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809061 91
AMERICAN GENEALOGY
Gomparatively few are able to trace their ancestry hack to the
Revolution. And still fewer of these know the country from which they
migrated, the date of migration, the name of the ship in which they
came or the port at which they arrived.
lt seems incredible that less than a
epochal event every family would not have
preserved these elemental facts in family
So, unpalatable as it may be, we are
dozen generations from this
handed down and carefully
history
forced to the conclusion that
they did not want to remember, that they deliberately withheld from
their children the knowledge of the conditions and circumstances under
which they left the mother country and came to the New World
It must he remembered that only the
the most desperate, would leave home and
knew they would never see again and risk
wilderness inhabited by savages and wild
the jails were opened to those who would
destitute and the unfortunat
relatives and friends they
hardship and starvation in a
beasts The almshouses and
volunteer to go as colonists
Gonsequently, while there were those who came for conscience sake
and in order to worship according to the dictates of their own spiritual
convictions, the great mayority of early colonists had no memories or
traditions which they cared to pass along to their children and what
little was known was soon forgotten So, most of us and most American
families are descended from yoemen and undistinguished forebears their
descendants were glad to forget
es
U
  ° Of course, all of us have royal blood in our veins. All of us have
ancestors who participated in great historical events. All are descended
from the proudest mediaeval families. We
parents and eight great~grandparents, a t
had two parents, four grand-
otal of fourteen forebears in
a mere hundred years. at that rate we should each have had something
like 1,020 since the Mayflower docked. Since William the Conqueror
each has had about 60,000,000 (sixty million) ancestors »~ not
allowing for the lines which meet.
Every man and woman living today has
inherited not only the blood
but the genes and characteristics of both noble and plebian, the great
and the obscure of ancient and mediaeval
blood of many notables of modern history.
Practically anyone who has lived in
from Revolutionary stock and entitled to
history and many of them the
America 100 years is descended
membership in the D.a.B., the
S.a.R. and the most exclusive colonial organisations, if the lines
could be traced.
and all have in them the good and the bad of a-thousand pious and
exemplary men and-women and a thousand rogues, rascals and profligates.
"There is so much good in the worst of us, _
and so much had in the best
That it hardly hehooves any
of us, _ _
of us
To talk about the rest of us."

 »
HUMAN PEDIGREES
The farmers of Iowa have doubtless spent one hundred times
as much energy on keeping the pedigrees of their livestock straight
as the pedigrees of their own families. There has been a tendency
for many of us to think that under our democratic system of
government there is a feeling of false pride involved in any effort
to keep up the family history. And of course there has been a lot
of foolish energy expended by some people in an effort to become
linked up with such organizations as the Daughters of the American
Revolution and the Golonial Dames.
Family histories, properly kept, mean a lot even to those
members of the family who pretend to despise such things. We are
talking now about a family record such as almost anyone can start.
The first thing to do is to put down the names of the father and
mother, together with the dates and places of the birth and
marriage, and the names of the children. Then go back and see if
you can do the same thing for each of the four grandparents. In
addition, secure a brief history of the life of each, the different
places where they lived, the occupation of the men, etc. In many
cases, it will also be possible to list at least a few of the
eight great-grandparents, There is not much reason in going back
of this. ln every case, so far as possible, find out a little
something about the physical and mental characteristics. Inciden-
tally, this may tell you a little something about the diseases and
weaknesses to which the family is peculiarly susceptible.
Usually there is no financial gain whatsoever in this kind of
thing, altho occasionally there are families of people who keep
records of this sort who find themselves in line for bequests
which they would not otherwosie have secured. The really important
results are not financial at all. The children become better
acquainted with the people from whom they sprang, and thus become
possessed of a feeling of responsibility and a more accurate idea
as to their place in the world, than would otherwise be.possible.
In doing this kind of work, it is important to get at it as
soon as possible, for the reason that the members of the family
who can furnish the best information are usually well along in
years, and when they die, the information they can furnish is often
totally lost. From a purely cultural point of view, we do not
know of any way in which time can be more profitably spent during
winter evenings than working up a family book of this sort. It may
involve considerable letter writing to distant members of the
family, but that should be worthwhile even tho there is no such
thing as a family book involved. While we believe that by far
the greatestlemphasis should be laid on getting complete informa-
tion concerning the parents, grandparents, and possibly great-
grandparents, it is occasionally interesting to those who are
historically minded to follow the thing back further, and in that
case, those of our readers who are interested in this sort of
thing will be glad to know that in the Historical Library, at
Des Moines, there is one of the best collections of genealogical
reference works to be found anywhere in the United States.
