Returning to the Salt Lake Valley
On their return to Salt Lake
from St. George, the two Angus Cannon families continued to live together for a
time, presumable in the big house Angus build at 246 West First South in the
old Fourteenth ward.
There was a closeness and
strong affection between the children of Sarah’s little family which continued
throughout their lives. John and George
were always devoted brothers despite their differences in temperament. George and Ann were great readers. John comparatively was a slower reader but
possessed an excellent memory and always read thoughtfully. He charged his children not to be “mere
sponges” for what they read. He excelled
in mathematics; he was deep chested and well built, though only five feet six
or seven inches tall. In winter George
would be seen going out to do his chores bundled up to his ears. Father, John, would dash out in his shirt
sleeves getting “done” in a hurry.
John’s sister, Nora told me she recalled John as a boy rushing home from
Sunday School removing from his shirt the detachable, stiff collar then in
vogue, as he came through the gate.
When John was about ten years
old he worked for a time long hours – I think it was ten, in a brush
factory. George M. told me there was a
brush factory in the Fourteenth Ward which was a cooperative affair, probably
called “Zion’s”. It was operated by the bishopric of the ward. One of the managers was Levi W.
Richards. His brother-inn-law, a Romney, was superintendent of the
plant. Boys, including Father, were
chosen as apprentices to learn the trade.
When John was fifteen, his
mother and her family lived at the “point of the mountain,” the southend of
Salt Lake Valley near Bluffdale. They
made this a happy time with their music and reading. George, who was nineteen, was in Salt Lake
teaching in his Uncle George Q. Cannon’s private school.
George had given John a violin. George told me he paid forty dollars for it –
a large sum for a boy at that time. He bought it from a young musician, Willard
Weigh, who taught Father on the violin and Uncle George on the flute.
(Note: The violin was played
for a time by my sister Mary C. Peck who later had no use for it. We have had it repaired and it has since been
used by my granddaughter, Lark Evans.)
I don’t know just how long it
was after Grandma Sarah’s family return from the farm but sometime later they
moved into Sarah’s own little home on Folsom Avenue to be close to Aunt
Amanda’s. They remained there until some
time after John’s marriage. Father commented that the sleeping rooms in
the house were so arranged that on returning home at nights he had to pass
through his mother’s bedroom and she could always check on the time he
returned.
His life-long passion for
horses began when he was young. With the
first money he earned which he was at liberty to use as he wished he bought a
horse. To his sorrow “the thing just lay
down and died.” But that in no way
dampened his ardor for the “noble” animal.
John’s Maturing Life.
According to his story in the
“History of the Utah Bench and Bar,” “John was educated in the district schools
of Salt Lake City until he was fourteen years of age. He then worked on a farm
for three years and as a carpenter until he was twenty. Attended the University of Utah for one year
then engaged in business until he was twenty-three years old. Attended University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan from 1888 to 1890. In June of
the latter year he received the degree of L. L. BB.. Admitted to the bar of
Michigan 1890, Utah 1892. Commenced the practice of law with Barlow Ferguson
under firm name of Ferguson and Cannon.
“This firm continued until
1901. In 1901 formed partnership with A.
(Alonzo) B. Irvine and Ashby Snow under the firm name of Cannon, Irvine and
Snow; This firm continued until 1909 when he maintained the general practice of
his profession alone to the present time.
“Specialized in corporation
law. Democratic nominee for county
attorney in 1902. Vice president of the
George M. Cannon Company, Salt Lake
City. President Bennion Livestock Company Salt Lake City. Member of Company C. Utah National Guard
1896-99.”
“Following the discontinuance
of John M’s association with Irvine and Snow, Jedediah Stokes and Loraine Bagley
practiced law in his office for a time but not a partners.”
What farm work he did other
than when fifteen years old at the Point of the Mountain farm, I don’t know . but his father had various
properties. It may have been on one of
them.
He learned carpentering at
the Oregon Short Line Railroad yards. He
enjoyed using this skill while building our larger Weber Canyon home on the
site where the Lorin Moench house now stands. It would have been beneficial to
father if he had spent more time in work which gave him physical exercise. He advocated the learning of a trade or the
acquiring of some physical skill even for a man with a profession because of
the psychological and physical benefits as well as the practical value in
emergency.
Law School
“It was father’s ambition to
go “East” to study law, there being no law school in Utah at that time. But his father had the fear which was common
at the time that students living away from Latter-day Saints environment might
lose their religious faith. He therefore
would not consent to John’s leaving even thought he had earned the money for it
himself. John was naturally most
energetic and a good business man. He
had made money in real estate and working in the Salt Lake County
Recorders office where his brother Geog
M. was County Recorder. It might be
noted here that John was offered a job by a man from the East, whose name as I
recall, was Frawley, if John would remain in Utah and take charge of Farley’s business
interest here. He offered John a very
tempting salary. This he declined as his
heart was set on an education in law.
