. He returned in January, 1858, owing to the Johnston's army trouble. From that time on, his history is very closely interwoven with the history of The Church and Utah. Few important movements have taken place in either, in the past forty years, that have not been largely shared or shaped by George Q. Cannon.
As editor at various times of the Deseret News; as the publisher and editor of the Juvenile Instructor, which he established in January, 1866; and as a publisher and writer of books, his works are in the van of Church literature, and he stands as a leader among Church writers. In educational affairs, his influence was no less. He threw his whole soul into the great Sunday School movement which was greatly accelerated by the publication of the Juvenile; for twenty years, he was a member of the Board of Regents of the University, ten years of which time as Chancellor he stood at the head of the institution, a strong supporter and an ardent advocate of higher education, in its most trying years in Utah. His labors in the same direction, with and in behalf of the great school, the Brigham Young Academy, and other Church educational institutions, stand out boldly to view, for he was ever alert to their needs and best interests.
No man has set a better example to the young men of Zion than President Cannon. In Congress, in the business world, in politics, and in all the common affairs of men, it was never forgotten that George Q. Cannon was a "Mormon." That fact distinguished him, and he upheld his reputation as a genuine representative of the Latter-day Saints and their system of ethics, by an integrity as unimpeachable as truth itself. Some men come in contact with the influences of the world, and give way to them, or permit them to so modify their views that the latter are engulfed or become like the views of the majority. With President Cannon, his personality was foremost in any company, and on no occasion was it ever forgotten that he belonged to the peculiar people called Latter-day Saints. As a model for young men, in the matter of observing the word of wisdom, his conduct is a shining example Time and again, he has warned them to never touch liquor, tea, coffee, tobacco, in order that they might never know their taste, and thus live beyond temptation. His actions, in these respects as in all others of his life, strictly conform to his theories.
George Q. Cannon was a powerful man whose intellectual personality enlarged him in men's eyes, so that, while his physical being was small, he yet appeared large in body to most people who saw him or heard him speak. His strength consisted largely in his humility; and his power as a wise counselor, lay in his deference for the opinions of others, and in his willingness to listen to and respect their views. As a diplomat, he had few equals; as a forceful public speaker, he bound his hearers, as in a spell, to the views he advocated.
He was laid to rest in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, on Wednesday, April 17. The services in the Tabernacle were very impressive. There were sweet music and song, beautiful decorations of white, and a wilderness of sweetly-woven flowers—offerings from loving friends at home and in distant parts of our country. Touching eulogies on his noble life and deeds, were pronounced by his faithful brethren to ten thousand silent listeners, men, women and children; and, throughout the whole Church, there is deep and universal mourning, as when a mighty people part with a beloved chieftain, father, counselor and guide.
PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON.
President George Q. Cannon died in Monterey, California, in the early morning of Friday, April 12, 1901. His body was brought to Salt Lake City, arriving on the evening of Monday, following.
In the passing away from this earth of this great and good man, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints loses a strong, conservative counselor; the State a mighty pillar of strength; the business world, a forceful and progressive man of affairs; and his family, a loving impartial brother, husband and father.
George Quayle Cannon was born in Liverpool, England, on the 11th day of January, 1827, and was the oldest son of George and Ann Quayle Cannon who were natives of Peel, on the Isle of Man. He joined The Church in 1840, being baptized by the late John Taylor, February 11th. In September, 1842, the family sailed for Nauvoo; the mother died and was buried in mid-ocean. On August 17, two years thereafter, the father died in St. Louis. George Q. entered into the printing business, working in the offices of the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor. At the time of the expulsion, he went to Winter Quarters, and in 1847, crossed the plains, arriving in the valley October 3. After laboring with the pioneers for his living, and enduring with them the hardships of the times for two years, he was called on a mission to California, under the direction of Elder Charles C. Rich. His subsequent call to the Sandwich Islands, and his faithful though difficult labors there in the introduction of the gospel to the natives, four thousand of whom joined The Church, his translation of the Book of Mormon, into the native language, his founding of the Western Standard, in California, and his literary labors thereon, are matters of well-known history. He returned in January, 1858, owing to the Johnston's army trouble. From that time on, his history is very closely interwoven with the history of The Church and Utah. Few important movements have taken place in either, in the past forty years, that have not been largely shared or shaped by George Q. Cannon.
As editor at various times of the Deseret News; as the publisher and editor of the Juvenile Instructor, which he established in January, 1866; and as a publisher and writer of books, his works are in the van of Church literature, and he stands as a leader among Church writers. In educational affairs, his influence was no less. He threw his whole soul into the great Sunday School movement which was greatly accelerated by the publication of the Juvenile; for twenty years, he was a member of the Board of Regents of the University, ten years of which time as Chancellor he stood at the head of the institution, a strong supporter and an ardent advocate of higher education, in its most trying years in Utah. His labors in the same direction, with and in behalf of the great school, the Brigham Young Academy, and other Church educational institutions, stand out boldly to view, for he was ever alert to their needs and best interests.
No man has set a better example to the young men of Zion than President Cannon. In Congress, in the business world, in politics, and in all the common affairs of men, it was never forgotten that George Q. Cannon was a "Mormon." That fact distinguished him, and he upheld his reputation as a genuine representative of the Latter-day Saints and their system of ethics, by an integrity as unimpeachable as truth itself. Some men come in contact with the influences of the world, and give way to them, or permit them to so modify their views that the latter are engulfed or become like the views of the majority. With President Cannon, his personality was foremost in any company, and on no occasion was it ever forgotten that he belonged to the peculiar people called Latter-day Saints. As a model for young men, in the matter of observing the word of wisdom, his conduct is a shining example Time and again, he has warned them to never touch liquor, tea, coffee, tobacco, in order that they might never know their taste, and thus live beyond temptation. His actions, in these respects as in all others of his life, strictly conform to his theories.
George Q. Cannon was a powerful man whose intellectual personality enlarged him in men's eyes, so that, while his physical being was small, he yet appeared large in body to most people who saw him or heard him speak. His strength consisted largely in his humility; and his power as a wise counselor, lay in his deference for the opinions of others, and in his willingness to listen to and respect their views. As a diplomat, he had few equals; as a forceful public speaker, he bound his hearers, as in a spell, to the views he advocated.
He was laid to rest in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, on Wednesday, April 17. The services in the Tabernacle were very impressive. There were sweet music and song, beautiful decorations of white, and a wilderness of sweetly-woven flowers—offerings from loving friends at home and in distant parts of our country. Touching eulogies on his noble life and deeds, were pronounced by his faithful brethren to ten thousand silent listeners, men, women and children; and, throughout the whole Church, there is deep and universal mourning, as when a mighty people part with a beloved chieftain, father, counselor and guide.
“Our Late Superintendent.” Juvenile Instructor. 1 May 1901. pg. 274-276.
OUR LATE SUPERINTENDENT. ALL Zion mourns. Once again the angel of death has led into the eternal, world one of Israel's princes. We, who are left behind are the poorer for his going while that brighter sphere beyond us is the richer for his presence. President George Q. Cannon, our General Superintendent, is what men call dead, but in reality he has passed through the gate that brings the children of this earth to life eternal. It is as natural for men to die as to be born, then why should we mourn seeing that death brings nothing but reward and happiness to him who has just left us? President Cannon in intellectual gifts was richly endowed beyond the great majority of his fellows. In faith, few were his equals. As a servant of the Most High, he was among that favored few who saw the face of the Lord while in the flesh and heard the Divine voice, and yet remained in mortality. He realized all that is of the most true worth in the successive ages of life—as a child in childhood, as a young man in youth, as a man in maturity. From his earliest days of accountability he was a worshiper of the true God, a zealous, devoted servant of Heaven and a friend of mankind. He died as he had lived, faithful and true to God and His work. Brother Cannon was one of those whom God called His friends: His friends because they were devoting their lives to the accomplishment of His holy purposes. And the friends of God are the friends of manias God's purpose is man's eternal exaltation; and eternal exaltation is the greatest of all the glorious gifts of God. God created man that he might have joy, a joy that is never ending. Particularly will President Cannon be missed by the Sunday Schools. Until now he has been their first and only General Superintendent. How short the time, it seems to us, in which it has pleased the Father [to take to Himself Brothers Goddard, Maeser and Cannon, the entire General Superintendency — each one a shining light, but with a distinguishing, distinctive lustre, in the heaven of our schools! How strong, how valuable their varied peculiarities of excellence made them as a quorum to direct, to strengthen, and to unify the labors of the workers who are struggling to lay the foundations of intelligence, righteousness and truth in the hearts and lives of our children and our youth ! How warm, how joyous, must have been the welcome they have received from the tens of thousands of little ones who once knew them and loved them here, but who went before them to the joys of the paradise of God. It is so recently that the Juvenile Instructor gave a detailed history of the life of General Superintendent Cannon [that we shall not repeat it; but simply refer our readers to No. 2, Vol. 35, where it is to be found. Here we simply append a few of the important incidents in his eventful life: Born in Liverpool, England, January 11, 1827. Baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ, February 11, 1840. Emigrated to Nauvoo with his parents, September 17, 1842. Ordained an Elder and a Seventy February 9, 1845. Arrived in Salt Lake Valley, October 3, 1847. Started on a mission to California and the Sandwich Islands, fall of 1849. Landed on the Sandwich Islands, December 12, 1850. Returned home to Salt Lake, November 28, 1854. Started on a mission to California, May 10, 1855. Returned home to Salt Lake City, January 19, 1858. Went on a mission to the Eastern States, September, 1858. Ordained an Apostle, August 26, 1860. Reached Liverpool on mission to Europe, December 21, 1860. Left Liverpool for home, August 27, 1864. Commenced publication of the Juvenile Instructor, January, 1866. Took charge of the Deseret News, fall of 1867. Chosen General Superintendent of Deseret Sunday School Union, November, 1866. Elected a member of the Constitutional Convention, February, 1872. Elected delegate to Congress, August,1872, (where he served five successive terms.) Sustained as First Counselor to President John Taylor, October 10, 1880. Selected as a member of the General Church Board of Education, April 5, 1888. Surrendered on charge of unlawful cohabitation and sentenced to 175 days in penitentiary, September 17, 1888. Released from penitentiary, February 21, 1889. Sustained as First Counselor to President Woodruff, April 7, 1889. Sustained as First Counselor to President Snow, October 9, 1898. Revisited the Sandwich Islands, December, 1900. Died at Monterey, California, April 12, 1901. Buried at Salt Lake City, April 17, 1901. |
President George Q. Cannon
|
“President George Q. Cannon.” Young Woman's Journal. May 1901. pg. 232-233.
President George Q. Cannon.
Mysterious indeed are the events which are borne on the current of human life. Strange it seems that in one editorial we should offer congratulations to our beloved Prophet, and petition the Father to prolong his life upon earth, while to him who for many years has stood second in the order of appointment in our Church, we pay a tribute of love and say farewell.
In the departure from this life of President George Q. Cannon the entire Church sustains a loss that cannot be measured in this early hour of bereavement. So long has he been one of the strongest pillars in our Church structure, so accustomed have we become to receiving the benefits of his wise counsels and inspired leadership, that many amongst us fail to comprehend the power of his strength, and only through its loss will it be fully realized.
The writer of these lines recalls with pleasure the last conversation she had with President Cannon. It was early in December last, just prior to his departure for the Sandwich Islands. She had called to ask if he would offer a New Century Greeting to our girls. Though weary and heavily pressed with business affairs, his manner was reassuring; and in a very kindly way he replied: “Yes, sister, I shall be pleased to do so;” adding a moment later: “I appreciate your thoughtfulness in asking me and thank you for it.”
We have always felt an inspiration in being privileged to shake hands with these noble ambassadors who represent the Courts of Heaven here on earth; and in contemplating the wonderful career and influence of President Cannon upon all who know him, the words of Carlyle come forcibly to mind. In his Lectures on Heroes, he says: “One comfort is. that Great Men, taken up in any way, are profitable company. We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon a great man, without gaining something by him. He is the living light-fountain, which it is good and pleasant to be near. The light which enlightens, which has enlightened the darkness of the world; and this not as a kindled lamp only, but rather as a natural luminary shining by the gift of Heaven; a flowing light-fountain, as I say, of native original insight, of manhood and heroic nobleness;—in whose radiance all souls feel that it is well with them?’
Coming as we have just done from the funeral of this great man, we feel that the testimony of each speaker concerning the inspiration he had received from his association with President Cannon, the foregoing quotation seems in this instance to apply with double force.
Was there ever a scene more in-spiring than that funeral? The beautiful white drapings, the magnificent flowers, the exquisite music, and the inspired words, all combined to lift one’s soul to higher things; to fill each listener with praise and prayer, and doubtless to cause the heart of every Latter-day Saint to swell with gratitude for the comfort and peace that cometh with the everlasting Gospel.
It is not our purpose to go into the details of the long and brilliant career of our beloved leader. The events connected with his last illness and death which took place at Monterey. Cal., on April 12, 1901, are too well known to need repetition; and we hope to present to our readers in the next issue an article written by one of President Cannon’s associates. But as representatives of more than twenty thousand young women of Zion, and in recognition of his untiring devotion to the cause of Mutual Improvement, we desire to offer this humble tribute and say: Peaceful be his rest.
President George Q. Cannon.
Mysterious indeed are the events which are borne on the current of human life. Strange it seems that in one editorial we should offer congratulations to our beloved Prophet, and petition the Father to prolong his life upon earth, while to him who for many years has stood second in the order of appointment in our Church, we pay a tribute of love and say farewell.
In the departure from this life of President George Q. Cannon the entire Church sustains a loss that cannot be measured in this early hour of bereavement. So long has he been one of the strongest pillars in our Church structure, so accustomed have we become to receiving the benefits of his wise counsels and inspired leadership, that many amongst us fail to comprehend the power of his strength, and only through its loss will it be fully realized.
The writer of these lines recalls with pleasure the last conversation she had with President Cannon. It was early in December last, just prior to his departure for the Sandwich Islands. She had called to ask if he would offer a New Century Greeting to our girls. Though weary and heavily pressed with business affairs, his manner was reassuring; and in a very kindly way he replied: “Yes, sister, I shall be pleased to do so;” adding a moment later: “I appreciate your thoughtfulness in asking me and thank you for it.”
We have always felt an inspiration in being privileged to shake hands with these noble ambassadors who represent the Courts of Heaven here on earth; and in contemplating the wonderful career and influence of President Cannon upon all who know him, the words of Carlyle come forcibly to mind. In his Lectures on Heroes, he says: “One comfort is. that Great Men, taken up in any way, are profitable company. We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon a great man, without gaining something by him. He is the living light-fountain, which it is good and pleasant to be near. The light which enlightens, which has enlightened the darkness of the world; and this not as a kindled lamp only, but rather as a natural luminary shining by the gift of Heaven; a flowing light-fountain, as I say, of native original insight, of manhood and heroic nobleness;—in whose radiance all souls feel that it is well with them?’
Coming as we have just done from the funeral of this great man, we feel that the testimony of each speaker concerning the inspiration he had received from his association with President Cannon, the foregoing quotation seems in this instance to apply with double force.
Was there ever a scene more in-spiring than that funeral? The beautiful white drapings, the magnificent flowers, the exquisite music, and the inspired words, all combined to lift one’s soul to higher things; to fill each listener with praise and prayer, and doubtless to cause the heart of every Latter-day Saint to swell with gratitude for the comfort and peace that cometh with the everlasting Gospel.
It is not our purpose to go into the details of the long and brilliant career of our beloved leader. The events connected with his last illness and death which took place at Monterey. Cal., on April 12, 1901, are too well known to need repetition; and we hope to present to our readers in the next issue an article written by one of President Cannon’s associates. But as representatives of more than twenty thousand young women of Zion, and in recognition of his untiring devotion to the cause of Mutual Improvement, we desire to offer this humble tribute and say: Peaceful be his rest.
Lula. “A Glorious Triumph: In Memory of President George Q. Cannon.” Juvenile Instructor. 15 May 1901. pg. 305.
A GLORIOUS TRIUMPH.
IN MEMORY OF PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON.
O, Zion, lift thy face unto thy God!
In meek submission bear the chastening rod
Which on thy shoulders heavily doth fall;
Not with vain tears from sad and mournful eves,
But let thy fervent, suppliant prayers arise!
It is not thine to choose when God shall call.
So long and well this mighty one had served,
Nor from the line of duty ever swerved,
‘Tis meet that from his labors he should rest.
And thou, Zion, doest well to trust
His God and thine, as being kind and just,
Wise, powerful, to know and do the best!
No abler advocate in latter days
More plainly taught God's purposes and ways,
Than he whose spirit passeth now above,
Into the councils of the Prophets there--
Their forces strengthening, their works to share,
In broader lines, in perfect light and love.
He who so grandly spoke for others gone,
For him today the quivering breath is drawn;
And small our offerings seem when all is done.
Yet oh, remember him as brave and strong,
How his bright words have cheered the Saints along,
And count this day a glorious victory won!
A glorious triumph for the great, pure soul,
True as the magnet to its center pole--
So was he true and faithful to his God.
May his loved household prove as true to him,
His name ne'er tarnish nor its luster dim,
But nobly follow where his feet have trod.
Lula.
A GLORIOUS TRIUMPH.
IN MEMORY OF PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON.
O, Zion, lift thy face unto thy God!
In meek submission bear the chastening rod
Which on thy shoulders heavily doth fall;
Not with vain tears from sad and mournful eves,
But let thy fervent, suppliant prayers arise!
It is not thine to choose when God shall call.
So long and well this mighty one had served,
Nor from the line of duty ever swerved,
‘Tis meet that from his labors he should rest.
And thou, Zion, doest well to trust
His God and thine, as being kind and just,
Wise, powerful, to know and do the best!
No abler advocate in latter days
More plainly taught God's purposes and ways,
Than he whose spirit passeth now above,
Into the councils of the Prophets there--
Their forces strengthening, their works to share,
In broader lines, in perfect light and love.
He who so grandly spoke for others gone,
For him today the quivering breath is drawn;
And small our offerings seem when all is done.
Yet oh, remember him as brave and strong,
How his bright words have cheered the Saints along,
And count this day a glorious victory won!
A glorious triumph for the great, pure soul,
True as the magnet to its center pole--
So was he true and faithful to his God.
May his loved household prove as true to him,
His name ne'er tarnish nor its luster dim,
But nobly follow where his feet have trod.
Lula.
“Resolutions of Respect to the Late President George Q. Cannon.” Juvenile Instructor. 1 June 1901. pg. 340.
RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT TO THE LATE PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON.
(Unanimously adopted by the Board of the Deseret Sunday School Union, at its regular meeting held Thursday, May 16, 1901.)
We, the officers of the Deseret Sunday School Union, realizing the great loss sustained by all the Sabbath Schools in Zion and throughout the world, as well as by the community at large, in the death of our beloved superintendent and associate, George Q. Cannon, who departed this life on the 12th day of April, 1901, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, desire to express our deep sense of the great worth, transcendent abilities and most excellent qualities of our deceased friend. Resolved, therefore,
That in President George Q. Cannon we recognize a thoroughly capable and most efficient superintendent of the Deseret Sunday School Union, a distinguished writer, an orator of national reputation, a man endowed with rare capacity of mind and an astonishingly quick apprehension, an indefatigable worker and to the full extent of the word a gentleman.
That during the many years he has been at the head of this great institution (and he was the first superintendent of the whole body of the Sabbath Schools) he has ever watched with zealous care over this beneficent system, and has taken an unceasing interest in its welfare; the progress of the Sunday Schools was his continuous study, his aim was to bring them as near to perfection as possible, and the excellent condition in which we find them, is in a large measure due to his wise counsel and fatherly supervision.
That in his death we are deprived of a most valuable leader and adviser, whose presence will be sadly missed from our councils and deliberations.
That we deeply sympathize with his bereaved family, and pray the Lord to sustain and comfort them in their great sorrow; we condole with the whole community, who mourn the departure of a wise counselor in the First Presidency, one of the mighty leaders in Israel and one of earth's choicest sons.
That while we lament the death of a loved and reverenced associate and co-laborer, we bow in submission to the fiat of Him who doeth all things well.
That these Resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Board, and that copies be furnished to the family of the deceased and to the Juvenile Instructor for publication.
RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT TO THE LATE PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON.
(Unanimously adopted by the Board of the Deseret Sunday School Union, at its regular meeting held Thursday, May 16, 1901.)
We, the officers of the Deseret Sunday School Union, realizing the great loss sustained by all the Sabbath Schools in Zion and throughout the world, as well as by the community at large, in the death of our beloved superintendent and associate, George Q. Cannon, who departed this life on the 12th day of April, 1901, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, desire to express our deep sense of the great worth, transcendent abilities and most excellent qualities of our deceased friend. Resolved, therefore,
That in President George Q. Cannon we recognize a thoroughly capable and most efficient superintendent of the Deseret Sunday School Union, a distinguished writer, an orator of national reputation, a man endowed with rare capacity of mind and an astonishingly quick apprehension, an indefatigable worker and to the full extent of the word a gentleman.
That during the many years he has been at the head of this great institution (and he was the first superintendent of the whole body of the Sabbath Schools) he has ever watched with zealous care over this beneficent system, and has taken an unceasing interest in its welfare; the progress of the Sunday Schools was his continuous study, his aim was to bring them as near to perfection as possible, and the excellent condition in which we find them, is in a large measure due to his wise counsel and fatherly supervision.
That in his death we are deprived of a most valuable leader and adviser, whose presence will be sadly missed from our councils and deliberations.
That we deeply sympathize with his bereaved family, and pray the Lord to sustain and comfort them in their great sorrow; we condole with the whole community, who mourn the departure of a wise counselor in the First Presidency, one of the mighty leaders in Israel and one of earth's choicest sons.
That while we lament the death of a loved and reverenced associate and co-laborer, we bow in submission to the fiat of Him who doeth all things well.
That these Resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Board, and that copies be furnished to the family of the deceased and to the Juvenile Instructor for publication.
Grant, Heber J. “President George Q. Cannon.” Young Woman's Journal. June 1901. pg. 242-245.
PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON.
Apostle Heber J. Grant.
I have been requested to write a brief article for the Young Woman’s Journal regarding the late Prest. George Q. Cannon.
It is somewhat difficult to write briefly on the achievements of a man who has accomplished so much as has Prest. Cannon. There has been up other man in Utah who has shown such marked ability in so many different ways as has he. In estimating men in the world the first consideration is generally placed, and the greatest credit given, to the individual who has been successful in amassing wealth. Judging Prest. Cannon by that standard, and considering the opportunities to gain wealth in Utah, his success in this line has been little less than phenomenal. Notwithstanding the fact that he devoted the greater part of his time to Church, educational, and public duties, yet there have been few men who have been more successful financially than He; when it is considered that he gave to each of his wives a goodly amount of property, and in addition has supported and educated a very large family, it is remarkable that he should have left as large an estate as he did.
Although Prest. Cannon, at the time of his death, was one of the moil active members of the Board of Education of the Church, and also president of the Brigham Young Academy, he was a warm supporter of the State University, and, as all know, was for a long time the chancellor of that institution, and ever one of its strongest friends.
The broad educational views held by Prest. Cannon entitle him to be ranked as one of the foremost men from an educational standpoint that Utah has ever produced. Notwithstanding his busy life, filled as it was with public duties, still he found time to write the history of the Prophet Joseph Smith and other works, and also to successfully edit the Juvenile Instructor for over thirty years. The record made by him in writing is a great one, equaled by but few who have devoted their entire life to literary pursuits. One would naturally think that a man so active and with so many duties could find very little time to attend Stake quarterly conferences, yet there were few if any of the Apostles who have traveled more extensively among the Latter-day Saints and attended more ward meetings and quarterly conferences than did he. His missionary labors in the world in spreading the Gospel were very extensive, he having started to labor when little more than a child. There are few if any of our leading men who have done more in spreading the Gospel in the Pacific Islands, and in Europe, than Prest. Cannon.
I shall not enumerate the many large and successful institutions with which he was connected as president, vice-president and director, further than to state that he had the distinction of being one of the directors of the Union Pacific Railroad Co., that vast corporation controlling thousands of miles of railroad.
It is said that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, and I have sometimes wondered whether we who come in daily contact with such great men as Brest. Cannon, appreciate them as fully as would men who are located at a distance. I am of the opinion that Prest. Cannon's great ability was perhaps more fully appreciated by the leading men of the outside world, politically and financially speaking, with whom he came in contact, than it was by the Latter-day Saints who associated with him daily.
The teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are to the effect that there should be no class distinctions in our midst, and that individuals are equal in the sight of God. The revelation on the United Order and many others, together with the instructions of our leading men, to say nothing about their example of mingling with the people freely, are calculated in their nature to prevent what is known as hero-worship in our midst, and this to a certain extent, would rob a man of the great ability of Prest. Cannon from receiving his full meed of appreciation.
Speaking of the estimate in which Prest. Cannon was held in the world, I will state that I was informed upon one occasion, when a number of leading statesmen were discussing different men and were endeavoring to decide as to who were the eight brightest minds in America, Prest. Cannon was named as one of the eight.
His marvelous capacity for work taken in connection with the vast variety of work he performed—has always appealed to me as one of the most wonderful traits possessed by him. I know many men who are very gifted in some particular lines, but it is the exception to find one with a mind able to grasp the details in nearly all of the walks of life. One thing which aided Prest. Cannon very greatly was his marvelous memory. Never have I come in contact with a man possessed of such a remarkable capacity to remember faces and incidents and family relationships. In traveling with him to quarterly conferences I observed that he seemed to know everybody, never hesitated upon meeting people to call them by name, and not only did he know those whom he met, but he seemed to know all about their families, and would talk with them regarding their parents and their relatives, and he generally knew who their brothers and sisters had married. His knowledge of families and his interest in them gave him a hold upon the affections of the people with whom he came in contact, such as few men who lacked his marvelous memory could ever hope to possess.
An incident illustrating his strength of memory happened in the days of President Garfield. Brother Cannon was on the train going East at the time when Prest. Garfield was going to Washington to be inaugurated as the President of the United States. As the train in which Brother Cannon was traveling passed through Ohio, President Garfield boarded it, and came into the same sleeper. He walked to Brother Cannon's section of the car, greeted him and commenced chatting pleasantly. He introduced Brother Cannon to a number of his friends, remarking that he (Cannon) was the most remarkable man in some respects in Congress; said he was the only man there who had a speaking acquaintance with every member of the Senate and House, and who knew from what district each came. He incidentally said in introducing Brother Cannon to some friends: “This man never forgets a name or a face?' Soon after this remark the train stopped, and other passengers boarded the train, several of them entering the car where Brother Cannon and Prest. Garfield were; they naturally walked up to Brother Cannon's section to shake hands with the newly elected President of the United States. After one of these gentlemen had shaken hands with Prest. Garfield, Brother Cannon arose, reached out his hand, called the man by name and made some friendly remark. Prest. Garfield thereupon turned and said: “Cannon, did you ever see that man but once in! your life?” Prest. Cannon answered, “No.” Prest. Garfield then said: “That was many years ago when I was in Utah when you named a steamer after me, was it not?” Brother Cannon answered: “Yes.” Prest. Garfield turned to the gentlemen in the car to whom he had been talking and said: “There gentlemen, didn't I tell you so, that Mr. Cannon never forgot a name or face?”
President George Q. Cannon was one of the most sympathetic men that I ever knew. This trait of character caused him to be in very great demand to speak at funerals and I believe I have heard him preach as many funeral sermons as any other leading man in the Church. He had a very strong affection for men, notwithstanding they might have weaknesses, provided their integrity and devotion to the Church was unquestioned. Many times in attending funerals where he has spoken I have noticed that it has been with difficulty that he has been able to control his feelings so as to speak.
Some years ago I personally had an exhibition of his sympathetic nature. At the time of the sickness of my wife Lucy, during the last few months of her life, Prest. Cannon was almost a daily caller at my home to inquire after her health, notwithstanding the many duties de-volving upon him.
Every Latter-day Saint who has heard the sound of Prest. Cannon's strong, sympathetic voice has rejoiced under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord which attended him in his public and private teachings. The Latter-day Saints loved Prest. Cannon for his unswerving devotion, and his untiring energy in laboring for the work of the Lord. It seems when one stops to think of all that he has accomplished in his historical and editorial writings, and in his financial, political, educational and ecclesiastical labors, that figuratively speaking, during his life-time, he removed mountains.
My favorite Book of Mormon character is the Prophet Nephi, who guided his life by the Statement made to his father: “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men save he shall prepare a wav for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them.”
President Cannon wrote the life of Nephi, and I believe that Nephi's life has been a guiding star to him in shaping his own life, and a brighter and more particular star cannot be found by searching the Book of Mormon; and when the records of the achievement and life's labors of the prophets of this dispensation shall be made up, the record made by Prest. Geo. Q. Cannon shall stand out as one of the brightest.
PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON.
Apostle Heber J. Grant.
I have been requested to write a brief article for the Young Woman’s Journal regarding the late Prest. George Q. Cannon.
It is somewhat difficult to write briefly on the achievements of a man who has accomplished so much as has Prest. Cannon. There has been up other man in Utah who has shown such marked ability in so many different ways as has he. In estimating men in the world the first consideration is generally placed, and the greatest credit given, to the individual who has been successful in amassing wealth. Judging Prest. Cannon by that standard, and considering the opportunities to gain wealth in Utah, his success in this line has been little less than phenomenal. Notwithstanding the fact that he devoted the greater part of his time to Church, educational, and public duties, yet there have been few men who have been more successful financially than He; when it is considered that he gave to each of his wives a goodly amount of property, and in addition has supported and educated a very large family, it is remarkable that he should have left as large an estate as he did.
Although Prest. Cannon, at the time of his death, was one of the moil active members of the Board of Education of the Church, and also president of the Brigham Young Academy, he was a warm supporter of the State University, and, as all know, was for a long time the chancellor of that institution, and ever one of its strongest friends.
The broad educational views held by Prest. Cannon entitle him to be ranked as one of the foremost men from an educational standpoint that Utah has ever produced. Notwithstanding his busy life, filled as it was with public duties, still he found time to write the history of the Prophet Joseph Smith and other works, and also to successfully edit the Juvenile Instructor for over thirty years. The record made by him in writing is a great one, equaled by but few who have devoted their entire life to literary pursuits. One would naturally think that a man so active and with so many duties could find very little time to attend Stake quarterly conferences, yet there were few if any of the Apostles who have traveled more extensively among the Latter-day Saints and attended more ward meetings and quarterly conferences than did he. His missionary labors in the world in spreading the Gospel were very extensive, he having started to labor when little more than a child. There are few if any of our leading men who have done more in spreading the Gospel in the Pacific Islands, and in Europe, than Prest. Cannon.
I shall not enumerate the many large and successful institutions with which he was connected as president, vice-president and director, further than to state that he had the distinction of being one of the directors of the Union Pacific Railroad Co., that vast corporation controlling thousands of miles of railroad.
It is said that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, and I have sometimes wondered whether we who come in daily contact with such great men as Brest. Cannon, appreciate them as fully as would men who are located at a distance. I am of the opinion that Prest. Cannon's great ability was perhaps more fully appreciated by the leading men of the outside world, politically and financially speaking, with whom he came in contact, than it was by the Latter-day Saints who associated with him daily.
The teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are to the effect that there should be no class distinctions in our midst, and that individuals are equal in the sight of God. The revelation on the United Order and many others, together with the instructions of our leading men, to say nothing about their example of mingling with the people freely, are calculated in their nature to prevent what is known as hero-worship in our midst, and this to a certain extent, would rob a man of the great ability of Prest. Cannon from receiving his full meed of appreciation.
Speaking of the estimate in which Prest. Cannon was held in the world, I will state that I was informed upon one occasion, when a number of leading statesmen were discussing different men and were endeavoring to decide as to who were the eight brightest minds in America, Prest. Cannon was named as one of the eight.
His marvelous capacity for work taken in connection with the vast variety of work he performed—has always appealed to me as one of the most wonderful traits possessed by him. I know many men who are very gifted in some particular lines, but it is the exception to find one with a mind able to grasp the details in nearly all of the walks of life. One thing which aided Prest. Cannon very greatly was his marvelous memory. Never have I come in contact with a man possessed of such a remarkable capacity to remember faces and incidents and family relationships. In traveling with him to quarterly conferences I observed that he seemed to know everybody, never hesitated upon meeting people to call them by name, and not only did he know those whom he met, but he seemed to know all about their families, and would talk with them regarding their parents and their relatives, and he generally knew who their brothers and sisters had married. His knowledge of families and his interest in them gave him a hold upon the affections of the people with whom he came in contact, such as few men who lacked his marvelous memory could ever hope to possess.
An incident illustrating his strength of memory happened in the days of President Garfield. Brother Cannon was on the train going East at the time when Prest. Garfield was going to Washington to be inaugurated as the President of the United States. As the train in which Brother Cannon was traveling passed through Ohio, President Garfield boarded it, and came into the same sleeper. He walked to Brother Cannon's section of the car, greeted him and commenced chatting pleasantly. He introduced Brother Cannon to a number of his friends, remarking that he (Cannon) was the most remarkable man in some respects in Congress; said he was the only man there who had a speaking acquaintance with every member of the Senate and House, and who knew from what district each came. He incidentally said in introducing Brother Cannon to some friends: “This man never forgets a name or a face?' Soon after this remark the train stopped, and other passengers boarded the train, several of them entering the car where Brother Cannon and Prest. Garfield were; they naturally walked up to Brother Cannon's section to shake hands with the newly elected President of the United States. After one of these gentlemen had shaken hands with Prest. Garfield, Brother Cannon arose, reached out his hand, called the man by name and made some friendly remark. Prest. Garfield thereupon turned and said: “Cannon, did you ever see that man but once in! your life?” Prest. Cannon answered, “No.” Prest. Garfield then said: “That was many years ago when I was in Utah when you named a steamer after me, was it not?” Brother Cannon answered: “Yes.” Prest. Garfield turned to the gentlemen in the car to whom he had been talking and said: “There gentlemen, didn't I tell you so, that Mr. Cannon never forgot a name or face?”
President George Q. Cannon was one of the most sympathetic men that I ever knew. This trait of character caused him to be in very great demand to speak at funerals and I believe I have heard him preach as many funeral sermons as any other leading man in the Church. He had a very strong affection for men, notwithstanding they might have weaknesses, provided their integrity and devotion to the Church was unquestioned. Many times in attending funerals where he has spoken I have noticed that it has been with difficulty that he has been able to control his feelings so as to speak.
Some years ago I personally had an exhibition of his sympathetic nature. At the time of the sickness of my wife Lucy, during the last few months of her life, Prest. Cannon was almost a daily caller at my home to inquire after her health, notwithstanding the many duties de-volving upon him.
Every Latter-day Saint who has heard the sound of Prest. Cannon's strong, sympathetic voice has rejoiced under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord which attended him in his public and private teachings. The Latter-day Saints loved Prest. Cannon for his unswerving devotion, and his untiring energy in laboring for the work of the Lord. It seems when one stops to think of all that he has accomplished in his historical and editorial writings, and in his financial, political, educational and ecclesiastical labors, that figuratively speaking, during his life-time, he removed mountains.
My favorite Book of Mormon character is the Prophet Nephi, who guided his life by the Statement made to his father: “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men save he shall prepare a wav for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them.”
President Cannon wrote the life of Nephi, and I believe that Nephi's life has been a guiding star to him in shaping his own life, and a brighter and more particular star cannot be found by searching the Book of Mormon; and when the records of the achievement and life's labors of the prophets of this dispensation shall be made up, the record made by Prest. Geo. Q. Cannon shall stand out as one of the brightest.
“An Interesting and Faith-Promoting Letter by George Q. Cannon.” Juvenile Instructor. November 1911. pg. 666-669.
An Interesting and Faith-Promoting Letter.
[The following letter, written by the late George O. Cannon, fifty-eight years ago, has just come to light, having been found in a package of old letters by Elder Angus M. Cannon. It is highly prized by Elder Cannon, who says that the spirit of this letter and its effect upon himself and his brother David had a great deal to do with their standing in the Church. At the time of its receipt, Angus was eighteen years of age and David fourteen. These two brothers have long been engaged in active Church work. David is at present presiding over the St. George Temple ; Angus presided for twenty-eight years over the Salt Lake Stake, which at one time covered six counties : Tooele, Davis, Morgan, Summit, Wasatch and Salt Lake. We present the letter because of its faith promoting character and the splendid advice offered the young people—advice which the present generation would do well to follow.—The Editors.]
Wailuku, Maui, Sandwich Islands, February 1st, 1853.
Dear Angus and David, Annie, Leonora and Elizabeth.
I write to you all and what I may say will apply, and be received, I hope, by you all, but I write particularly to you, Angus and David. I have contemplated writing to you some time, but I have been so very busy lately that I have felt to defer it ; today has been a fast day, and I have been in meeting until about sun-down. I commenced to translate this evening, but I felt so weary with speaking, etc., that I had not the spirit as I would wish and I thought I would commence a letter to you. I have had a regular feast today in meeting, the Spirit of the Lord has been poured out upon us, filling our hearts with joy to overflowing, and there has been a great deal of excellent instruction given — tears in abundance have been shed by the Saints while listening to and thinking of the Gospel of Christ, and with His great love and condescension in bestowing the gift of the Holy Ghost and Church and Priesthood as in ancient days. I have been happy today and my happiness has found vent in tears; my feelings have been past description and can only be imagined by those who have experienced similarly ; when I think of the goodness and long suffering of the Lord with all His mercies to me from childhood up, my heart is filled and I am almost carried away; although it has been a privation to' me staying out here so long, away from the society of all those I love, yet I have experienced more joy and happiness upon these lands than I have ever before experienced in my life; and I want this to be always the case from this time henceforth and forever that every year's experience may bring an increase of joy and happiness. The Saints are increasing in knowledge and are supported and buoyed up by the influences of the Spirit, which gives to all confidence in the promises of the Lord in their behalf. There have been some very strong manifestations of the gift of healing among them, and the Lord has confirmed the work of His servants by signs following, causing the Saints to be strengthened and the adversaries to rage and propagate lies to the prejudice of the truth, but which serve only to confirm the truth of the words of the Lord. The work is rolling gradually forward, the elders all laboring zealously in building up the kingdom. Brother James Hawkins and Brother James Keeler are upon the east of the Island and are both successfully engaged in disseminating the principles of life and salvation. Brother F. A. Hammond and family are residing in Lahaina, in which place he is lifting up his voice warning them to flee from the wrath to come ; they are a hard hearted people in that place, but he has been very successful and the Lord has blessed his efforts. I am residing in this place translating the Book of Mormon and preaching, etc., with a tolerable degree of success ; in my heart I feel that I am very much blessed, for I feel that I am unworthy of the many kindnesses that the Lord has bestowed upon me. Brother Lewis, our President, and family reside on Oahu together with Brothers H. F. D. Bigler and Wm. Farrer ; the work is prospering in their hands, and they are rejoicing. Brother J. T. Woodbury is upon Molokai, and the last news I had from him he was doing well and going ahead, the Lord smiling upon his labors.