Wallaces' Farmer, February 9, l923,

f
 """ 
T H E D E S G E N D A N T 5
O F
J A M E S G A N N 0 N
"The roots of the present lie deep in the past,
and nothing in the past is dead to the»man who would
learn how the present came to be what it is."
"""St'   l
  ".  

' 
11.
F o R s w's R o
"No man is fit to be entrusted with control of the present who
is ignorant of the past; and no people who are indifferent to their
past need hope to make their future great. A people who have not
the pride to record their history, will not long have the virtue to
make history that is worth recording."
--North Carolina Historical Commission.
unna-
The early Cannons who came as pioneers to Missouri were a part
of that va t a hi h d th h All h t i
at sae clogs 3?re§3n1§te9oe§§§§§, tr§3g§sing ideeggthfggsawilggihggs
of the Mississippi Basin, the domain of Indian and wild beast, to
clear the forests and establish there the first permanent homes of
the Central West.
These pioneers have become already dim figures of the past and
unless perpetuated in some permanent record must soon be as completely
forgotten as are their immigrant fathers who crossed the seas to es-
tablish homes in the new world a generation or two before them.
The names and deeds of forefathers when handed down from father
to son by word of mouth are soon forgotten, and even the most vital
facts in family history, such as the European sources of the family
or service in epoch-making wars, become merest tradition. Only by
being enrolled in a permanent record can they be preserved and trans-
mitted with certainty or accuracy. For such a purpose; as a tribute
to fathers whose virtues we revere; as a fulfillment of duty to pos-
terity; and as an indifferent contribution to a notable chapter in
American history; this fragmentary record has been hastily compiled.
June 21, 1911

Wilkinson and Dawson; some from env
THE CANNON
In ancient times there were no
names only. It was not until about
were introduced, and it was as late
they attained common usage. (Boards
page l?2; Barber*s British Family N
the earliest record of a general in
in the history of the petty Irish m
year A.D. 1001 promulgated an ordin
should adopt a surname. (O'Hart's P
irish Nation, page xviii) william
the latter part of his reign, in or
over the subjected Saxons, and perf
couraged the introduction and use o
French dominions. (Freeman's Norman
Taswell-Langmead's Constitutional H
5.
NAME
surnames. Men were known by given
the Eleventh Century that surnames
as the Thirteenth Century before
ley's English Surnames, Chapter III
ames, Chapter I, page 3) Perhaps
troduction of the surname is found
onarch, Brian Boru, who about the
ance, providing that every family
edigree or Origin and Stem of the
the Conqueror (l066»lO97) during
der to better maintain surveillance
ect his system of taxation, en-
f surnames in both his English and
Conquest, Volume V, pages 560-571;
istory of England, Section 2)
Practically all modern surnames date from these or nearly contemporary
periods.
Pew, if any, of these names have come down to the present day in
the form originally conferred. Practically all surnames have suffered
numerous modifications in form and
continues as evidenced by the avera
jurisdiction. In the first census
lT9O the following modifications ap
Cannine, Canon, and Kannon. This i
noted in practically all surnames,
illiteracy of earlier times and the
days.
Aside from these modifications
from many sources. Some came from
spelling, a process which still
ge docket of the courts in any
of the United States taken in
pearr Cannon, Cannan, Cannon,
s typical of variations to be
and is to be accounted for by the
tendency to adaptation of later
, modern names have been derived
the calendar of the Saints, as
March, Sunday and Valentine; some from the occupations, as Carpenter,
Smith, Weaver and Farmer; some were
derived from the Christian name
of the father by adding the suffix "son", as Davidson, Peterson,
ironments of habitation, as Stone,
Forest, Waters and Redpath; some from incidental happenings; others
from personal peculiarities or characteristics, as Long, Black, Savage,
Christian and Armstrong. (Beardsley, Chapter Ill, page l72; Barber,
Chapter I, Page l3)
The primitive Scotch and Irish clans usually adopted the name of
some distinguished chief of the family with the prefix "Mac" (Celtic
for son) or "O" (an abbreviation of the Latin Phrase "a quo" -- from
which, a descendent of). Every name bearing the prefix "Mac", "Mc"
or "O" is of Scotch or Irish origin.