“It was while John was still
occupied in the recorder’s office that James H. Hart Oscar W. Boyle, Joseph F.
Merrell and probably several other young Mormons were in Salt Lake on their way
to the University of Michigan. Learning
of this John’s father relented and gave his consent for John to go with them.
“The circumstances of this
can better be described in John’s own words in a letter he wrote his uncle
David H. Cannon after his arrival in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“In September 1888, shortly
before going East John had made a trip to St. George to visit his Uncle David
and have his endowments in the St. George Temple, the Salt Lake Temple not then
being completed.”
The letter is dated October
7, 1888. After explaining why he had not
had time to write earlier the letter reads, “upon my arrival home (from Saint
George) I found George very busy and needing my assistance very much, and I
accordingly put aside pleasure and assisted him for one week when to my
surprise upon the morning of September 22nd while I was working in
the recorder’s office two of my old school mates entered and said that they
were on their way to Ann Arbor to study law and that my father was desirous is that
I should accompany them. It was then 15
minutes before 10:00 the train leaving in 55 minutes. I, after consulting with George, decided to
go with them, which I did arriving here September 27th just in time
to enter the examinations which took place in the afternoon of the day I
arrived.” He had dashed home for and a bundle of clothes and caught the train.
“Father roomed his first year
at Ann Arbor with Benjamin Cluff Jr. who became president of the Brigham Young
Academy (later University) from 1892 to1893.
Judge T. A. Lewis went to Ann Arbor when father did but
was a student in literature. In an
interview with Judge Lewis he confirmed that father and he were both in Salt
Lake for the Summer of 1889, Lewis at the County Recorder's office and father
working in real estate which was in a boom at that time. Incidentally this boom broke after the
liberal party came into power. Dr. Van
(actually her name was Mary Van Schoom-hoven though we never called her that)
who became our beloved family Doctor for all our early years, was also a
Student in Ann Arbor. She delivered
mother’s babies at home for many years.
For part of a year or so
Joseph F. Merrell, who years later became an apostle, roomed with father. He said they knelt together daily for prayers. I quote from a letter Brother Merrill wrote
me in 1947.
“It was during the school
year 1889 - 90 in Ann Arbor, Michigan that I became acquainted with John M.
Cannon. We were students at the
University of Michigan, he in law and I in science. We were roommates at number six Church
Street. This intimate association
enabled me - a country-raised boy - to
be well acquainted with this Salt Lake City raised young man. To my great admiration I learned that he was
a gentleman to the core - always thoughtful, courteous, and considerate of
others, absolutely true to friends and his principles, and ever ready to do
anything in his power to help a person in need.
“In those days LDS students
living in Ann Arbor - about 20 of them at that time -met weekly in sacrament
meetings. John M Cannon was a wheel
horse of those meetings - always present, well informed, true to the faith, and
ever ready to fill his assignments on the program. He enjoyed the respect and confidence of
everyone who became acquainted with him.
Years later, we were associated as counselors to President Frank Y. Taylor of Granite Stake, where John
continually exhibited those qualities of wisdom, energy and devotions to the
cause that distinguished him in Ann Arbor.
His untimely death took from his multitudinous friends and the Stake a
man who could not be surpassed in loyalty to his convictions of right and in
willingness to serve his fellow man. His
descendants have every reason to be proud of their heritage and ancestry.” Joseph F. Merrell, November 10, 1947.
An incident which
demonstrated John's physical strength and courage occurred while he was at school in Ann Arbor. Without being in training, he threw the
champion wrestler of Michigan in his weight class. After this triumph John was carried about the
campus on the shoulders of the jubilant students.
An excerpt from a letter to
his Sister Ann dated Ann Arbor, September 28, 1888 may be of interest to some
other young students who lack confidence.
“Dear sister,
“I am here, as you know, amid
the wise and the learned and I feel almost lost. While I was home I tried hard to have a voice
in whatever was being done in my presence but here I felt to take a back chair
and watch the display of talent until I can feel more free and less embarrassed. I like the place and I believe I will like
the school but I think it will be very difficult for me as I am not very bright
as you know in literature. However I
feel to make a desperate struggle at least and then if I fail it will not be my
fault.
“I am a rooming with Brother
Cluff from Provo at a widow lady’s named Mrs. Hicks. She is very kind and does all in her power to
make her lodgers comfortable. And this
is the Benjamin Cluff who succeeded Karl G. Maeser in 1892 as president of the
Brigham Young University.” It was
mentioned in a BYU program recently (1975) that president Cluff was one of the
first - I think the first - Utah student to get a college degree in the
East. I suppose father would also be
considered among the first.”
His letters are full of
concern for the care of his mother “who is aging and needs all the help and
comforting that is possible for us, her children to give her.” His Mother, Sarah fell and broke her hip when
she was about 60 years old, and walked with a crutch the remainder of her
life. She lived to be eighty four.
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