Although happy, yet I look forward with a great deal of anticipation to the time of return ; for if I find all as I hope to find it I think my joy will be full. Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that you are all living up to your privileges and in the enjoyment of all that you can have by seeking for it. It is a thing which I have been very anxious about and which I have made-a subject of prayer unto the Lord. I never bow before the Lord to ask for myself without remembering you all, as I greatly desire to see you blessed ; if I could think that you were living without paying attention to every duty incumbent upon you, such as praying continually to the Lord, attending meeting, obeying all counsel as it proceeds from the mouths of the servants of the Lord, and with everything else calculated to elevate and render you happy, both here and hereafter, I should be very much grieved, for I know that unless you strictly attend unto these things you need not expect to be permanently happy—my own experience proves to me the truth of these words. When I have been wholly and unreservedly engaged in doing the will of the Lord to the best of my ability, my joy has been inconceivable, and I have been filled with His spirit which has caused me to be filled with everything desirable ; but on the other hand when this has not been the case, when I have been dilatory, etc., the contrary has been what I have experienced. The secret of the success of both ancients and moderns in the Church of Christ has been humility and prayer; they made the Lord their Father and their Friend by being constantly near to Him. He has been near to them ; they have been able to tell Him all their joys and all their fears, and confide in Him at all times, and therefore He has been ready to help in every time of need. In regard to attending meeting and obeying counsel, etc., you ought certainly to know that unless you live by every word of God as it proceeds from those who are His oracles and who are clothed with all the power that can be held by mortal man, you cannot attain unto what the Lord has in store for His people. You may find occasionally men whose life and conversation will go to show that they do not believe the truths which I have just now written. (I have met with such myself occasionally and there may be some remaining.) Shun such people and their society as you would a pestilence ; partake not of their spirit for it leads to death ; seek the society of those whose life and conversation are calculated to edify and teach and uphold the principles of righteousness; seek every good influence, be easily entreated and taught ; if you will take this course your happiness and joy will be unbounded and you will continually feel that you are approved by the Lord. I know that this is truth and you can also know it by taking the proper steps. You are a bearer, Angus, of the holy and everlasting priesthood ; when you took upon you this office you took upon you a calling of great magnitude and one which if properly magnified confers great power upon the holder or possessor. You cannot estimate it too highly ; by magnifying it you will be magnified, and in order that you may magnify it you must be holy for it is a holy priesthood. It ought to be nearer and dearer to you than all else. Let it be your first and main care to magnify it before men and angels and our Father in heaven. In doing this you will be saved yourself and made capable of saving others. I feel that if I were to write from now until morning on this subject I could not say too much, for I feel its importance ; let your conversation be godly and your actions be above condemnation both in secret and in public, at all times and all places. Upon your conduct may depend the salvation of others—you are older than David and it is your duty to set him a good example continually and walk so uprightly that he will respect you and listen to your teachings. It is as sweet a feeling as a man ever experienced— the feeling that he has while teaching and imparting information and knowledge concerning the gospel of the Lord Jesus, and he is amply repaid in the joy he receives continually for all his labors that he may have expended in acquiring it : therefore the more zealously you all strive to get knowledge and understanding the greater will be your blessings and the more capable you all will be of filling every station with dignity that you may occupy. Remember, Angus, that when you took upon you this priesthood you became a minute man in the service of the Lord and your time is no longer at your own disposal independent of Him or His delegated authority upon the earth, and remember also the awful consequences of not doing all these things and not magnifying your priesthood. I shall not attempt to describe it for it is past the power of man to do so ; you can form some very slight idea if you have had the Spirit of the Lord withdrawn from you for a few moments; but if we believe the words of the Savior in the Doctrine and Covenants, it so far exceeds that feeling that there is no comparison. You, David, are now nearly fifteen years of age and if you do right will soon have the glorious privilege also of holding the priesthood. I want you to pay attention to my words now, Davy, as you did once in St. Louis when you were sick. I taught you the Word of Wisdom and that it was not good to drink hot drinks, and it was as much as they could do to get you to drink coffee; you may not remember this but I do, and I guess Mary Alice and all the rest do, except Sissy. I want you to manifest the same faith in my words now as you did then, for I know they are true and if you experiment upon them you will also prove their truth. Do not mix with bad boys nor copy after their practices and examples ; associate with the virtuous who can teach you and set you good examples ; if you wish to be in good estimation keep good company for you will be known by the company you keep. Any misstep that any of you may take by neglecting good counsel or the voice of the Spirit will be a source of bitter regret to you in after life, therefore seek continually to know the mind of the Spirit at all times, you need not be destitute of light and knowledge for yourselves if you take the right steps. I hope Leonora, you are baptized and I hope you will be soon, Elizabeth; you must both be good girls. If the Lord spares us to meet again I hope to enjoy myself much with you as well as the rest. I have a great deal to tell you as well as Chas., Geo., Richard, etc. You must all pray for me that I may be spared and blessed in returning that my way may be opened up. I rely greatly upon your prayers in my behalf for I know if you pray in faith I will receive the benefit of them. As I have written to Charles and Mary Alice and Annie a day or two before Christmas I shall let this letter suffice, begging you all to accept my love and also kiss the children for me, especially the baby. Give my love to George, Mary Ann and Joseph, etc., as yon will no doubt let them have this to. read; they must accept my love and good wishes. I feel equally interested in them but I know, situated as they are it would be superfluous in me to write them such a letter, they must write to me every chance. Remember me to all our friends and acquaintances. Give my love to Uncle and Aunt, etc., and Elizabeth H. and tell them I shall write again about the middle of the month, the Lord willing, to them. Also give my love to Brother Joseph C. and family. I wrote to him a little before Christmas, which I hope he has received. I also wrote at the same time to Elizabeth H. and Uncle and Aunt. Give my love to Grandfather and G. Mother T. and all the family, to Stepmother, etc., to Brother Jas. Ferguson and family, and Sister Lovina T. I shall be glad to receive letters at any time from any or all ; tell Elizabeth H. to write every chance. I have been looking anxiously but in vain for some time for letters from her but when the elders arrive I shall expect a regular batch, including letters from all. Accept my love to yourselves and it is my 'constant desire that you may all be blessed with every thing calculated to make you happy. Give my love to Bro. Elias Smith and family, and to John Dixon and family ; tell him I write all the time with the pen he presented me with.
I remain your ever affectionate brother,
George.
P. S. Direct as usual to me, Lahaina, Maui, until I give you a different direction.
To Mr. Angus M. Cannon, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Terr.
An Interesting and Faith-Promoting Letter.
[The following letter, written by the late George O. Cannon, fifty-eight years ago, has just come to light, having been found in a package of old letters by Elder Angus M. Cannon. It is highly prized by Elder Cannon, who says that the spirit of this letter and its effect upon himself and his brother David had a great deal to do with their standing in the Church. At the time of its receipt, Angus was eighteen years of age and David fourteen. These two brothers have long been engaged in active Church work. David is at present presiding over the St. George Temple ; Angus presided for twenty-eight years over the Salt Lake Stake, which at one time covered six counties : Tooele, Davis, Morgan, Summit, Wasatch and Salt Lake. We present the letter because of its faith promoting character and the splendid advice offered the young people—advice which the present generation would do well to follow.—The Editors.]
Wailuku, Maui, Sandwich Islands, February 1st, 1853.
Dear Angus and David, Annie, Leonora and Elizabeth.
I write to you all and what I may say will apply, and be received, I hope, by you all, but I write particularly to you, Angus and David. I have contemplated writing to you some time, but I have been so very busy lately that I have felt to defer it ; today has been a fast day, and I have been in meeting until about sun-down. I commenced to translate this evening, but I felt so weary with speaking, etc., that I had not the spirit as I would wish and I thought I would commence a letter to you. I have had a regular feast today in meeting, the Spirit of the Lord has been poured out upon us, filling our hearts with joy to overflowing, and there has been a great deal of excellent instruction given — tears in abundance have been shed by the Saints while listening to and thinking of the Gospel of Christ, and with His great love and condescension in bestowing the gift of the Holy Ghost and Church and Priesthood as in ancient days. I have been happy today and my happiness has found vent in tears; my feelings have been past description and can only be imagined by those who have experienced similarly ; when I think of the goodness and long suffering of the Lord with all His mercies to me from childhood up, my heart is filled and I am almost carried away; although it has been a privation to' me staying out here so long, away from the society of all those I love, yet I have experienced more joy and happiness upon these lands than I have ever before experienced in my life; and I want this to be always the case from this time henceforth and forever that every year's experience may bring an increase of joy and happiness. The Saints are increasing in knowledge and are supported and buoyed up by the influences of the Spirit, which gives to all confidence in the promises of the Lord in their behalf. There have been some very strong manifestations of the gift of healing among them, and the Lord has confirmed the work of His servants by signs following, causing the Saints to be strengthened and the adversaries to rage and propagate lies to the prejudice of the truth, but which serve only to confirm the truth of the words of the Lord. The work is rolling gradually forward, the elders all laboring zealously in building up the kingdom. Brother James Hawkins and Brother James Keeler are upon the east of the Island and are both successfully engaged in disseminating the principles of life and salvation. Brother F. A. Hammond and family are residing in Lahaina, in which place he is lifting up his voice warning them to flee from the wrath to come ; they are a hard hearted people in that place, but he has been very successful and the Lord has blessed his efforts. I am residing in this place translating the Book of Mormon and preaching, etc., with a tolerable degree of success ; in my heart I feel that I am very much blessed, for I feel that I am unworthy of the many kindnesses that the Lord has bestowed upon me. Brother Lewis, our President, and family reside on Oahu together with Brothers H. F. D. Bigler and Wm. Farrer ; the work is prospering in their hands, and they are rejoicing. Brother J. T. Woodbury is upon Molokai, and the last news I had from him he was doing well and going ahead, the Lord smiling upon his labors.
Although happy, yet I look forward with a great deal of anticipation to the time of return ; for if I find all as I hope to find it I think my joy will be full. Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that you are all living up to your privileges and in the enjoyment of all that you can have by seeking for it. It is a thing which I have been very anxious about and which I have made-a subject of prayer unto the Lord. I never bow before the Lord to ask for myself without remembering you all, as I greatly desire to see you blessed ; if I could think that you were living without paying attention to every duty incumbent upon you, such as praying continually to the Lord, attending meeting, obeying all counsel as it proceeds from the mouths of the servants of the Lord, and with everything else calculated to elevate and render you happy, both here and hereafter, I should be very much grieved, for I know that unless you strictly attend unto these things you need not expect to be permanently happy—my own experience proves to me the truth of these words. When I have been wholly and unreservedly engaged in doing the will of the Lord to the best of my ability, my joy has been inconceivable, and I have been filled with His spirit which has caused me to be filled with everything desirable ; but on the other hand when this has not been the case, when I have been dilatory, etc., the contrary has been what I have experienced. The secret of the success of both ancients and moderns in the Church of Christ has been humility and prayer; they made the Lord their Father and their Friend by being constantly near to Him. He has been near to them ; they have been able to tell Him all their joys and all their fears, and confide in Him at all times, and therefore He has been ready to help in every time of need. In regard to attending meeting and obeying counsel, etc., you ought certainly to know that unless you live by every word of God as it proceeds from those who are His oracles and who are clothed with all the power that can be held by mortal man, you cannot attain unto what the Lord has in store for His people. You may find occasionally men whose life and conversation will go to show that they do not believe the truths which I have just now written. (I have met with such myself occasionally and there may be some remaining.) Shun such people and their society as you would a pestilence ; partake not of their spirit for it leads to death ; seek the society of those whose life and conversation are calculated to edify and teach and uphold the principles of righteousness; seek every good influence, be easily entreated and taught ; if you will take this course your happiness and joy will be unbounded and you will continually feel that you are approved by the Lord. I know that this is truth and you can also know it by taking the proper steps. You are a bearer, Angus, of the holy and everlasting priesthood ; when you took upon you this office you took upon you a calling of great magnitude and one which if properly magnified confers great power upon the holder or possessor. You cannot estimate it too highly ; by magnifying it you will be magnified, and in order that you may magnify it you must be holy for it is a holy priesthood. It ought to be nearer and dearer to you than all else. Let it be your first and main care to magnify it before men and angels and our Father in heaven. In doing this you will be saved yourself and made capable of saving others. I feel that if I were to write from now until morning on this subject I could not say too much, for I feel its importance ; let your conversation be godly and your actions be above condemnation both in secret and in public, at all times and all places. Upon your conduct may depend the salvation of others—you are older than David and it is your duty to set him a good example continually and walk so uprightly that he will respect you and listen to your teachings. It is as sweet a feeling as a man ever experienced— the feeling that he has while teaching and imparting information and knowledge concerning the gospel of the Lord Jesus, and he is amply repaid in the joy he receives continually for all his labors that he may have expended in acquiring it : therefore the more zealously you all strive to get knowledge and understanding the greater will be your blessings and the more capable you all will be of filling every station with dignity that you may occupy. Remember, Angus, that when you took upon you this priesthood you became a minute man in the service of the Lord and your time is no longer at your own disposal independent of Him or His delegated authority upon the earth, and remember also the awful consequences of not doing all these things and not magnifying your priesthood. I shall not attempt to describe it for it is past the power of man to do so ; you can form some very slight idea if you have had the Spirit of the Lord withdrawn from you for a few moments; but if we believe the words of the Savior in the Doctrine and Covenants, it so far exceeds that feeling that there is no comparison. You, David, are now nearly fifteen years of age and if you do right will soon have the glorious privilege also of holding the priesthood. I want you to pay attention to my words now, Davy, as you did once in St. Louis when you were sick. I taught you the Word of Wisdom and that it was not good to drink hot drinks, and it was as much as they could do to get you to drink coffee; you may not remember this but I do, and I guess Mary Alice and all the rest do, except Sissy. I want you to manifest the same faith in my words now as you did then, for I know they are true and if you experiment upon them you will also prove their truth. Do not mix with bad boys nor copy after their practices and examples ; associate with the virtuous who can teach you and set you good examples ; if you wish to be in good estimation keep good company for you will be known by the company you keep. Any misstep that any of you may take by neglecting good counsel or the voice of the Spirit will be a source of bitter regret to you in after life, therefore seek continually to know the mind of the Spirit at all times, you need not be destitute of light and knowledge for yourselves if you take the right steps. I hope Leonora, you are baptized and I hope you will be soon, Elizabeth; you must both be good girls. If the Lord spares us to meet again I hope to enjoy myself much with you as well as the rest. I have a great deal to tell you as well as Chas., Geo., Richard, etc. You must all pray for me that I may be spared and blessed in returning that my way may be opened up. I rely greatly upon your prayers in my behalf for I know if you pray in faith I will receive the benefit of them. As I have written to Charles and Mary Alice and Annie a day or two before Christmas I shall let this letter suffice, begging you all to accept my love and also kiss the children for me, especially the baby. Give my love to George, Mary Ann and Joseph, etc., as yon will no doubt let them have this to. read; they must accept my love and good wishes. I feel equally interested in them but I know, situated as they are it would be superfluous in me to write them such a letter, they must write to me every chance. Remember me to all our friends and acquaintances. Give my love to Uncle and Aunt, etc., and Elizabeth H. and tell them I shall write again about the middle of the month, the Lord willing, to them. Also give my love to Brother Joseph C. and family. I wrote to him a little before Christmas, which I hope he has received. I also wrote at the same time to Elizabeth H. and Uncle and Aunt. Give my love to Grandfather and G. Mother T. and all the family, to Stepmother, etc., to Brother Jas. Ferguson and family, and Sister Lovina T. I shall be glad to receive letters at any time from any or all ; tell Elizabeth H. to write every chance. I have been looking anxiously but in vain for some time for letters from her but when the elders arrive I shall expect a regular batch, including letters from all. Accept my love to yourselves and it is my 'constant desire that you may all be blessed with every thing calculated to make you happy. Give my love to Bro. Elias Smith and family, and to John Dixon and family ; tell him I write all the time with the pen he presented me with.
I remain your ever affectionate brother,
George.
P. S. Direct as usual to me, Lahaina, Maui, until I give you a different direction.
To Mr. Angus M. Cannon, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Terr.
“Experience of George Q. Cannon on the Hawaiian Islands.” Young Woman's Journal. October 1915. pg. 651.
Experience of George Q. Cannon on the Hawaiian Islands.
“The natives are very close observers. They soon saw that we were not like many of the whites whom they had seen, and they began to take an interest in us. They readily helped us to pronounce and read their language. The want of books was a great drawback at first; but we sent to Honolulu for them. My desire to learn to speak was very strong; it was present with me night and day, and I never permitted an opportunity of talking with the natives to pass without improving it. I also tried to exercise faith before the Lord to obtain the gift of talking and understanding the language. One evening while sitting on the mats conversing with some neighbors who had dropped in, I felt an uncommonly great desire to understand what they said. All at once I felt a peculiar sensation in my ears; I jumped to my feet, with my hands at the sides of my head, and exclaimed to Elders Bigler and Keeler who sat at the table, that I believed I had received the gift of interpretation. And it was so. From that time forward I had but little, if any, difficulty in understanding what the people said. I might not be able at once to separate every word which they spoke from every other word in the sentence; but I could tell the general meaning of the whole. This was a great aid to me in learning to speak the language, and I felt very thankful for this gift from the Lord.”[1]
[1] My First Mission, pg. 15.
Experience of George Q. Cannon on the Hawaiian Islands.
“The natives are very close observers. They soon saw that we were not like many of the whites whom they had seen, and they began to take an interest in us. They readily helped us to pronounce and read their language. The want of books was a great drawback at first; but we sent to Honolulu for them. My desire to learn to speak was very strong; it was present with me night and day, and I never permitted an opportunity of talking with the natives to pass without improving it. I also tried to exercise faith before the Lord to obtain the gift of talking and understanding the language. One evening while sitting on the mats conversing with some neighbors who had dropped in, I felt an uncommonly great desire to understand what they said. All at once I felt a peculiar sensation in my ears; I jumped to my feet, with my hands at the sides of my head, and exclaimed to Elders Bigler and Keeler who sat at the table, that I believed I had received the gift of interpretation. And it was so. From that time forward I had but little, if any, difficulty in understanding what the people said. I might not be able at once to separate every word which they spoke from every other word in the sentence; but I could tell the general meaning of the whole. This was a great aid to me in learning to speak the language, and I felt very thankful for this gift from the Lord.”[1]
[1] My First Mission, pg. 15.
“Divine Help in the Performance of Duty.” Young Woman's Journal. December 1915. pg. 780.
Divine Help in the Performance of Duty.
This incident, and the one following, are taken from sketches of the life of George Q. Cannon, written by himself. “The writer started out as a missionary when he felt that he was but a comparative youth. He was exceedingly timid and had a mortal dread of standing up before a congregation. * * * But there was one thing that he made up his mind to do—to never shrink from the discharge of his duty. If he should be called upon to pray, to bear testimony, or to speak, he was resolved that he would do his best, and put his trust in the Lord to help him out. * * * At one time he succeeded in getting a large meetinghouse to preach in, and when he arose to give out the hymns and to pray, the sound of his own voice in the building frightened him. The congregation was a larger one than he had ever addressed before, but he prayed earnestly to the Lord for help. He knew that no power but God’s could assist him and enable him to declare the truth. After reading a portion of the scriptures, he commenced speaking, and continued to address the people for upwards of an hour. He was completely carried away by the Spirit, and fear was banished. Tears coursed down the cheeks of the congregation, and many felt the power of God to so great an extent that they came forward and offered themselves for baptism.”[1]
[1] “Gems for Young Folks,” p. 42 43.
Divine Help in the Performance of Duty.
This incident, and the one following, are taken from sketches of the life of George Q. Cannon, written by himself. “The writer started out as a missionary when he felt that he was but a comparative youth. He was exceedingly timid and had a mortal dread of standing up before a congregation. * * * But there was one thing that he made up his mind to do—to never shrink from the discharge of his duty. If he should be called upon to pray, to bear testimony, or to speak, he was resolved that he would do his best, and put his trust in the Lord to help him out. * * * At one time he succeeded in getting a large meetinghouse to preach in, and when he arose to give out the hymns and to pray, the sound of his own voice in the building frightened him. The congregation was a larger one than he had ever addressed before, but he prayed earnestly to the Lord for help. He knew that no power but God’s could assist him and enable him to declare the truth. After reading a portion of the scriptures, he commenced speaking, and continued to address the people for upwards of an hour. He was completely carried away by the Spirit, and fear was banished. Tears coursed down the cheeks of the congregation, and many felt the power of God to so great an extent that they came forward and offered themselves for baptism.”[1]
[1] “Gems for Young Folks,” p. 42 43.
“The Cover Picture: George Q. Cannon - Our First Superintendent.” Instructor. October 1940. pg. 446.
THE COVER PICTURE George Q. Cannon—Our First Superintendent On the cover of The Instructor for this month is a representation of the late President George Q. Cannon, whose name is associated with that of the Latter-day Saint Sunday School in two capacities. He was the founder of The Juvenile Instructor, now The Instruct tor, and the first general superintendent of the organization. When the Sunday Schools were first instituted in our Church, they were independent, each going its own way, according to the wisdom of the local officers. But in 1867, it was thought that there should be some organization to bind these together and to direct the movement. This group of men was called the "Parent Sunday School Union," and it was presided over by Elder George Q. Cannon, who had been chosen by President Young to be "president" of the Sunday Schools, acting without counselors. Later the "Parent Sunday School Union" became the "Deseret Sunday School Union." This became active from then on, particularly after the year 1872, when the "Parent" became the Deseret Union. Of all the men connected with the Sunday Schools in a general capacity prior to 1879, only four are now alive. They are President Heber J. Grant, John M. Whitaker, Superintendent George D. Pyper, and John M. Mills. The name of President George Q. Cannon, however, will always remain as one of the corner stones of the Sunday School movement in our Church. |
George Q. Cannon
First Superintendent of the Deseret Sunday Schools |
Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon - A Little Boy Cries in the Night.” Instructor. January 1944. pg. 8-11.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON A Little Boy Cries In The Night The tide was rising in the Mersey, backing up the waters of that short but broad and deep river with the inflow of the Irish Sea. It was winter, and although Liverpool lies above the 53rd degree, the latitude of Labrador, there was as usual little snow. Naturally, the days were short and candles were lighted early. In the humble home of a working man a little boy had gone to bed soon after the evening meal was over and the Scripture reading done, but he had not gone to sleep. Thoughts ran through his mind for some time after the house was quiet, and then he cried to himself as he lay there in the darkness. This was back in the reign of William IV, the uncle of Victoria. The British King had become a constitutional sovereign, and the royal prerogatives that his father, George III, had tried to impose, of ruling as some of his fellow monarchs were doing on the continent, had been dropped. Lord Grey was the responsible prime minister and subject only to Parliament. The mood of England was proud and happy. Her population, about twelve million, was growing steadily. A few years before she had concluded the Napoleonic wars, and on land and sea had emerged the greatest military power on earth. Her colonies were being fed by a constant stream of her own people, who carried all that was British in the way of law and loyalty with them. Unlike the Spanish who mingled with the native populations, they kept their blood stream pure. Australia had grown in fifty years from a penal station to a rich colony. New Zealand had come under the British flag. The fabulous wealth of India was being exploited by the East India Company under royal charter. The Cape of Good Hope, originally Dutch, was growing so fast that the Boers were planning their exodus northward beyond the Orange and Vaal rivers to maintain their independence. Gibraltar, taken from the Spanish and Malta from the French, had made Britain mistress of the Mediterranean. Much of this expansion was due to three men: James Hargreaves, who invented the spinning jenny in 1769, Edmund Cartwright, who) invented the weaving loom in 1785 and James Watt, who invented the steam engine in the same period. As cotton and wool cloth were among the most important articles of trade in that primitive society, the industrial revolution was under way, and the United Kingdom led the world. Rich in coal, which was just coming into commercial use, building mine railroads to carry it and then a commercial railroad to link her greatest manufacturing city to the sea, she was getting into her hands the means to wealth and power and presenting to history her evidences that freedom aids prosperity. Reform was in the air. The criminal law had been altered in the middle of the previous decade, whereby the death penalty was removed from about a hundred offenses, many of them trivial, and was to be applied only to serious crimes. The law punishing combinations of working men was abolished and the way opened for labor unions. Child labor was reduced from 12 and 14 hours a day to eight hours for children under 13 and to 12 for those between 13 and 18. The reform laws were giving a fairer distribution of suffrage. Slavery was brought to an end through reimbursing the slave owners to the extent of twenty million pounds. The national government was stirring for the first time to support popular education. Certainly the ship carpenter, George Cannon, of Liverpool, and his family had reason to feel proud of being English, and doubtless they sensed the growing power of their country with joy. And what was the state of the world elsewhere? This was, or at least had been, an era of revolution. There was a ferment among men, a breaking up of the old systems of government and ways of thought. The United States had won their independence. And practically every country from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego had freed itself from the Iberian Peninsula, only the Guianas and British Honduras, Cuba and some of the islands of the Caribbean, retaining their connection with the old world. France had gone through her great awakening with its Reign of Terror. Mazzini was agitating for a republic in Italy and preparing the country for Garibaldi. The German states were forming a custom union and drawing together into what a half century later was to become the empire. China, most populous o£ all the nations, was struggling weakly to ward off the vigorous peoples of the west with their desires for spheres of influence and privileges of trade. She was trying to stop the opium traffic and thereby bringing on the opium war, a black spot in British history. Japan, still closed to the world, was living under her medieval fuedalism, with her professional soldiers, the samurai, doing all the fighting and her shogun more powerful than the emperor. Shintoism was growing apace to help build the fanatical nationalism of modern times. Canada was becoming restless and preparing for a rebellion that would unite the Upper and Lower provinces and bring internal self government. The ever growing Russia had just acquired important territory from Turkey and was taking over unhappy Poland. The Jews who had been driven out of England in the 13th century and had suffered expulsion and massacre in many other countries were being given almost full rights in the United Kingdom under the First Emancipation bill of 1830. In the new world the vital Americans were sweeping over the Alleghenies into the rich lands of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Their boundless energies, enterprise, hopeful daring, and big families were giving sinews to the giant of the west. And in this land a young back- woodsman was telling the people that he had found a golden book of ancient writings and had translated it by the power of God, and that God had called him to be a prophet of a new dispensation of the gospel. The little boy in Liverpool did not know much of all this, but it was the world into which he was soon to take his part. While only the small area of his home and neighborhood had come into his consciousness, nevertheless all that was. and had been in the world had made that' home and neighborhood. He had doubtless seen the locomotive and the cars it hauled along the rails, because it was to connect the port of Liverpool with the factories of Manchester that the pioneer railway had been built. The first and only expression little children can give of their feelings is through crying. By that means they reveal their hunger, their state of health, anger, disappointments and fears. As infancy passes, they acquire other means of making their wants and emotions known, but crying remains still their most effective outlet. Moreover, how they cry usually tells the kind of human beings they are. "Whining and bellowing are frequently carried over into the following years as indicating the indirect or direct methods they will use to get what they want. So it is interesting to know why the little boy lying alone in the darkness in Liverpool was crying to himself that night of the early thirties of a century ago. He had not been hurt physically, he was not ill. He had an unusually healthy and vigorous body. Nobody had been unkind to him. He was the oldest child of the family, and his parents were very thoughtful or him. His father for whom he was named was one of the gentlest of men, and his mother, while an intense and vigorous character, had early perceived, as mothers are so able to do, the nature of her firstborn. It was not hunger, for while the home was simple and the mother so careful of food that any uneaten portion of a meal was carried over to the next, much to the dislike of her oldest son, yet there was always enough in the house. The father was a remarkably skillful and fast worker, and the growing merchant marine of England kept the Liverpool shipyards busy. This crying in the night time came out of a highly emotional and imaginative nature of strongly religious bent. His parents, Episcopalians, had their first child, born soon after their coming to the mainland from the Isle of Man, christened in St. Peter's Church. But they were more than formally religious. They read the Bible as a part of their daily life, and the New Testament was the "first reader" of their children. The Savior's life was nearer to them than that of King William or the Lord Mayor of Liverpool. The Acts of the Apostles were more familiar than the acts of Nelson and Wellington. The parents with clear vision recognized that the times had changed and that the simple gospel and the gifts of the Spirit were unfortunately no longer among them. They attended their church, but whatever satisfactions it gave did not take from them a deep hunger for spiritual realities it did not have. Whether out of the talk at home or out of his own inner needs, the little boy of Liverpool was not satisfied with the world in which he found himself living. He longed for more than it had to give. With the unimpeded imagination of childhood he fled from the now to the long ago, those times when the gentle Man of Galilee walked the earth and healed the sick and made the lame to walk and the blind to see and the lepers to be clean and the dead to live. He longed to mingle with the disciples and hear their brave words of testimony when told by the High Priest to speak no more of Jesus. And because he was living in Liverpool some eighteen centuries later and these things had passed away, he was troubled. Alone in the night he wept, because he had not lived in that earlier day when the Savior was upon the earth. |
GEORGE Q. CANNON
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, II. A Visit from a Man of God.” Instructor. February 1944. pg. 66-68, 73.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON II. A Visit From A Man of God In the sketch, given in the first of this series, of world conditions at the beginning of the 1830's, mention was made of a young man in America who had published a book translated from ancient characters written on golden plates. Brief as the mention was, it was far more than would have been accorded by a contemporary historian. Nevertheless, that fact became the most important of all the influences that were to act on the life of the subject of this writing, and it was the most important of all the events of that decade or that century. The little boy, who was wont to cry in the darkness because he had not lived in the time of the Savior and His apostles, was born the very year, 1827, that the young American prophet reached into the stone box which he had uncovered and possessed himself of its long hidden contents. The little lad was growing into articulate life as the message of the young backwoodsman was becoming articulate among the farm and village folk of western New York. When he was three, the Church that followed the publication of the book was organized. When he was four, the movement of the adherents had begun to Kirtland, Ohio. When he was six, those who had gone to western Missouri and bought lands in Jackson County were driven from their homes, with bloodshed and fire. When he was nine, a temple was completed at Kirtland and became the scene of great spiritual manifestations. When he was ten, Heber C. Kimball with a little group of missionaries came into the Mersey, landed at Liverpool almost within sight of his home, and departed immediately for Preston where a branch was rapidly raised and the new work spread, gaining many converts. When he was eleven, the governor of Missouri issued a shocking decree that all Mormons who did not leave the state would be exterminated. During the flight of perhaps fifteen thousand souls many suffered that fate. "When he was twelve, Nauvoo was founded on the east bank of the Mississippi in Illinois. And the day he was thirteen, January 11, 1840, John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff, two of the most ardent followers of Joseph Smith, the young prophet, and members of the Twelve Apostles, landed at Liverpool to fill their missions in the British Isles. Probably that very day one of them, a tall, dignified man came to the door of the ship carpenter, George Cannon, and inquired about him, meeting the mother and her son. Finding that the head of the household was at work and learning when he would be home, the stranger departed, promising to return. As he walked away from the door, the mother said to her boy, "George, there goes a man of God. He is come to bring salvation to your father's house." That evening the family waited expectantly for the coming of the stranger from America. The household had grown during the years. There were now six children, three boys and three girls. Although these were all born in Liverpool, the family had been Manx for countless generations. Into their life stream had come a generous flow of Irish blood, doubtless some Scandinavian, for the tiny Isle of Man had been conquered and ruled by Danes and Norsemen, and definitely also English and Scottish. Through the last two strains, they had among their ancestors Alfred the Great, Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror, Charlemagne, and Duncan I, murdered by Macbeth. If they were conscious of this at all, they were far more conversant with the traditions of the family during many generations as tillers of the soil and followers of the sea. They held deep in their beings the culture of that beautiful spot, that speck in the troubled Irish waters, where the people had felt themselves freemen and had maintained since before 1000 B.C. the "first and the oldest representative parliament in the world,"[1] their Mona, their Isle of Man. At least two of the family that evening felt the excitement raised by the approach of destiny—the mother who had had the witness of the Spirit that a man of God was coming, bearing salvation, and the oldest son, who had heard and believed her words. They may not have sensed the revolutionary thing that was to happen to their lives, but they did feel an exaltation that a man, as it were from between the lids of the Bible, should be coming to visit them. The stranger, John Taylor, arrived. He was the husband of Mr. Cannon's sister, Leonora, who had gone to Canada many years before, Family matters were talked over, and then the visitor spoke of the new faith, the restoration of the gospel after ages of darkness. He solemnly related to them that most fitting and marvelous event the visitation of two members of the Trinity, itself, the Father and the Son, to set in motion the dispensation of the fullness of times. He told of the restoration of the Priesthood, of the ordinances of baptism and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, of the calling of men to be elders and seventies and apostles as was done before by the Savior. He sang in his good voice the songs of Zion. Before departing he left with them a Book of Mormon and promised to return in a few days. The play of her fine intellect was now added to the mother's testimony of the Spirit. The story of the restoration was logical and had the full support of Scripture. The swift processes of her spiritual endowments led to her immediate conversion. More analytical, the father began to read the Book of Mormon. He was by nature scholarly; had studied Greek. The new book interested him deeply. Rapidly, with concentration, he read it through. Then he turned back to the beginning and perused it again, hardly taking time meanwhile to eat or sleep. Then he laid it down and said to his wife, "No bad man could have written it; no good man would have done it to deceive. It is from God." Elder Taylor returned and had the joy—there are few greater ones—of seeing that his testimony had been accepted and these kinsfolk had received the precious gift of faith. But George Cannon, the ship carpenter, was not willing yet to be baptized. Why should a man go into a stream or pool of water and be immersed in it? It was winter. His wife might not be able to stand the exposure. They had been baptized as children. Was it not enough if the inner man, his thoughts, intentions, willingness to serve, acceptance, faith had experienced a great change, without going through the strange ceremony of water? What had water to do with a man's soul? God knew the heart. Did He need this material display, this physical ordinance, this taking off wet clothing and dressing on the banks of a river on a wintry night? It seemed ugly and met no sympathetic response within him. But it was a necessity. Why should it be? Weren't there more appropriate ways of receiving a believing soul into the kingdom of God? What does dead water have to do with living faith? Could it change the nature within? And yet it was required. And then this man learned the principle of obedience. It was not for him to prescribe the conditions, If he yearned for salvation, as he did, he must accept the way determined by the giver of salvation, its Author. And baptism with its burial in water began to relate itself to other things of life where the soul and the matter of the world are strangely brought together—birth, sustenance, the air we breathe, work, the embrace of those we love, the physical disorders of the body, death, the whole romance and tragedy of living, this familiarity the immortal spirit makes with universal matter with which through the resurrection it is to be eternally combined. Then came to his mind the beauty of the symbolism of being buried with Christ in a watery grave to rise a new man, believing and obedient, washed, forgiven of the wrongs of the past through the atonement wrought by the sufferer on the cross, who took upon Himself the sins of the world. A month passed—what miracles can occur within that time—and the father had overcome all the difficulties of the revolutionary message. The mother had been ready from the beginning. They were baptized and hands were laid on their heads for confirmation into the Church and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Nothing was said about the children joining them in these sacred ordinances. It was four months later when Parley P. Pratt, another apostle, who was visiting the home with Elder Taylor, discovered that the older ones were yearning for entrance into the Church but were reticent about asking for the privilege. In June, 1840, George and his sister Mary Alice were accepted for baptism, but their younger sister Anne wept so bitterly at being left out that she was also allowed to join them and the three were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [1] From King Orry to Queen Victoria, Gallon, p. 13. |
JOHN TAYLOR