Among these was the Kinel Connel (Clan Connel) a possible mythical
clan which in the tenth century is said to have taken the name of one
of its chieftains, O'Canannain or Canadhnain, anglicized, Cananan, and
moderniz d Canni C O'H tf P d' 0 ' ' d St
of the Igish Nati§§,OPaggn§g§} The gameSisefr%me%hgrea¥l§1Eel%ic wg¥d
"Ganadh" (to utter, to sing, one who sings, the singer) (Ibid, Page lhd)
` 
6.
Of iourse no evidence exists in any waY oonnect§ngta;;d0;e;§;pS£
Cb n hes of the Cannon Family with this anc e 1 th Cannons
american ra C . h B irish Islands. But al S _
f t e r d
o r Phal Gannon family D' t A rica from Englan ,
if whgse emigration there is any record cameveotomindicate the natufg
ditions ser
I l nd or Scotland and such tra - hi toric sources
Ogetae many version; which purport to reveal the pre s 1
of any family.
. is ivan b
    of     °f '§";i1'§§,§?°ft§2f£2n-e§n.e, Y
Barber in his British Family Namgs ash a canon." That iS: he
Cannons. A place name. Norman- rgnc i in an& as being immediately
Gcnsiders the name of Norman-FPSQC gf § cénon prelate or saint,
derived from location and referring 0 N 3 eople of Northern
and implies descent of the family from a orse 310)
France' (Barbertg B]?i`|$iSh FB.IT1i1§T Namasr pagg

_ THE CANNON FAMILY IN AMERICA
qggllnnurmr-me---H-be
T- 1
None of the many American branches of the Cannon family are able
with any certainty, to trace their line of descent back beyond the
later periods of Colonial america to_their spores in Eorope,;jlhat"
the emigrationftook place at a very early date,-and probably in--
_clpded a number_of families of the name, possibly from different
'sources and no doubt at different periods,_iggindicated_by_the_¢, A
freturns of the First Census of the United States which`report 1h8,
Cannon families with'a total enumeration of'B29 PSrsons_1iving in'
'the thi teen orivinal states in 179 . (A Century of Population
Growth (1909) U.§.'Census, Page 233) They were even at that time
widely distributed, being found in all of the states except Vermont,
Rhode Island and New Hampshire. The largest number was found in _,
South Carolina which reported 3h_families; North Caroldn followed _
'with_2Qefamilies5,andfPennsylyania,was.third with 26 families; f£he
smallest)number.was,rep§rted4from;Maine,whiehereturnedfbut'threefft
families. The latest census reports families of theuname in every
state and territory of the Union. .t~~ »q= ~ ='-"~ -= ~
, 1
The earliest mention of the arrival in America of a person of
the Cannon name is found in the passenger list of the ship Fortune.
on the llth day of November, 1621, the Fortune anchored at New
Plymouth, her passengers "Being parts of families, with others left
in England by the Mayflower the year before". (Original List of Emi-
grants Who Went To America, Int., Page xxvii) By this arrival the
Plymouth colonists received a charter procured for them by the ad-
venturers in London, who had been originally connected with the enter-
prise. Among the Thirty-five persons booked on this passage was one,
"John Cannon". (New England Historical and Genealogical Register,
Vol. I, page l2h) No further mention of this "First Cannon in
America" has been found, and as his name does not occur at the divi-
sion of the cattle in l62T, it is probable that
he either died
returned to England, or emigrated to some other colony. (Savage's
Genealogical Dictionary of New England, Vol. I,
Page 332)
` Records of the early colonial period mention several other emi-
grants of the Cannon name. Among those arriving in the New England
colonies from England, June 10, 1635, was Richard Cannon and Usor
(his wife) Elizabeth Cannon. (New England Historical and Genealogical
Register, Vol. XIV, page 35d) Nothing is known
"One Cannon was of Sandwich, England, 1650, who
Robert, of New London, America in l6?8, who was
in l680." (Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of
of their later history
may have been that
chosen a town officer
New England, Vol I
° 3 1
page 332) "April 8, 1652 -- Robert Cannon, of London, sells to Charles E
Yoe and Benjamin Gillum, of Boston, Massachusetts, a ship of which he '
is master and commander." (Historical and Genealogical Register,
Vol. XlX, page 52) "Robert Cannon and his wife, Sarah, settled in
Essex and Old Norfolk about the year l68O." (Ibid, Vol. VI, page 2h6)
The names of many Cannons are found in the
lutionary Period. Luke Cannon was mustered out
archives of the Revo~
in the State of Vir-
ginia; (New England Genealogical Quarterly, Vol. VII9l9Oh, page 109)
B. _
James Cannon served as private in the 2nd Infantry commanded by
Brigadier Count Pulaski, Continental Troops, March, 1779, and deserted,
April l??9; (Archives of United States War Department -- Adgutant
General) John Cannon was mustered in from the State of Massachusetts
Bay under Captain Burnam, commanded by Colonel Jackson, December 21,
17773 (New England Genealogical and Historical Register, Vol. I,
page h79) James Cannon served as private in the Tth Virginia Regiment
commanded by Colonel Alexander McClenachan until his death on the l2th
of September, lT77; (archives of United States war Department -- Adjutant
General) James Cannon enlisted from Norfolk, New York, and Served as
Captain in Willett's Corps; (South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. I,
page 298) Roger Cannon of South Carolina, was Corporal in Captain
ramona Hypne*s_Company of the lst Regiment, Provincial Troops under
Col. Christopher Gadsen; (Ihid, Vol. I, pages 54, 59) and John Q33
Robert Cannon enlisted in Captain Andrew Comminls company in South
Carolina, October 9, 1T75. (Ibid, VOl- III, Page 127_ The mvat
prominent of the name of that period was probably Daniel Cannon, of
Charleston, South Carolina, who is referred to by McGrady as one of
the leaders of the Revolution. (NcGrady's South Carolina UUd9T the
Royal Government, pages #57, 591, 651) BOTH in England, Jull 10,
lT26, he emigrated to America about 17h0; (Charleston Gazette,
October 7, l802) was one of the signers of the protest against the
Stamp Act; a charter member of the Liberty Tree Party; (G1bb's Docu»
mentary History 176h-1?76, page 10) a member of the General Committee
of the Non-Importation Association; Captain of "Cannon's Volunteers 3
(Ancestral Records and Portraits by Grafton Press (1910) Vol. I, Page
372) and elected to the first Provincial Congress of South Carolina,
l??5; (South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine Vol. 7,
1906, page 103)
Little else is known of the history of any of these men beyond
what is given here, and nothing has been published giving any informa-
tion either as to their antecedents or their descendants. No relation-
ship is known to exist between any of them and their contemporary,
James Cannon (1144) of Newberry County, South Carolina, the records
of whose descendants comprise this genealogy.
 il! I

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T H E C A N N O N F A M I L Y
U M, _\»_ ;L yu 1| v up u V 0
\ 1-r 0 11 n .r or 'as' W -.»r if
Gannon ---- ---------- --~-- -~-~ If = y sie  s
(Unknown) Unknown M'"J""
Seq, 1790
-John Gann0n--- ---Unknown --------~-__ .__..___ ___1323
"IS&&G Cannon ----~-- Unknown ------~---- ___».. S9q_ 1790
~James Cannon -~----- Dec. ll 1762 ------- Apr, 30, 18u2
-William Cannon--~--
Mary Cannon -----
Keziah'Cannone~~~~-
Lydia Cannon »---
Elizabeth Cannon
Unknown
~ ~-~-   --------~-~-im;
Unknown~ ------ - -»~-»~UnkngWn
Unknown
Unknown
'Unknown
"""~ -~--- ---"Unknown
"" --~--e ---Unknown
"""~"""~""~~~~----~Unknown
Cannon is the first of his line of whom we have any
H information, He was born sometime between l?OO and
1735, either in County Antrim, Ireland, emigrating to america by
Wal af ?h11&@Slphia about 1750, cr in one of the northern colonic
emidratlng southward in the van of that colonial tide deflected
from the West by the Indian hostilities attending the Colonial
and Indian Wars. The personnel of his family is listed in his
will and enumerated in the census of ITQC but no records bearing
upon either his own nativity or ancestry are to be found, The
carefully preserved tradition in the South Carolina branch of the
family (Henry Cannon, New, Newberry County, South Carolina) that
their people came direct from Ireland to Newberry County, coupled
with the statement of O'Neal (O?Neal's Annals of Newberry
Page 6Th) that "the elements of Cannon's Creek Church came from
County Antrim, Ireland" seems to lend credence to the former theor
In further corroboration of this version is the statement often
made by one of his relatives (David Cannon, Ibid.)that the Cannons
were of mingled Irish and French descent. This claim to French
descent was decidedly puzzling until a search of local history
brought to light the fact (O'Neal's Annals of Newberry, Page 199)
that some of the earliest immigrants to this locality were of
Huguenot extraction, their ancestors having fled from France in
16 5, upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, part of them
settling in Scotland, and part of them just across the North
Channel in County Antrim, Ireland.