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, The Restless Spirit of Gathering.” Instructor. March 1944. pg. 116-119, 132.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON The Restless Spirit of Gathering Not long after George Cannon and his wife, Ann, were baptized by their brother-in-law, John Taylor, a strange feeling began to stir in the heart of the more intuitive of the pair. She and her ancestors had^ lived on the tiny Isle of Man for unnumbered generations. She had made the short journey to Liverpool with her husband only because in that great seaport he could more profitably ply his trade. But this message from America had unsettled her. Her heart yearned to go to the new world. She was experiencing that interesting manifestation of the Holy Ghost, the spirit of gathering. The new converts had learned from Apostle Taylor this and other principles and doctrines of the Church, which that highly intelligent man had received direct from the Prophet Joseph Smith, but the new knowledge as far as the gathering was concerned made a different impact on the mind of each. He accepted the principle and figured they would of course obey it. She yearned to go. This organization they had joined had many phases that surprised, sometimes delighting and sometimes almost frightening them. One was the cohesiveness of its members. While persecution had an influence in bringing this about, nevertheless a deeper sense than the need of protection moved the converts. It was the concept, completely new among Christians, of Zion. The word of the Lord to the young Prophet in 1831, the second year of the Church was, "I will that my Saints should be assembled upon the land of Zion." And in another revelation the same year "—gather ye out from the eastern lands—and with one heart and with one mind, gather up your riches that ye may purchase an inheritance — and it shall be called the New Jerusalem, —and every man that will not take up his sword against his neighbor must needs flee unto Zion for safety. And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven." Many such injunctions of equal urgency had been given. And while these were sufficient to justify believers in selling their properties and joining the Saints, yet it was perhaps less the call of the revelations than the compelling urge of the Spirit which sent the eager converts over sea and land to the west. However, the head of the Cannon household saw and felt no immediate necessity for making the move, though to help others who had the urge, he loaned his money freely. The wife waited anxiously and her older children shared her desires. Two years passed before the inner need came strongly to the husband and father. In the meantime, the care and thriftiness with which the mother managed the household, the liberality of the father in making loans to emigrating Saints, and the manifest need of money to carry the family of eight to America induced in George, the oldest son, a great anxiety. When he was still thirteen, he felt that he should help out by going to work. What he could bring in would be small, but he felt it was his duty to contribute it. He told his parents that he wished to quit school and begin to work. To this they objected. But he had custom on his side; boys of his station in life were expected to begin work at his age or earlier. The parents reasoned with him about the need of learning, but he thought that learning was not a matter of going to school; it is an inner hunger. He knew that his own father had not obtained more than the fundamentals in school and yet through study had acquired an unusually good education. Being a strong-willed boy and possessed of an uncanny ability to persuade, he left school and found work in a shipping office. Here his penmanship, in which he took great pride, was an asset, for all copying was done in long hand, and legibility, rapidity, and beauty were of great importance. In this field he worked long and faithfully to improve, until his handwriting came to look like copper plate engraving. When the will to uproot the family from its native soil and carry it across the ocean to the new world did come to the ship's carpenter, he took stock of means to make the journey. It appears that his store was not what it had been soon after he was baptized, when he wrote his sister, Leanora, the wife of John Taylor, that, "If it is the Lord's will, I am ready to go at any time; and I have enough money to take us there and perhaps a little to spare." He had, it is true, the un- paid obligations of his friends but these were of no immediate value. The makers had encountered the poverty of the new settlement on the banks of the Mississippi. His wife and children were delighted that the desire had come to him. They longed to leave the old world and join the Saints in Zion. The world was Babylon, and after the gospel had been preached it would suffer the famines, pestilence, war and other afflictions that had been predicted by the Savior in His own day— and in their very own day also through His Prophet Joseph— as the signs of His coming. Malachi had declared that He would come to His temple. 'Who was building temples to Him? Only one people. Overlooking the broad waters of the great river in America, the poverty stricken Saints were rearing a temple which was more beautiful, if in the sight of the Almighty sacrifice lends adornment, than any place of worship in the world. And then the meaning of the household frugality became plain. To her husband's astonishment, Ann had her son, George, bring her bank book. Over the years he had been her trusted messenger to deposit her savings. No one else knew. The husband took the book and looked it over. Week by week, year by year the account had grown steadily from the regularity of the deposits and the accumulation of interest. His surprise was mingled with a bit of pique that he had never been taken into her confidence, but his good nature soon returned. Putting everything together they had means not only to pay their own passage but to help others make the journey. In the deep nature of the wife was another secret that she did not immediately reveal. Relatives made every possible effort to dissuade the family from the undertaking, refusing to buy their household effects or to see them before leaving. The employers of the father offered him an increase in wages if he would remain. The company for which George worked held out tempting promises of advancement and a prosperous future if he would stay with them. Ann, the mother, was pregnant, and her husband had had an impressive dream many years before that he would lose his wife when she was about to bear a child. She had her own strong premonition, secret at first, but made known that they might be prepared. She was certain that she would never see Zion, but she would listen to no postponement. The call of the Spirit had come to them. Their faces were set toward the land of promise. Her children should grow up in the midst of the Saints; they should help to build the Zion of the Lord. On a small sailing vessel, The Sidney, the Cannon family set out from Liverpool in company with other Saints on September 17, 1842. The passage was slow and difficult. Seasickness immediately overcame the mother and she lay below, unable to retain nourishment. Not once could she be brought on deck. Gradually her strength left her. She made no complaint, asking only from time to time if they were far from New Orleans. On October 28, she "fell asleep without a sigh" and in the afternoon of that day was burled at sea. Her husband and children were heartbroken. After an eight weeks' journey The Sidney arrived at New Orleans and a few days later the company took passage on the Alexander Scott up the Mississippi. Navigation was poor and the river boat was frequently stranded on the sand bars. A little group of the Liverpool Saints went ashore during one of these delays, took possession of a log house and washed and mended their clothes. They carried back on board two children sick with scarlet fever, one of them little David Cannon, but both recovered, the only ones of the sixteen that contracted this disease. It was the eleventh of December when they reached St. Louis, too late to proceed on to Nauvoo that season. The Cannon family rented a house, the father finding employment and three of the older children, George and his two sisters, Ann and Mary Alice, going to school, Practicing the kindness that was so characteristic of them, with the father doing his best to fill the place of the missing mother, they passed the winter. When April came, the little steamer, Maid of Iowa, owned by the Church, on its first trip of the season, carried the English Saints up the river, some two hundred miles to Nauvoo. From the broad, placid stream they could see the city as they approached. The walls of the temple on the hill were visible. Drawing nearer with their hearts beating fast, they saw a great crowd of people on the landing-stage waiting to greet them. Although the boy, George, had never seen a picture of Joseph Smith, the moment his eyes lighted on him, he instantly knew and pointed him out to the others. All his life he treasured that inspired recognition. In his work Life of Joseph Smith, written half a century later, George Q. Cannon states: "It was the author's privilege to thus meet the Prophet for the first time. The occasion was the arrival of a large company of Latter-day Saints at the upper landing at Nauvoo. The General Conference of the Church was in session and large numbers crowded to the landing place to welcome the emigrants. Familiar with the names of all and the persons of many of the prominent Elders, the author sought with a boy's curiosity and eagerness to discover those whom he knew, and especially to get sight of the Prophet and his brother Hyrum, neither of whom he had ever met. When his eyes fell upon the Prophet, without a word from any one to point him out, or any reason to separate him from others who stood around, he knew him instantly. He would have known him among ten thousand. There was that about him, which to the author's eyes, distinguished him from all the men he had ever seen. |
It was a ship like this that brought the Cannons to America
A boat like this took them up the Mississippi to Nauvoo
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, The Tragedy at Nauvoo.” Instructor. April 1944. pg. 160-163.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON The Tragedy at Nauvoo Nauvoo was like a magic city in the spring of 1843 when the Cannon family—nearly seven months out from Liverpool—finally arrived to join the Saints. In four years it had changed from an unhabitable marsh to the largest city in Illinois. Its site, on the bank of the quiet Mississippi, gave it dignity. The people had drained the low- lands, and with the departure of the mosquitoes went the malaria also. Industry was apparent everywhere. Substantial homes, workshops, a few stores, and farms extending out from the town, indicated prosperity. Its rapid growth gave it the feel of hope and progress. But the individuality of Nauvoo did not arise out of its thrift, but from the ideas and organization of the people. It was divided into ten ecclesiastical wards, a temple of white stone was being built on a hill and its principal man and recently elected mayor was Joseph Smith, the Prophet. Its citizens were not the usual settlers of a new western town, who had gone to the frontiers as civilization advanced behind them. They came from the eastern states, Canada and Great Britain, sober farmers and craftsmen generally, but with a sprinkling of professional people among them. Victims of shocking persecution and drivings, they nevertheless held their heads high, confident and undefeated. They possessed the ferment that would leaven the world. The ship carpenter bought himself a home near that of his brother- in-law John Taylor, and built a shop, where he could carry on the joiner's trade. He was a fast, efficient worker, able to construct houses or make furniture to fill them. There was much to do and he worked with energy. The son, George Q., now sixteen, found employment with the Times and Seasons edited by John Taylor, with whom he lived. The thoughtful youth was known to some of the principal men of the city because of their having visited Liverpool and been entertained at his home there. Doubtless he came to the attention of others, also. But observant and possessed of an almost perfect memory, he soon came to know all the leaders and many of the people even if they did not know him. While learning the typesetting and the printing trade, an incident occurred that revealed his attitudes. Some of the prominent men of the community were apostatizing from the Church, John C. Bennett being an outstanding example, because of immorality. One of the employes of the printing shop followed them. This young man, noticed the devotion of the English boy to the Church, and made a systematic effort to turn him away. He would frequently say, "When you get as old as I am, George, you will see how false it is and will give it up." One day he was boasting to his companions about an immoral escapade he had had the night before, not knowing that the boy was listening. When he had finished, the small, slender lad walked up to him, shook his fist in his face and said: "Damn you, Tom Rolfe. You told me that when I grow up, I will lose my faith in this Church. I certainly will if I do the wicked things you're boasting about." But apostacy was not the only trouble that threatened. One Sunday in the latter part of June, 1843, the afternoon meeting was disturbed by the hurried entrance of William Clayton who conveyed a message to Hyrum Smith. The brethren immediately gathered in a hollow square on the green. An attempt had been made to kidnap the Prophet Joseph who was visiting some two hundred miles up state, and carry him to Missouri, where open threats were made that he would be killed. Armed men were immediately sent to rescue him. The kidnappers claimed the Prophet as their legal prisoner, but he had them arrested, and all were brought to Nauvoo, where theywere released on a writ of habeas corpus. A great celebration was held. Naturally young George Cannon was not a guest at a dinner to some fifty people at the home of the Prophet, where the two kidnappers, Wilson and Reynolds, were seated at the head of the table and waited on by Emma, Joseph's wife, but he doubtless had a place close to the front in the great meeting held later at the grove and shouted "Yes" with the thousands gathered there when the Prophet asked if they would support his pledge that the two kidnappers in spite of their violence and abuse should go their way unharmed. He was also in the crowd just a year later on June 27, 1844, when Governor Thomas Ford addressed the people of Nauvoo who gathered in thousands to learn the fate of their beloved leaders imprisoned at Carthage some twenty miles distant. The sharp ears of the English boy doubtless heard the sound of the cannon that was fired near Carthage to tell that the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith had been accomplished. He shared the grief of the people at the tragedy and had an additional sorrow, because his beloved uncle, John Taylor, had been desperately wounded by the mob. He saw his father construct the coffins in which the martyrs were to rest. He probably was with him at night when that skillful man also made their death masks. In the confusion that followed the loss of the two men of highest authority in the Church, the Cannon family had no doubts. From their kinsman, John Taylor, they learned that the Prophet had given to the Twelve Apostles all the keys of the Priesthood which he had received from heaven. The absent members of this council, prepared as it was to lead the Church, hurriedly returned from missions and gathered at Nauvoo. But Sidney Rigdon, who had left the body of the people, and gone to live at Pittsburgh also hastened back, thinking he might seize the leadership. Through his friend, "William Marks, president of the Nauvoo Stake, Rigdon had a meeting called in the grove to lay his claim to be the "guardian" of the Church before the Saints. There was a speaking stand, but because they thought they could be heard better from the other end of the open space, they climbed into a wagon and Sidney Rigdon addressed the great audience. The youth, George Q. Cannon, now in his eighteenth year, was present. Let us give the event in his own words: "After speaking for a short time he sat down, and as soon as he did so, President Brigham Young who was in the stand, having come there after Sidney Rigdon had left it to occupy the wagon, arose and addressed the people. The congregation wheeled around and faced him, turning their backs on Sidney Rigdon. It was the first sound of his voice which the people had heard since he had gone east on his mission, and the effect upon them was most wonderful. Who that was present on that occasion can ever forget the impression it made upon them! If Joseph had risen from the dead and again spoken in their hearing, the effect could not have been more startling than it was to many present at that meeting. It was the voice of Joseph himself, and not only was it the voice of Joseph which was heard; but it seemed in the eyes of the people as though it was the very person of Joseph which stood before them. A more wonderful and miraculous event than was wrought that day in the presence of that congregation we never heard of. The Lord gave His people a testimony that left no room for doubt as to who was the man He had chosen to lead them. They both saw and heard with their natural eyes and ears, and then the words which were uttered came, accompanied by the convincing power of God, to their hearts, and they were filled with the Spirit and great joy. There had been gloom, and, in some hearts probably, doubt and uncertainty; but now it was plain to all that here was the man upon whom the Lord had bestowed the necessary authority to act in their midst in Joseph's stead."[1] From the hour that the mob attacked Carthage jail and assassinated the two innocent prisoners, the beautiful city on the east bank of the Mississippi began to decline. Violence against the Saints was common, and the determination of the mob became evident to drive the people from Nauvoo. Work was scarce where had been a scene of greatest industry. George Cannon, the carpenter, found it necessary to leave and go down the river to St. Louis, to work among the friends he had made during the winter of '42-'43. He had married meantime and had assumed new responsibilities to provide. Less than two months after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, he was stricken there with a fatal sunstroke and was buried among strangers. His last child was born at Nauvoo after his death. The boy George, with the rest of the Saints, contributed to the building of the temple, and had the pleasure of seeing the walls rise to completion. In spite of the widespread distress and the difficulties of preparing for their flight to the west, the work had been done, the holy ordinances performed, the wish of their dear prophet fulfilled and a testimony left in the great state of Illinois of the industry and spiritual integrity of the little people who had been entrusted with the restored gospel of Christ. [1] Juvenile Instructor Vol. 5, pages 174-175, Biography—Joseph Smith, The Prophet. |
GEORGE Q. CANNON
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, V. The Outcasts Undertake a Glorious Exploit.” Instructor. May 1944. pg. 206-210.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON V. The Outcasts Undertake a Glorious Exploit The downfall of Nauvoo began soon after that fateful 27th of June, 1844, when the planned assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith occurred at the nearby town of Carthage. Governor Ford, whose weakness had made the crime possible, was party in January, 1845, to the abolishing of the city's charter by the legislature, one member of which was under indictment for the murder at Carthage. The largest city in the state had no longer a legal existence. This left it without city laws or officers. As public men took the ground that state laws were not to be applied for the benefit of the Latter-day Saints, their condition was pitiable. The subject of this series, then eighteen, tells of how one situation was met. "There were many suspicious characters who came to the city, and who presumed upon the people because the city charter was repealed. Some of these were notorious for their crimes, and it was well known that they had evil designs in visiting Nauvoo. But how could they be dealt with? There were no police who had the authority to arrest them, and for the people to have waited upon them and warned them to leave the city would not have been wise. Such a course would have afforded new pretexts to the enemies of the Saints for getting out writs and carrying them off to prison. "Yet something had to be done. It was, and still is, a common practice among Yankees, when engaged in conversation or in making a bargain, to take out their pocket knives and commence whittling; frequently, also, when engaged in thought they indulge in the same practice, accompanying the whittling by whistling. No person could object, therefore, to the practices of whittling and whistling. Many of the boys of the city had each a large bowie knife made, and when a man came to town who was known to be a villain, and there for evil purposes, a few of them would get together, and go to where the obnoxious person was, and having previously provided themselves with pine shingles, would commence whittling. The presence of a number of boys, each whittling a shingle with a bright, large bowie knife, was not a sight to escape the notice of a stranger, especially when these knives came uncomfortably close to his body. His first movement, of course, would be to step back and ask what this meant. The boys would make no reply, but with grave faces, keep up their whistling. What could the man do? If he was armed, he could shoot, but the resolute expression of the boys' faces, and the gleaming knives would convince him that discretion was the better part of valor. The most we ever knew them to do was to stand for a while and curse and threaten . . . then they would walk off in the direction of their stopping place ... or of the ferry followed by a troop of boys vigorously whittling and whistling. The result would be that these people would get out of the city as soon as possible."[1] But visitors of bad repute were but waves on the deep tide that was flowing in against Nauvoo. The mob whipped, shot, and hanged those whose fields and homes outside the city they coveted, burned haystacks and houses, killed cattle and tried to force all the people to gather in Nauvoo. The leaders were in great perplexity, for while they had determined to move west, there were serious threats that the National Government would disarm them if they attempted to leave the domain of the United States for Mexican or disputed British territory. Governor Ford, while playing a double part constantly—fair words behind which was abject cowardice—urged in some letters that the Saints move westward and also wrote expressing his belief that the Government would prevent the removal of the Saints westward of the Rocky Mountains, as they would be sure to "join the British" and be more trouble to the United States than ever. While still in Nauvoo, George Q. Cannon was given the higher priesthood. His description of his feelings provides an engaging insight into his sensitiveness, timidity, even at eighteen. He speaks in the third person. "While yet a youth he was ordained one of the seventy elders. The quorum of which he become a member was organized the day he was ordained, and he was chosen to be its clerk. At the meetings of the quorum it was the custom of those of the presidents who were present to make a few remarks, and then the members were called upon to speak. "On such occasions he would get so nervous that he would have to stop writing some time before it came his turn to speak; and then when he did get up, he scarcely knew what he said. His fright was so great. "There was one resolve that he made in the beginning, which he always kept . . , that whenever called upon, he would, with the help of the Lord, always ask a blessing, or pray, or speak, and not try to excuse himself."[2] This is the shy young man then who on the 16th of February, 1846, crossed the Mississippi on the ice with the family of his uncle, Elder John Taylor, and helped make camp on the Iowa side. He describes the conditions of the Saints: "They were imperfectly clothed, the wagons were only partly covered, and many had no tents, food also in some instances was scarce. The cold had been so severe while they were encamped at Sugar Creek that the Mississippi was frozen over. They were also exposed to fierce winds and to snow; and afterwards, when the winter broke, they were often drenched to the skin with rain, which soaked the ground so thoroughly that it made traveling very laborious . . . and frequently tents had to be pitched in the mud as there was no dry spot to be found."[3] Slowly and painfully the trek across Iowa continued, some stopping to fence land and plant crops to be harvested by others who came after. It was the movement of a people with one purpose, which was common and very dear to all. On July 1st Captain J. Allen visited President Brigham Young at Council Bluffs, where he had recently come, and asked for five hundred young men to join General Kearney's command and march to Santa Fe and California as soldiers in the war against Mexico. George Q. Cannon was one of those chosen, but was kept back, doubtless because Elder John Taylor was suddenly called on a mission to England. It was on this occasion that the young man first made the acquaintance of Col. Thomas L. Kane, who became a most useful and sincere friend to the Latter-day Saints and a dear one to George Q. Cannon. For a greater part of a year while Elder Taylor's mission lasted, his family remained at Winter Quarters on the Missouri River. Food was scarce, shelter was poor, scurvy prevalent, but all made a great effort to prepare for the journey to the Rocky Mountains scheduled for the following year. Elder Taylor returned barely in time to meet the original company of pioneers and give them precious instruments he had brought from Europe. Later in the season together with Parley P. Pratt he gathered the first large group for the crossing of the plains. It was midsummer, June 21 and 22, when they started with 1553 souls, men, women and children, on the thousand mile trek. They had some six hundred covered wagons with over 2200 oxen to draw them. Milk cows, sheep, some horses, chickens and pigs were taken along. Unlike the original pioneer company with its strong young men and fine equipment, this was typical of the migration that was to settle the valleys of the Rocky Mountains during the next twenty-two years until the railroad was built. They met great herds of buffalo and had most of their meat from this source. They rested on the Sabbath day and had religious services. They began and ended each day with public prayer. Part of the way, at least, George Q. Cannon drove a young steer and a heifer. These he named Jack and Jill. They were not tractable. Once they ran away and tipped the wagon over. It threw them down also, and as the young driver looked at the steer, the guilty member of the team, he indulged in the only swearing (outside of his talk with Ton! Rolfe) that he could remember ever using. Losing his temper completely at sight of the disaster, he burst out with, "Blast your eyes, Jack." In this same group of pioneers was Mary Jane Dilworth, one of those seven sisters whose blood now runs in the veins of so many prominent Utah people. Mary Jane taught the first school in the valley, and later with her husband, Elder Francis J. Hammond, went on a mission to the Sandwich Islands. It was probably Mary Jane who said, "I always knew George Q. Cannon would become a great man. I never saw him waste a minute. As soon as his oxen were unyoked and the necessary work done, he could always be found sitting on the tongue of his wagon reading a book." You can be sure it was nonfiction. On the seventh of September the company met Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and some of the pioneers returning to Winter Quarters. Here at the upper crossing of the Sweetwater, east of South Pass, Elder Taylor had a joyful visit with his fellow apostles. In spite of the difficulties, the women of the company brought out their linen and china and prepared a feast. This was followed by songs, recitations, and dancing. President Young and his companions had been eleven days out from the Valley. It took the slow-moving west bound group nearly a month to make the same distance. They had their first view of the Great Salt Lake on October 5th, three and a half months after their start from the Missouri River. As the thoughtful youth, George Q. Cannon, looked down on the little group of wagons and the beginning of the ten weeks old settlement, he must have dwelt on the strange experience of the past five years, since his father and mother with their family of young children set out from Liverpool for the new world. In half a decade he had seen vastly more of this new world than any but a very few of those who had lived and died in it. But to him it was more than a world of opportunity. It was Zion. Here in the valley before his eyes would be reared the temple of the Lord in the top of the mountains and all nations would flow unto it. Here he would make his home and establish his family and give his strength to the building of a new society, a society that was destined to change and prepare the world for great events. In the heart of the Great American desert and a member of a persecuted but vital church—he may have wondered what influence this strange environment would have on him. And the fleeting thought may have crossed his mind also as to what influence as the years rolled by he might have on the desert and the Church. [1] History of the Church Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 6, page 158. [2] My First Mission, Chap. 1, p. 9. [3] History of the Church, Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 7, page 107. |
GEORGE Q. CANNON
COVERED WAGON (PANEL on seagull monument)
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Roots Strike Deep in the Desert Soil.” Instructor. June 1944. pg. 264-268.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON Roots Strike Deep in the Desert Soil Life in the valley of the Great Salt Lake during the first year, the fall of 1847 to the fall of 1848, was reduced to its simplest forms. It was a time of great industry, some pleasures, much hardship and hunger, fervent spirituality, and high morale. The primitive conditions are described by George Q. Cannon in his interesting picture of the beginning of the commonwealth. "The pioneers, after their arrival laid the foundation of a fort and erected a number of houses . . . Some of these were constructed of adobe, others of logs. The adobe were made longer than is the fashion now — they were eighteen inches long and proportionately wide and thick. This fort was called the 'Old Fort', and it stood on what is now known as the 6th Ward square [Pioneer Square] in this city. When the companies which followed the pioneers came into the valley, additions were made to the south and north of the fort, which were called the South and North Forts. They were connected with the Old Fort by gates, and each of them had gates through which the people went to and from their fields and work outside. The houses were built close together, with the highest wall on the outside, which formed the wall of the Fort; the roofs sloped towards the inside, and all the doors and windows were on the inside, so as to make the houses more secure against attack in case any were made. Not having had any experience in this climate, and supposing from the appearance of the ground in the summer and fall and from all that could be learned concerning it that it was very dry, the roofs of the houses were made rather flat. The result was that nearly every house leaked during the first winter, and umbrellas, where such a luxury as an umbrella was owned, were frequently in demand to shelter those engaged in cooking, and even in bed persons would be seen sitting or lying under an umbrella. The houses were chiefly covered with poles and soil, or boards and soil. Where the poles or boards were strong enough, the depth of the soil was increased to prevent leaking; but as there were comparatively few in this condition, most of the houses were ornamented with pillars to support the roofs. The clay which was found in the bottoms near the fort made excellent plaster for the inside of the houses, and when mixed with water made a pretty good whitewash that was only inferior to lime. But it would not stand exposure to rain, as some of the people learned who covered their houses with it . . . "The first winter the Saints spent in the valley was a remarkably mild one. There were two are three cold spells of weather but they did not last long. This was most fortunate for the people, for neither their food nor their clothing was of such a character as to enable them to endure very cold weather. Many were without shoes, and the best and only covering they could get for their feet was moccasins. Their clothing, too, was pretty well exhausted, and the goat, deer and elk skins which they could procure were most acceptable for clothing, though far from being pleasant to wear in the rain or snow. The writer recollects how proud he was when he succeeded in obtaining an elk skin, out of which, after smoking it, he had a pair of pantaloons made. He has had the good fortune to wear some of the best fabrics of this and other countries since then; but he never had owned an article of dress which gave him so much satisfaction and for which he was more thankful than those elk-skin trousers."[1] Food was a matter of great concern. The people were never far from starvation. Years after, George Q. Cannon described the situation. "There was nothing that could contribute to sustain life that was wilfully suffered to go to waste. If an ox mired, and he were too poor to get out or to live if pulled out, his throat was cut and his carcass was used as food. The big grey wolves came down from the mountains in March, 1848, and chased the cattle which were feeding on the east bench in sight of the fort. They succeeded in killing several head. Even those parts of this meat which the wolves had not torn was used for food. Some few persons even tried the flesh of crows to see what nutriment they could extract from it."[2] They had some modern ideas of nutrition forced on them by the dire necessities of the near-famine. He states: "One of the chief causes of thistle tops being so welcome in the spring of 1848 was, they filled up and distended the stomach. Bulk is as necessary as nutriment to food, as the people who lived here in those days learned. To have the stomach full was an agreeable sensation, even if the contents were only thistle tops. People thrived better on a much. smaller quantity of flour with plenty of greens, than they did on flour alone, even though the extra flour they ate without the greens might have contained more nutriment than the greens . . . Butter and tallow were . . . very scarce articles, and the people craved them. Some felt the need of grease of some kind so much that it seemed as if their entrails would crack for want of it."[3] But in spite of the difficulties of this pioneering, the people kept up their spirits by that quality of social relationships which has since made them known in recreation circles everywhere. They invited their friends to their homes, often with the understanding that they would bring their own refreshments. Here they would have music and recitations, dancing and comic speeches. It was customary to end on a spiritual note with serious talks and prayer. Naturally the religious meetings of the Saints were kept going in this little outpost in the valley. "The public meetings through the winter were held generally near the liberty pole in the centre of the Old Fort. The mildness of the weather Enabled the people to meet in the open air without much discomfort. . . Meetings were also held on Sunday and other evenings in various houses in the Forts, and efforts were made to keep up quorum organizations and meetings with excellent results. Notwithstanding the scarcity of food and clothing and the exposure and severe labors of the people there was little sickness and few deaths. And a feeling of thankfulness to the Lord was almost universal among the people, for bringing them out of the midst of their enemies, from mobocracy and violence, to this peaceful and healthy land, where they could dwell together as a band of brethren and sisters."[4] The arrangement of the work in preparing the land was a pattern of the people's economic situation as well. Together they surveyed and fenced a great area, but within this enclosure they worked their own farms. Those who are familiar with Salt Lake Valley will recognize the landmarks used in the description George Q. Cannon gives: "On the north the line of fence commenced at a steep point in the bluffs just south of the Warm Springs . . . and ran directly from there to the northwest corner of the Fort and bore east to some distance beyond Mill Creek, and then east to the bluffs at the foot of the mountains. The whole length of the line fenced, besides the Fort, was . . . nearly twelve miles. The land designed for agriculture extended from the north fork of City Creek —which at that time ran through the Temple Block . . . —to one mile south of Mill Creek; on the east it was bounded by the bench and on the west by the east line of the Fort. In this space there were 5,133 acres taken for tilling. At the beginning of March [1848] 872 acres were sown with winter wheat, much of which was up and looking thrifty at that time. The balance of the land . . . was designed for spring and summer crops. The plows were kept busily running every month through the winter . . .In March, 1848, the population of the city was reported at 1,671 and the number of houses 423."[5] The spring and early summer were full of toil but filled with bright prospects. Then fell the disaster that with its conclusion is one of the most beautiful episodes of western history. Let us continue with the description of the eyewitness, George Q. Cannon. The crops did remarkably well considering the land was newly broken, until about the latter part of June, when the black crickets fell upon them. They committed dreadful havoc in the wheat and corn vines, and for a while it seemed as if they would not leave anything of the crops. Men, women and children turned out to fight them; but with all the help and energy they could muster, it seemed as if all their labors would be in vain. Yet the people persevered and were generally very cheerful. We look back at those days and admire the faith and serenity and confidence which God gave them. Think of their condition! The food they brought with them almost exhausted, their grain and other seeds all planted, they themselves twelve hundred miles from a settlement or place where they could get food on the east, and eight hundred miles from California, and the crickets eating up every green thing and every day destroying their sole means of subsistence for the months and winter ahead! Who but the people of God would not have quailed and murmured, and probably fled at such a prospect? Yet if they had fear or doubts, or repining it was but little known. The people were hopeful, and relied upon God to aid and deliver them; and they were not disappointed. At the time when prospects began to appear most gloomy, and all human power seemed useless, the sea gulls came in flocks, visited the fields, pounced upon the crickets and devoured them . . . On Sunday the fields were deserted by the people who devoted the day to worship. This was a feast day for the gulls—they devoured without let or hindrance. On Monday morning, on visiting the fields, the people found on the edges of the water ditches, pile after pile of dead crickets which had been eaten by the gulls, and then vomited when they were full. "This is a story of a most wonderful deliverance, briefly told and without embellishment. It is another instance of the simple means which God frequently uses to bring 268 to pass His great purposes. In the visit of these gulls the Saints saw the hand of God; to them it was as apparent as the feeding of Elijah by ravens.”[6] The saving of the crops was not only a saving of the people in the Valley, but of the immigrants that were then on the Plains on their way to join the 1847 pioneers. During the following hard winter famine would have decimated them. In proper and characteristic mood the people celebrated the harvest. Unlike the Pilgrim Fathers they did not wait until November, but found an earlier date. Let us again quote from the writing of George Q. Cannon. "On the 10th of August the people of the valley met in the bowery in the Fort to celebrate their harvest. It was a joyful time. A most excellent dinner, comprised of a great variety of food, and all produced in the valley, was prepared and eaten. There was prayer and thanksgiving, the firing of a cannon, music and dancing and loud shouts of Hosannah to God and the Lamb, in which all present joined in unison ... As is the custom among Saints at present, dances were opened and closed with prayer, and the people danced with a zest and vigor that plainly showed they were happy and thankful in the new circumstances in which they were placed."[7] [1] "History of the Church" Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 8, page 195. [2] "History of the Church" Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 8, page 203. [3] History of the Church," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 8, page 203. [4] “History of the Church," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 9, page 9. [5] "History of the Church," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 9, page ,9. [6] "History of the Church," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 9, page 22. [7] '"History of the Church," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 9, page 22. |
GEORGE Q. CANNON
SALT LAKE CITY IN 1853
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, The Desert.” Instructor. July 1944. pg. 315-319.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON The Desert While the subject of this series could have lived a profitable and interesting life if he had never left the city of his birth, yet he was fortunate that such a multitude of strange and stirring events befell him from early youth. At twenty he had crossed the ocean, seen Nauvoo at its height, witnessed its fall. crossed the plains and become a pioneer. He had been in the valley of the Great Salt Lake the first two years of its settlement, and had met the desperate conditions of the critical time. Then a new experience was thrust upon him. The call came to turn his face to the western desert. He was deeply disappointed at not being able to remain to help build up Zion, a forlorn Zion indeed, but glorious to him. Let us quote his own statements regarding this new situation. "It was in the summer of 1849 that gold-seekers commenced to pass through Great Salt Lake Valley on their way to the gold-fields of California. The richest of these 'diggings' had been discovered by Latter- day Saints, who had gone to California in the 'Mormon Battalion,' The fame of these rich discoveries . . . spread over the world . . . Those who crossed with wagons acted in the most strange and reckless manner. They hoped, when they reached California, to obtain all the gold they wanted, and they were in such eager haste to get. there that they cared nothing for the property which they had . . . "Many of them concluded to leave their wagons, and put their goods on animals and pack through . . . and to lighten their loads . . . they were glad to let their clothing and other things go at almost any price By these means the Saints obtained an abundance of articles of which they were very destitute. "It seemed like a miracle . . . Yet all this had been predicted by President Heber C. Kimball. While he was speaking to the people in the old Bowery the winter previous, he said that wagons, clothing and many other articles, which then were so scarce that none could be bought, would be so plentiful here that they could be obtained for little or almost nothing. When he said this, it seemed impossible that his words could be fulfilled. Brother Heber himself, I have heard him say, was scared at what he had said, it seemed so impossible . . ."[1] Many of the members of the Church, learning of the sauve climate of California and excited by the nuggets and gold dust brought back by the Battalion, became restless and eager to go on to the coast. Under these circumstances it is strange to read the words of the young man, George Q. Cannon, when he was called to go. It is hardly to be believed that he lacked in the spirit of adventure. "There was no place that I would not rather have gone to at that time than California. I heartily despised the work of digging gold."[2] Doubtless this youth had other ideas of what he hoped to do with his life. Moreover he had received a deep impression from the exhortations of President Young and his associates that Zion was in the mountains and should be built there and that the metals were to be left where nature put them. The people were promised great blessings if they would cultivate the earth and produce food, and they were warned that apostacy lay in the other direction. The young man certainly would not have gone to California, except to obey the call of the Church, which needed the gold. He was not to dig it for himself. Early in October, 1849, the little company started by the southern route. There were twenty in the group traveling horseback with pack animals. George Q. Cannon rode a young buckskin mare and packed his provisions and bedding on a grey horse which because of its disfigured ears was called "Croppy." At Provo about an equal number of gold seekers joined them. These were packers also and had as leader a Captain Smith. All were glad of the company as numbers meant greater safety. At Beaver Creek, eleven days after starting, they found a stake left by Elder Charles C. Rich who was with the company which had engaged Captain Jefferson Hunt, former member of the Battalion, as guide. The stake was marked 208 miles from Salt Lake City, and directed them to follow down the creek. Obeying they soon caught up with the larger company. Here an interesting, and, as it proved, a tragic situation developed. Captain Smith converted those that were with him to follow him over a shorter route, instead of continuing to the Spanish trail. He had a map made by a certain E. Barney Ward, which led directly west to a point in California several hundred miles nearer the mines. It sounded plausible. Elder Rich, one of the Twelve Apostles called by the Church to California, agreed to change his plans, and left his wagon, packing with a horse and a mule. His decision was made in order to be with those who were members of the Church. He received the impression that if he did not go, some if not all of them would perish. On the first of November the company with their pack animals left the Spanish trail, parting from the Hunt company, which went on in wagons, and traveled almost due westward. This seems to have been at about where Paragoonah now stands. That night after plodding along in a heavy rain for some fifteen miles, they came to some caves, which they named "Rocks of Refuge." Here they kindled large fires and dried their clothing. The next day they crossed the Continental divide and had some hard going. "Croppy" the packhorse could not keep up with the company and his owner was left behind. However, Joseph Cain and Henry. W. Bigler, stayed with him and late at night, smelling the burning sage of the camp, made their way to it. It was rough country into which the little company had ventured. They strained their eyes for some valley which would make traveling possible, but range after range of mountains stood in the way and had to be crossed. Rain at times soaked them to the skin during the day and made their nights, unsheltered as they were, terrible. The horse "Croppy" became more and more a problem. He fell on the mountainside, wandered from the trail toward water when they traveled near a creek, tried to commit suicide several times, and finally succeeded in drowning himself. The brethren generously divided their young companion's pack and carried it on their animals. The rains were succeeded by real desert climate. Of the ninth of November, George Q. Cannon writes : "In starting again we struck over some high hills to the westward and traveled in this direction nearly all day. We estimated our day's journey at 32 miles. "We camped in a dry bed of a creek, but could find no water. There was much suffering in camp this night; many of Captain Smith's company offered to give anything they had for a drink. Gloomy and despondent feelings prevailed with a great number, as the prospect of finding water without going a great distance was not very promising. "To the northward of where we camped were some mountains, and, as the dry bed of the creek came from that direction, it was hoped that by following it up we might find water there. In the morning, therefore, we started. The weather was very warm for the season, and, after the sun arose, its rays felt oppressive to both men and animals. Before we reached the mouth of the kanyon one of the brethren became almost crazy with thirst, and I had serious fears for him . . . He had recourse to the dreadful expedient of drinking his urine, in the vain hope that he could, by that means alleviate his thirst . . . There were several of Smith's men also whose reason was nearly upset by their excessive thirst.”[3] Almost fainting from weakness the strongest at length reached a canyon where there was a stream. They drank and then shouted at the top of their voices to the straggling line of choking men that stretched off in the distance, "water, water." Saved, the company named the place Providence Kanyon. The following day, after traveling up and down hill all day over a "most fatiguing road" they found themselves at nightfall only three miles from the spot they left that morning. Gloom prevailed, "for, after our recent experience, it seemed that, unless there was a change in our mode of travel we must inevitably perish in the midst of this wilderness. Since we left the regular [Spanish] trail we had been wandering about in these kanyons, mountains and deserts for eleven days. But our progress in the direction of California had been very slow . . . Our provisions were disappearing, our clothes wearing out, and our animals would soon be too thin to afford much sustenance, if we had to kill them."[4] Another day and a half they were without water. After studying the situation. Brother Charles C. Rich concluded that the sensible policy would be to strike for the Spanish trail to the south. At a watering spot, which they appropriately named "Division Spring," the Latter- day Saints parted from their companions. Captain Smith "swore by the gods he would go straight ahead, if he died in the attempt." It is interesting to note that he turned back after killing a horse and drinking its blood. Eleven of his friends, however, went on and they were followed by the company that had been led by Jefferson Hunt. Against the counsel of that wise guide, they abandoned the Spanish Trail and took this new untried northern route, and George Q. Cannon, who so narrowly escaped, tells of their fate: "They wandered, (after reaching a valley in the desert) and the children, crying for water perished at their mothers' breasts. The mothers soon followed, and the men with swollen tongues, tottered and raved and died ... I have heard it stated that eighty-seven persons with numbers of animals, perished in this fearful place, and since then it has been called Death Valley."[5] From Division Spring General Rich led his group south to the Muddy, now called Moapa, where they joined Jefferson Hunt and proceeded westward to Las Vegas and on to the Mojave River. There they met a company of gold seekers, who had lived five or six weeks on beef alone. The generous Mormons gave all their flour to the women and children and went on. Before this George Q. Cannon had lost his mare, and had followed the company afoot. His boots were gone, his moccasins were gone. He was bare-footed. And then he fell sick. Snow came and he lay under a blanket shanty in very desperate straits. Food was now exhausted, but they killed an owl and made a broth for him . . . He called it: "The nicest dish of soup I had ever tasted . . . Sharp hunger makes food taste wonderfully sweet; a piece of donkey or of a dog eats very well when one is very hungry. I know this for I have tried them both."[6] It was thought wise to divide the company and let the stronger animals go ahead to bring help back if necessary. Naturally, George Q. Cannon, now horseless, was in the group that trailed behind. But they met friends with provisions and soon reached Williams ranch, where they worked for a month. But here serious sickness overtook George Q. Cannon. The hardships of the journey had lessened his resistance, and he came very close to death. He was saved by the administration of the elders, and as soon as he was able proceeded up state to the gold fields to fulfill his strange mission. [1] “Twenty Years Ago," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 4, p. 7. [2] "Twenty Years Ago," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 4, p. 13. [3] "Twenty Years Ago," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 4, p. 52-53. [4] "Twenty Years Ago," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 4, p. 60. [5] "Twenty Years Ago," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 4, p. 79. [6] "Twenty Years Ago," Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 4, p. 92. |
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Two Missions During One Absence.” Instructor. August 1944. pg. 367-371.