Q=
o
o
5
3
m
E5
d-
m
H
=4
Ulster (North Ireland) is one of
Ireland. County Antrim is one of the
is a maritime county ~- on the sea »~
Belfast -~ noted for shipbuilding and __
industrial section of Ireland -~ the Protestant section of Ireland
and loyal to English Government and represented in the English
gaiiiaments The rest of Ireland is largely agricultural and
a o c and constitutes the Irish R__ubl' nd i d b t
Irish Parliament at Dublin. ep lc a S governs Y he
the four provinces of
nine counties of Ulster and
and its county seat is
lace manufacture the
The Cannons apparently came from Antrim at an earl
, e _ y date and
landed at Philadelphia ~~ moving from there to Virginia and on
down to North Carolina and settling finally in Newberry County,
S
s
Y
South Carolina, where they fought in the Revolution and later
emigrated to Tennessee, thence to Kentucky and finally to Missourii
E The Cannons were Scotch-Irish. That is they were Scotch
living in Ireland. In the Sixteenth Century (l550~l6CG) Elisabeth
drove out the Irish and colonized it with Scotch and English.
They were redehaired. Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were
redenaired, Scotchelrish and of this breed.
Certain it is, however, that Samuel Cannon was among the
earliest, if not the first to settle in Newberry County. The royal
grant of the first hundred acres peempted by him and surveyed upon
his application on November 25, l75h, antedates any in that section
of the State, and as some time must have elapsed prior to his
application and its platting by the surveyor-general, O*Neal's
statement that "the county first be an to be settled.about 1752"
(0'Neal*s Annals of Newberry, page 9% must refer very closely to
the time of his arrival. This grant, which seems to have been con-
firmed prior tc the establishment of the three counties originally
comprising the State, and which was located in what was subsequent~
ly included in Craven County, still later to become a part of Ninety
Six District, and ultimately Newberry County, is as follows:
S O U T H G A R O L I N A
George the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great~Britain,
France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth,
To all to whom THESE PRESENTS shall come Greeting; KNOW YE, THAT
we of our special Grace, certain Knowledge and mere Motion, have
given and granted, and by these Presents, for us, our heirs and
successors, DO GIVE AND GRANT unto _
sawcst ceases _
his heirs and assigns, a Plantation or tract of Land containing
One hundred acres on a branch of Broad River called Cannon's Creek,
bounded to the East part on John Cannon's land and part vacant,
the other three sides vacant,
And hath such shape, form and marks, as appears by a plat thereof,
hereunto annexed: Together with all woods, under-wood, timber and
timber trees, lakes, ponds, fishings, waters, water-courses, profits,
commodities, appurtenances and hereditaments whatsoever, saving and
reserving, nevertheless, to us, our heirs and successors, all
white pine-trees, if any there should be found growing thereon:
and also saving and reserving, to us our heirs and successors, one
tenth-part of mines of silver and gold only:
TO HAVE AND TC HOLD, the said tract of One hundred acres of
land and all and singular other premises hereby granted, with the
appurtenances, unto the said Samuel Cannon, his heirs and assigns
for ever in free and common socage, he the said Samuel Cannon, his
heirs, or assigns yielding and paying therefore, unto us, our heirs
and successors, or to our Receiveredeneral for the time being, or

ll.
to his Deputy or Deputies for the time being, yearly, that is to
say, on every twenty-fifth day of March, at the rate of three
shillings sterling, or four shillings proclamation money, for
every hundred acres, and for in proportion according to the quantity
of acres, contained herein; the same to grow due and to be accounted
for from the date hereof. Provided always, and this present Grant
is upon condition, nevertheless, that the said Samuel Cannon, his
heirs and assigns, shall and do within three years next gfter the
date of these presents, clear and cultivate at the rate of one
acre for every five hundred acres of land, and so in proportion
according to the quantity of acres herein contained, or build a
dwelling house thereon, and keep a flock of five head cattle for
every five hundred acres, upon the same, and in proportion for a
greater or lesser quantity; And upon condition, that if the said
rent, hereby reserved, shall happen to be in arrear and unpaid
for space of three years from the time it became due, and no distress
can be found on the said lands, tenements and hereditaments hereby
granted, that then and in such case, the said lands, tenements
and hereditaments hereby granted, and every part and parcel thereof,
shall revert to us, our heirs and successors, as fully and absolutely,
as if the same had never been granted, Provided also, if the said
lands hereby mentioned to be granted, shall happen to be within the '
bounds or limits of any of the townships, or of the lands reserved
for the use of the townships now laid out in our said Province, in '
pursuance of our Royal Instructions, but then this Grant shall be
void, any thing herein to the contrary contained notwithstanding.