George Q. Cannon Two Missions During One Absence California in 1849 aroused the imagination as few spots on earth have ever done. The Japan current, banishing winter and establishing perpetual spring, the great trees, the gentle Indians, and most of all the rivers which washed down from some fabulous mother lode a wealth of gold dust and nuggets, turned the heads of men wherever the story was told. The little group of Mormons, recently escaped from the desert and making their way up the California coast, were perhaps the least excited of any of the newcomers. Their purpose, too, was gold, and as their friends of the Mormon Battalion had been the discoverers of it at Sutter's mill the year before, they had many advantages over those who hurried in with little knowledge of conditions. Northward they went, past San Francisco, named by their friend and fellow churchman, Samuel Brannan, past the Golden Gate, on to Sutter's Fort (Sacramento) and to the rough life of panning gold on the American river. For nearly a year these Mormon miners formed part of that strange society. They even gave an added touch of strangeness to it. When Samuel Brannan went down the street of San Francisco, a year before, shouting "Gold, gold, gold, from the American River," and holding up a bottle of nuggets and dust, he started a rush from all parts of the world. The white population then numbered between twelve and fifteen thousand.[1] But during 1849, it is estimated 80,000 people arrived, coming overland, across Panama, or around Cape Horn, with some, too, from the islands of the Pacific and the Orient. In this motley crowd, where physical strength was about the only social difference, there was one dominating purpose—to get rich. In the placer mining they frequently worked in water waist deep under the hot California sun, for six hard days, and on the seventh went to the nearest town, drank, gambled and danced. As only two percent of the population in the mining region were female, they would name, for example, all the men with patches on the seat of their trousers to take the part of ladies. Fighting at the end of the day was usual. Then back to their work for another week they would go, rough, profane, godless, but generally good natured and generous. It was perhaps here that George Q. Cannon had his first taste of whiskey. He had been a scrupulous observer of the Word of Wisdom. He relates, however, that once when he refused to drink with a crowd, they overpowered him and held him on the ground while they poured whiskey down his throat—an action incidentally that involves a most interesting psychology. That was also his last taste. The little Mormon group, living their strict code, was a strange element in this strange aggregation of people. And more peculiar still was the fact that when they panned the black dust or the flakes that looked like bran or found the nuggets on their riffle boards, there was no wild exultation or hurry to go on a spending spree. They were digging the gold to send back to their brethren in Zion in the mountains. It was great news to George Q. Cannon when he was called with nine others to the Hawaiian Islands by Apostle Charles C. Rich, to preach the gospel. If he had been reluctant to leave the valley for the mines of California, it was no unwillingness to venture forth, provided the cause appealed. Now facing a long journey on the Pacific and a strange people, he was filled with joy. In November, 1850, just a year after he had left Salt Lake Valley, Elder Cannon and his fellow missionaries were carried out by the tide and an uncertain wind through the Golden Gate on the Imatim of Muscat to the Pacific. Bound for the East Indies, the vessel was to stop at the Sandwich Islands, and carried its ten Mormon Elders in its unlighted quarters between decks. With night came a storm, and seasickness overcame the wretched passengers. When he saw all trying to make use of their one lone bucket, though himself a sufferer, young Elder Cannon was overcome by the sense of the ridiculous and laughed. For this he was promptly rebuked by one of his companions who doubtless failed to see that there was anything to laugh at. The storm became serious and at one time nearly drove the craft on the breakers. A great wave later broke the ropes from the wheel to the rudder. The terrible night passed, and the little vessel went on its way. Nearly four weeks later they arrived at Honolulu. When they dropped anchor in the beautiful harbor, the natives came to it in their dugout canoes, and swarmed over the ship to sell their tropical fruits and bargain for carrying passengers and crew ashore. Chattering in their strange tongue, they made a vivid impression on the missionaries. In 1850 Honolulu was a primitive place although it was the capital of the kingdom of Kamehameha III and contained the royal palace. The Hawaiian Islands were discovered in 1778 by Captain Cook, who lost his life there. By 1850 a considerable number of white people had come to them. Among these were missionaries of Catholic and Protestant churches. The Bible had been translated, the Ten Commandments adopted as the basis of the kingdom's laws, and the royal family and many of the natives were at least nominally Christian. The first day ashore the ten elders climbed a nearby hill each carrying a stone. They formed an altar. Gathered about this they sang a hymn and each spoke. Then the president, Hiram Clark, offered a prayer dedicating them all and the land to the Lord. Elder Cannon has recorded that the president asked the Lord to make "speedy work on those islands, open an effectual door for the preaching of the Gospel, confound all opposers, help us to gather out the honest in heart, and spare our lives to return home in safety." He continues his account of the meeting: "One of the elders spoke in tongues and uttered many comforting promises and another interpreted. The spirit of the Lord rested powerfully upon us, and we were filled with exceeding great joy. I had the satisfaction afterwards of witnessing the fulfillment of the promise made on that occasion.”[2] The decision was made to separate and go in pairs to the various islands. Lots were cast, and George Q. Cannon and his companion, James Keeler, were sent to Maui. Henry W. Bigler, who made the first record of the discovery of gold at Sutter's mill in 1848, accompanied them. It soon became apparent that the white people of the Hawaiian Islands were not receptive to the Gospel message. This raised a question of what the elders should do. Some felt they were at liberty to return home or go elsewhere. But Elder Cannon considered that he had an obligation to the native people and began diligently to learn the language. He found children his best aids. He prayed most earnestly for the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues—-to speak and understand the native language. He had been at Lahaina on the island of Maui approximately three weeks when the miracle happened. Elder Cannon wrote: "One evening, while sitting on the mats conversing with some neighbors who had dropped in, I had an uncommonly great desire to understand what they said. All at once I felt a peculiar sensation in my ears; I jumped to my feet with my hands at the sides of my head, and exclaimed to Elder Bigler and Keeler who sat at the table that I believed I had received the gift of interpretation! And it was so.[3] The gift of speaking came more slowly, though the young elder was greatly aided by his ability to understand It, too, was given to him miraculously a little later. About this time their money was running low, and they decided to separate and go singly to different parts of the island. However, a friend was raised up to them. Nalimanui, a kind native woman, took them into her home and moved to that of her daughter. Humble as was her thatched hut with its mat covered floor of earth, its use aroused the deepest gratitude in the hearts of the three Americans. Soon after this a crisis arose in the effort to carry the gospel to the Sandwich Islands. A number of the elders decided to leave for the mainland. The president, too, was discouraged and picked out the Marquesas Islands across the equator to the south for a new field of labor. He visited Maui and endeavored to induce Elder Cannon and his companion to accompany him. They were in a most serious dilemma. What should they do—obey the call of Apostle Rich, to labor on the Sandwich Islands, or yield to the desires of their mission president, who was in immediate charge? This was a problem that only the Lord could decide, and for His direction they successfully sought. Their decision was to stay among the people to whom they had been called. Concerning this period the young elder has written: "I had never been so happy in my life before as I was then. When I prayed, I could go to God in faith; He listened to my prayers; He gave me great comfort and joy; He revealed Himself to me as He had never done before and told me if I would persevere, I should be blessed, be the means of bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, and be spared to return home after having done a good work.[4] It appears that the Savior, whom he served, told him more than this. It was a message that made him impatient to leave Lahaina and go searching elsewhere for souls. He writes: "About a week after the president's visit I started off, intending if I did not get an opening to go around the island. But the Lord had revealed to me that I would find a people prepared to receive the truth; and I started as a man who was going to meet his friends. Though I had never seen them in the flesh, I knew that when I met them they would not be strangers unto me . . . The great desire of my heart from my early boyhood had been to have the Priesthood and the privilege of preaching the Gospel. The desire was now about to be granted, and though I was timid and very bashful, I felt that God would carry me safely through. "The brethren accompanied me about four miles on my way. We were far from all our friends, and were strangers in a strange land; our parting, therefore, as might be expected, was painful.[5] Food was a serious matter. The native dish was poi. Elder Cannon writes: "I had tasted a teaspoonful of 'poi' but the smell of it and the calabash in which it was contained was so much like that of book-binder's old, sour paste-pot that when I put it in my mouth I gagged at it and would have vomited had I swallowed it. But in traveling among the people I soon learned that if I did not eat 'poi' I would put them to great inconvenience — This would make me burdensome to them and might interfere with my success. I, therefore, determined to learn to live on their food, and, that I might do so, I asked the Lord to make it sweet to me. My prayer was heard and answered. The next time I tasted it I ate a bowlful and I positively liked it. It was my food, whenever I could get it ... it was sweeter to me than any food I had ever eaten.[6] On this journey the natives were very kind. The elder was so young looking they called him keiki, meaning a child. They carried him across streams and his valise along the trail. After passing through a place called "Wailuku, he was impressed to return. As he approached a house on the way, two women came out and seeing him exclaimed two or three times, "E ka haole," which means "Oh, the white man." Three men immediately came out, and one of them invited him to come and stay over Sunday with them. The man was Judge Jonatana H. Napela. [1] The Forty-Niners, p. 53—Stewart White. [2] My First Mission—Chapter III. [3] My First Mission—Chapter IV. [4] My First Mission—Chapter V. [5] My First Mission—Chapter VI. [6] My First Mission—Chapter VI. |
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, The Gospel Touches the Hawaiian Hearts.” Instructor. September 1944. pg. 418-422.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON The Gospel Touches the Hawaiian Hearts During the 42 years after the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands by Captain James Cook (1778), a few white adventurers had gone there. In 1820 Christian missionaries landed, worked out an alphabet and gave the people a written language. Five years after their advent, the Ten Commandments, as was stated in the last chapter, were adopted as the basis of the laws of the kingdom. When Captain Cook added the discovery of this group to the great list that had followed his many voyages, naming the islands after the Earl of Sandwich, then lord of the British Admiralty, he estimated they had a population of 400,000. Civilization has been a destructive influence. In 1850 when the Elders opened the mission it had shrunk to about 100,000. At present it is back to its original figure. The 1940 census gave the islands 423,330 but the native Hawaiians numbered only 14,246. However there are 52,445 persons with native blood, mixed with Caucasian and Asiatic strains. The largest segment of the population is the Japanese, 124,351. A hundred years ago, the matings with strangers, who usually came to the islands without families, had begun. Many of these were only temporary, but others were genuine marriages and some of the prominent people came of such unions. The wife of Judge Jonatana H. Napela and her sister, who called out on the approach of George Q. Cannon at Wailuku, as told in the last chapter, were both half white. Judge Napela invited the stranger in and introduced him to two of his friends, educated and intelligent natives. The moment Elder Cannon saw these three, he knew he had met the men whom the Lord had shown him. Napela urged him to stay over Sunday; and on learning why he had come to the islands, invited him to call on Mr. Conde, the Presbyterian missionary. After the services in his church the following day, however, the pastor called Napela and some of the leading men together and tried to poison their minds with his lies about the people of Utah and Joseph Smith. Their questions that evening made this plain to the young Elder. He refuted the falsehoods with the limited and simple words he possessed, and they wept at the earnestness of his testimony. On another Sunday Elder Cannon accompanied them to Conde's church and had an interesting and important conference. He writes that the pastor "delivered a most abusive discourse against the Prophet Joseph and our principles, in which he gave an entirely false statement of the cause of his death, and also warned the people against me. . . "When the services were over, I walked around to the pulpit where he stood. He knew how short a time we had been on the islands, and, I believed, had no idea I could understand what he had said; when he saw me, therefore, his face turned pale, and to me he looked like a man who had been caught in a mean, low act. “I told him I wanted to give him correct information regarding the things he had told the people that morning, that he might remove the effects of the lies which he had repeated to them; for, I said, they were base lies, and I was a living witness that they were. "He said he did not believe they were lies and he should not tell the people anything different. . . "I bore him a solemn testimony respecting the Prophet Joseph, and the truth of the work, and said I would stand as a witness against him at the judgment seat of God, for having told the people lies and for refusing to tell them the truth when it had been shown to him. "Much more was said, for our conversation lasted about half an hour, and while we conversed many of the congregation, some of whom understood English, crowded around. ". . . One of those who listened to and understood this conversation was a brother-in-law of Napela's, a half white and a circuit judge, and a leading man on that island. He gave a report of the conversation which was very favorable to me, and altogether I think the missionary's sermon did good . . . "Another reason of the sermon not having so good an effect was the preacher's allusions to Napela. He had called him by name, as the man at whose house I stopped, and denounced him. This of course was distasteful to Napela's relatives and friends, many of whom were present." "Napela was not frightened by what the missionary had said. He was threatened with removal from his judgship and with being cut off from their church; but he manifested no disposition to have me leave his house.[1] Nevertheless Elder Cannon thought he should go elsewhere to lighten the persecution against his friend. Carrying a letter to Napela's agent, a native named Pake, he went to Kula and began his labors there. Again he came into direct conflict with a minister. It happened that another Presbyterian named Green came to Kula on his quarterly visit the following Sunday, and Elder Cannon was present at his services. The whole sermon consisted of warning the natives against Mormonism. Elder Cannon writes: "After he had finished, I arose and told the people it was best to examine the gospel well, and see what its nature and requirements were, and also to learn whether it was in his possession or not. I then commenced to show them what the gospel was. "Up to this time Mr. Green had sat amazed, as it appeared, at my audacity. Such a thing as a person arising in a meeting and questioning what he had said, or attempting to teach anything different, was new in his experience, and he seemed so astonished that he could not speak. But when he saw that I had the attention of the people and they were listening to what I said, he roused himself, opened a catechism, which he called Ai o ka la, or "Food of the Day" and commenced asking people questions. He was determined to interrupt me, and to divert the minds of the people from what I said. Some of his deacons helped him; they answered his questions in a loud voice, and confusion began to prevail. "I saw that no further good could be done then, so I told the congregation that I intended to hold meetings, and would have opportunities of more fully explaining to them the principles of the gospel, and I stopped. "He warned the people not to entertain me, nor to salute me; if they did, they would be partakers of my evil deeds. . . "My speaking before Mr. Green had a good effect; the people saw that I preached the doctrines of the Bible, and that I was not afraid to meet the preacher."[2] The natives at Kula were very poor and the young Elder not desiring to be a burden to them lived on potatoes, which grew there and were of very inferior quality, and whortleberries. After he sickened of the berries he substituted molasses. He writes: "I well recollect how I enjoyed a meal of 'poi' on one occasion during this time. The Kalo out of which it was made had been cooked and pounded at some distance from there . . . and packed in the leaves of a shrub called Ki. . . It had been warm when packed, which . . . had made it sour and maggoty. But the people had cooked it over and made it Into poi. . . My potato and molasses diet had removed all my fastidiousness about what I ate. "But what I lacked in food the Lord made up to me in the goodly degree of His Spirit which He bestowed upon me. "What I had to eat was a matter of indifference to me. I was happy, and I rejoiced as I never had before. Dreams, visions and revelations were given to me, and the communion of the Spirit was most sweet and delicious.”[3] Meetings were held, the people listened with interest and two weeks after the episode with Mr. Green, "five were baptized and confirmed, and the Spirit was powerfully poured out upon all present; many were stirred up to repentance, their hearts were touched and the tears coursed down their cheeks.[4] The following Sunday six were baptized and confirmed, and eight more soon joined the Church. Leaving the nineteen members, Elder Cannon went to Keanae with Elder Keeler who had not yet learned the language but had aroused interest in that place by reading passages from the Bible to the people. He and a native hurried to Kula to invite Elder Cannon to come. The way to Keanae was a narrow trail through the forest, and the romance of the tropics deeply touched the heart of the sensitive young man. He had read about but never seen such a profusion or beauty of vegetation. The news of the new religion, the restoration of the gospel, and baptism by immersion had been carried by the natives from Kula to other parts of the islands and great curiosity had been aroused. Elder Cannon writes: "Our arrival at Keanae created excitement. The people had been watching for us, and seeing us approach from a long distance, had gathered to meet us. Had we been princes they could not have treated us with greater consideration and honor. We obtained the Calvinistic meeting-house the afternoon of our arrival, and there was a large attendance to hear the preaching. "This was on Wednesday, and from that time until Monday we were constantly speaking, baptizing, confirming and counseling the, people. During that time there were upwards of one hundred and thirty baptized. The Spirit of the Lord was powerfully poured out; I never enjoyed myself so well before in my life."[5] This was the occasion of which Elder Cannon wrote of himself: "About six weeks after he commenced his ministry alone two messengers arrived from a distant town to invite him to come there and preach. They had heard about the doctrines he taught, and the people he had baptized and they wanted to learn more about the principles. He returned with the messengers. A large meeting house was obtained in which to preach. It was crowded, for the people had never before had the privilege of hearing a sermon delivered by a Latter-day Saint. You can imagine how he felt. Here was a people anxious to hear, and yet how weak he was, and how full of fear and trembling! When he arose to give out the hymn, the sound of his voice in that large building scared him. Then he prayed, and afterwards gave out another hymn. He had called mightily upon God for help. When he commenced to speak the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him as it had never done before. The people had faith, and their hearts were prepared to receive the truth. For upwards of an hour he spoke, and he was so carried away in the Spirit, that he was like a man in a trance. Joy filled his heart and the hearts of the people. They wept like children, and that day was the beginning of a good work in that place."[6] On this occasion, as Elder Cannon related to members of his family, the faces of the people appeared white to him as he spoke to them. Words were given him. He hardly knew what he said but the people told him afterwards that he set forth the principles of the gospel in great plainness and convincing power. In the humble home of Na-lima-Nui at Lahaina, he had received the gift of interpretation of tongues. Now had come the gift of speaking the language of the people. [1] My First Mission, Chapter VIII. [2] My First Mission, Chapter IX. [3] My First Mission, Chapter IX. [4] My First Mission, Chapter X. [5] My First Mission, Chapter X. [6] My First Mission, Chapter I. |
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Nephi Record Translated for Descendants.” Instructor. October 1944. pg. 456-460.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON Nephi Record Translated for Descendants The Latter-day Saints have given many surprising proofs of the vitality of their organization — the astonishing missionary efforts, successful colonization, temple building and work associated therewith, and the translation of their sacred books into other languages. The Book of Mormon, which has converted more souls to the restored gospel than any other book, has been translated into twenty-three languages, and published in eighteen. The early fifties saw this work begin. In Europe John Taylor was in charge of a translation of the new scripture into French and in German, and Erastus Snow into Danish. None of these efforts, useful as they were, occasioned serious difficulty. Books were constantly being translated from English into the modern languages of Europe and from them into English. Dictionaries, grammars, and best of all highly trained translators were available. During this same period George Q; Cannon was carrying on the work among the Hawaiian people on the Sandwich Islands. With him, however, the difficulties were enormous. The task was not imposed on him. It arose out of his love for the volume and the comfort it gave him in his ministry. He makes his tribute to the ancient history of the American hemisphere. "Before I commenced holding regular meetings, I had plenty of time for meditation, and to review all the events of my short life, and to think of the beloved home from which I was so far separated. It was then that I found the value oi the Book of Mormon. It was a book which I always loved. But I learned there to appreciate it as I had never done before. If I felt inclined to be lonely, to be low spirited, or homesick, I had only to turn to its sacred pages to receive consolation, new strength and a rich outpouring of the Spirit. Scarcely a page that did not contain encouragement for such as I was. The salvation of man was the great theme upon which its writers dwelt, and for this they were willing to undergo every privation and make every sacrifice. "What were my petty difficulties compared with those afflictions which they had to endure? If I expected to share the glory for which they contended, I could see that I must labor in the same Spirit. If the sons of King Mosiah could relinquish their high estate, and go forth among the degraded Lamanites to labor as they did, should not I labor with patience and devoted zeal for the salvation of these poor red men, heirs of the same promise? "Let me recommend this book, therefore, to young and old, if they need comfort and encouragement. Especially can I recommend it to those who are away from home on missions. No man can read it, partake of its spirit and obey its teachings, without being filled with a deep love for the souls of men and a burning zeal to do all in his power to save them. . . . "The conversations, which I had with the natives concerning . the Book of Mormon and the origin of the red men, made them anxious to see it."[1] It is truly surprising how soon the work of translation began. The first elders landed at Honolulu in December, 1850. Not long afterwards Elder Cannon deeply desiring to know the language had the gift' of interpretation given to him. His progress in the new tongue must have been rapid, for in less than two months he was beginning to put the record of the Nephites before some of their descendants. He writes: "In the last days of the month of January, 1851, I commenced the work of translation. My fellow-laborers, the elders, encouraged me, and from the First Presidency at home—Presidents Young, Kimball and Richards — came words of cheer, approving of what I was doing, and counseling me to persevere."[2] Naturally this work of translation could be only a part of the missionary work. Preaching, explaining the doctrines, meeting the opposition raised against them by Christian ministers, baptizing, traveling from place to place, administering to the sick, all had their time and place.' In reference to his work after returning to Wailuku, where he had first found a friendly reception, and from which place he had removed to save his friend, J. H. Napela, from the persecution of the Presbyterian minister, who had so bitterly opposed the work. Elder Cannon writes: "The preaching of the gospel created great excitement; the people came by hundreds to hear the testimony, and I had the satisfaction of seeing the missionary who had treated me so badly and who had so bitterly opposed and lied about the work, almost deserted by his congregation; they having left his church to hear us preach and see us baptize. . . . We baptized a large number of people at Wailuku and the adjacent towns, erected a a large meeting-house at that place and smaller ones at the other villages, and organized large and flourishing branches of the Church."[3] With his lifelong theory that the gospel should be presented with courage to the high as well as the low. Elder Cannon boldly met the opposition and threats of the clericals, who tried to hinder the work, by appealing to the highest authorities. In company with the president of the mission. Elder Philip B. Lewis, he visited the king's ministers and the American commissioner. The king was ill at the time. The commissioner warmly espoused the cause of his countrymen and demanded for them all the rights that were extended to others. Elder Cannon later had visits with the princes, both of whom succeeded to the throne, and received from them assurances of protection. The gifts of the Spirit followed those that believed, as they did anciently. These read like the manifestations recorded in the New Testament. "The same day Brother Napela and some of the other native Saints had visited a woman who believed in the gospel, who wished to be baptized; she had been unable to walk upright for five years, but she was anxious for them to administer to her, that she might be restored. They laid their hands upon her and commanded her in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to arise and walk. She immediately stood up and walked, and went and was baptized. This created quite an excitement in the neighborhood, for she was well known, and people were much astonished at her restoration."[4] Another instance was that of a woman, one of whose limbs was withered, and who was afflicted with palsy. She was baptized, and was speedily restored to health. "A niece of hers was afterwards afflicted similarly; she requested us to administer to her, and when we did so, she was restored to health. ' “The same day that this latter person had hands laid upon her, we had a meeting at a place called Waiehu, After the meeting was over three persons requested to be administered to, one of whom was a blind man. He had been blind for upwards of thirty years, but his sight was restored to him."[5] Besides these spiritual experiences there were many others of a most interesting nature. In the pursuit of their labors the elders traveled from island to island and doing so in an. outrigger canoe by sail and paddle was dealing very intimately with nature and her forces. They asked and depended on the Lord for his protection in such dangerous expeditions. On one occasion they visited Kilauea, the largest volcano in the world. Standing on its brink, they looked down into the seething mass of lava, which surged and heaved like the waves of the sea and sounded like the booming of heavy artillery. Occasionally the lava from this volcano overflowed and ran down into the sea, "sweeping everything before it and heating the sea for several miles in such a manner as to kill large quantities of fish." The elders were told "that a party of natives had just been there, throwing the bones of one of their relatives into the volcano, with hogs, fowls, etc., sacrifices with which to gain the favor of Madame Pele, the goddess."[6] And the feasts of the natives were pleasant interludes. On such occasions "the people sat on the ground on mats. For tablecloths there were large green leaves of the plant called ki. On these were placed packages of beef, pork, fowl, dog, and goat, done up in the leaves in which they had been cooked. Fish also was served up in this manner. As soon as the blessing was asked, everyone dipped his or her forefingers into the poi, and, lifting as much as the fingers would hold, they passed them into their mouths, throwing their heads back as they did so, to get a good mouthful. The hogs, chickens and little dogs were speedily dissected, the fingers being the only knives, forks and spoons used among them. The scene was one of true enjoyment. The Sandwich Islander is never so happy, so musical, so full of pleasant talk, as when seated at a good meal ; and the quantity one eats on such occasions would astonish an American who had never seen them."[7] Perhaps no book was ever translated into another language where the effort was more painstaking to make it comprehensible to the understanding of the simple minded people. Infinite care was necessary to put the Nephite record into language that the native Hawaiians could grasp. Elder Cannon describes his method. "My place of residence was at Brother J. H. Napela's, in Wailuku. He was an educated, intelligent Hawaiian, who thoroughly understood his own language, and could give me the exact meaning of words. The meaning attached to many words depended upon the context. It was important, therefore, in translating, to know that the words used conveyed the correct idea. Unless the language used carried to the Hawaiian mind the same meaning precisely which the words in our translation gave to us, it would not be correct. "Probably few in the nation were as well qualified as Brother Napela, to help me in this respect. He was a descendant of the old chiefs of the Island of Maui, in whose families the language was preserved and spoken in the greatest purity, and he had advantages which no other equally well educated man, at that time, possessed. He had studied the principles of the gospel very thoroughly, he had a comprehensive mind to grasp the truth, and he had been greatly favored by the Spirit. As I progressed with the translation, his comprehension of the work increased. He got the spirit of the book, and was able to seize the points presented to him very quickly. .. . The spirit of translation rested upon me; it even became a very easy labor for me. I obtained great facility of expression in the language, and before I got through with the book I had a range of words at my command, superior to the great bulk of the people."[8] Napela was not the only native from whom help was obtained. The translation of difficult parts was tried on intelligent natives as a test and after the whole book was translated, Elder Cannon visited Kauai, the extreme western island, and obtained the help of a native elder, Kauwahi, "a man of acute intellect and talent and good education, and who was called the most eloquent and best reasoner in the Hawaiian nation." With him the book was read through again and subjected to most careful scrutiny. The work was finished January 31, 1854, a labor of three years. Means were raised by selling copies of the Book of Mormon in advance and by loan to publish it. The press, type and paper purchased in New York were sent to San Francisco, and on July 29, 1854, George Q. Cannon and the faithful elders who had opened the mission three and a half years before sailed homeward from this paradise of the Pacific, carrying with them the love, almost adoration, of literally thousands of the people who had believed on their words and been baptized, into the true Church of Christ. [1] My First Mission, Chapter XVI. [2] My First Mission, Chapter XVI. [3] My First Mission, Chapter XII. [4] My First Mission, Chapter XV. [5] My First Mission, Chapter XV. [6] My First Mission, Chapter XIII. [7] My First Mission, Chapter XIV. [8] My First Mission, Chapter XVI. |
GEORGE Q. CANNON
|
Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, The Mission to California.” Instructor. November 1944. pg. 510-514.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON The Mission to California The mission to Hawaii occupied slightly more than three and a half years, but with the year spent in California digging gold in '49 and '50 and the five or six months traveling back and forth, the first mission of George Q. Cannon lasted somewhat more than five years. It was toward the close of 1854 when he again saw the beloved mountains and the City of the Saints as he was wont to call it. It is probable that before leaving for the western mission he had not come prominently to the notice of President Brigham Young, but on his return that sagacious leader knew him well from correspondence and the remarkable work he had done. The President informed him that he would soon be called back to the Islands. The mission was changed to California and the principal purpose was to print the Book of Mormon in the Hawaiian language. He was also to aid Apostle Parley P. Pratt in publishing a paper on the Pacific coast. Waiting for him on his return from his first mission was a lovely young school teacher, Elizabeth Hoagland, whom he had known as a girl as they crossed the plains. They were married Dec. 11, 1854, soon after his arrival in the valley. It was a very simple wedding. The groom had many a laugh in after years as he described the ill-fitting, borrowed clothing he wore. It was the tenth of May, 1855, when the start was made. He had again the good fortune to travel in the company of that wise leader, Charles C. Rich, whose determination and judgment had saved him and his companions on the desert in 1849, when the ill-advised Captain Smith tried the short cut, which afterward claimed so many lives in Death Valley. This was Elder Cannon's third crossing and he was becoming a veteran of those vast wastelands of the American desert. This trip with his young bride again put his life in jeopardy. He drove a four-mule team and the strength and endurance of the animals were the margin between' life and death. A most interesting event occurred in southern Utah. It indicates the value of an animal and the simple faith of the people. In his journal written in his beautiful penmanship, is the following entry: "Monday, May 21, 1855. Ate breakfast at Bro. White's. Started and passed Iron Springs and travelled very fast intending to stop at Mountain Meadows a distance of about 5 miles for the night. Just before reaching the meadows we had some ridges to pass over which were very hard for our animals to pull up; one of them, a mule I had traded with Bro. Covington for, acted very strangely and seemed to have strained herself in pulling. Soon after we took the harness off her, she lay down and when we started her up she could scarcely hobble a step or two, or stand on her hind feet; she seemed crippled in the loins. I prayed over her and on her, twice, for if she failed, being the best animal in the team, I did not know scarcely how we would get along. We arrived here about sundown. The feed is excellent. . , ." The first entry the following day is, "The mule is somewhat better this morning," and last entry of the same day is, "My mule has improved very much." The blank space above was left blank in the journal. It suggests the experience of Mary Fielding Smith, while crossing the plains when one of her oxen fell sick and she had the elders lay hands on it and pray for its recovery. The prayer was answered immediately and without being unyoked the animal got on its feet and did its full part. The company followed the southern route called the Spanish trail, crossing the quicksands of the Virgin river, camping on the Muddy (how Moapa), making a day and night journey of some sixty miles to the upper crossing of Las Vegas, watering at Cottonwood Springs, Mountain Springs, Kingston Springs, through hostile Indians, with water the first and grass the second consideration always. On the last day of May, the situation became serious. Quoting again from the journal: "When we stopped here we were about give out, both men and animals ; the heat had become so intense that all had suffered in consequence; the very air seemed almost suffocating; the rocks surrounding mountains and the sand reflected the heat with such intensity that if the air had been blown from heated ovens it seemed as if it could not have been more oppressive. The men belonging to the other wagon, which they had left, drank up all their water before noon, and I was convinced in my own mind that, unless we were very sparing indeed with what Bro. Rich and myself had, we must suffer as the water was yet a long distance off and we, as well as our animals, were tired. These were Bro. Rich's feelings also, and he accordingly rationed out what he had, which was only sufficient to satisfy for the time being; it was drank greedily as all were excessively thirsty. The water in my keg was afterward distributed, my share of which I saved, for I did not wish to be entirely without .... "When we stopped, which we did every little while to let the mules rest a little, I would throw myself at full length on the ground . . . exhausted; my tongue was dry and parched, and it felt as though it was as large as my hand, and if I had not saved my allowance of water, with which I kept moistening my mouth at intervals, it seems to me it would have cracked." They reached water at last and after other adventures they also reached San Diego, then a miserable little place, and took steamer for San Francisco, where they arrived just a month and a half after leaving Salt Lake City. Elder Cannon found that Apostle Pratt had just left for home. He overtook him at Union City, and received information regarding the affairs of the mission and the whereabouts and state of the press which had been bought with money raised in the Sandwich Islands. Elder Pratt set the young man apart "to preside over the affairs of the church in Northern California, Oregon and Washington Territories, and British and Russian American possessions in the north." This was a comprehensive assignment, including western Canada and Alaska. Later Apostle Orson Hyde, who had headquarters at Carson City, confirmed this appointment and still later Apostles Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich, who were operating the great ranch at San Bernardino gave him a blessing and encouragement in his work. After the press was set up, work began on printing an addition of 2000 copies of the Book of Mormon in the Hawaiian language. This required the utmost care as the other members of the group did not understand Hawaiian. The last form was run off the press Jan. 28, 1856, just over six months after the arrival of Elder Cannon and his associates in California. The day following the completion of the precious Book, the first child was born to George Q. and Elizabeth Cannon, January 29, 1856, while his father was absent holding a meeting at Salmon Falls. Eight days later, the branch members were invited to come to the humble home and celebrate the advent with a feast. A hymn was sung, prayer was offered by the father and he then took up the infant and blessed him, giving his first-born his own name. The blessing was full of promises and doubtless the parents felt these would be fulfilled by a useful life on earth. To their deep sorrow the new life continued for a few weeks only leaving the promises to find fulfillment in that eternal existence to which it was called. For some time the Church had felt the need of a publication to represent it in California. Now seemed the time to begin. President Young had favored the idea and appointed Elder Cannon to be its editor. Less than a month after completing the printing of the Book of Mormon, the first issue of the Western Standard, a weekly paper, was issued. While many predictions had been made that the undertaking could not be successful, it continued for nineteen months and was closed only because the call was made for the missionaries to return to Utah at the coming of Johnston's army. It was a brave little paper, defending the policies and doctrines of the Church in a most prejudiced environment. There were not many Latter-day Saints in California, and they were scattered widely, but the Western Standard sustained and strengthened them and made them feel that their beliefs were completely defensible. It was a time for brave journalism in the city which was springing into being like a giant on the bay behind the Golden Gate. Contemporary with the Western Standard was the Bulletin, published by James King "of "William," attacking the corrupt rule of the city and the abuses that were carried on under legal forms against all classes except the beneficiaries of the misrule. At the time, San Francisco was full of hoodlums who carried on their thefts and violence in bands. The Bulletin roused the better class of citizens against all this. In the spring of 18 56 occurred the cold blooded murder of Editor King,, and that; event brought about the second rule of the Vigilantes. This organization with its stern measures ended the scandalous conditions. During these colorful events Elder Cannon and his wife lived very much aware of all that was taking place, but having no part in it. They were absorbed in the far greater labor of spreading the knowledge of the Kingdom of God. The coming of Johnston's army to Utah in the summer of 1857 brought changes to the Pacific Mission. As soon as the word reached California those of the Saints whose homes were in Utah began preparations to return. Elder Cannon stayed at his post, but sent his wife with her new baby, John Q., now only a few months old, back across the desert. They were in the care of his younger brother, David. Cold weather was encountered on the way, and the young mother had difficulty in keeping her infant son alive. As it was, his feet were frosted. One of the strange parts of that journey was that Elizabeth carried with her in a sealed metal case the embalmed remains of her first child, which she would never permit to be buried, knowing that her stay in San Francisco would be temporary and wishing to have her baby laid away near where she herself would be interred. But on Dec. 1, 1857, Elder Cannon makes this entry in his journal: "This morning I was surprised to meet at the office door Bro. John Scott who started on a mission to Great Britain from the City of the Saints at the same time that I came to this country. He informed me that Bros. Orson Pratt, Ezra T. Benson, John A. Ray, John Kay, Wm. Miller and himself arrived in San Francisco on the Sonora yesterday from England, via New York. They were travelling incog. They left England on the 14th of October, five days after receiving the news of the trouble at home .... As the eastern route would be closed by snow and troops, they thought the southern route by San Bernadino the most feasible under the circumstances. In the evening I had an interview with Bros. Pratt and Benson; they came to the office. They counselled me to settle up my business and accompany them home. After working all day and night Elder Cannon was able to store the press, and other printing equipment, settle his business and leave everything in orderly shape and depart with the brethren by steamer for the south. In his journal he wrote; “I leave San Francisco without a sigh of regret; . . . I feel clear from the blood of this people; I have labored diligently, labored to lay before them the principles of salvation by means of the press and public preaching, but to all the offers of salvation they have turned a deaf ear, and they have treated all our testimonies and warning as idle tales." As he again faced the desert, hurrying home to help meet a collision, as he believed, with the troops of the United States, he left this declaration in one of the issues of the Western Standard: "The editor of the Herald deceives himself and those who believe what he writes, when he says that 'the days of Mormonism at Salt Lake are numbered.' The cannon are not cast, the muskets or rifles not made, the powder and ball not manufactured, nor the men to use them either born or conceived, that will destroy Mormonism. Mark our words, gentlemen, it will live, though all earth and hell array themselves against it.” |
GEORGE Q. CANNON
|
Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, A Mission Against Prejudice.” Instructor. December 1944. pg. 575-578.
George Q. Cannon
JOSEPH J. CANNON
A Mission Against Prejudice
Again the desert. For the fourth time George Q. Cannon faced the wastelands of eastern California and southern Nevada. Now it was winter and the heat that almost cost him and his young wife their lives on their way from Utah in 1855 was not a peril. However, coldness and the scarcity of feed for the animals created their own difficulties. The desert is never in a playful mood. It is always stern, vast and menacing. The ordinary feeling that one is a part of society and that things will be arranged by others to insure safety and well-being departs entirely. The desert resembles the sea, except that the sailor has his well stored and furnished home in which to dwell. The covered wagon with animals that may stray or be stampeded by Indians or die of hunger and toil, has no home-like quality. And yet the very silence and loneliness give to the sunrise and sunset and the cloud effects a greater power to impress their beauty. The soul hungers for sustenance. More than anywhere else the senses are active — the eyes must always see, the ears hear. Nothing must happen in that world unnoticed. And more than anywhere else the mind turns from outward things to contemplation. The long hours are filled with slow pondering over the fundamentals of existence. It deepens a man to go at the snail pace of mules across a desert. Twice George Q. Cannon had walked in its heat with swollen tongue, choking almost to death. For weeks at a time he had known its stillness. Doubtless these experiences gave him increased humility before the great forces of creation and a quietness of spirit that so strongly characterized him.
In the late winter and spring of 1858 the people of Utah were astir with anxiety and preparations for change. Beyond the rim of the mountains that guarded the Salt Lake Valley on the east lay a United States Army, angry and threatening. It had been stopped, but behind it was the strength of the federal forces which would join it soon if resistance continued.
Again the Mormons were on the move. Some of the Saints who had joined the Church in its early days had gone from New York to Kirtland, to Jackson County, Missouri, to Far West, to Nauvoo, to "Winter Quarters, to Salt Lake Valley and to help build a settlement to the north or south. Now they were moving again, not knowing whether the migration would be short and temporary or whether they might be driven on perhaps to Mexico.
The party which George Q. Cannon had joined at San Francisco, consisting of Orson Pratt, Ezra T. Benson, and others who had returned from England by way of Panama, arrived in Salt Lake City, January 19, 1858. Here the young California Mission president joined his wife, Elizabeth, and young son, who had returned from California in the fall.
He was immediately appointed adjutant general of the Nauvoo Legion and helped in the defense of the people against the army, and when peace plans had been made, he became editor of the Deseret News, his writing ability having been demonstrated on the Western Standard. It was a busy time. Everything movable had to be loaded in wagons and hauled southward, for it had been agreed that the army should march through Salt Lake City and establish camp in Cedar Valley, west of Utah Lake.
That life was not moving at a leisurely pace is demonstrated by Elder Cannon's courtship of his second wife, Sarah Jane Jenne. He met her one Sunday, received an impression that amounted to knowledge that she was to be his wife. She had the same manifestation, and the following Sunday they were married by President Young and immediately thereafter began the journey to Fillmore.
The territorial legislature in 1851 had changed the capital of Utah to Millard County. Fillmore had been laid out and a state house partly built. While most of the people who had moved from their homes' before Johnston's Army was permitted to come into the Valley, went only as far as Provo, some made the longer journey, about 150 miles.
From Fillmore, George Q. Cannon published the Deseret News, then a weekly paper. He put into it the same militant defense of the Mormon people that he had done in the Western Standard in San Francisco.
The army passed through Salt Lake City late in June (18 58). The silent streets with grim men posted to fire the houses, if any overt act occurred, made a deep impression on many of them. Early in July the people returned from Provo at the solicitation of the new governor, Alfred Cumming, and the peace commissioners.
It was September 9th before Elder Cannon with his loaded wagons left Fillmore, bringing the type, press, and supplies of the Deseret News. Four days later while stopping for noon at Payson, a little more than half of the journey, a great surprise came to him. The following is quoted from his journal:
"We were met by Bro, John M. Bollwinkel . . . He had . . . traveled all night and the next morning until he met us . . . He brought a letter . . . which explained the object of the hurry. I had been appointed to go on a mission to the east and the company were waiting at the City for me . . . When I learned what was wanted of me, I put a few things in a carpet sack, took a little bedding, my arms, etc.; and taking Elizabeth and John Q. in the carriage with me, started in half an hour after I received the note, for the City. "We traveled all afternoon, ate supper at Provo and again started at nightfall and reached the City at five o'clock in the morning . . . After breakfast I went to see Bro. Brigham. His first remark after the salutations was, 'Are you ready?’ I told him I was. He then turned to one of the brethren who was standing by, and said, 'I told you it would be so.' ... I received a blessing and was set apart for my mission under the hands of Bro's Brigham, Heber, Daniel, C. C. Rich and Erastus Snow, Bro. Brigham being mouth."
Whether room in the carriage was limited, or whether he felt he should have some one looking after his scant but precious household effects, is not indicated. In any case he said goodbye at Payson to his wife, Sarah Jane, who a few days before had passed her 19th birthday and who some four months later was to give birth to her first child. She followed with the heavily laden wagons.
A few hours after reaching Salt Lake City, he was on his way to fill his mission. His journal continues: "Before starting I prayed with and blessed Elizabeth and John Q., committing them and Sarah Jane and all that belonged to me into the hands of the Lord . . . My family had no place to live in and would have to rent; I had not time to do anything in relation to a house and they were left to shift for themselves."
The journey to Florence on the Missouri occupied more than five weeks. It had many interesting incidents. Elder Cannon describes going by the defenses made at Echo Canyon to prevent the entrance of Johnston's Army, tells of grazing at the comet (Donati's) while he was on night watch as it illuminated the heavens, and spent one night swimming from sandbank to sandbank in the Loup Fork of the Platte River, nearly losing his life.
The incidents leading up to President Buchanan's sending an army against the Mormons, and the effective resistance the people had put up to detain it until sanity could come into the situation, had stirred up a most bitter feeling throughout the country against the Latter-day Saints. Elder Cannon as president of the Eastern States Mission had instructions to meet editors and prominent men and let them know the facts about Utah, One of the principal activities was planning and working to overcome prejudice. It was understood that he should advise with Colonel Thomas L. Kane, that courageous and influential friend of the Mormons. Through the Colonel, he met and formed lasting ties with many prominent persons, particularly in Washington.
After completing his Hawaiian mission, while returning home in 1854, Elder Cannon tarried some time in California working with Elder Parley P. Pratt on his autobiography, that vivid account of the early scenes of the Church and the participation of the eloquent apostle in them. During that close companionship, the older man developed a strong friendship for the youth who had done such a remarkable work among the Hawaiians. On one occasion the spirit of prophecy rested on Elder Pratt and he predicted that George Q. Cannon would succeed him as a member of the Council of Twelve. The vigorous Brother Pratt was then entering middle age and it appeared that his life would be prolonged many years. However, at the age of fifty, less than three years from the time of the prophecy, he was assassinated in Arkansas. It was, therefore, not a surprise to Elder Cannon, who had kept the prediction secret, that he was called October 23, 1859, to fill his place. More than two years had passed since Elder Pratt's death without action being taken. George Q. Cannon was then thirty-two years old.
Weeks passed, of course, before the word came to him, and months passed before he could return to Salt Lake City. In the summer of 1860, he crossed the plains again and returned home. He found that since his departure two years before he had two sons born. One Franklin Jenne was to become the first senator of the State of Utah; the other Abraham Hoagland was to become one of the Twelve Apostles. The two little boys, born three months apart to his two wives, were about a year and a half old when their father first saw them.
On August 26, 1860, under the hands of the presidency of the Church and ten of the Council of Twelve, Brigham Young being mouth, George Q. Cannon was ordained an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
George Q. Cannon
JOSEPH J. CANNON
A Mission Against Prejudice
Again the desert. For the fourth time George Q. Cannon faced the wastelands of eastern California and southern Nevada. Now it was winter and the heat that almost cost him and his young wife their lives on their way from Utah in 1855 was not a peril. However, coldness and the scarcity of feed for the animals created their own difficulties. The desert is never in a playful mood. It is always stern, vast and menacing. The ordinary feeling that one is a part of society and that things will be arranged by others to insure safety and well-being departs entirely. The desert resembles the sea, except that the sailor has his well stored and furnished home in which to dwell. The covered wagon with animals that may stray or be stampeded by Indians or die of hunger and toil, has no home-like quality. And yet the very silence and loneliness give to the sunrise and sunset and the cloud effects a greater power to impress their beauty. The soul hungers for sustenance. More than anywhere else the senses are active — the eyes must always see, the ears hear. Nothing must happen in that world unnoticed. And more than anywhere else the mind turns from outward things to contemplation. The long hours are filled with slow pondering over the fundamentals of existence. It deepens a man to go at the snail pace of mules across a desert. Twice George Q. Cannon had walked in its heat with swollen tongue, choking almost to death. For weeks at a time he had known its stillness. Doubtless these experiences gave him increased humility before the great forces of creation and a quietness of spirit that so strongly characterized him.
In the late winter and spring of 1858 the people of Utah were astir with anxiety and preparations for change. Beyond the rim of the mountains that guarded the Salt Lake Valley on the east lay a United States Army, angry and threatening. It had been stopped, but behind it was the strength of the federal forces which would join it soon if resistance continued.
Again the Mormons were on the move. Some of the Saints who had joined the Church in its early days had gone from New York to Kirtland, to Jackson County, Missouri, to Far West, to Nauvoo, to "Winter Quarters, to Salt Lake Valley and to help build a settlement to the north or south. Now they were moving again, not knowing whether the migration would be short and temporary or whether they might be driven on perhaps to Mexico.
The party which George Q. Cannon had joined at San Francisco, consisting of Orson Pratt, Ezra T. Benson, and others who had returned from England by way of Panama, arrived in Salt Lake City, January 19, 1858. Here the young California Mission president joined his wife, Elizabeth, and young son, who had returned from California in the fall.
He was immediately appointed adjutant general of the Nauvoo Legion and helped in the defense of the people against the army, and when peace plans had been made, he became editor of the Deseret News, his writing ability having been demonstrated on the Western Standard. It was a busy time. Everything movable had to be loaded in wagons and hauled southward, for it had been agreed that the army should march through Salt Lake City and establish camp in Cedar Valley, west of Utah Lake.
That life was not moving at a leisurely pace is demonstrated by Elder Cannon's courtship of his second wife, Sarah Jane Jenne. He met her one Sunday, received an impression that amounted to knowledge that she was to be his wife. She had the same manifestation, and the following Sunday they were married by President Young and immediately thereafter began the journey to Fillmore.
The territorial legislature in 1851 had changed the capital of Utah to Millard County. Fillmore had been laid out and a state house partly built. While most of the people who had moved from their homes' before Johnston's Army was permitted to come into the Valley, went only as far as Provo, some made the longer journey, about 150 miles.
From Fillmore, George Q. Cannon published the Deseret News, then a weekly paper. He put into it the same militant defense of the Mormon people that he had done in the Western Standard in San Francisco.
The army passed through Salt Lake City late in June (18 58). The silent streets with grim men posted to fire the houses, if any overt act occurred, made a deep impression on many of them. Early in July the people returned from Provo at the solicitation of the new governor, Alfred Cumming, and the peace commissioners.
It was September 9th before Elder Cannon with his loaded wagons left Fillmore, bringing the type, press, and supplies of the Deseret News. Four days later while stopping for noon at Payson, a little more than half of the journey, a great surprise came to him. The following is quoted from his journal:
"We were met by Bro, John M. Bollwinkel . . . He had . . . traveled all night and the next morning until he met us . . . He brought a letter . . . which explained the object of the hurry. I had been appointed to go on a mission to the east and the company were waiting at the City for me . . . When I learned what was wanted of me, I put a few things in a carpet sack, took a little bedding, my arms, etc.; and taking Elizabeth and John Q. in the carriage with me, started in half an hour after I received the note, for the City. "We traveled all afternoon, ate supper at Provo and again started at nightfall and reached the City at five o'clock in the morning . . . After breakfast I went to see Bro. Brigham. His first remark after the salutations was, 'Are you ready?’ I told him I was. He then turned to one of the brethren who was standing by, and said, 'I told you it would be so.' ... I received a blessing and was set apart for my mission under the hands of Bro's Brigham, Heber, Daniel, C. C. Rich and Erastus Snow, Bro. Brigham being mouth."
Whether room in the carriage was limited, or whether he felt he should have some one looking after his scant but precious household effects, is not indicated. In any case he said goodbye at Payson to his wife, Sarah Jane, who a few days before had passed her 19th birthday and who some four months later was to give birth to her first child. She followed with the heavily laden wagons.
A few hours after reaching Salt Lake City, he was on his way to fill his mission. His journal continues: "Before starting I prayed with and blessed Elizabeth and John Q., committing them and Sarah Jane and all that belonged to me into the hands of the Lord . . . My family had no place to live in and would have to rent; I had not time to do anything in relation to a house and they were left to shift for themselves."
The journey to Florence on the Missouri occupied more than five weeks. It had many interesting incidents. Elder Cannon describes going by the defenses made at Echo Canyon to prevent the entrance of Johnston's Army, tells of grazing at the comet (Donati's) while he was on night watch as it illuminated the heavens, and spent one night swimming from sandbank to sandbank in the Loup Fork of the Platte River, nearly losing his life.
The incidents leading up to President Buchanan's sending an army against the Mormons, and the effective resistance the people had put up to detain it until sanity could come into the situation, had stirred up a most bitter feeling throughout the country against the Latter-day Saints. Elder Cannon as president of the Eastern States Mission had instructions to meet editors and prominent men and let them know the facts about Utah, One of the principal activities was planning and working to overcome prejudice. It was understood that he should advise with Colonel Thomas L. Kane, that courageous and influential friend of the Mormons. Through the Colonel, he met and formed lasting ties with many prominent persons, particularly in Washington.
After completing his Hawaiian mission, while returning home in 1854, Elder Cannon tarried some time in California working with Elder Parley P. Pratt on his autobiography, that vivid account of the early scenes of the Church and the participation of the eloquent apostle in them. During that close companionship, the older man developed a strong friendship for the youth who had done such a remarkable work among the Hawaiians. On one occasion the spirit of prophecy rested on Elder Pratt and he predicted that George Q. Cannon would succeed him as a member of the Council of Twelve. The vigorous Brother Pratt was then entering middle age and it appeared that his life would be prolonged many years. However, at the age of fifty, less than three years from the time of the prophecy, he was assassinated in Arkansas. It was, therefore, not a surprise to Elder Cannon, who had kept the prediction secret, that he was called October 23, 1859, to fill his place. More than two years had passed since Elder Pratt's death without action being taken. George Q. Cannon was then thirty-two years old.
Weeks passed, of course, before the word came to him, and months passed before he could return to Salt Lake City. In the summer of 1860, he crossed the plains again and returned home. He found that since his departure two years before he had two sons born. One Franklin Jenne was to become the first senator of the State of Utah; the other Abraham Hoagland was to become one of the Twelve Apostles. The two little boys, born three months apart to his two wives, were about a year and a half old when their father first saw them.
On August 26, 1860, under the hands of the presidency of the Church and ten of the Council of Twelve, Brigham Young being mouth, George Q. Cannon was ordained an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Four Year Mission to Europe.” Instructor. January 1945. pg. 10-14.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON Four Year Mission To Europe Since that day in October, 1849, when George Q. Cannon mounted his riding mare and leading his pack horse. Croppy, (the one that later committed suicide) , started for California, until eleven years later when he was set apart as one of the Council of Twelve, he had been absent from Salt Lake City almost continuously. And now he was called again to leave, this time for Europe, to be gone four years. From the age of twenty-two until he was thirty-seven, he was constantly away from home in the work of the Church, except for nine months. Great causes demand great devotion. Elder Cannon had given it without stint. This missionary labor had been done without purse or scrip. The return from the eastern mission to be ordained to the apostleship was in August, 1860. In October he was again on his way, this time headed for Europe. He took with him Elizabeth and had intended taking also their two sons, but as he was about to leave. President Brigham Young, moved by one of those compelling inspirations that came over him from time to time, went to Elder Cannon's temporary home and asked him to leave the boys, promising that on his return he would find them safe and well. The young man obeyed. This left Sarah Jane with Elizabeth's two and her own little son. She was an exceptionally good spinner and worked hard to bring in means for the support of the family. Hunger was never far away. Sometimes like the wolf it so much resembled, it was at the very door. The work in England was to edit the Millennial Star, that great missionary journal, established in 1840 and now the oldest continuously published periodical of the Church, and with his senior apostles, Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich, to preside over the European Mission. To be back in his native Liverpool was a great experience for him. Here he had a few relatives and numerous others on the nearby Isle of Man, whence his parents had come shortly before his birth. He visited with these and tried to let them understand the great message he had brought back from America, but while they were kind to him, they were filled with prejudice and deaf to all his earnest efforts. However, he made extensive notes in his journal of their names and relationships, to be helpful in the genealogical work of the family, in later years. In 1860 the British mission was the main part of the work abroad. Up to that time 79,120 persons had been baptized and 18,139 had emigrated to America under the auspices of the Church. Some had left singly or in small bodies. Some had died. And some had departed from the faith. It is probable, however, that approximately 50,000 Saints remained in the mission. The work of the ministry, the printing of the Star and other literature, together with the emigration of shiploads of converts, who were gathering to Zion, created heavy responsibilities, and besides this there was the direction of the traveling elders. Perhaps there is no burden resting on a mission president so serious as that of the watchcare he gives to the missionaries working under him. They are far from home, temptations surround them, their work involves great emotions — great joy when their message is received and sorrow when they meet disappointment and persecution. Occasionally an elder gives way to the wiles of the evil one and the appetites of his own flesh. In this tragic situation he must be dealt with. In such cases there is no laxity. He is cut off the Church and returns home in dishonor. After one such case Elder Cannon wrote: "How much affliction is produced by wicked actions! If the consequences could be realized as they always follow wrongdoing, before the commission of the wrong, they would appear so appalling that the wrong-doer would recoil from the commission." From fifteen years on, the young apostle had been almost constantly colonizing, pioneering, laboring among the natives of the Islands, out where life was hard and dangerous. Now his work had come to populous centers, where he was in close touch with world affairs. Two years before coming to Great Britain, he had been an emissary of his people to the editors of the east and the influential men in Congress in an effort to dispel prejudice. Now in the real work of the ministry he was laboring in the great cities of the British Isles and of the continent to bring souls to the knowledge of the gospel. His strongest characteristics, next to his childlike faith, were his understanding of his fellow men and his powers of persuasion. This was therefore congenial environment where he worked with the full play of his abilities. In the spring of 1862 he received word that he had been chosen one of the two senators for the state of Deseret. It was necessary that he report to Washington to present, with his colleague, William H. Hooper, the matter of admittance into the Union of the proposed commonwealth. He left in May, and the two other apostles also left, returning to Utah. The effort to gain a place for Deseret was vain, and in July, Elder Cannon went back to England to preside alone over the European mission. Twice he made a journey to the continent to visit the missions in France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. In Denmark on one of these visits occurred an interesting incident of which he spoke in later life. A man possessed of an evil spirit had his head twisted into a repulsive position. In other ways he was a most disgusting object. By the power of the priesthood the devil was cast out of him and the man became immediately normal again. These were times when great events were occurring in Europe. In 1862 William I became king of Prussia and soon chose the strong and unscrupulous Otto Von Bismarck, as chancellor. The next year the short and decisive war with Denmark took Schleswig and Holstein from that country, and Prussia began her road to conquest. First, Austria became her victim, then France, then she sought the world. The Civil War was on in the United States. Rebel men-of-war were threatening the Northern shipping, and the utmost concern was had by the president of the mission with regard to emigrating the Saints. Under the British flag they were safe, and ships were chartered to carry them across the Atlantic. More than 13,000 were emigrated under President Cannon's direction. The port of departure was Liverpool, but on a few occasions ships were sent out from London. The first of these was the Amazon with nearly nine hundred Saints aboard. The sailing was June 4, 1863. This is the ship visited by Charles Dickens, and he tells of it in his Uncommercial Traveler. The agent with whom he had the interview was George Q. Cannon. We quote some passages from that interesting account: "Now, I have seen emigrant ships before this day in June, and these people are so strikingly different from all other people in like circumstances. . . . ". . . nobody in ill-temper, nobody is the worse for drink, nobody swears an oath or uses a coarse word, nobody appears depressed, nobody is weeping. . ." Then Dickens quotes what the captain of the ships says about them. "Most of these came aboard yesterday evening. They came from various parts of England, in small parties that had never seen one another before. Yet they had not been a couple of hours on board when they had established their own police, made their own regulations, and set their own watches at all the hatchways. Before nine o'clock the ship was as orderly and as quiet as a man-of-war." "The Mormon agent who had been active in getting them together, and In making the contract with my friends the owners of the ship to take them as far as New York on their way to the Great Salt Lake, was pointed out to me. A compactly- made handsome man in black, rather short, with rich brown hair and beard, and clear bright eyes. From his speech, I should set him down as American, probably a man who had 'knocked about the world' pretty much. A man with a frank, open manner, and unshrinking look; withal a man of great quickness." In the conversation with Elder Cannon, Dickens, the Uncommercial Traveler, remarks: "I think it would be difficult to find eight hundred people together anywhere else, and find so much beauty and so much strength and capacity for work among them." And, he concludes: ". . . What is in store for the poor people on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, what happy delusions they are laboring under now, on what miserable blindness their eyes may be opened then, I do not pretend to say. But I went on board their ship to bear testimony against them if they deserved it, as I fully believed they would to my great astonishment they did not deserve it; and my predispositions and tendencies must not affect me as an honest witness. I went over the Amazon's side, feeling it impossible to deny that, so far, some remarkable influence had produced remarkable result, which better known influences have often missed." Later in this same month of June, 1863, President Cannon decided to send home his wife, Elizabeth. Two children had been born to them in England. The older, a girl, was named Georgiana, the second, a boy born May 19th, a month before the departure, was named George H. It is interesting how desirous this man was of perpetuating his own Christian name. It will be remembered that the first son, born in San Francisco, he named George Quayle, after himself. This child did not survive, and his mother had the body embalmed, kept it with her two years, and carried it back home across the desert. The return of Elizabeth was due to two causes. Trouble threatened between the Northern States and England. Joseph Smith, the Prophet, had predicted that the Southern States should call upon Great Britain for help. That call was made, and it received a sympathetic response. England, obtaining the cotton for her great looms was full of hope that the South would win its secession, and war with the North seemed at one time to be more than possible. The second reason for Elizabeth's going was her own poor health in the damp climate of England. It was thought that the mountain air and sunshine would help her. She departed in company with Joseph F. Smith and others and took with her a little girl, whom she adopted, Rosina. This lass was a great help to her and became a most affectionate daughter. On the plains sickness struck the children. Georgiana died and George H. survived only a short time after they had reached the valley. The company with which Elizabeth traveled proposed to bury the little girl, as thousands of the victims of that great journey had been buried, at the side of the trail. To this the strong-willed Elizabeth objected. A churn was fashioned into a coffin. Skilled hands closed it completely, and the little girl, like her brother six years before, went on in the care of her devoted mother and found a last resting place on the silent hillside overlooking the valley of the Great Salt Lake. It was more than a year after Elizabeth had departed that George Q. Cannon was released to return from his mission. During these eventful four years he had expended his great energies in writing, constant preaching, and guiding the work under his care. He was in frequent touch by letter with President Brigham Young and was a wise and approved administrator of the affairs of the Church. He had become eloquent and polished. His judgment had matured. He had developed great understanding of men and policies. His reading of history was wide. The growth of his spiritual perception had continued. This was to be his last "mission"; his work was from now on to be in representing and in, leadership of the people. When he returned in October, 1864, at the age of 37, he took his place at the head of his family of two wives and three sons. The two youngest of these were nearly six years old, and he had seen them, as babies, only six weeks of their lives. |
GEORGE Q. CANNON
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, The Missionary Turns into Man of Affairs.” Instructor. February 1945. pg. 57-59, 95.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON The Missionary Turns Into Man of Affairs In the fall of 1864 when George Q. Cannon returned from presiding over the European mission, his family consisted of his two wives, Elizabeth and Sarah Jane, and their three young sons. His property amounted to practically nothing, as for 15 years he had spent his time, less some nine months, in the mission field. It may have been at this time, though probably earlier, that an interesting circumstance happened of which he told his family, with relish, in later life. Needing a job he went to a man he knew and asked for work. The friend stated that he couldn't give it as he had no surplus with which to employ new help. However, the eager applicant said, " I didn't ask for money; I asked for work." "Haven't you any work that needs to be done?" The reply was that there was plenty of work. Elder Cannon said, "Let me do it. I'm willing to work for nothing rather than be idle." Such an offer couldn't be refused. However, he made himself so useful by his industry, punctuality, and intelligence, that the employer soon was paying him adequately. It was not long after his return that President Young employed him as his private secretary, and he continued at this work for some three years. This brought him very close to the great pioneer leader, for whom both before and during the rest of his life he had an unusual admiration. Brigham Young had no faults visible to his youthful associate. Such a state of mind could come about only under the influence of a great affection. The love and confidence were reciprocated. President Young taught him much about business matters, advised him to borrow money to buy Utah Central R. R. stock, for example, and made him a charter director of the Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution. Soon after his return to Salt Lake City, George Q. Cannon started a Sunday School in the 14th Ward. This was a simple organization of young people and a teacher. His friendship for children had always been great. He noticed them, knew their names, and with his spongelike memory he was always able to recall them thereafter. This experience doubtless contributed to an important undertaking. On January 1, 1866, he issued the first number of a bimonthly magazine, the Juvenile Instructor, which was to have an immeasurable influence on the lives of its readers and become one of the important features of his life's work. Continued until the present with shortened title and monthly issue, this influential magazine is now the Instructor. The purpose was given under the title "Salutatory" by the publisher and editor. "No other community, with which we are acquainted, indulge in such high hopes respecting their young as do the inhabitants of this territory. The most sanguine expectations are entertained in relation to the great future which awaits them. It is very natural that this should be so; for unto us are the promises made. But to have these hopes and expectations gratified, steps should be taken to train our children and do all in our power to prepare them for the duties that will devolve upon them. It is to aid in this work and to supply a want which has been long felt to exist that the publication of this paper has been undertaken." A very significant series began with the first number, and doubtless to publish this was one of the objects of the new magazine. That was the "Biography of Joseph Smith/' The author, George Q. Cannon, knew some of that biography first hand, for he had been acquainted with the Prophet and was intimately familiar with the last two years of Joseph's life. This series was followed by another, "History of the Church," which he brought down to 1848. These and other articles and his editorials were written in simple language and in style very attractive to young people. The author began then and continued the remainder of his life the study of lucid expression. His immense memory and his wide reading made him the possessor of a great vocabulary, which he used with constant discrimination in favor of simplicity. Such an undertaking as the new magazine would naturally be done with the full approval of President Young and the other authorities and was an outlet for many experienced writers of the Church. Karl G. Maeser had a delightful article on "Trees" in the first issue. Incidentally, he put down there the essential facts of the new science of dendrology, by which archeological dates are established. There was place in the new magazine for the inexperienced writers also, and many Utah literary men and women had their first publication in it. With the Juvenile Instructor directing itself to the young people of the Church and the new interest in Sunday School, the Church organized the Deseret Sunday School Union, and George Q. Cannon was the manifest choice for its first General Superintendent, a position he held during the remainder of his life. Like the magazine he founded, this new opportunity to direct the education of the Saints, particularly the young, through the great Sunday School movement, was an outstanding phase of his life. This period from 1864 when he returned from Europe to 1872 when he was elected to the United States congress, from age 37 to 45, was a happy and useful time. In 1865, less than a year after his return, he married his third wife, Eliza Tenny of Payson, Utah, and in 1868 he and Martha Telle were united. The latter, like his first wife Elizabeth, was a school teacher, who though a member of the Church since childhood had recently come from Iowa. During this same year, 1868, he was building the second largest residence in the territory on the corner of South Temple and First West streets. The style was similar to that of the Gardo House and again the influence of Brigham Young was manifest. It must have gratified the teacher to have so apt a pupil. Four years off his long mission and such an undertaking showed an acumen that must have delighted the president. In 1867 the editorship of the Deseret News was offered him. He accepted it, for the second time, and converted it into a daily paper. Here he had opportunity to help further a project dear to his heart. Familiar with the teachings and attempts to establish the united order, he had developed a great idealism for business. He knew that money and property are power. He recognized their danger, but felt they are very desirable if used for good. When the merchandising of the Territory got into such a state that prices became unnecessarily high and the people were deprived of needed things for lack of means. President Young began to think of some form of co-operation. This subject became a favorite matter for News editorials, Elder Cannon being an earnest advocate of the principle. In the year 1868 was organized in Salt Lake City the Zions Co-operative Mercantile Institution, though that exact name was not used until the following year. This was followed by co-operative stores in many of the other towns of the Territory. They encouraged small stockholders in the ownership. These were of course the main patrons. The result was that prices became more reasonable and what profits were made were distributed among a far larger number. In 1869 when the Z.C.M.I. retail stores were opened. Salt Lake City saw the beginning in the world of the department store. It seems unfortunate now that the pattern already developed in England could not have been adopted— that of limiting ownership to one share for each person and distributing dividends proportionate to purchases. While this system, which has grown to such enormous proportions in Europe, would probably have saved the Utah co-operative movement with its great chain of local outlets, yet the effort of the pioneers was nevertheless of great benefit to the people in regulating prices. In 1871 the Mormon question took a new turn in the east. Playing upon the well known desire of the Utah people to have the territory admitted into the sisterhood of states, the people who opposed the system of plural marriage suggested a kind of trade—that the system be given up in return for admittance into the Union. President Young was disturbed by the growth of this idea and did not wish it to develop among Utah's friends. He, therefore, sent George Q. Cannon east in the fall to destroy the illusion that the Church would consider such a course. Again the emissary visited "Washington and consulted with the leaders of legislation making plain the impossibility of rejecting a principle for political favor. In February, 1872, another constitutional convention was held in Salt Lake City. George Q. Cannon, one of the members, was chosen to carry the petition back to Washington. This like the others failed of acceptance by the hostile administration of President Ulysses S. Grant. And now a new chapter was about to open in the life of this ardent spokesman for the unpopular Mormon people. |
GEORGE Q. CANNON
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Fighting Proscriptive Legislation.” Instructor. March 1945. pg. 104-107, 124.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON Fighting Proscriptive Legislation One of the interesting problems of biography is the effect of environment on a man and the effect of the man upon his environment. Nature gave George Q. Cannon great mental and physical energy, an almost infallible memory, a striking personality, a voice of unusual resonance and fine timbre. He possessed an exceptionally good eye for truth and after the gospel came to him an intuitive faith and flaming zeal. Gradually his nature which as a boy was shy and retiring toughened under the hammer of experience and developed as he tried his powers in frequent struggles with his fellowmen. The tragedy of his mother's death at sea and his father's soon after reaching Nauvoo, the martyrdom, expulsion from the beautiful city on the Mississippi, the trek across the plains, hunger in the valley, digging gold in California, the great spiritual manifestations with thousands of baptisms on the Sandwich Islands, four crossings of the hostile desert, writing for a hostile public in California, fleeing from a hostile United States army in Utah, attempting to allay hostile opinion among eastern editors, the apostleship, several years of successful work in Europe, then the affectionate guidance and companionship of Brigham Young, four wives and the beginning of a numerous family—all these resistances, trying situations, and great privileges playing upon his sensitive and high strung mind and emotions, had produced a persuasive, eloquent, tenacious, man of dignity and self confidence with a profound perception of the motives of men. It had given him an assurance that his prayers were heard and answered and that every serious decision of his life needed and could obtain the approval of heaven. And George Q. Cannon affected his environment. His clean mind and language, temperate habits, and unwavering faith did something to his companions in youth. Among the Hawaiians his ministry profoundly influenced the dark skinned people. His editorials in the Western Standard, Deseret News, Millennial Star and Juvenile Instructor were stirring defense, informative and faith promoting. With pen and voice he created attitudes and helped form and strengthen the policies of the Church to which he had dedicated his life. Now a new situation confronted him. He was elected delegate to Congress from the Territory of Utah. A representative with a voice but no vote from a distant, sparsely settled area whose people were considered by some fit for extermination would not, it seemed, have large opportunity to alter his environment. However he did. In August George Q. Cannon was elected with a vote of 20,969 against his opponent. General George R. Maxwell, who received 1,942. Under the old system the delegate did not take the oath of office, unless there was a special session, until in the late fall, in this case more than a year after his election. However, Delegate-elect Cannon went to Washington in 1872, to aid Captain Wiliam H. Hooper meet the adverse legislation that was coming like a deluge. The most threatening of this was the bill introduced by Senator Frelinghuysen. Its provisions would have put the Mormon people in political bondage by taking away their rights of electing probate judges, judges of election and other officers and making these offices subject to be filled by appointment of the governor. As the territorial governor was appointed by the President and was usually highly prejudiced against the people and under the influence of a group of rabid anti-Mormon residents, this would have been a shocking and un-American policy. The measure also disfranchised the women, took from married women the right to hold property, and disincorporated the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. This bill passed the Senate on Feb. 25, 1873, and the enemies of the people rejoiced and attempted to hurry it through the House, There was need of haste, for the 42nd Congress was to come to an end at noon, March 4th. Earlier, under date of Feb. 14th, George Q. Cannon wrote the following in his journal: "Before going to bed last night I asked the Lord to give me a dream, my mind being occupied with what I had been told concerning Grant's message. He heard my prayer. I dreamed that a company of brethren were assembled, who were dressed in uniform. I was among them, and was one of the officers. We were expecting an attack from an enemy, who was formidable in numbers and equipments, and whom we were looking for every minute. They were moving upon us I thought with rifled cannon, improved fire arms and ammunition and in great force. I thought we were drawn up in line to receive them. In falling into line with the other officers I thought I got into the most exposed position. I was aware of it and saw that from the direction of the enemy I should be hit before those who were near mc could be reached as my body covered, in military parlance, theirs. We were all nerved up expecting each moment the shock of battle. There was no flinching. I thought my position a very exposed one, and I seemed to take in all its danger and to feel that a volley of grape and canister 'would be likely to hit me. I was nerved up and had a feeling of suspense that was intense such as a man might have who expected the next second the attack of a desperate foe. While in this frame of mind, all at once we found the enemy had disappeared. . . . We felt that we had been brought face to face with death and had escaped, and praise and thanksgiving filled our hearts. I then awoke and thanked the LordI for the comfort conveyed to me in that dream." Another entry a week later is of interest. "Gen. Sherman, also, whom he [Captain Hooper] met in the Senate chamber, told him that he had said to Grant, with whom he had attended a dinner party, that his [President Grant's] action in relation to Utah was all wrong. For his [Sherman's] advocacy of our cause they had laughingly called him a Mormon." Saturday, March 1st, came and Clagett of Montana strove to make a speech in favor of the bill, but General Garfield moved the previous question and shut off debate. Again let us quote from Delegate Cannon's journal: "In the meantime a collation had been prepared in a committee room down stairs and some excellent punch, so said, had been furnished. Of this many partook freely and about midnight the effects were very visible in the noise and confusion which prevailed. Beck of Kentucky made a motion to take a recess until 9 o'clock Monday morning; other motions to adjourn and take a recess were also made; but with no effect; they were voted down two to one. Every moment I expected our matter to come up. The noise and confusion increased, and finally Gen. Garfield made a motion to take a recess until 9 o'clock Monday morning — the same motion they had voted down just before—and it was carried. We rejoiced exceedingly. . . . Merritt [anti-Mormon delegate from Idaho] afterwards told me that we owed our escape that night to that punch." Monday morning came. Mar. 3rd. We turn again to the journal: "The same old feeling of being nerved up as if expecting a shock. I prayed earnestly and constantly in my heart for the Lord to defeat our enemies and I had peace. The first proceeding after the reading of the minutes was to commence at the calendar. Each man was striving to get his measure through. The Speaker told the members that if they would keep their seats and not call for the ayes and noes, unless they wished to stop a measure and to find out if two-thirds were in favor of it, he thought they might get through the calendar in a few hours and every bill could come Up in its regular order. Then the bills were crowded through like grain through a hopper, under the suspension of the rules. There appeared no human possibility of escape, for the Frelinghuysen Bill was on the calendar, low down it was true, but at the rapid rate they were crowding through legislation it could not be long until it was reached. Clagett and Merritt were very active and very gleeful. The latter told me they had got us now, and swore by his Maker that they were going in for results now and not for talk. . . . They, every little while, would go up to the Speaker's desk where the bills lay and examine the pile to see how far it was down. Maxwell [the defeated Liberal candidate] and they were in great glee. I did not see how we were going to escape, but yet I had faith that something would interpose to prevent the passage of the bill; but I did not know what it would be, or how it could be prevented. At 5 p.m., took recess till half past 7 and still it was not reached. I paced up and down one of the cloak rooms. Within hearing of the business and called upon the Lord in my heart for that deliverance which I knew that no one but he could give. The exultation of our enemies was unconcealed. In imagination they already had their feet upon our necks. Two o'clock in the morning of Tuesday came and still they were crowding through bills. There were but two bills to pass which would be passed in two or three minutes and then the Frelinghuysen bill was reached. Confusion and excitement prevailed. . . . We had done all in our power, and if the bill was not to pass, only the power of God could prevent it. Just then the Judiciary Committee brought up the impeachment cases of Judge Delahal of Kansas and Judge Sherman of Ohio. This subject consumed an hour. Three o’clock [Tuesday morning] had come and still no action on the Frelinghuysen Bill. Then members began to present resolutions, bills, etc., upon which they wanted action. Speaker Blaine recognized them and half an hour was thus consumed. Our enemies active and urgent tried to press the Frelinghuysen Bill on to the notice of the House; but in vain. I felt faint and hungry, went down to the restaurant, was only absent a few minutes and when I came up the House had just taken a recess until half past 9. I was surprised and yet exceedingly glad. I thought of my dream again. . . . Our enemies were swearing mad. Merritt said we had bribed the Speaker and that d— old Bingham. Claggett and Maxwell were also furious." "Tuesday, March 4. This morning they commenced at the calendar. The two bills were soon passed then came the Frelinghuysen Bill; but Mr. Sarjent of California objected to the consideration of so important a bill when there was no quorum present. It was laid aside informally; and from that time until half past eleven, when upon motion it was decided to transact no more legislation, it could not be reached. Business of various kinds was attended to; but that could not be got up. Our enemies were furious. Maxwell said he would take out British papers and be an American citizen no longer. Clagett asserted that we had spent $200,000 on the Judiciary Committee and Merritt swore that there had been treachery and we had bribed Congress. But I thanked and praised God who was our Friend and mightier than they all. By seemingly small and insignificant means he had brought to pass marvelous results, and to him all the glory was due." |
GEORGE Q. CANNON
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Experiences As a Delegate to Congress.” Instructor. April 1945. pg. 157-161, 171.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON Experiences As A Delegate To Congress When Delegate-elect Cannon bade his family goodbye in late November 1873, and started his journey to Washington it was not with the light heart of a new member of congress going there for the first time. He knew- he was walking into trouble. He arrived before December 1st, the date set for swearing in the members, and on that important day he rose to face a very ' serious situation. He records the following in his journal: "Ua pule au i ke Akua me ko'u lole hemolele. [I prayed to God with great humility— translation from Hawaiian] I called upon him mightily in prayer to help me. This is a great comfort to me. I am here without a man who is in sympathy with me; but I have a Friend more powerful than they all. In this I rejoice. I feel there are angels with me, and as one of old said, they that are for us are more than they who are against us. "When I pray I feel comforted and filled with joy. Of myself I feel very weak; but in my Lord I feel strong." In Washington were General George R. Maxwell, the defeated candidate, and others who were endeavoring to prevent the seating. They induced Representative Merriam of New York to raise an objection. Delegate Cannon was asked to stand aside. He did so and waited until the matter was argued out. Then the motion to seat him was carried with only one negative vote. His journal closes that day with these words: "I felt profoundly thankful to the Lord and praised him with all my heart. How blessed it is to be his servant!" The point of view of another member on this incident is interesting. Elder Cannon records in his journal of Feb. 3, 1874, the statement of Mr. Sayler of Ohio, referring back to it. "Mr. Cannon walked up to be sworn with the rest of the delegates, when a fool from the other side (Mr. Sayler is a democrat) jumped up and objected and afterwards offered a resolution. Mr. Cannon walked out coolly 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 d— whether they swore him in or not. I told our fellows we must stand up to that man, and we did, not one of our side that did not give him his vote." When Congress adjourned for the Christmas holidays, Elder Cannon returned home. During his stay he made a hurried trip to St. George, as President Young was wintering there. Under date of January 4th, 1874, he records receiving the following advice from that leader: "He said that I ought to be careful about my movements in Washington—that I would be watched and everything I did scrutinized and I ought to keep a journal of my movements that I could prove where I was at any time. If anything should occur to Gen. Grant, he (the President) would be accused of having prompted its commission, and I would probably be charged with having had it done. He said that next to himself I was the most hated of any of the authorities. . . . They would seek my life with the greatest of anxiety after seeking his, and I ought to be careful of myself. In all the publications of our enemies my name was generally held up to the public next to his own." Such precautions were manifestly wise. Nine years before, President Lincoln had been assassinated and seven years later President Garfield was to become a victim. President Grant had bitter enemies among the Democrats who were almost ready to institute impeachment proceedings against him toward the end of his term. Those were days of hot passions and if violence had come to the President, the Mormons, against whom he was notoriously hostile, would have been suspected. It would have been like blaming the Christians for the burning of Rome. Returning to Washington, Delegate Cannon found himself occupied not only with the constructive work of his office but with a serious attempt to expel him and with constant legislation that affected adversely the Latter-day Saints. During the first ten days of March, as shown in his journal, all these three situations were well illustrated., "Mar. 2, 1874. I presented today under the call of the states and territories a bill for the admission of Utah as a state, with a memorial and constitution accompanying, which were adopted and framed two years ago by the constitutional convention. Before going to the House I called upon President Grant and told him of my intention. I hoped to be able to draw him out. He treated me courteously, said being requested by the assembly of the Territory to present the memorial, I ought to do so, but was very noncommittal. "I called upon Gen. Butler at his house this evening and talked with him about the McKee bill and the action of the committee upon it and that they would report tomorrow. He promised to be on hand." (The McKee bill was another effort to substitute autocratic government in Utah for the right of free people.) "Mar. 3, 1874. . . . The committee on territories was not called." "Mar. 4, 1874. The committee on territories was called this morning. The following extract from the Congressional Record describes the manner in which the bill was disposed of. . . . The rule under which this was sent to the committee of the whole is a new one, adopted since we met. To my mind the hand of the Lord is plainly apparent in all this. By what seemingly simple and insignificant means the Lord brings to pass his marvelous designs! Who can see it? Not the wicked, for they deny his power and give all the glory to man. Members said to me, 'How well you have managed this!' God is not thought of." "Mar. 10, 1874. Maxwell is pushing the case, and is anxious to have the committee on elections set a time for the hearing of the case [to expel]. Looking at the matter as men view such things, it would seem as though, with the prejudice existing on the subject of Mormonism, he would be able to give me trouble. But my trust is in the Lord. He sent me here; he knows my position; he has always been my friend and I rely upon him now." It is hard for younger people, whose memories do not reach back into those days of hostility, to realize the situation of the Later-day Saints in the national scene prior to 1890. After the failure of the Mc- KeeMcKee bill, the Poland bill, with some of its harsh features was brought before Congress. Let us again turn to Delegate Cannon's journal. "June 2, 1874. This morning Poland got the floor for his bill and was determined to put it through under the previous question. I saw Speaker [James G.] Blaine and asked him about getting more time. He could do nothing only as P. permitted unless the House voted down the previous question. He urged me to see Poland. I did so. He said he would speak a few minutes, then move the previous question and give me three quarters of an hour and he would use the remainder of the time. (See Record for proceedings) Judge Crounse and Mr. Potter both wished to speak. It was a bold thing to speak in favor of us. While Crounse was speaking some were swearing at him. Hawley of Illinois was particularly bitter. He sat within my hearing of his remarks. McKee said if he could he would have every Mormon. The subject of Mormonism arouses madness in some men when mentioned as the waving of a red flag does in a wild bull. Jasper D. Ward: let him be remembered, O God. ... "Our enemies are jubilant. My trust is still in the Lord. He has promised to take care of us and to redeem Zion." "June 3, 1874. The opinion seems general that I shall be expelled. Mr. Pike asked me what I should think if I were expelled. I replied I would think it all right. God had this matter imderunder his control and I felt calm and unconcerned. I talked to him till my own eyes filled with tears and his too. The spirit rested upon him and he talked very strongly setting forth legal reasons in favor of my side of the case. I got a hint today that Mr,. Blaine did not feel friendly to us, and rather favored harsh measures." "June 4, 1874. Mr. Fitch told me as a great secret that Grant had promised if the bill did not pass he would call an extra session. He thought without doubt I would be expelled. His talk was very discouraging for us. I cannot get concerned. I feel very calm and devoid of fear. . . . The Lord has not revealed to me (or if he has I have failed to comprehend it) that these events shall occur, yet if I trust my outer senses they would seem inevitable." "June 19, 1874. ... I called on Senator Frelinghuysen this morning. ... I said I hoped he would see reasons not to report. He replied with some asperity that that would be an act of perfidy; that Utah should obey the same laws as the rest of the Union. ... I replied very gently. I was in no mood to quarrel or to strike back in the spirit which he had; but my usual combativeness which such language and manner arouse did not manifest itself. ... I spoke of the motives which actuate our enemies. He was disposed to get angry at that, because he said that his motives were good. I told him that if I viewed him as prompted by motives which I knew others to be possessed of, I should not think of calling upon him. Before I got through talking to him my feelings almost overcame me. He noticed it and he was touched by it. He said it was a painful duty which he had to perform and he wished he did not have it to do. Before we got through he was much softened, and when I attempted to go he stopped me. As it terminated, I was glad I called upon him." The first Poland bill was withdrawn and a second more moderate measure was introduced. This modified by amendments was passed and became law late in June. The matter of expulsion was let ride for the time being and adjournment taken. The months between the adjournment and reconvening of Congress early in December were always very busy times. Elder Cannon back in Utah took up his labors in the Church, traveled through the settlements as directed, and looked after the Juvenile Instructor and other business matters and the needs of his growing family. Back in Washington the matter of expulsion continued, but did not succeed^'. All this time the man from Utah was making friends and pleading against special legislation. He speaks of meeting General James A. Garfield on the train as they rode from Philadelphia to "Washington in January, 1875. They were acquainted, as the General was also a member of the House. The apostle had an "interesting conversation with him on our views and doctrines." A practice, not now possible in the House but still retained in the Senate, that of filibustering, was rather frequently used. The Utah delegate had no vote but records that on January 29, 1875, the "House had been in continuous session 46 hours and 25 minutes, during which 75 roll calls were made, involving the calling of upwards of 50,000 names." And less than a month later he enters. "The Democrats succeeding in filibustering all night, the Republicans not having of their own numbers a quorum of the House were unable to check them. There was bad leadership on the part of Gen, Butler. ... I was reminded of what the Swedish Chancellor Oxenstjerne said to his son when he took him to see the Swedish parliament: 'Behold, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed.' " During the summer of 1875, back in Utah Elder Cannon was occupied with the brethren in preaching the United Order to the Saints. Under date of August 24, at Coalville, he writes in his journal: "We read the rules and catechized the leading men who wished to be baptized and they expressed their determination to keep the commandments of God before the congregation. A suitable spot having been found for baptism I entered the water and baptized 17 of them. Bro's Taylor and Woodruff confirmed them." And on the last day of the same month he writes: "Met according to appointment at the Old Tabernacle with the brethren who had joined the United Order [in a meeting] that had been got up by the President and their families. President Young and Elder Taylor spoke with great plainness and I was called upon to read the articles of the Order. The president gave those covenanted to abide by the rules the privilege of being baptized. In the afternoon I baptized 20 in the font." The following Sunday, President Young called on Elder Cannon to read at the obsequies of President George A. Smith chapters from the Bible, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants designated by President Smith before his death. There were some 12,000 people in the Tabernacle. He speaks of what a severe labor it was to make such a large audience hear. Later that season occurred the visit of President Ulysses S. Grant to the Territory. On Sunday, Oct. 3, 1875, the Chief Executive was met at Ogden by President Young and party, who were introduced to him by Delegate Cannon. On the run to Salt Lake City, President Young conversed with Mrs. Grant and President Grant stood with the Utah delegate and Gov. Emery on the platform where he could obtain a better view of the countryside. He talked with Elder Cannon about the people and their industries. As he rode that Sabbath afternoon from the depot to the hotel the streets were lined with Sunday school children behind whom stood the parents and others. They gave the nation's chief a most hearty welcome. President Grant was touched, asked whose children they were, was told they were Mormon children and muttered that he had been deceived. |
George Q. Cannon
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Interview with Samuel J. Tilden” Instructor. May 1945. pg. 196-199, 203.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON Interview with Samuel J. Tilden After a visit in the spring of 1876 to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia where it "had been a hurry-scurry ... a complete jam," Delegate Cannon wrote in his journal: "This is the first time I ever was glad to start for Washington." What an illuminating comment! The life of this man from Utah was highly eventful, brought him in contact with the foremost men of his time, made him one of the best-known characters in the nation's capital, yet nevertheless it was full of strain and anxiety, caused by constant and bitter opposition. The people of Utah were most unpopular; and fighting off any special legislation to weaken the Church to which most of them belonged occupied a large part of the Delegate's time. We of the present generation who live in Utah should be thankful for statehood because the effort to obtain it was long and disappointing. The Mormons had been in Salt Lake Valley some seven months when the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, making this United States territory. In March, 1949, a constitutional convention was held and the state of Deseret planned. Its boundaries ran south to Old Mexico and west to the Pacific and consisted of "that portion of Upper California lying east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains." In March, 1856 the effort was repeated for a smaller area. In 1862 the attempt was made again, and George Q. Cannon was named as one of the senators of the proposed state. You may remember that he came from England to help present the memorial to Congress. In February, 1872, when the people began to feel the weight not only of carpet-bag government but of adverse congressional legislation, the fourth effort was made, and again George Q. Cannon helped present the cause at Washington. Three more constitutional conventions were held, the last of which, in 1895, was successful. But from time to time Delegate Cannon sought opportunity to present the case before committees. Statehood in place of territorial government was so greatly desired that he spared no effort to advance the plan of making Utah one of the sovereign members of the commonwealth. On March 21, 1876, he records in his journal: "Met with Com. on Territories of the House and made my argument before them in favor of the admission of Utah as a State. . . , They listened attentively and I thought were impressed with my reasons. I occupied about 45 minutes. Some of them requested me to publish my arguments. I was told afterwards by members to whom members of the com. had talked that I had make a very strong and able argument. I wish it was so strong that . they could not resist it and they would give us our rights." In 1874 the opposing candidate as territorial delegate to Congress was Robert N. Baskin. As General Maxwell had done two years before, Mr. Baskin went to "Washington to try to unseat his rival. This was not only annoying and time-consuming but was costly as well. Delegate Cannon was compelled to employ an attorney to whom he paid $1,000. Upon making settlement with him, he writes in his journal: "Oh, these lawyers' fees, how burdensome they are!" On Feb. 4, 1876, he writes: "Met at 10 o'clock this morning at the room of the com. on Elections to have the evidence in the contest case, Baskin against Cannon, prepared for the printer. Baskin was there. The clerk, Mr. Cochrane, prepared the MSS. Baskin's chief labor has been to show that I am not a properly naturalized citizen." On April 13, 1876, he comments: "At the House today and evening. Our enemies have been very busy sowing their poison these few days back in the minds of members. Baskin is bad enough, but when reinforced by McKean [James B. Mc- Kean, former justice of the territorial supreme court] and Black [George A. Black, former territorial secretary] the combination for evil is as strong as wickedness can make it. McKean being an old member had acquaintances and through these he made others. If they could have their way, our history would soon be written. But they are like men beating the wind. The things they do to injure us, are overruled for our good." The last years of President Ulysses S. Grant's administration were troubled ones. Corruption existed in high places and political conditions became more strained than they had been since before the Civil war. The scandals connected with the credit mobilier, the stock company which handled the securities of the Union Pacific Railroad, destroyed the reputations of a number of prominent men, brought about impeachment proceedings against some members of Congress and greatly disturbed others. In the war department which the president was thought to be using for political purposes in some of the Southern States, bribery reached up to the very head. On March 2, 1876, Delegate Cannon records in his journal: "Today the House has been agitated with the news of Gen. Belknap, the Secretary of War's dishonesty in accepting bribes from Post Sutlers . . . An air of sadness was everywhere visible and the Republicans were especially downcast. It is a terrible blow for that party. The rumor was all over the House that Belknap had shot himself. It was not true. The report of the Com. was listened to with intense silence. The scene was a dramatic one." And two days later he mentions conditions in the Democratic party: *Tn the evening attended the Democratic caucus at the House of Rep's. . . . The question was the financial question. The committee appointed to draft a bill, 13 in number, had divided. . . . Speeches were made by a number. . . . But this party appears to be hopelessly divided upon this question. . . . Union has fled and there is not influence apparently to restore it." One of the great political conflicts was brewing during the remainder of 1876. The Republican party had held power since 1861, but since the enfranchisement of the men of the South, the Democratic party had been growing back toward its former strength. President Grant had wanted to be given a third term but could not obtain the nomination, which went to Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio. The Democrats nominated Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York. The November election was not decisive. It appeared that Tilden had won, although there was a dispute from three states, Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana, from which two sets of certificates were sent to Washington. The Republicans needed those three states, or they would lose the election. It was necessary to appoint an electoral commission, which the constitution did not provide for to settle the disputed cases. This consisted of seven Democrats, and seven Republicans chosen from both houses of Congress and the supreme court, and a fifteenth man agreed on by both sides. The feeling was intense and some feared another civil war. The vote to appoint the committee was the critical moment when, with the consent of both candidates, reason prevailed. Delegate Cannon was deeply interested. He wrote: "January 26, 1877, ... At 4 o'clock Mr. Payne called the previous question, which was sustained, and at 5 amid great excitement and profound stillness the bill was put upon its passage. I never heard roll call in the House in such silence. Every word was heard as distinctly as if the room were filled with statues instead of human beings. Every member present answered to his name. . . . The Speaker also recorded his vote in its favor. It was the largest vote in the aggregate ever polled in the House. There were altogether 277 votes, lacking only 15 of the full House. 191 were for the bill and 86 against it." It was the belief and hope in Utah that Governor Tilden had won the election and would be seated in March. President Grant had been entirely unfair to the Mormon people, listening as he did to the Reverend Newman and Vice-president Colfax, both of whom were extremely bitter. The Church felt Hayes would probably follow in Grant's footsteps. Delegate Cannon was asked by President Young to see Governor Tilden. That required a trip to New York. This interesting event is given in the words of the Utah delegate. "January 2, 1877, I called at Gov. Tilden's residence and found him at home. Col. Pelton took me to the breakfast room and introduced me to his mother and Governor. . . The Governor expressed great pleasure at seeing me, and we had a very free talk about Utah Territory. I told him that my constituents felt that he was the legally elected President of the United States and at their request and that of President Young I had sought his acquaintance; that we had been suffering from tyranny for nearly eight years, that we had been treated with the greatest insolence, and our wishes respecting those who were sent into our midst as officials had been utterly disregarded as much so as if we were a conquered people instead of citizens of the United States . . . told him of our improvements, what we had done, our manufactures, the condition of the Territory, etc. . . . My overcoat, which was made of homemade cloth, I showed him as being made out of Utah wool, dyed and spun in Utah and made into a coat there. I also had with me a handkerchief made out of Utah silk which I showed him. I told him that we were lightly taxed, well governed and were out of debt—did not owe a dollar of public debt. . . . He . . . made inquiries about Pres't Young and affairs in the Territory, seemed to comprehend that we had been treated a good deal as the South had been, that advantage had been taken of our unpopularity to abuse us, and promised that when inaugurated he would pay respect to our petition and wishes and claims. . . . He seems confident that he will be inaugurated, talks very hopefully about affairs. He is an old looking man and the first impression that he would make on a visitor would be that he was feeble. He is a small, spare man; the lid of his left eye droops. But it is only when you hear him converse that you get an idea of his power. He has undoubtedly great grasp of mind and is a man of very strong will." Some days earlier, Dec. 7, 1876, Delegate Cannon had written of an interesting scene that gives an intimate view of the feelings of those times. "A caucus of the Democratic members was held on the propriety of introducing a resolution to examine into Pres't Grant's interference through the military in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. It was finally decided not to introduce the resolution at present. Southern men evinced their determination to do nothing that could be construed into an attempt on their part to impeach Pres't Grant. They argued that if anything of this kind were done it would arouse the loyal sentiment of the North. ... with the idea that the Confederate House of Representatives was determined to destroy the 'Savior of his country,' who had beaten them so signally on the battlefield." The final legislative act to this great controversy came just in time for the new president to be inaugurated on the legal day, March 5th. (March 4th fell on Sunday). On March 1, 1877, the journal tells the story. "After some filibustering discussion was commenced, and that was finally disposed of but amid great excitement at times. The Senate was notified and a great many Democrats withdrew from the floor determined to take no part in the proceedings, nor to grace the scene by their presence. After Wisconsin's vote was announced the Presiding Officer requested the tellers to as certain the result and hand it to him. He then declared that 38 states having voted and there were 369 electoral votes, of which 185 were necessary to an election; that Rutherford B. Hayes had received 185 votes and Samuel J. Tilden 184 votes for President." |
George Q. Cannon
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Relations With Brigham Young.” Instructor. June 1945. pg. 257-260.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON Relations With Brigham Young With the inauguration of President Rutherford B. Hayes, Congress adjourned and Delegate Cannon returned home. A month later, April, 1877, he was in St. George, doing work in the new temple. Under date of the 10th he writes in his journal: "Went to the temple this morning and received an endowment for my father, George Cannon. This is a blessed privilege which I desire to appreciate. It seemed that my father was near to me while going through, and I was peculiarly affected. There was a holy influence plainly felt." And on the following day he wrote: "This morning went to the temple and received an endowment for my grandfather, George Cannon. There was an holy influence felt by me, as on yesterday, that the dead for whom I officiated were nigh me." During the following two months, within 29 days, three sons were born to him. His family was increasing. With the new arrivals his children numbered 23, all but five of whom were living. Back in "the City" President Young directed that two of his sons with Elder Cannon, whom he desired to act as chairman of the group, take over the Deseret News, This was agreeable to Brigham Young Jr., but not to John W., who was then first counselor in the First Presidency. Elder Cannon urged President Young to put his name second, but the President refused, saying "he did not want John W., to go in there and 'fly balloons'." On the first of August George Q. Cannon and Brigham Young, Jr., appeared as editors and publishers of the paper. The days of the great pioneer leader were now numbered. For 33 years he had, since the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, been the leader of the people. A man of great courage, strong personality, almost unerring foresight and childlike faith in the divinity of the work of which he was a part, he had marked his impress not only on the Church but upon the colonization of America west of the Mississippi. Of the events preceding his death and immediately afterward Elder Cannon writes: "On Thursday, the 23rd of August, I felt much impressed to go up to the office of President Young and see him. I was very unwell and feeble and my family thought I ought not to go out. . . . "When the President saw me enter he said: 'Is this not imprudent, George, you coming out when you are so sick?' I replied that I felt impressed to come up and pay my respects to him. ... I shook him by the hand and was startled at the heat of his hand (mine was feverish) and inquired how his health was. He replied that he felt very well; he certainly looked well; and my fears were quieted. . . . The next day hearing of his illness, I went up to see him. I found him quite sick, but lively. The next day, Saturday, I went up again. On Sunday I was sent for to administer to him. On Monday I spent as much time as I was able with him on account of my own condition and upon leaving in the evening to get a little sleep, I felt that his sickness was critical, though the thought that he would die I could not entertain. About 4 o'clock on Tuesday morning I was sent for. I found him in a bad condition. I did not leave him from that time until he was laid out for burial. I was at his bedside and in the bedroom constantly except when I stepped out to eat, until he expired. He ceased to breathe at 4 p. m., on Wednesday [August ' 29, 1877] and this was so gradual as to be almost imperceptible even to those who were nearest to him. I stood close to his head during his last moments in company with Bros. Wells and John W. Young. "To describe my feelings upon the death of this man of God, whom I loved so much and who had always treated me with such kindness and affection is impossible. ... I have endeavored to appreciate these manifestations of affection and love and now that he has gone I feel exceedingly thankful that I had these up to the last— that nothing occurred to alienate his feelings from me. On my part, he was in my eyes as perfect a man as I ever knew. I never desired to see his faults: I closed my eyes to them. To me he was a prophet of God, the head of the dispensation on the earth, holding the keys under the Prophet Joseph, and in my mind there clustered about him, holding this position, everything holy and sacred and to be revered. "Some, I am satisfied, now as I write this in Washington, Jan. 17, 1878, have thought that I carried this feeling too far; but I know this, that in revering him as the prophet of the Lord, in obeying him, in being governed by his counsel, in bearing testimony to his teachings and his character I have been blessed of the Lord, peace has been in my heart, light has rested upon me, and the Lord has borne witness to me that my course was pleasing to him. "Now that Brother Brigham has gone I rejoice in this. I never criticized or found fault with his conduct, his counsel or his teachings at any time in my heart, much less in my words or actions. This is a pleasure to me now. The thought that ever was with me was: If I criticize or find fault with or judge Brother Brigham, how far shall I go; if I commence, where shall I stop? I dared not to trust myself in such a course. I know that apostacy frequently resulted from the indulgence of the spirit of criticizing and fault finding. Others, of greater strength, wisdom and experience than myself, might do many things and escape evil consequences which I dare not do. "Some of my brethren, as I have learned since the death of President Brigham Young, did have feelings concerning his course. They did not approve of it, and felt oppressed, and yet they dare not exhibit their feelings to him, he ruled with so strong and stiff a hand, and they felt that it would be of no use. In a few words, the feeling seems to be that he transcended the bounds of the authority which he legitimately held. I have been greatly surprised to find so much dissatisfaction in such quarters. It is felt that the funds of the Church have been used with a freedom not warranted by the authority which he held, and some even feel that in the promulgation of doctrine he took liberties beyond those to which he was legitimately entitled. I shall have more to say upon these points hereafter. "I got Bro. Rumell, assisted by Dr's Benedict and Geo. Ottinger to take a cast of President Young's face and hand and the necessary measurements of the head, body and limbs, so that if it were ever deemed proper to have either a bust or statue these might be used instead of trusting to memory, guess work or taste." President Young named as executors of his will George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jun., and Albert Carrington. This honor proved to be a very burdensome one. "He [President Young] and I had conversations a number of times about his property. He was desirous to leave a portion to the Church, but the great difficulty that constantly presented itself to him was the risk of it escheating to the government. On one occasion he said to me that he would like to turn his property into the Church and I remarked that. I thought he had done sufficient for the Church. I was then under the impression which I entertained until some time after his death that the Church was owing him. Familiar as I was with him and his business I had never seen his account with the Church and had not heard how he stood. . . . When therefore he spoke about turning his property into the Church I remarked that ... if he were to take his property which he did not wish to leave to his family and establish colleges and bestow his name they would live and his memory would be kept alive in the minds of the people. They would be an ever present living evidence of his care and thought for the Saints. What influence my remarks had upon him I cannot say. He did before his death take steps to endow institutions of learning. I drew up the charter of one—the Brigham Young Academy at Provo. "I am satisfied that the present will was his own mind and left his estate as he wished it, but after it was drawn up he frequently expressed the wish that he could leave his property some way to the Church and had a law of Congress not threatened the Church with the confiscation of all over $50,- 000 I have no doubt that he would have left it a considerable portion of his estate. Knowing these facts and in justice to his memory to clear it from all possible reproach either in or out of the Church and in justice to myself I have felt that I ought to take the steps that I have in settling with the Church and I feel that when he and I meet he will approve of what I have done." When delegate Cannon left for Washington for the opening of Congress in the fall he wrote in his journal: "Nov. 18, 1878, ... In leaving home I had the satisfaction of knowing that all the legatees excepting one (Nabbie Young Clawson) had been settled with and they have signed releases; all the debts, excepting one or two trifling amounts have been paid and everything closed up as far as possible." However, that did not settle the Brigham Young estate matter. It was to be opened up later with very unpleasant results to the executors. |
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Has a Most Interesting Financial Transaction.” Instructor. July 1945. pg. 308-311.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON Has a Most Interesting Financial Transaction The difficulties arising from the settlement of the estate of President Young led to an important decision on the part of George Q. Cannon, one of the three executors of the late president's will. As has been stated before, Elder Cannon had built for himself on his South Temple Street property a home of similar style and proportions to the Gardo House owned by the president. This had been done with the encouragement of the great pioneer builder, who de sired to see the city he had founded in the desert a place of beautiful homes. But though this structure could be divided into apartments for his wives and their families, it was not destined to become their permanent home. Under date of April 8, 1878, George Q. Cannon writes in his journal: "For some time I have been talking of letting the Church have ray house in the city. Before President Young's death I offered it to him more than once, but he said he wanted me to keep it and occupy it. After his death I felt strongly Impressed to let the Church have it on some terms. I offered it to them if they would credit me with all I had ever drawn upon any terms they named. I felt that it was too large and conspicuous a house for me to occupy under the circumstances, especially as Pres. Taylor's houses were all small and insignificant. I built by the direction and approval of the President and while he lived I did not feel as I have done since his death. "All these causes, combined, prompted me to take the course I did. I felt that Pres. Taylor ought to occupy it but the brethren did not feel to accept it from me, they thinking I ought to keep it. At one of our counsels Pres. Taylor was authorized to take the house as I offered it free of rent, taking it as a place of residence for himself, the Church paying for the fitting up, till some more suitable place or other place could be provided. This he had not done. "When I made up my mind to transfer the property of the Presi dent [Brigham Young] to meet his accounts, I also made up my mind that I could not possibly hold my property while there was an account of mine on the books, While Bro. George A. [Smith] was trustee-entrust, there was a general settling of the accounts of the various brethren. I had been devoting my whole time for several years to the President's work, acting as his secretary, etc. After I ceased to be his secretary I still continued to do a great deal at his office. On January 30, 1873, my account was balanced, at $27,488.67 on account of services rendered. [Note: Elder Cannon in 1873 had been more than twelve years an apostle devoting practically all his time to the Church, and the amount drawn was largely in tithing office script.] This was the first credit I received for services. From that time until the present [1878] I have drawn $12,676.18, which was to aid me in building. The Twelve have credited me since the President's death, on the 6th of October, 1877, with $6,375 for services rendered, which makes a total of $33,863.67 that I have been credited for service rendered. I had also paid $250.00 to my own credit which left a balance against me of $6,051. “I have been desirous to find myself in a position where I could restore to the Church all I had ever drawn from it for services, so that my labors might be gratuitous. I have paid tolerably heavy tithing and I have felt that if I could square up these credits I should be grateful. Taking the credits and the indebtedness together amounted to $39,914.85. In settling up the president's acct. on the evening of the 10th, I offered my house to Pres. Taylor and the Twelve and told them that under no circumstances now could I continue to occupy it. If I were to do so I should expose myself to animadversions on the part of the heirs and others, who might say that while the President lived I was willing to profit by his goodness, and now that he was gone I was equally willing to avail myself of the leniency of the Twelve. I could not occupy such a position. I wanted to square off everything I have received so that I could stand in an unassailable position, showing I had done as much and more to deal with the Church for myself than I had as executor done in President Young's case. "The brethren wanted to know what I asked for my place. I told them I had accounts showing that I had spent upwards of $45,000 upon it without mentioning money that I had spent besides which was a considerable amount. The great bulk was my account with the Church which was for material for my house. This was paid to me at tithing office prices which were very high. I would be perfectly satisfied with any decision they reached in the matter. "They talked it over, Bro. Taylor and Bro. Erastus Snow particularly, and fixed upon $60,000. Bro. Woodruff had mentioned $75,000, but I had protested that was too much. Bro. Taylor said they would give me the privilege of using the house, and if I saw my way clear to buy it back, he would be glad to have me do so. I said if they would give me that amount I would give $5,000 to some educational establishment, and so the matter was arranged in that way, $39,914.85 was placed as an offset to the amounts I had drawn, which squared my account without any credit for services rendered, and the balance was placed to my credit. "I feel greatly relieved at having been able to make this disposition of the affair. Ever since the President's death I have seen the steps which were taken in regard to his accounts, and I have felt that I could not have my accounts stand as they had. Several of the Twelve have not drawn anything of any consequence for years, and I desired to occupy as strong and favorable a position in this respect as any man in the Church, so that whatever time and labor I had bestowed upon public affairs I could feel that I had done without pay, and I think all who know my life will concede that I have been second to none in spending my time for the public." This action of Elder Cannon in disposing of his city house had a deep influence on his family life. His children were not to be brought up in city environment. Some years previously he had taken, on a debt, a large tract of land lying along the east bank of the Jordan River, three miles southwest of the Temple block and had made some improvements there. He now decided to make this his home and build houses to accommodate his growing family. This was about as poor a piece of land for farming as lay in the whole valley. It was marshy, subject to flooding in the spring, covered generally with salt grass, and bare in spots which glistened with alkali. On it was an old bed of the river which was filled with water and was called the slough. The lay of the land, low, flat and in some parts traversed by old channels, made irrigation and drainage almost impossible. It was plagued with mosquitoes. Moreover, George Q. Cannon was not a farmer. He was born and brought up in Liverpool, worked in a printer's shop in Nauvoo, and after coming to the Valley had made his home and had his occupation in the city when not absent on missions. He found no time to tramp across fields to see how crops were growing nor don old clothes and relax with his live stock in corrals or barns, The roads to the city where he traveled every day including Sunday, were dusty in summer and unbelievably bad in winter, the mud being in spots almost up to the hubs of his buggy. But this barren land along the river had one great attraction for him—perhaps two. One was its isolation. Neighbors were distant and few. It gave him the opportunity to create the environment for his children. He could arrange for their education according to his own ideas and establish standards of thought and conduct with comparatively small influence from the outside. His work in "Washington and in the Church took him away from home a great deal anil probably no man every felt the responsibility of rearing children in faith and good works more than he. The second attraction may be only imaginary. To this vital man, hard undertakings were congenial. He never sought the easy way of living for himself and did not wish it for his children. He loved to turn hopeless situations into desirable ones. Certainly the "farm" on the river offered plenty of hardship and a sufficient challenge. Having settled his account, he returned to Washington. Two entries from his journal give an insight into his spiritual and his social situation. On January 12, 1879, is this entry: "I have been careful to pray according to the Order since my arrival this time. Faith and works are needed. The Lord has greatly blessed me. He has been near to me. His Spirit has rested powerfully upon me and I have been filled with a joy and peace to overflowing. I have felt His angels near to me. Oh, praise the Lord, glory be to Him forever! How great his kindness has been to me!" And on April 21, 1879, he writes: "Commenced to board at the Riggs House this morning. It is the best place I know of in town as a hotel, and I select It not for the table but for the people one meets there. . . . I am known as the husband of four wives. I desire people to become familiarized with the fact that a this and last session, I have been man can have four wives and not be a monster. In Washington, during treated with marked respect; and, in fact, this has generally been the case since I came here first. The Lord has given me favor in the eyes of the people." Two other entries of this period are interesting. On Mar. 5, 1879, and the following day are the following: "Showing the brethren various places of interest. Took them to Corcoran Art Gallery. Spent the evening in conversing about our principles." And "Spent the day as yesterday, and the evening at the skating rink. The floor was black and very smooth, made of asphaltum. The skates were on rollers, and those accustomed to them glided along swiftly and gracefully. Bros. [Joseph L.] Rawlins and Martineau tried them on and furnished us amusement to watch their awkward movements. "I introduced the brethren to President Hayes this morning. He thought from our appearance that our country must be a healthy one." And on April 24, 1879, he gives a scene that was not uncommon in Congress. The man referred to was one of the noted speakers of that day. "The discussion on the appropriation bill still continued. In the senate Mr. [Roscoe] Conklin spoke for three hours. He, had a crowded audience and the speech was a great partisan effort. I do not admire his style; it is stilted, affected and full of mannerisms, altogether too theatrical to suit me. But he has great abilities with all his vanity." |
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, A Capricious Judge Gives Him a Prison Sentence.” Instructor. August 1945. pg. 348-351.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON A Capricious Judge Gives Him a Prison Sentence The interesting transaction by which the Church acquired, at a price set by the brethren, the city home of George Q. Cannon, called the "big house," was critical in his life. The consideration was largely the amounts he had drawn during the eighteen years of his apostleship, and he was happy to do this for the Church he loved. The transaction made it necessary to decide on new homes for his wives and children, and the decision was an important one. It has been stated earlier that he possessed a stretch of poor land along the Jordan River three miles from Temple Square. He now desired to establish his family there. Elizabeth and his other wives did not relish the idea. The isolation and difficulties were not to their liking. It is interesting how he met this situation as shown in a letter to Eliza, his third wife, written from Washington under date of April 18, 1878: "As I told you, I sold my house in the city. The principal part of what I am to receive for it is to be applied on my account for what I drew while I worked for the President and the Church. This enables me to stand clear of all obligations, and my services to the Church have been rendered without pay from it. I feel very glad at having been able to make this arrangement. The question now arises where shall we build and in what form. "I want if possible to gratify your wishes as well as the wishes of all my family. I hope we will be united in our views upon this point. What I would like is to build not far from where the present farm house is, so as to have the family together, and the children where they can associate together and where I can have a school. That is my wish. You know my ideas about the kind of house I would like you to occupy, but upon this point I do not wish to be strenuous. "I would very much like to have Sarah Jane and you and Martha get together and take this matter up, and decide upon what you think is best, seeking the counsel and aid of the Spirit of the Lord. If you feel unitedly that you would prefer having your houses separate and not too far apart, I will endeavor to comply with your wish. If on the other hand you would like them connected and yet separate, all right. If you would like them to be made one building each to have her separate apartments for herself and children, all right. . . . "You expressed a wish to have a place in the city. Unless there is some stronger reason than I heard you advance for this, I think you will find living near each other more advantageous, but I do not wish to bring any pressure to bear upon you, to force a compliance with what I consider best. I will do as I said I would, that if you insisted on having a place in the city I should do my best to procure it for you." The wives evidently voted each to have her own house on the "farm" because soon on the low, flat, treeless, salt grass pasture south of the farmhouse rose three two-story houses, spaced at a convenient distance apart. They were located together in this lonely spot in harmony with the persuasive husband's desire. That farm, which formed the residence of George Q. Cannon and his family for the remainder of his life, supplies one of the intriguing stories of the Mormon social system of that period. With the distribution of the estate of President Brigham Young and the signatures of the heirs to agreements regarding the settlement made by the executors and approved by the court, it appeared that the end of this difficult matter had been reached. This was not the case. Before the executors were discharged and their bonds cancelled, one of the heirs, a daughter who had married away from Utah, commenced suit which six others of the heirs joined and the unfriendly district court took the matter up. The essence of the suit was the claim that the executors had transferred to President John Taylor and others for the Church certain property that should have been divided among the heirs. Judge Boreman appointed receivers and ordered all property of the estate turned over to them. This was done. President Taylor answered through his attorneys, as did the executors, George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young Jun. and Albert Carrington, that the division had been made properly and that the heirs had received all that was due them. Brigham Young Jun. was of course one of the heirs and many of his brothers and sisters disapproved strongly of the litigation. On the refusal of the executors to give a bond that they would return the property already distributed. Judge Boreman adjudged them in contempt of court. This meant imprisonment unless they purged themselves of the contempt. At this point let us quote from the journal of George Q. Cannon: "July 31, 1879. Efforts were being made by our attorneys to get us relieved from imprisonment by giving bonds. Sutherland and McBride and Tilford and Hagan, the plaintiff's lawyers, are willing to take a bond from us of $150,000, the condition of which is that if at the final trial and decision of the case that amount or any less amount be adjudged against us, we shall pay it. Our attorneys urge us to give this bond and avoid going to prison. Their arguments are plausible. They almost prove that nothing can be gained by doing so; but that our better course is to purge ourselves from contempt. Bro. Carrington is convinced by their arguments and is in favor of our giving these bonds. To my mind it is as plain as the light of day that I shall not ask any of my brethren to go on this bond. I shall go to prison rather than do this. We have already given bonds as executors for $100,000 each. All that we have in the world is pledged on these bonds. If we give a new bond of $150,000 we drag more of our brethren into trouble should the courts decide against us. In that event we should be stripped ourselves and jeopardize them." "Friday, Aug. 1st. went to court, I told the lawyers we were ready to submit to the order of the court and go to prison. They still urged us to try and get bonds. Bro's Moses Thatcher, L. Snow, C. C. Rich and E. Snow offered to do all in their power and risk their property to keep us out of prison; but I told them that while I appreciated their kindness and felt under deep obligations to them, I would not consent to their risking their property in that way." "On Thursday, the 7th of Aug. Hon. H. B. Wright of Penn., Dickie of Ohio, O'Connor of S. C, Martin of N. C, Sapp of Iowa, members of the U. S. House of Representatives, and Col. Flanagan, the Ass't Sergeant-at-Arms with the com. and Miss Wright, Mrs. Sapp, her son and her sister and Mrs. F. Ward, accompanied by Pres. Taylor, Mayor Little and the City Council came out to see and pay their respects to me. I did not expect it, but I accepted it as a mark of respect and esteem, especially as the Tribune and the Ring would do all in their power to blacken them for coming to the penitentiary to visit us. They expressed very kind feelings and pronounced the decision which sent us here an outrageous one. Some of the ladies were very outspoken—Miss Wright and Mrs. Ward especially—and said to me they were glad that we had the courage to resist a tyrannical order and to come to prison rather than submit to it. They were bitterly assailed by the Tribune for this visit: but they did not appear to mind it." "Sunday, Aug. 10th. The prisoners asked the warden. Gen. Butler, to invite me to preach to them. I thought it might involve him in trouble to do so, and therefore felt inclined to decline. But I had never declined an invitation to speak to the people, and I concluded I would not at this time. Gen. Butler gave his consent for the choir of the Ward to come up and all the people. The prisoners arranged the seats under the shadow of the wall. I addressed them. Bro. Edwd. Stevenson made the opening prayer and Bro. Brigham Young the closing prayer. Good attention was paid by all." "Tuesday, August 12, 1879. Gov. Emery with Marshal Shaughnessy called upon us today. The Governor took me aside to talk privately with me. He expressed himself as being astonished at Boreman's decision. He thought it a great outrage, and said that the respectable non-Mormons shared in this feeling." "Aug. 28, 1879. Bro. C. H. Wilcken drove out and breakfasted with us. He took us and Gen. Butler, the warden, into the city in a carriage. The court came into the court room at 10:45 a.m. and said they would give their decision at 2 p. m. They came in about 3 p. m. and Chief Justice Hunter read the following decision: . . . There had been strong pressure brought to bear to aid Boreman and to have his decision sustained. I received many congratulations and Judge Harkness said that this was better than giving bonds and going out of the back door. I was gratified at this, for the lawyers thought we ought to give bonds and not go to prison. I thought differently. The air of liberty is sweet. My family were delighted." Freedom from an unjust imprisonment did not close the matter. Litigation went on until President Taylor, in order to stop the unseemly episode, compromised the dispute by giving to claimants without conceding their right to it, property valued at $75,000. This brought the trouble to an end, the executors were discharged. They chose to take the fee named in the will rather than the higher one prescribed by law, and the heirs in many cases proceeded, as heirs are wont to do, to dissipate their patrimony, the accumulation of the sagacious Brigham Young. |
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, George Q. Cannon Chosen as One of the First Presidency.” Instructor. September 1945. pg. 410-415.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON George Q. Cannon Chosen as One of the First Presidency Three years after the death of President Brigham Young, the Council of the Twelve, with John Taylor at its head was still directing the affairs of the Church. But at the fall conference of 1880 President Taylor laid before his associates the matter of completing the organization. He explained that there was one more quorum required before the Church could function as a perfect body. That was the First Presidency. Long and thoughtful discussions took place over the matter. Some of the apostles were not in favor of a change. These argued that all the members of the Council were not present, but others felt that delaying the matter might not bring a time when all would be together. Those who were opposed to making the change said that the people were happy under the rule of the apostles. Also the suggestion was made that when action was taken, a younger man might be chosen to carry the heavy burden of the President. President Taylor was not urgent. He repeated that he brought the matter to their attention for their consideration and made plain the principle involved. George Q. Cannon was one of the Twelve who felt that there should be no further delay, but it is interesting to note that Orson Pratt was the most vigorous advocate and that he was equally desirous that John Taylor be made President. In all the discussion there was a spirit of great kindness manifested toward the leader of the Twelve, and gradually the objections were withdrawn and unanimous feeling prevailed. Under the date of Oct. 8, 1880, Elder Cannon records the following: "Elder Woodruff's motion [that John Taylor be the first president f of the Church] was then called for and carried unanimously. Pres. Taylor said he was prepared to name his counselors and being requested to do so, named me as his first and Jos. F. Smith as his second. The mention of my name was a great surprise to me. As I had been nominated again for congress and would be absent this winter and probably half at least of the next two years, I had felt free in expressing my feelings upon the subject of the first presidency and in favor of it, not thinking for a moment that my name would be mentioned for this position and feeling satisfied that no one could suspect me under the circumstances of having any personal ambition in connection with this matter. I could scarcely express my feelings. Before the names of the counselors were called I had a presentiment that my name would be mentioned and I trembled all over. My nerves twitched all over my body and I could scarcely control myself. When my name was mentioned I rose to my feet and begged of the brethren to excuse me from filling that position. I told them that I would much rather remain in the quorum of the Twelve. I could think of at least 12 or 13 men who could fill that position in my opinion better than I could. My agitation was extreme and I was completely overcome. Pres. Taylor said it was not a matter of personal choice. Several of the brethren also spoke very kindly approving of the nomination and it was carried unanimously on motion of Bro. Woodruff." It seems appropriate to give here an index to the attitude and state of mind of this man who had been so unexpectedly called to the second highest position in the Church. Three months later on the first day of the new year, 1881, he writes in his journal: "I commenced the new year under what I consider very favorable circumstances. With the exception of my knee, which is weak and a little sore from the sprain, my health is perfectly good, and my situation is all that I could desire. The Lord has been very good and kind to me. He has given me his gospel, made me a member of his Church, bestowed upon me the holy priesthood, raised me to a high and honorable station among his people, both in the Church and as a delegate to congress, has given me wives and children, houses and land, substance with which to help his work and make my family and myself comfortable, and gives me his Holy Spirit which fills me with peace and joy. How thankful I should be for all this! I think there is no man that lives who has more cause for thanksgiving than I. He has raised me from the mire and set me on high. When I think of the circumstances which surrounded me in childhood or boyhood, when my parents joined this Church, I am filled with amazement at the changes which have occurred. The Lord has led me by the hand all the way through. Born in a foreign land, left an orphan in early life, obscure and poor, circumstance seemed unfavorable to me; but the Lord has always been my friend. He has made my life since I first went into the ministry a continual pleasure to me. Nothing has been wanting on his part. Glory be to his name therefor." As stated in the first quotation given, George Q. Cannon had been nominated again for congress. This was the fifth time. At the election he received 18,568 votes, while his opponent, Mr. Allen G. Campbell, a wealthy mining man, bitterly opposed to the Church, received only 1357. Political conditions in the Territory were in a desperately bad state. Governor George Emery, a man of better judgment had been superseded. He had .called on Delegate Cannon in Washington in January of 1880, and on the 19th of that month, the latter recorded in his journal: "... Had a call from ex- Gov. Emery of Utah. He is terribly disgusted with Hayes. He promised to send in his name for re-appointment; but instead he has sent in that of Eli H. Murray of Ky. Emery says Hayes' policy in regard to Utah is all wrong. He has told him and the members of his cabinet and other leading men. He would like a county in the Ter. named after him." (Emery County fulfilled that wish.) Doubtless the fair attitude of Governor Emery was what caused President Hayes to name a less scrupulous man. Governor Murray fitted in with the purposes of the Gentile ring and was ready to carry out their determined plans against Mormon policies and practices. It soon became rumored that Murray did not intend to sign the certificate of election of Delegate Cannon, in spite of the overwhelming majority he had received. One of the advocates of such action and an enemy of the delegate from Utah was a noted minister, who had debated rather unsuccessfully the Mormon question. He had considerable political influence. Under date of Dec. 2, 1880, while enroute to Washington, Delegate Cannon wrote in his journal: "I got the following clipping from the Chicago Times. ----- has deliberately lied if he said what is here reported. If he did not know he lied, there is no excuse, for before making such an attack he should have been sure of his facts; but if he is not a liar and a lecherous hypocrite as well, then I did not take his proper measure when I saw him on one occasion talking to a woman in the Senate ante-chamber. As I saw him then, the light of the window fell full upon him as he stood back in the room, and if I had been a painter I would have seized his portrait for a picture of lechery and hypocrisy." To circumvent the illegal action of Governor Murray, Delegate Cannon took all means possible. Among other things he wrote to Governor Crittenden of Missouri, with whom as he states in his journal "I had served in Congress. He is a uterine brother of Gov. Murray of Utah." Because the letter illustrates the personality of the writer, we are quoting it here in full. "Washington, D. C. "Dec. 30, 1880. "Hon. T. T. Crittenden, "Warrensburg, Mo. "Dear Governor, You will pardon me, I hope, for the liberty I take of troubling you with matters personal to myself. Presuming upon your kindness, however, I venture to do so. You may have noticed in the papers a dispatch which intimated that Gov. Murray intended to withhold the certificate of election from me, though my vote was 18,568 while my opponent's was only 1357. Should he give to my opponent, or not give to him but still refuse to issue it to me, he will do me, as I think, a great wrong, subject me to trouble and expense in contending for my rights before a committee and House organized as the next are likely to be, and gain no credit to himself. It has struck me that perhaps you might have some views upon this subject which you would not hesitate to express to him. Though of course I have no means of knowing how Gen. Garfield will view this action, I think I know him well enough to feel sure that he will disapprove of it. He will scarcely want the Mormon question with its embarrassments forced upon the party in the beginning of his administration; for his experience in congress enables him to know that the refusal to give the certificate to a candidate with such a vote as I have cannot be defended by law or precedent. Personally my relations with Gov, Murray have been quite pleasant. The only difficulty is I am a Mormon and not a Republican. Were it a case in which I had no interest I should urge him for his own sake, to issue the certificate; for I can see no possibility of his gaining anything but discredit from refusing it. The fact is, he has bad advisers there, who would use him to accomplish their ends, regardless of the effect it may have upon his reputation and prospects. "You may not feel like meddling in this matter. If so, it will be all right with me. I know it is a delicate thing, and I would not wish you to do anything that would not be pleasant to you. If you take sufficient interest in the case, however, to know more about its merits, you will find enclosed the protest of my opponent to the Governor and my answer which I am on the point of forwarding there. Should you write anything to him, you will probably consider whether your not mentioning having had this from me will have the best effect or not. With kind regards, and congratulating you upon your elevation to so dignified an office as that which you are about to fill, and with the heartfelt wish that you may enjoy your term of office and be a blessing to your State and people, I am with sentiments of esteem. Yours truly, George Q. Cannon" Governor Murray did the expect- ed thing and issued a certificate of election to Mr. Campbell. This palpable misuse of his authority drew on him the criticism of the press of the country generally. Even the National Republican of Washington D. C. under date of Jan. 11, 1881, declared: "It is unfortunate that any Republican executive should have so mistaken his duty in a matter concerning which our party has often had reason to complain of its antagonist." Under the same date, Jan. 11, 1881, which happened to be his fifty-fourth birthday, Delegate Cannon wrote in his journal about another matter that had wide comment in the press. It appears that the Salt Lake Tribune had printed a statement that Governor Murray had obeyed a "higher power" in issuing the certificate to the candidate who received about seven percent of the vote. "I felt it due to Mr. Hayes and myself to bring it to his notice, as it left the inference to be drawn that either he or the Lord had instructed Murray to do as he did. I was satisfied that the Lord had nothing to do about telling him anything or that even he would pretend to act upon such authority, so it left Mr. Hayes as the person. He denied having said anything about it. What he has said had been said openly. . . Mr. Hayes expressed himself to the effect that Murray had done wrong in giving Campbell the certificate. It was not in his province to judge of my qualifications." Governor Murray went to Washington to defend himself and an interesting conversation occurred when he and Delegate Cannon met. The journal under date of Feb. 4, 1881, states: "This evening I saw him in the company of three men at the Ebbitt House and spoke to him about Campbell's whereabouts, if he knew where he was, told him how difficult it was to find him and that my time for service expired today and that I must get personal service, etc. I confess I was mischievous in doing this, for I had just before received the word that he had been found at Green River and served. Among other remarks I said to the crowd I ought to be much obliged to Murray for advertising me as he had done; if I had hired him it would not have been done better. Somebody suggested something about my having paid him and I replied. 'Oh, no, I hadn't paid him, but it was said Campbell had for the certificate' . . . He looked a little wild at this remark and merely said there had been no pay about it. I remarked: 'Why, Governor, I am told Campbell is an Irishman,' 'Oh,' said he, 'I reckon not.' 'Well,' said I, 'did you ask about his nationality, while you were so particular about mine?' 'No one questioned it,' he said. 'If you refused me the certificate and did the same to him, I suppose you would have given it to McKim (who got three votes) ... I struck him hard; but did it in such a way that he couldn't quarrel with me." The fourth of March came and President James A. Garfield was inaugurated. He and Delegate Cannon had served many years in the house of representatives and were friends. This Ohio man, born not far from Kirtland, was not ignorant of the history of the Latter-day Saints. The apostle from Utah had on more than one occasion conversed about the doctrines of the Church. Deeply interested, they sat up all one night discussing these. Under such circumstances the following entry in the Cannon journal will be understood. "Mar. 4, 1881, House met at 10 a.m. After transacting business and passing a vote of thanks to the speaker, it was adjourned without date. We went over to the senate to take part in ceremonies of swearing in the vice-president and senators. The diplomatic corps was out in full dress and distinguished generals of the U. S. army. Gen. Hancock was especially conspicuous. We then went on to the platform at the east end of the rotunda. I got a good position. Garfield's inaugural was well delivered. I felt hurt at his words concerning Utah, just as I would at the turning of a friend to meanness and wickedness. The Lord judge him." Six and a half months later the brilliant General Garfield was dead, victim of the bullet of the assassin, Guitteau. |
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, End of His Legislative Career.” Instructor. October 1945. pg. 459-464.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON End of His Legislative Career THE overwhelming surprise that came to Elder George Q. Cannon at being called as a member of the First Presidency at the time of its reorganization, Oct. 9, 1880, was in part due to the fact that he had just been elected again to Congress. This would presumably take him to Washington most of his time. Although he received 18,568 votes against 1,357 for Allen G. Campbell, his opponent, he was nevertheless not to sit as a delegate again from the Territory of Utah. When Gov. Eli H. Murray issued the fraudulent certificate of election to Campbell, legal proceedings were begun to correct the condition. These did not succeed, but a certificate was obtained in Murray's absence from Acting Governor Arthur L. Thomas stating the number of votes received by each candidate. This Delegate Cannon filed with the clerk of the House of Representatives, Mr. George M. Adams. As the certificate to Campbell was not in proper form, Mr. Adams entered Mr. Cannon's name on the roll of the membership of the House for the forty-seventh Congress. The compensation of the office therefore went to Mr. Cannon, much to the annoyance of the supporters of his opponent. When Congress met in December, 1881, both applicants for the seat of delegate from Utah were present, but neither was sworn in. On going into the chamber one morning, much to his amusement and disgust, Mr. Cannon found Campbell occupying the seat that had been his during the preceding eight years. The matter of who should represent Utah was delayed and then sent to the committee of elections where further delays occurred. Meanwhile the storm against polygamy and the Mormon Church was rising far beyond its usual violence. President James A. Garfield, who had formerly been friendly to the Latter-day Saints, went out of his way to condemn them in his inaugural address. President Chester A. Arthur, his successor, was bitterly opposed to them. Most of the Protestant churches were crying out for the destruction of the Mormon system. Prominent people openly declared that if it could not be done by law, armed might should be employed. The delegate from Utah, George Q. Cannon, who had sat in Congress eight years and had become the second man in authority in the Church, who acknowledged that he was the husband of four wives, became the personal target in this great outpouring of hatred. At this time his name was probably brought before the public more than any other in the nation. The following excerpt from his journal of Dec. 19, 1881, is suggestive of the situation confronting the Church. After enumerating the strong forces arrayed against it he states: "I see by the Baltimore American of today that at a meeting of the clergy of the Methodist Episcopal church in Baltimore yesterday Rev. W. T. D. Clemm moved that a committee of six be appointed to prepare a paper for Congress to ask that vigorous measures be adopted to carry out Pres. Arthur's plan suggested in his message in regard to Mormonism and also to ask Congress to blot out Mormonism. They also were authorized to send a letter of thanks to Arthur for the vigorous paragraph in the message against Mormonism, and hoping he will continue his wise course. If we judge by the zeal of the clergy and others in attacking us and urging our destruction, Satan, lord of hell, is considerably mad against us just now." The reason for the delay in settling the question: as to which contestant for the delegateship should be sworn in was that new legislation was being hurried to deprive Elder Cannon of his seat quite independently of the vote he had received. This was the bill introduced by Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont to prohibit persons living in polygamy from holding any office. The Edmunds bill provided that such persons could not vote, that persons believing in the principle could be challenged as jurors, that unlawful cohabitation should be punished by fine and imprisonment and that all election officers should be named by a commission of five persons appointed by the President. This bill passed both houses and was signed by President Arthur Feb. 22, 1882. As Senator Edmunds' name has such a prominent place in Utah history, it will be interesting to hear an estimate of the man from the pen of the Utah delegate, whom the bill most directly affected. At the time of passage Delegate Cannon saw Senator Edmunds and protested that the law was ex post facto as far as he was concerned. We quote from the Feb. 16, 1882, journal entry: "He [Edmunds] said if it applied to me I would be no worse than the others to whom he intended it to apply—all polygamists who now hold office in the Territory. His aim was to have them all put out even though their terms of office had not expired. I said to him, by a fraud Gov. Murray has kept me out of my seat, and now you propose that Congress by its action shall supplement that fraud, crystallize it and make it permanent. I asked him if that was fair or right. By such action you say, 'Murray, you did right! You had the power and you did right in exercising it, even though it was not legal.' I talked patiently and reasoned kindly and in a good spirit with him; but he was inflexible. He is ready to trample upon all law, upon every principle of justice and right to accomplish his object. He has laid himself out to strike us down. I view this man as one of the most, if not the most, dangerous in the government. He is a man of ability, of inflexible will, an adroit and well-read lawyer, and utterly unscrupulous as to the means he uses, so long as he can give them legal form, to reach a desired end. Withal he is very cunning, and has such ineffable self-conceit that I think it doubtful if in the recesses of his heart a doubt as to the correctness of any view he may entertain has ever penetrated; at least, if there was a time when this was the case, it must be long ago. He is a lawyer, but very far from being a statesman. I say this about his general legislation and without reference to legislation he proposes for us. He was the chief agent, and in fact the proposer of the Electoral Commission by which Tilden was cheated out of the Presidency and Hayes was seated." As soon as the Edmunds bill was passed by the House, that body was ready to hear the reports of the committee on elections. The majority report was that neither contestant for the seat should be sworn in and that the seat be declared vacant. It is probable that if the committee had reported before the passage of the bill the minority report recommending the seating of Mr. Cannon would have been passed. Now that became inconsistent. Before taking the vote the House extended to him the courtesy of speaking in his defense. His own comment on that address follows: "Wednesday, April 19th, 1882. ... I naturally dreaded to speak . . . But the Lord took away all fear and I was calm and self-possessed, and though I did not say all I wished, still I felt thankful that I was able to do as well as I did. In all my experience in the House I never saw more undivided attention paid to any one than I received. Officers, clerks, pages and every one crowded in to hear. My voice was clear and I think I was heard all over the hall and galleries. My friends appeared much gratified and expressed their pleasure at hearing me, and even many of those who voted against me spoke kindly of my remarks. . . . Bro. John Irvine sat in the gallery through the whole day. He said when he saw me stand up in the midst of the members and felt how much alone I was, he could not control his feelings, but wept all the time. He appeared delighted with my remarks and the style of their delivery." This winter of 1881-82 was most trying on George Q. Cannon. He and his people were being attacked and it was necessary to see members of both houses, friendly or hostile, to seek some way of avoiding the serious issues. He was besieged by lobbyists, who desired for a fee to turn the tide for him. Newspapers and other periodicals interviewed him or more often were being solicited to receive and print answers to the infamous articles that were constantly being printed. In the midst of these troubles a personal affliction came to him. His wife Elizabeth, whose health had been precarious for some time, became fatally ill. He was kept in constant touch with her condition by letter and wire, and most earnestly sought the Lord for her recovery and would certainly have gone to her if it had been only personal business that kept him in Washington. On January 24, 1882, he received from his brother, Angus, the following message: "Notwithstanding Elizabeth very bad all day, indications better now. She says, stand to your post. God can raise me up in answer to your prayers there as well as here. All is being done that can be done." The following day she died, and Angus telegraphed: "Elizabeth has just left us. God comfort you. Any instructions?" In answer the sorrowing husband wired his desires concerning the kind of coffin, the burial place and included the following: "Keep children constantly in company; must not yield to grief. Have no gloomy trappings at funeral, no black about coffin." In his journal he wrote. "I bow to his will, receive with submission and resignation this affliction; I must carry out myself that which I have so often taught others." The journal of this time has many tender references to the saintly woman who had suffered so much affliction with him. Commenting on the gallant message she sent him before she died, he wrote: "Unselfish as ever, every word breathed the sentiment and heroism of the true woman that she is." President John Taylor advised his counselor to remain in "Washington after the refusal of the House to seat him. There were many difficulties connected with the new legislation that must be met. During this time Elder Cannon kept in touch with that constant and brave friend. General Thomas L. Kane. As it was necessary to employ counsel in matters arising under the Edmunds law, Mr. Cannon went to Philadelphia to have an interview with Judge Jeremiah S. Black, an eminent lawyer of that city. Judge Black felt inclined, probably through friendship for Gen. Kane, to give advice, but did not desire to appear publicly as attorney for the Church. The journal entry herewith describes the meetings: "Wednesday, May 10, 1882, I called at Gen. Kane's at half-past 7. He had returned from New York ill and fatigued and was resting on the bed. We were at Judge Black's at 8 o'clock and remained there till a few minutes of 11. A full and free conversation occurred in which I was drawn out upon various points and expressed myself with some emotion and fullness. Gen. Kane afterwards said I had carried the old gentleman with me, and he himself was so pleased at several points that he could have jumped up and hugged me. I walked with Gen. Kane to his home. My feelings of gratitude to him are deep. I thank the Lord for raising up and inspiring such a true, undaunted and undeviating friend to Zion as he has been. He is always ready to do anything and everything in his power for us. In sickness or in health, he is always the same, never appears to think of his own comfort if he can do anything to help us. He says his poor health of late is principally due to his uneasiness of mind concerning us, for he has been aware of how threatening have been our surroundings, and that in action for our relief he feels encouraged and benefited, and if we can be relieved from peril his health will improve." It should be noted that Judge Black worked openly and courageously in representing the Church thereafter. The denying to George Q. Cannon the seat in the House to which he had been duly elected closed his legislative career. It is appropriate to give here two sidelights on the place he held among the membership. B. F. Cummings, who acted for a time as his secretary, wrote the following: "Partly in pursuance of his duty, and partly as a result of natural talent. Delegate Cannon became a master of the rules of both houses and their committees, and of the principles and philosophy of parliamentary law; and during the later years of his service in Congress he was accounted, by members and others, the best parliamentarian in that body. Statements to this effect were made to the writer in 1880, by Representative Wood of Virginia, and Senator Ransom of North Carolina. At times when filibustering or strategic tactics were in progress, members would become bewildered as to how they should vote in order to reach the ends they desired; and it was not uncommon for a group of them to surround the seat of the delegate from Utah and seek his advice about voting. Thus he, though having no vote himself, often influenced those of many members of the House." — The Contributor, Vol. XVI, pp. 130-31. The following incident was dictated by President Heber J. Grant some months before his death: "When President Geo. Q. Cannon was a member of Congress, he was traveling from Salt Lake City to Washington. At a station in Ohio, Pres. Elect, James A. Garfield, boarded the train. Seeing Bro. Cannon he sat down with him. As people got into the car during the day they would stop at the section occupied by Bro. Cannon and Pres. Garfield, and Pres. Garfield would introduce Bro. Cannon to them in words something like this, "Mr. Cannon is the most remarkable man in Congress in some respects. He has a speaking acquaintance with nearly all the diplomats, every man in Congress and the Senate and knows the district from which he came. He never forgets a name or a face worth remembering." Bro. Cannon replied, "Mr. President, you do me honor over much, I admit I have a very good memory for faces and names, but I do not remember everyone I meet." President Garfield said, "I do not say you remember everyone, but you remember everyone worth remembering." Bro. Cannon was seated facing the door, Pres. Garfield opposite him with his back to the door. A gentleman came in the car and an inaudible voice said to Bro. Cannon, "Captain Butler." Bro. Cannon thought, "That name was given to me for something," and so when the man came up to his section he arose and extended his hand, saying, "Captain Butler, I am glad to meet you again." Pres. Garfield immediately arose and said, "Attention all, haven't I been telling you about the remarkable memory of Mr. Cannon, here is proof of it," and then turning to Bro. Cannon he said, "have you ever seen Captain Butler since he was with me when we visited your Salt Lake and they named a little tub of a steamer after me?" Bro. Cannon replied, "I have not." "You see," said Pres. Garfield, my statement regarding this man's remarkable memory is verified." But Pres. Cannon did not tell President Garfield that he had not remembered Captain Butler and did not remember him until Pres. Garfield recalled to his mind the naming of the steamer. He however thanked the Lord for giving him the name that he would not be humiliated before the President. |
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Cannon, Joseph J. “George Q. Cannon, Visits David Whitmer.” Instructor. November 1945. pg. 517-521.
George Q. Cannon JOSEPH J. CANNON Visits David Whitmer The conclusion of George Q. Cannon's legislative work as delegate from Utah in 1882 by no means stopped his visits to Washington. Frequently he was needed to represent the interests of the territory and of the Church in the difficult days when Congress was in ugly mood toward the Latter-day Saints. Time after time, occasions arose for him to go back to help delegate John T. Caine and meet questions that were arising. Judge Jeremiah Black of Philadelphia, who had represented the Church, died, and his executors demanded a $10,000.00 fee for work done. President Taylor immediately dispatched his first counselor east, and settlement was made, very satisfactorily to both sides, for $4,000- .00. The intimate acquaintanceship which he established during nearly a decade with members of both houses enabled him to do all that was possible in very difficult situations. The duties of the first presidency were extremely arduous and George Q. Cannon bore his full share of the labors while at home. Several interesting items appear in his journal at this time. One concerns a prominent Latter-day Saint who became a national character in later life, serving as assistant Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, and on different occasions as acting Treasurer. He later served as a mission president. This gives an interesting light on the attitude of the Church toward the young men who were going out to get professional experience. "Wednesday, August 30, 1882. ... Br. James H. Moyle, who had labored with considerable success in the Southern States, a young man of twenty-four years of age, was desirous to get consent as to his going to Ann Arbor to study law. I had an interview with him at my house, and talked very plainly with him on this subject, and Pres. Taylor in talking with him on the subject spoke with exceeding great plainness, and consented to set him apart on condition that he would covenant to avoid the bad ways in which lawyers had fallen; that he would be a Latter-day Saint and labor to build up Zion in the same spirit that an Elder of Israel labored to build up Zion, to all of which he consented, and we set him apart, Pres. Taylor being mouth." Another interesting item from the Journal of a little later date will be of interest to the students, present and past, of the University of Utah, which was then called University of Deseret. Following is the item. "Friday, May 11, 1883. ... At 4:00 o'clock attended a meeting of the Regents of the University of which I am Chancellor. The Trustee- in-Trust having agreed to advance $5,000 for a loan in the absence of the appropriation which the Governor refused to sign, subscription was taken up among the members of the Board, and $7,100.00 was subscribed for in addition, making in all $12,100.00 of the $15,000.00 needed. I subscribed $750.00 towards this. The conditions under which the subscriptions are made are that we advance this money either by loaning it ourselves or by borrowing it at interest with the expectation that the legislative assembly will repay the amount by making an appropriation. If not, we are each to be personally responsible for the amount we subscribed. We have either to do this or the University must stop, for our accommodations are so limited that the pupils are becoming sick for the want of good air." Another item of deep interest is recorded Thursday, October 11, 1883. The full Presidency and Twelve, and presidents of stakes met at the President's office at 10:00 o'clock A.M. ... A member of the Apostles spoke, as well as a number of the presidents of stakes. A considerable number of questions were asked of Brother Z. Coltrin who is the only member of the first school of prophets organized by the Prophet Joseph Smith in January, 1833, now living. He gave a very interesting description of the vision which they beheld of the Father and the Son while in the school. Although the words of David Whitmer have been given by a number of those who visited him in his later years, there are some items in the following that may be of special interest, and the whole is another statement of the unchangeable testimony given by this witness of the Book of Mormon. It is as follows: "Wednesday, February 27, 1884. Took train at 6:45 a.m. for Richmond. Changed at Lexington Junction where we remained until after 10 a.m. At Richmond I met David J. Whitmer, son of David Whitmer, one of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. He said his father was feeble, but he thought he could arrange for me to see him. I took dinner at the Wasson House, and at about half past one Mr. Whitmer called at the Hotel for me. His father lived close by. He pointed out the track of a cyclone which had visited the town in 1878 and which had left their house, rather the room in which the manuscript of the Book of Mormon was kept, in such a condition as to astonish all the people—the roof was taken off, but nothing was disturbed and the glass was not broken even. "The old gentleman (he was born January 1805) soon entered. He is a man who probably stood in his early manhood 5 feet 10 inches or perhaps 5 feet 11 inches in height, not fleshy at present, but rather inclined to leanness. I noticed in shaking hands with him that the thumb of his right hand is missing and the hand has a long scar in the center. His hair is thin and he is rather bald. His nose is aquiline, and his eyes black or a dark brown. His likeness, which was shown me, painted in oil when he was 32 years old, makes him appear a handsome man of marked features, rather Jewish looking, with a head of thick hair inclined to curl. "He had his son bring in the manuscript of the Book of Mormon, which he says is the only manuscript of which he knows anything. It is in the handwriting of several persons which he says were Oliver Cowdery, Emma Smith, Martin Harris, and perhaps some of it in that of his brother Christian, who assisted the Prophet somewhat. This is the manuscript from which the printers, he says, set the type of the Book, and he pointed out to me where it had been cut for convenience as copy. I noticed printer's marks through the manuscript, still it was very clean for copy that printers had handled. This he explained as the consequence of the care taken by Oliver Cowdery in watching the manuscript while in the printer's hands. It was fastened together, not as a whole, but a few folios, not more than a dozen, with woolen yarn, which he said was his mother's. This was exceedingly interesting to me and I examined it with care, and a feeling of reverence. "But with this was another paper which I thought of surpassing interest. It was the characters drawn by Joseph Smith himself for Martin Harris to show to Professors Mitchell and Anthon. There were seven lines, the first four being about twice as long in size as the three last. Here was the very paper which Isaiah saw in vision years before, and which he called the "words of a book." Though evidently long written, the characters were as clear and distinct as though just written. This was also the case with the manuscript of The Book of Mormon. It was wonderfully well preserved and clear. This David Whitmer and the family think (in which belief I share) is due to the power of God. I cannot describe the characters particularly. They were glyphs and contained many forms. "In speaking of the translating he said that Joseph had the stone in a hat from which all light was excluded. In the stone the characters appeared and under that the translation in English and they remained until the scribe had copied it correctly. If he had made a mistake the words still remained and were not replaced by any other. "In describing the visit of the angel he said that it was shortly before the completion of the translation when there were but a few pages left. He was plowing when Joseph and Oliver came to him and the former told him that he was chosen to be one of the three witnesses to whom the angel would show the plates. He also told him that the Lord had promised to make this manifest and now was the time. "They went out and sat upon a log conversing upon the things to be revealed when they were surrounded by a glorious light which overshadowed them. A glorious personage appeared and he showed to them the plates, the sword of Laban, the Directors, the Urim and Thummim and other records. Human language could not, he said, describe heavenly things and that which they saw. The language of the angel was: Blessed is he that believeth and remaineth faithful to the end. He had his hours of darkness and trial and difficulty, but however dark upon other things that had ever been a bright scene in his mind and he had never wavered in regard to it; he had testified fearlessly always of it, even when his life was threatened. Martin Harris was not with them at the time that he and Oliver saw the angel, but he and Joseph afterwards saw the same, and he thus became a witness also. "I spent the afternoon with them till 5 p.m. when I took the hack to return to Lexington Junction. A nephew of his, a son of his brother Jacob, one of the eight witnesses, came in. His name is John C. Whitmer. The old gentleman about half past three got so fatigued that he withdraw to rest. I thanked him for his kindness and I expressed the great pleasure the interview had given me. I had borne testimony of the truth of this work and of the Book of Mormon since my early life, and I was glad to hear from his own lips in the flesh his testimony. I thanked God, I said, that he had preserved him and enabled him to bear a faithful testimony till now and I prayed him to still preserve him and assist him. "I find from conversation with the son and nephew that they do not sympathize with young Joseph, as he is called; neither do they believe fully in plural marriage, but they stand clinging to The Book of Mormon and its contents, believing it and looking for the day when all who believe that will be united with the House of Israel as The Book promises. They all appear to be gentle, good spirited men. I said to them that I wished to speak upon my own experience and what God had revealed to me, but not in the spirit of argument. I then told them how the spirit first revealed the principle to me and how afterwards to a wise purpose in the Lord he had impelled me to obey that principle, and in this way bore testimony of its truth to them. "The Whitmer family is of German origin. I could detect a German twang in David Whitmer Sen.'s talk. His mother was from the Rhine, and his grandfather or great grand- father from Germany. This visit is one that I hope I shall never forget; for whatever wrongs David Whitmer may have committed I do respect him for his integrity and firmness in continuing to bear testimony to the Book of Mormon. In fact though all three of the witnesses quarreled with the Prophet Joseph and left the Church or were cut off, and asserted he was a fallen prophet, they never ceased to bear unflinching testimony to that which they had seen and heard and that an holy angel had shown them the plates and told them that they had been translated by the gift and power of God. "The sight of the manuscript of the characters ought to be forever imprinted on my memory. I omitted to mention that Joseph had written in English above the characters, the word "caracters." The old jail in which the Prophet Joseph was imprisoned in Richmond was of hewed logs and perhaps lined with iron. That was replaced by a brick building and that was torn down, and a stone building now standing, took its place. At 5 p.m. I took the hack for Lexington Junction. The road was very rough. The train was late and it was midnight when I reached Kansas City, and I was fortunate enough to get a bed at the Hotel at the depot though others were turned away. The night is very cold, a blizzard from the north blowing very strong." |
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Irvine, Rosannah Cannon. “George Q. Cannon, Recollections of My Father.” Instructor. March 1946. pg. 112-114, 121.
George Q. Cannon ROSANNAH CANNON IRVINE RECOLLECTIONS OF MY FATHER MY earliest and most impressive recollection of my father is his gathering his children together and explaining to us the principles of the Gospel. In those frequent meetings are exemplified his two outstanding characteristics: first, his love for the Gospel, for which he would willingly have given his life, and what was even more important, for which he suffered privation, indignities, and persecution; and second, his love for his family. His faith and love for the Gospel were inspired by the lives of the Savior. Joseph Smith, and Nephi of old. His own courage and obedience to authority were patterned after these glorious beings. In spite of his exceptional intelligence his faith was simple and childlike. Service to the Savior through His Church was the great purpose of his life. His trust in the Lord was unassailable. Prayer was his comfort and security. He taught his family to pray continually. His idea of prayer might have been expressed in the words of Lowell in his lovely poem, "The Vision of Sir Launfal," " 'Tis heaven alone that is given away, 'Tis only God may be had for the asking," "Make a friend of your Heavenly Father," he often said to his children. "Tell Him how much you appreciate His blessings. And go to Him with your troubles. He is always ready to help those who seek Him." Once when one of his small sons spoke to Father about something that he wanted very much, he was questioned, "Have you prayed for it?" "No sir." "Well," came the response, "never be afraid to tell your Heavenly Father what you want. If it's right for you to have it, and you ask in faith, you'll get it." It apparently was right, for the child got his wish. It was things like this that built up faith in the hearts of his children. George Q. Cannon was not a man of great wealth. It was only in his later years that God blessed him with moderate means. In his early life he endured extreme poverty. And even after he had a large family, it required unremitting effort on his part, and constant thrift and frugality on the part of his wives to supply their needs. His children were taught to work. All the boys, as they grew old enough, worked on the farm and also learned trades. In those days professions were not considered so essential as they are today. His girls learned the womanly arts. We were all taught that work is not only necessary for the benefit of humanity, but is honorable and develops self-respect and independence. "There is no such thing as menial labor," he said. "All work is ennobling if it is honest. Idleness is a curse. Never be idle." He had labored all his life, and had endured hardship and privation, such as we in these days cannot even imagine. He knew that these things, sustained by righteous living, develop self-reliance and dependability. Among the many other things he had done in those pioneer days was to make the adobes which were used to build the house of his sister. Aunt Mary Alice Lambert. Whatever he did he did well, whether it was hard labor or meeting the most intellectual men of the nation in diplomatic conferences. He often said, "What is worth doing is worth doing well," And also, "There is no excellence without labor," and, "Only the best is good enough." The idea expressed in these sayings was the keynote of all his endeavor. On the Cannon Farm, on the banks of the Jordan River, all his children, with the exception of his three oldest sons, were raised. Father was not essentially a farmer. In fact I never remember seeing him do any farm work, but he knew how it should be done. And he loved nature. He loved the quiet and peace of the place where he could relieve his mind of the cares of the day, have his family around him in loving companionship, his children growing up together. Living so near the river, he taught all his boys to i swim. In the early summer mornings, he would leave the "Farmhouse" where he lived with the children of Aunt Elizabeth, (his deceased first wife), and from all the other houses, the boys of the family, big and little, would stream out to join him. After a brisk swim, diving, racing, frolicking together, they would return to their dressing room in the willows, and prepare for their morning service. This little nook was a sacred place. Many of the boys have told of the heavenly influence which pervaded this retreat in those early morning meetings. Angus, who is now the oldest living son, has said that he could feel a divine presence, and was certain that if his eyes had been clear enough he could have seen the Savior standing there. In the souls of those young boys was instilled a testimony and deep love for the Gospel. The daughters were not neglected in this nor in any other respect by their parents. Prayer, chastity, honesty, and courage were part of the daily mental and spiritual food we received. George Q. Cannon was a so-called self-made man. He had had very little schooling, but he was an omnivorous reader, and hungry for knowledge. By ambition and diligence he became highly educated. Having had so few advantages himself, he was more than anxious for his children to have every opportunity for education and culture. Because we lived several miles from the nearest school and with transportation a serious problem, he built a school house on the farm. His wife, our Aunt Martha, a college graduate and a brilliant woman, was our first teacher. Later he hired others. Our last teacher was Miss Emily Batt, an English girl. She lived with the family for four years. She said that in all that time she would never have known who were half brothers and sisters if she had not learned which houses we lived in and who our mothers were. Once Father offered prizes for all sorts of cultural achievements: Playing musical instruments, memorizing and singing or reciting our Mormon hymns or other beautiful poems, and so on. One prize I specially remember was for re-telling the complete story of the Book of Mormon. That was won by one of the younger boys. There was never a day when we were not aware of Father's love for us and his intense interest in our proper development. Although he was zealous for our spiritual growth and welfare, that doesn't mean that he was forever preaching. In spite of his deep nature and the serious responsibilities of his Church work, he had a keen sense of humor and joy of living. He encouraged us to have company. Parties? Merely mention the word and the thing was underway. We had dancing parties in the school house, skating and boating parties on the pond, swimming parties, house guests, picnics, dinners, horse racing. That last was the most enjoyable of all. "We were all fond of horses, and learned to ride and drive. We loved to race our horses against those of our Uncle Angus M. Cannon. There was no betting, of course. The joy of the race was sufficient thrill. But the pleasantest times of all were our home evenings, those delightful gatherings with Father and our mothers and all the family together. We had impromptu programs, music, readings, stories, games, jokes told on one another, inspiring reminiscences of pioneer days told by our parents, refreshments which always included Father's favorite peppermint candy, then prayers, and good night kisses from the head of the clan, the man we loved so dearly. Oh, life with Father was joyful. Never a dull moment, often gay and exciting, always happy and comfortable. |
George Q. Cannon
Joseph J. Cannon
Rosannah C. Irvine
|
Josephson, Marba C. “George Q. Cannon, First General Superintendent.” Instructor. February 1949. pg. 52-55, 89.
George Q. Cannon
First General Superintendent
MARBA C. JOSEPHSON
Louis Pasteur said, "When I see a child, he inspires me with two feelings: tenderness for what he is now, respect for what he may become.”[1]
To George Q. Cannon there must have come a similar ennobling thought, for he loved children and found his greatest happiness with them. He himself was the eldest of a family of six and became the father of thirty-four, as well as father by adoption of six more. Added to this love of youth was another, even greater love, that of the gospel as revealed to Joseph Smith and organized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He knew the driving force in this Church, and he was eager that it become an impelling part of the life of every young person He knew the changes that could be wrought through its application. He often testified to his family, "All that I am, Mormonism made me."
George Q. Cannon had early learned what the testimony of this restored Church meant to his own parents. Had he not witnessed the transformation it had made in their lives? George Cannon, his father, made a comfortable living as a carpenter for his family in Liverpool, where they had moved from the Isle of Man. The even pitch of their lives struck a great crescendo when his brother-in-law, John Taylor, brought the knowledge of the restoration of the gospel to them. At great sacrifice and amidst the ridicule of friends and associates, they had saved their pence and shillings that they might obtain passage and gather with the Saints in Zion. But the valiant mother never completed the journey; her frail body could not house her indomitable spirit on the long ocean voyage; and on a day in late October she passed away and was buried at sea.
To her eldest son this was an event of great tragedy but of the greatest significance: She had been willing to seal her testimony with her life. Through her personal sacrifice, she had assured her children of the privilege of enjoying in its fullest measure the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
George Q. Cannon knew that his coming into the Church was similar to those stories of countless others who had joined the westward movement. But he knew, too, that with the pressure of circumstances and mob violence removed, there was danger of losing this motivating testimony. Particularly he worried about the younger people because he knew that a certain amount of laxity was prevailing since life was becoming easier. He knew this, and he knew moreover the importance of rearing the youth of the Church with an unshakable faith in it.
Meanwhile, the organization of the first Sunday School for youth by Richard Ballantyne had occurred on December 9, 1849, in the Fourteenth Ward, the very ward in which George Q. Cannon had established residence. He was undoubtedly pleased when that membership reached fifty during the first year. This work led to the establishment of other Sunday Schools in the community. The work spread and did a great deal of good. However, there were those who felt somewhat disturbed that the work was carried forward only by the individual efforts of those who felt a warm enough personal interest in the children of the Church to foster the Sunday School movement, and that there was no consistent effort to increase membership. The organization was simply that of teacher and children with no direction or supervision from a responsible group within the ward, and no direction from a responsible central governing board. Many felt a need for implementing the general plan with a definite organization.
During this early period, George Q. Cannon had little opportunity to follow the specific progress or activity of the Sunday School movement at home, for he had been filling a mission to the Hawaiian Islands, where his party landed in December, 1850. He set to work to translate the Book of Mormon into the Hawaiian language. In 1854, he returned to Utah for a few months and was sent to California to publish his recently completed translation and publish a newspaper to counteract some of the unfavorable material that was appearing in the periodicals of the country. Shortly after this he was sent to the East and later, having been ordained an Apostle, he was called to England to preside over the European Mission and edit The Millennial Star.
The significance of this period of travel in shaping George Q. Cannon's ideas concerning Sunday School we can verify from his own statements in The Juvenile Instructor. In the April 15, 1866 issue of that publication he stated in answering some questions that had arisen in the department titled, "Inquiries and Their Answers,"
"In Europe ... we have frequently seen the children marching in a body, with their teachers, from their Sunday Schools to their Churches and Chapels, and we believe it is the general practice in many places. It is said that this course with children confirms them in the habit of going to meeting."
We know that in England, there were flourishing Sunday Schools, established as early as 1780. And in the eastern part of the United States, where Elder Cannon had been sent to help the immigrant Saints, Sunday Schools were first organized in 1790.
Whether or not Elder Cannon attended these Sunday Schools is largely a matter of conjecture, but he must have read about them — having seen the children on the march—for he was an avid reader, and moreover, his keen interest in children would have insured his trying to learn more about this great movement.
Whatever may have occurred while Elder Cannon was serving on his various missions, when he returned to Utah from serving in the European Mission field, he established another Sunday School in the Fourteenth Ward. In his diary dated Sunday, December 17, 1899, he noted:
"I arose this morning feeling badly; but this is the day appointed to hold Sunday school jubilees in the wards, and I have been invited to go to the 14th Ward of which I was formerly a resident, and where in the winter of 1864, I revived Sunday schools, there being no Sunday school at that time in the city."[2]
In January 1866, he established The Juvenile Instructor, of which he wrote thirty-one years later in his journal, dated January 28, 1897:
"The Juvenile Instructor has been successful because it has been de- voted to certain lines of instruction for children and young people, . . ."[3]
In the Juvenile Instructor, Elder Cannon wished to create in the minds of his young readers a love for the gospel and a desire to abide by its teachings. A secondary purpose behind the establishment of this magazine was an earnest desire to lend support and direction to the movement of the Sunday School. In the April fifteenth issue of that same year, in the section already mentioned, "Inquiries and Their Answers," a plea was voiced to organize a central governing body to plan and give some uniformity to cause and to make the teaching more efficient. The letter had come from Elder William H. Shearman and in it were several pointed questions answered at length. One of these questions read:
"Can not concert of action be effected among all our Sunday Schools —by the formation of a Sunday School Union, or some other means —in order to secure the best and greatest variety of books for libraries, rewards, tickets, etc., at the cheapest rate?"
The answer read in part, "We have a plan that we shall propose in time for action this next year."[4]
The seed was planted and received careful tendance. It finally blossomed November 4, 1866, when a meeting was called in the 13th Ward assembly hall for those interested in Sunday School work.
Among those present at this meeting were Presidents Brigham Young and Daniel H. Wells, Apostles George A. Smith, Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, as well as Brigham Young, Jr. In addition to the formation of an organization, it was earnestly desired that' some means could be evolved to perfect teaching methods. To this end Brigham Young, Jr., Albert Carrington, and George A. Smith were chosen as a committee to examine and decide upon books suitable for the Sunday School.
At that meeting a Parent Sunday School Union, as it was then named, was effected. George Q. Cannon was appointed president (later this title was changed to superintendent); Edward L. Sloan, secretary; George Goddard and Robert L. Campbell, corresponding secretaries. It was hoped that this would afford a pattern for like organizations of Sunday Schools throughout the Church. The name, Parent Sunday School Union, was retained until 1872 for this group. In the latter year, the name became Deseret Sunday School Union, by which this great association is known today. The Deseret Sunday School Union became the central governing body which today plans and publishes lessons, and offers teachers aids and training.
In that early day there was much pioneering to be accomplished. After all, no records had been kept of the work done or even of the names of those who attended the early Sunday Schools. One of the first recommendations that was made was that rolls should be kept and attendance checked. The members of this board also suggested that meetings be held more regularly so that matters could be attended to in a more orderly and business- like manner.
In his own large family Elder Cannon had also learned that it is largely impossible to teach effectively children of various ages in one large group. He had made it a practice in his own family to hold formal and informal conversations on vital questions with his children, but he would for many of these problems segregate them as to age and thus be able to talk to them in their own language. Undoubtedly, he remembered Paul's statement:
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. . . .”[5]
The board considered the advisability of using this procedure in the Sunday School. Thus the division into classes began and more effective teaching thereby assured.
George Q. Cannon had a vision of what the work in the Sunday School could and should be; however, it required the diligent effort of the ardent workers to make that dream a realization. No man can accomplish any great work alone. Each of those on the Parent Sunday School Union, and later on the Deseret Sunday School Union, contributed his full share of work to the success of the movement. Naturally, it is desirable to honor the work of President George Q. Cannon for his willingness and eagerness to undertake this great work in view of his many other assignments. It is equally important to recognize that even a great man does not stand alone, and that he would not reach such eminence if it were not that he attracted to the cause he champions the loyalty of others who, probably not so great in some ways, at least can contribute their ideas and thus assure greater success than would otherwise be possible.
The Sunday School, under the leadership of George Q. Cannon, who remained general superintendent until his death, became firmly entrenched in the Latter-day Saint way of life. The enrollment of 1947 stood at 444,541—a great tribute to the cause which George Q. Cannon espoused because of his earnest desire to insure the teaching of the gospel message to the youth of the Church.
During the leadership of the succeeding heads of the Deseret Sunday School Union, changes have been made to improve the organization, a fact that would have been recognized by George Q. Cannon as essential since changing times require new techniques. Fundamentally, however, the Sunday Schools have remained what Richard Ballantyne and George Q. Canon envisioned— a bulwark in the defense of Latter-day Saint youth.
[1] Louis Pasteur, Laura N. Wood, Julian Messner. Inc., 1948.
[2] Journal of George Q. Cannon in the office of the First Presidency, 47 East South Temple, Salt Lake City.
[3] Ibid.
[4] The Juvenile Instructor, April 15, 1866, "Inquiries and Their Answers."
[5] Cor. 13 :ii.
George Q. Cannon
First General Superintendent
MARBA C. JOSEPHSON
Louis Pasteur said, "When I see a child, he inspires me with two feelings: tenderness for what he is now, respect for what he may become.”[1]
To George Q. Cannon there must have come a similar ennobling thought, for he loved children and found his greatest happiness with them. He himself was the eldest of a family of six and became the father of thirty-four, as well as father by adoption of six more. Added to this love of youth was another, even greater love, that of the gospel as revealed to Joseph Smith and organized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He knew the driving force in this Church, and he was eager that it become an impelling part of the life of every young person He knew the changes that could be wrought through its application. He often testified to his family, "All that I am, Mormonism made me."
George Q. Cannon had early learned what the testimony of this restored Church meant to his own parents. Had he not witnessed the transformation it had made in their lives? George Cannon, his father, made a comfortable living as a carpenter for his family in Liverpool, where they had moved from the Isle of Man. The even pitch of their lives struck a great crescendo when his brother-in-law, John Taylor, brought the knowledge of the restoration of the gospel to them. At great sacrifice and amidst the ridicule of friends and associates, they had saved their pence and shillings that they might obtain passage and gather with the Saints in Zion. But the valiant mother never completed the journey; her frail body could not house her indomitable spirit on the long ocean voyage; and on a day in late October she passed away and was buried at sea.
To her eldest son this was an event of great tragedy but of the greatest significance: She had been willing to seal her testimony with her life. Through her personal sacrifice, she had assured her children of the privilege of enjoying in its fullest measure the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
George Q. Cannon knew that his coming into the Church was similar to those stories of countless others who had joined the westward movement. But he knew, too, that with the pressure of circumstances and mob violence removed, there was danger of losing this motivating testimony. Particularly he worried about the younger people because he knew that a certain amount of laxity was prevailing since life was becoming easier. He knew this, and he knew moreover the importance of rearing the youth of the Church with an unshakable faith in it.
Meanwhile, the organization of the first Sunday School for youth by Richard Ballantyne had occurred on December 9, 1849, in the Fourteenth Ward, the very ward in which George Q. Cannon had established residence. He was undoubtedly pleased when that membership reached fifty during the first year. This work led to the establishment of other Sunday Schools in the community. The work spread and did a great deal of good. However, there were those who felt somewhat disturbed that the work was carried forward only by the individual efforts of those who felt a warm enough personal interest in the children of the Church to foster the Sunday School movement, and that there was no consistent effort to increase membership. The organization was simply that of teacher and children with no direction or supervision from a responsible group within the ward, and no direction from a responsible central governing board. Many felt a need for implementing the general plan with a definite organization.
During this early period, George Q. Cannon had little opportunity to follow the specific progress or activity of the Sunday School movement at home, for he had been filling a mission to the Hawaiian Islands, where his party landed in December, 1850. He set to work to translate the Book of Mormon into the Hawaiian language. In 1854, he returned to Utah for a few months and was sent to California to publish his recently completed translation and publish a newspaper to counteract some of the unfavorable material that was appearing in the periodicals of the country. Shortly after this he was sent to the East and later, having been ordained an Apostle, he was called to England to preside over the European Mission and edit The Millennial Star.
The significance of this period of travel in shaping George Q. Cannon's ideas concerning Sunday School we can verify from his own statements in The Juvenile Instructor. In the April 15, 1866 issue of that publication he stated in answering some questions that had arisen in the department titled, "Inquiries and Their Answers,"
"In Europe ... we have frequently seen the children marching in a body, with their teachers, from their Sunday Schools to their Churches and Chapels, and we believe it is the general practice in many places. It is said that this course with children confirms them in the habit of going to meeting."
We know that in England, there were flourishing Sunday Schools, established as early as 1780. And in the eastern part of the United States, where Elder Cannon had been sent to help the immigrant Saints, Sunday Schools were first organized in 1790.
Whether or not Elder Cannon attended these Sunday Schools is largely a matter of conjecture, but he must have read about them — having seen the children on the march—for he was an avid reader, and moreover, his keen interest in children would have insured his trying to learn more about this great movement.
Whatever may have occurred while Elder Cannon was serving on his various missions, when he returned to Utah from serving in the European Mission field, he established another Sunday School in the Fourteenth Ward. In his diary dated Sunday, December 17, 1899, he noted:
"I arose this morning feeling badly; but this is the day appointed to hold Sunday school jubilees in the wards, and I have been invited to go to the 14th Ward of which I was formerly a resident, and where in the winter of 1864, I revived Sunday schools, there being no Sunday school at that time in the city."[2]
In January 1866, he established The Juvenile Instructor, of which he wrote thirty-one years later in his journal, dated January 28, 1897:
"The Juvenile Instructor has been successful because it has been de- voted to certain lines of instruction for children and young people, . . ."[3]
In the Juvenile Instructor, Elder Cannon wished to create in the minds of his young readers a love for the gospel and a desire to abide by its teachings. A secondary purpose behind the establishment of this magazine was an earnest desire to lend support and direction to the movement of the Sunday School. In the April fifteenth issue of that same year, in the section already mentioned, "Inquiries and Their Answers," a plea was voiced to organize a central governing body to plan and give some uniformity to cause and to make the teaching more efficient. The letter had come from Elder William H. Shearman and in it were several pointed questions answered at length. One of these questions read:
"Can not concert of action be effected among all our Sunday Schools —by the formation of a Sunday School Union, or some other means —in order to secure the best and greatest variety of books for libraries, rewards, tickets, etc., at the cheapest rate?"
The answer read in part, "We have a plan that we shall propose in time for action this next year."[4]
The seed was planted and received careful tendance. It finally blossomed November 4, 1866, when a meeting was called in the 13th Ward assembly hall for those interested in Sunday School work.
Among those present at this meeting were Presidents Brigham Young and Daniel H. Wells, Apostles George A. Smith, Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, as well as Brigham Young, Jr. In addition to the formation of an organization, it was earnestly desired that' some means could be evolved to perfect teaching methods. To this end Brigham Young, Jr., Albert Carrington, and George A. Smith were chosen as a committee to examine and decide upon books suitable for the Sunday School.
At that meeting a Parent Sunday School Union, as it was then named, was effected. George Q. Cannon was appointed president (later this title was changed to superintendent); Edward L. Sloan, secretary; George Goddard and Robert L. Campbell, corresponding secretaries. It was hoped that this would afford a pattern for like organizations of Sunday Schools throughout the Church. The name, Parent Sunday School Union, was retained until 1872 for this group. In the latter year, the name became Deseret Sunday School Union, by which this great association is known today. The Deseret Sunday School Union became the central governing body which today plans and publishes lessons, and offers teachers aids and training.
In that early day there was much pioneering to be accomplished. After all, no records had been kept of the work done or even of the names of those who attended the early Sunday Schools. One of the first recommendations that was made was that rolls should be kept and attendance checked. The members of this board also suggested that meetings be held more regularly so that matters could be attended to in a more orderly and business- like manner.
In his own large family Elder Cannon had also learned that it is largely impossible to teach effectively children of various ages in one large group. He had made it a practice in his own family to hold formal and informal conversations on vital questions with his children, but he would for many of these problems segregate them as to age and thus be able to talk to them in their own language. Undoubtedly, he remembered Paul's statement:
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. . . .”[5]
The board considered the advisability of using this procedure in the Sunday School. Thus the division into classes began and more effective teaching thereby assured.
George Q. Cannon had a vision of what the work in the Sunday School could and should be; however, it required the diligent effort of the ardent workers to make that dream a realization. No man can accomplish any great work alone. Each of those on the Parent Sunday School Union, and later on the Deseret Sunday School Union, contributed his full share of work to the success of the movement. Naturally, it is desirable to honor the work of President George Q. Cannon for his willingness and eagerness to undertake this great work in view of his many other assignments. It is equally important to recognize that even a great man does not stand alone, and that he would not reach such eminence if it were not that he attracted to the cause he champions the loyalty of others who, probably not so great in some ways, at least can contribute their ideas and thus assure greater success than would otherwise be possible.
The Sunday School, under the leadership of George Q. Cannon, who remained general superintendent until his death, became firmly entrenched in the Latter-day Saint way of life. The enrollment of 1947 stood at 444,541—a great tribute to the cause which George Q. Cannon espoused because of his earnest desire to insure the teaching of the gospel message to the youth of the Church.
During the leadership of the succeeding heads of the Deseret Sunday School Union, changes have been made to improve the organization, a fact that would have been recognized by George Q. Cannon as essential since changing times require new techniques. Fundamentally, however, the Sunday Schools have remained what Richard Ballantyne and George Q. Canon envisioned— a bulwark in the defense of Latter-day Saint youth.
[1] Louis Pasteur, Laura N. Wood, Julian Messner. Inc., 1948.
[2] Journal of George Q. Cannon in the office of the First Presidency, 47 East South Temple, Salt Lake City.
[3] Ibid.
[4] The Juvenile Instructor, April 15, 1866, "Inquiries and Their Answers."
[5] Cor. 13 :ii.
Cannon, Clawson Y. “Excerpts from the Journal of George Q. Cannon.” Improvement Era. August 1950. pg. 623-624, 672, 674.
Excerpts From the Journal of George Q. Cannon Dictated By Him to His Son Dr. Clawson Y. Cannon In 1900-1901 IN 1900 President George Q. Cannon and some of his family returned to the islands for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Hawaiian Mission. His son, Clawson Y. Cannon, acted as his secretary at that time and kept the diary as his father dictated it to him. Some of the notations are of the greatest interest and value. Selections have been made from the diary: Wednesday, Dec. 12, 1900 Fifty years ago today I, with other elders, ten in all, landed at this place as missionaries to preach the gospel. Of those ten, three are still living, James Keeler, William Farrer, and myself. I may say here, that there were two things which I dreaded very much upon leaving home, one was the sea voyage, the other was my inability to talk the native language, for forty-six years had passed since I left and I have done very little in talking the Hawaiian language since that time. The sea voyage, through the blessing of the Lord and the prayers of the brethren, was a most pleasant one and furnished no cause for dread. The language, also through the favor of the Lord, came to me in a manner to surprise me. When I was called upon this morning to speak, I did so principally in English and spoke with great power. The spirit rested powerfully upon me, but while speaking in English, the Spirit of the Lord would bring the native language back to me, and I would break out in it to the surprise of myself and the delight of the people, for it was a great cause of wonder to them that I should be able to speak in their language at all after so long an absence from the islands. I was made to feel very happy through this blessing of the Lord upon me, for he removed all my causes for dread. It was so every time I spoke during the two days of the celebration. The morning meeting passed off in a most gratifying manner. The people show a loving affection for me, and I was honored to my heart's content. Thursday, Dec. 13, 1900 I occupied some time this morning in addressing the congregation in English and Hawaiian. I had great freedom in both languages. I commenced in English, but the Spirit rested upon me, and I broke out in Hawaiian. In the afternoon there were some variations in the program. The ex-queen, Liliuokalani, was present this afternoon, and she expressed a wish that I should speak, as she wanted to hear me, which I did. I afterwards went to her seat, and we had quite a lengthy conversation. In reply to my question as to her state of feeling, she replied, how could she feel otherwise than well after such a pleasing [word omitted] as I had given her (referring to Salt Lake.) She said she hoped to see me at her residence. . . . I landed here fifty years ago yesterday with very little money, a comparative youth without experience and knowledge of the world. When I commenced my ministry, I was a stranger to the people and to the language and friendless and homeless. My lonely and friendless condition, and the opposition and enmity I met with at the hands of those who awaited the truth caused me to shed many tears, but when the message I bore was received and obeyed, then I was no longer with no one but God, my Father, for in conformity with my promise to the people that if they would obey the truth, the Lord would give them a testimony and a knowledge for themselves, he did bestow his Spirit upon them, and they became witnesses of the truth of the gospel as well as myself. In this way, thousands of friends were raised up. When I think of the goodness and mercy of God in sparing my life for so long a period to witness the grand results that God has caused to follow the planting of the gospel here, I am filled with praise to the Almighty Father for prompting me to do what I did. To him all the praise and glory is due. Monday, Dec. 17, 1900 The ex-queen Liliuokalani sent me word that she would like to see me at one o'clock today as she expects to sail for Hilo. Sister Fernandez took me to the ex-queen's residence in her carriage. She welcomed me very cordially and expressed the pleasure it gave her at meeting me. She also dwelt on the good my visit had done and would do, how the people's feelings had been aroused and their love awakened and strengthened by my visit. Many more remarks of this character were made by her, and when I arose to bid her goodbye, she said she would like me to give her a blessing; then she led the way to another room. Before I was aware of what she was doing, she was on her knees at my feet to receive the blessing. I felt very free in blessing her, and the Spirit rested upon us both. . . . Sister Fernandez took Sister Cannon, myself, and the children out to Pacific Heights. . . . While I know it was on this side of the mountain that we ten elders built the altar and dedicated the land the day after we landed in 1850, and where we had a time of rejoicing and the interpretation of our work, I could not locate the exact spot where we built the altar as the face of the ground has been much changed by attempted improvements. From this point we went down to the wharf. The steamer Alameda came in about four today. Two elders of the New Zealand Mission were on board on their way home. They were Brother Heber Aldous and Rufus Hardy, two grandsons of John Kay. Brother Farr of this mission is released to labor in California, and he sails on the Alameda for the coast. We bade them goodbye. Monday, Dec. 24, 1900 An old lady called upon me this morning and insisted on giving me two dollars. She can't tell the year she was born in, but judging by the things which she told me she remembered, she must be one hundred years or upwards. Her memory is good, and her mind is clear, but her hearing is defective. I gave the two dollars to Brother Woolley so that he could aid her or some other needy person. The natives got up a surprise party this afternoon for the purpose of showing their good will on the eve of my departure and also to show the way the native feasts were conducted fifty years ago. A heavy storm broke on us this afternoon, which delayed the feast two or three hours. The gathering was in an amusement hall which is used for dancing and other purposes. The utmost good feeling pervaded, and in the remarks which were made by the native speakers I was mentioned in the most reverential manner. I was the first called on to speak, then Brother Cluff and Brother Woolley, followed by a native speaker. I am deeply impressed with the love and affection displayed by this people to me. They overflow with kindness and appear as though willing to do everything in their power to show the love they entertain. Tuesday, Dec. 25, 1900 We left Laie about ten o'clock. The Saints came in crowds and gave us a parting song. We took the train at Kahuku for Honolulu. The country was very beautiful, with grand views of the ocean. We reached Honolulu at half past five o'clock. Wednesday, Dec. 26, 1900 At ten o'clock we drove to Honolulu. Sister Cannon did not intend to go to Maui with me as she dreaded the landing, but Sister Fernandez said that she would go to Maui if Sister Cannon would, so they both made up their minds to go. We embarked on the Kenu and the voyage occupied about seven and a half hours. Thursday, Dec. 27, 1900 I had many reflections this morning upon my first residence in this place. It was here where the Lord revealed to me the good that should be accomplished if I should stay and work with this people. So clear was I upon this point that I was resolved to stay here if I had to do so alone. My feelings are indescribable when I see how fully the Lord has fulfilled his words to me concerning that which should be accomplished. We were alone then with no earthly friend but with the gospel. Hundreds and thousands of friends have been raised up as witness to the truth. What great cause have I [to rejoice] in viewing what has been done. It am profoundly grateful that I was chosen and inspired to perform the part which I did. Thousands have been brought to the knowledge of the truth who have rejoiced exceedingly in its possession. I started out to find if possible the place where Nalinanui lived when she gave us shelter. I wanted to find the site of this house and the garden where I sought the Lord in secret prayer and where he condescended to commune with me, for I heard his voice more than once as one man speaks with another, encouraging me and showing me the work which should be done among this people if I would follow the dictates of his Spirit. Glory to God in the highest that he has permitted me to live to behold the fulfilment of his words. I found the place that I thought had been the site, but great changes have been made. I made inquiries about Nalinanui and Kealakai Honua. Discovered that the house where we stopped was the house of her grandson. His father was Chilean and his mother a daughter of Nalinanui. We all felt that this was an extraordinary coincidence and the natives called it Kupaianaha. Before leaving, a number of folks assembled, and I addressed them. The Spirit of God was poured out upon us. . . . Sunday, Dec. 30, 1900 I attended Sunday School and addressed the school and the Saints present. I spoke upon temple building, the work to be done in the temples and the necessity of their gathering all that they could about their ancestors. We took a lunch of poi at the Mission House. At two o'clock we met with the Saints in the meetinghouse. Brother Cluff spoke for a few minutes and I followed and spoke for one hour in Hawaiian. I enjoyed great liberty and felt to thank the Lord for giving me his Spirit to enable me to address the people in their native tongue. I spoke altogether during the afternoon in the Hawaiian language with the exception of less than half a dozen sentences. To me it is very wonderful that I should be able to speak at such length after so many years have passed since I used it. Among other things which I mentioned, I dwelt upon it at some length, was the necessity of living lives of purity. I led them to believe that if they did so and exercise faith the Lord might move upon his servant, the prophet, Lorenzo Snow, to authorize one of his servants to seal wives to husbands for time and eternity. . . . Saturday, Jan. 5, 1901 We left Brother Fernandez a little before three o'clock and called at the Mission House and bade it farewell. At the wharf the Saints had assembled there by hundreds. They loaded myself and wife and children with wreaths and garlands of flowers. My entire person was almost covered; I was loaded down so with flowers, and garlands of maile. The manner in which 1 was decorated made me very conspicuous and embarrassed me somewhat as I had to press my way through the dense throngs which covered the wharf and its approaches. The greatest interest and affection were shown by the people towards me. Many of them had left their employment to be present at the departure. It was a scene which I ought never to forget. |
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Bennion, Kenneth S. “George Q. Cannon - Sunday School Pioneer.” Instructor. January 1952. pg. 4, 6.
GEORGE Q. CANNON—SUNDAY SCHOOL PIONEER By Kenneth S. Bennion To a great extent our Sunday Schools are the "lengthened shadow of a man" who took hold of the movement at a critical time and carried it forward valiantly for nearly forty years. Among the many remarkable achievements of the Church was the bringing together of great leaders. High among the foremost men of his time was George Q. Cannon. Born in Liverpool, England, on January 11, 1827, he was a member of the illustrious Cannon family of the Isle of Man. As a boy of twelve, in his mother's home, he first heard the Gospel from his uncle, John Taylor. Much has already been published concerning George Q. Cannon; and every history of the Church tells of his activities. The Instructor, during 1946, carried a series of articles covering his life and works. This material, from the pens of his son and daughter[1] should be carefully preserved as a storehouse of early Church history and pioneer life. It was during 1864, just after his return from a four-year mission to England and Europe, that George Q. Cannon directed the organization of a Sunday School in the Fourteenth Ward, in Salt Lake City. The work appealed greatly to him; for he was concerned about the efforts and money being spent to win converts throughout the world, and at the same time permitting thousands of our children to grow up without adequate training in the principles of the Gospel. He saw, too, that if Sunday Schools were to spring up throughout the Church without central organization and control, they would become so diversified in their nature, objectives, and organization that there would be a scattering of effort with unsatisfactory results. As a matter of fact, some of the early schools were teaching only spelling and reading, just as the day schools were doing. He set out to find ways and means to perfect the organization. At a meeting presided over by President Brigham Young, in November 1867, the Parent Sunday School Union was organized, with George Q. Cannon as superintendent, a position he was to hold until his death in 1901. More than two years before this organization was effected, however, Superintendent Cannon set about to publish a magazine. He was already a veteran in the publishing field and knew well the value of a magazine in unifying efforts and in providing needed sources of teaching material and ideas. Already the year 1865 was too far advanced to permit the bringing in of supplies from the East; but Elder Cannon had been publishing the Western Standard newspaper in California, and knew where he could get the necessary supplies. He had hoped to have the first issue of the magazine off the press in time for the October Conference. He had anticipated using paper from the paper mill in the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. But that source was inadequate even for the needs of the Deseret News. Therefore, he went to California and there purchased the necessary type, a few "cuts," or engravings, and as much good paper as he could haul across the desert. These materials were carried by ship down the coast to Los Angeles, and there were loaded into a wagon for the trip to Salt Lake City. It is to be remembered that in 1865 there were no roads as we know them today. Elder Cannon had already made the journey several times, and knew the way, even across sandy wastes where wagon tracks were soon obliterated. The journey was long and tedious, as well as dangerous. From the little town of San Bernardino the way led over the mountains, into the great Mojave Desert. Even today, with a beautiful paved highway and swift automobiles, the road is long and wearisome. But the heavy load of type and paper for the new Sunday School Magazine moved forward only twenty or so miles a day—200 miles in ten days! Though it was December, the desert was hot and dry. "Journey of Death," the Spaniards had called it. As much water as possible was carried on the wagon; but the way was long, and there were delays. Consequently, long before the first great goal, Las Vegas, was reached, men and horses were desperately in need of water. The last drops were rationed, and the long hours stretched out endlessly. By resting during the day and traveling at night, the small party finally crossed the last sandy stretches safely and reached the lush grass and sparkling spring water that made the site of Las Vegas famous long before the days of the earliest Mormon pioneers. After resting a few days, the outfit moved on toward the snowy mountains ahead. A few days later, instead of enduring the hot sand, mirages, and drouth of the desert, they were wallowing in deep snow between St. George and Cedar City. Arriving in Salt Lake City, Elder Cannon set to work at once, preparing the material and setting the type. At last all was in readiness, and the first issue of the Juvenile Instructor, the first children's magazine in the western half of America, came off the press. A description of the magazine and further information about it will be found in the December Instructor, 1949, page 665. Though people were enthusiastic about the magazine, and the desired benefits began immediately to be felt, there was still much to be done. As many know too well, it is one thing to publish a magazine, and quite another to induce people to pay good money for it, to read it, and to apply its ideas and other helps to their work. Subscriptions were sold throughout the Church; but Sunday Schools were few and the total membership was small. Of these, no large percentage would subscribe. The problem of securing suitable paper was an ever-present crisis, threatening constantly to stop all further publication of the magazine. Through it all, George Q. Cannon fought a continuing battle, using every possible resource available; and always, when the situation seemed most hopeless, the way opened up and it was possible to keep on with the work. In addition to performing his general Church duties, first as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and later as a counselor in the First Presidency during three administrations. President Cannon constantly traveled the length and breadth of the Church. Whether at home or far away, he devoted his efforts to building up the Sunday Schools, unifying methods and objectives; instilling in the hearts of workers everywhere an undying zeal for the great Sunday School cause. Thus he continued until 1901, when death released him from his many arduous but glorious missions. [1] Joseph J. and Rosannah Cannon Irvine. |
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Anderson, Arthur S. “Little Deeds from Big Lives: They Sought His Will, There is a Happiness When Serving the Lord.” Instructor. November 1956. pg. 330.
Little Deeds from Big Lives By Arthur S. Anderson They Sought His Will There Is a Happiness when Serving the Lord DURING his mission to Hawaii, George Q. Cannon worked among extremely poverty-stricken people. Not wishing to be a burden on them, he avoided eating any food which he thought they might need. Instead he ate "wild" potatoes which had a very distasteful flavor due to the warm climate. Since there was no salt available at the time, Elder Cannon poured molasses over the potatoes for flavoring. These molasses - covered potatoes along with several other foods which were equally distasteful made up Elder Cannon's daily diet. While some might find working under these conditions extremely trying, such was not the case with this stalwart missionary. Elder Cannon wrote, "I learned . . . that there is a happiness which the servants and Saints of God can have that is not of earth, and that is not in the least dependent for its existence upon the possession of food, raiment or any earthly thing."[1] Elder Cannon was ordained a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles Aug. 26, 1860, and later served in the First Presidency. [1] Material from My First Mission by George Q. Cannon; published by The Juvenile Instructor, 1882, page 42. |
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Cannon, D. James and Elaine. “He Obeyed Each Call.” Instructor. March 1959. pg. 67.
He Obeyed Each Call[1] By D. James and Elaine Cannon GEORGE Q. CANNON was a talented but humble servant of the Lord. One of his outstanding characteristics was that of obedience to those in authority. Through the experiences gained by accomplishing the lesser tasks according to instructions, he acquired the schooling needed to become a greater leader - even an apostle - among the Latter-day Saints. How is a man called to be an apostle? Many and varied are the ways in which calls have been made. Witness an interesting method used by President Brigham Young. It was probably startling for Brother Cannon, then in New York City presiding over the Eastern States Mission, to find his call to the Council of the Twelve Apostles in the fifth paragraph of a handwritten letter, dated Nov. 3, 1859, and signed by President Young. The letter first discussed "this season's emigration" and the pleasant weather in Great Salt Lake City. President Young then went into some detail about "the army in Utah concentrated at Camp Floyd." Other matters were touched upon before that significant fifth paragraph: "On the 23 of October the First Presidency and Twelve met in the Historian's office, when you were unanimously elected to fill the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve, occasioned by the death of Brother Parley P. Pratt." It was almost as if President Young expected that George Q. Cannon should have known the call was coming in recognition of devoted and valuable Church service. For though Brother Cannon was but 32 years old when this call to the Twelve came, he had already distinguished himself. Only four years earlier, Brother Cannon had supervised the printing of Ka Buke a Moramona, his own translation of the Book of Mormon in the Hawaiian language for the people he had served as a missionary. Contemporary with printing the translation, Brother Cannon was editing a Church newspaper, The Western Standard in San Francisco. Then came his call to the Eastern States Mission, with the added burden of assisting with the Church's immigration program. But that November day in 1859, President Young's call for George Q. Cannon to serve as an Apostle set in motion a 42-year career unique in the annals of Mormonism. The foundation he had laid in Hawaii as a beloved and highly spiritual missionary, developed into full flower as an apostle, and later as a counselor to three consecutive Church presidents. Whether it was in the halls of the United States Congress where he served as a delegate from Utah, or the mission field - George Q. Cannon was an effective defender of the Word of God and His Church. But it was as- a wise leader among men that marked the life of George Q. Cannon as most meaningful. Four Church presidents were aided by his counsel. President Young asked Brother Cannon to serve as his secretary. Then, Brother Cannon served consecutively as first counselor to John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow. In between, he was the first general superintendent of the Sunday Schools, a successful businessman, a renowned statesman, and a good husband and loving father. The unanimous election of the First Presidency and the Twelve on Oct. 23, 1859, to choose George Q. Cannon as an apostle is another evidence that the Lord knows where He can find valiant and able exponents of His truth. Also, the Lord chooses for His leaders those who are obedient. And as long as one follows the promptings and commandments from on high, that person shall continue to lead the Saints in the latter days [1] This article tells of the many successes achieved by one who was obedient to the call to serve. It will assist teachers of Course No. 7, presenting lesson 18, “Obedient—and We Find It Easy To Learn,” scheduled for May 17, 1959. The article will also assist with the March 8 lesson for Course No. 25 and the May 24 lesson for Course No. 13. |
George Q. Cannon was obedient . . .
... As a missionary and translator. ... As a mission president. ... As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. ... As a defender of his Church. ... As an aid or counselor to Church Presidents. ... As the general superintendent of the Sunday School. |
Richards, Lynn S. “Inspiration from the Lives of Eight Men.” Instructor. October 1970. pg. 378.
Inspiration from the Lives of Eight Men by First Asst. General Superintendent Lynn S. Richards George Q. Cannon The first General Superintendent of the Deseret Sunday School Union was George Q. Cannon, appointed in 1867. One of his contemporaries said: There never was a man . . . who could so readily as he adapt his speech to convey important thoughts to the minds of little children. . . . An intense lover of little children . . . he never fails to give a liberal share of attention to the little ones, with whom he pleasantly converses. . . . His career . . . is a powerful example to the youth of the inestimable value of a steady, conservative, vigorous and strict adherence to duty, whether in the humbler or higher ranks of society, in achieving success in life.[1] . . . He has sought carefully for that polish, grace and understanding of words that enable him to express his thoughts forcibly, clearly, and in plain language that the people generally comprehend; he exhibits a careful avoidance of mystifying phrases and unwieldly words.”[2] [1] "George Q. Cannon," by James H. Anderson; from Lives of Our Leaders, a series; The Juvenile Instructor, January 15, 1900, pages 34-39. [2] "George Q. Cannon," The Juvenile Instructor, January 15, 1900, page 33. |
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