\
Gives under; as areas, ,Saad pi se; asia hermet-
W I T N E S S His Excellency William Henry Lyttleton,
Esqr., Capt. Cen'1.,
Governor and Commander in chief in and over our said
Province of South Carolina, this
Thirteenth Day of August, Anno. Dom. 1756 & in the
Thirtieth Year of our Reign.
(Signed) william Henry Lyttleton (L.M.S.)
Signed by his Excellency, the Governor in Council
(Signed) William Simpson, CC.
And hath hereunto a plat there-
of annexed, representing the
fame, certified by
George Hunter, Esqr.,_Surveyor-General
the 25th of November l75h.
,'\' \/
(W
'WHO
1330
12.
The John Cannon mentioned in the mates and bounds description
was his eldest son, who seems to have applied for land contempora-
neously but who did not perfect his title until December 1, 1772.
(Land Books of South Carolina)
Samuel Cannon's will was probated in 1792, but the Census of
1790 does not include him in the list of heads of families. His
youngest son, James spoke of his mother, Lydia Cannon, as a widow
at the time of his migration from North Carolina. (James Knox by
Dr. J. A. Knox, Auburn, Lincoln County, Mel) ine census schedules
enumerate her as a widow and indicate a number of daughters, but
apart from their father's will no further record of them has
survived. (First Census of U,S,, Heads of Families, South Carolina
Pasv 76)
His name is perpetuated in the name of Cannonis Creek (Map of
Newberry County, South Carolina), a small stream which rises near
the center of the county and flows eastward until it empties into
Broad River. It is so designated on the first map of the state
ever published (French Map of U.S. by LaVille, Date l800, published
1802, Congressional Library) and is mentioned in various histories
as the most important stream in the county, and as having received
its name from the Cannon Family which settled there at a very early
date. (O'Neal's Annals of Newberry, page 107)
While Cannon's Creek Church, a congregation of the Associate
Reformed Presbyterians (Seceders) and the mother church of Presby-
terianism in Newberry County, was established near his home and
during his life time, we have no evidence as to whether he was a
communicant.
No traditions as to his personal traits have come down to us,
but the respect and affection in which he was held by his own
family are reflected in the fact that each cf the three children
whose family records have been preserved, bestowed upon his eldest
son the name of Samuel.
He is buried in the ancient cemetery adjoining Cannon's Creek
Church in Newberry County, South Carolina, lf the stone which
marked his resting place ever bore any inscription, it has long
since been obliterated by the hand of time. The meager records of
that crude age and the long lapse of years make it improbable that
any further sources of information will be discovered. The race
from which he sprang, the country from which he came, the hundred
years of family history which is the heritage of each generation,
are buried with him in his unmarked place of sepulture, and beyond
him his fathers sleep shrouded in the same impenetrable obscurity.
His will is recorded:

13.
WILL OF SAMUEL CANNON
In the name of Cod Amen I samuel Cannon of South Carolina and
Newberry County, Planter, Calling to mind the Mortality of my
body and Knowing that it is appointed Once for all men to sie ao
therefore make & Constitute this my last Will in Manner & form
following that is to say first & foremost & before all things I
give my soul to the Almighty God that gave it to me & my body I
Recommend to the Earth from whine it Came to be Desently Intard at
the Discretion of my Executors hereafter Metined & appointed first
gf alédmy Desire is that all my Lawful Debts & funeral Charges shall
e pa .
Item. I give & bequeath to my three Eldest Sons John Isaac
James & my Eldest Daughter Mary a Negro a Piece which they have now
in their Possession said Negroes & there Issues to fall to said
Children and there Issues forever
Item. I give & bequeath to my son William a Negro Girl Named
Sell & One hundred Acres of land the Original Grant in Lawrence
Renard Name
_ Item. I give & bequeath to my two Daughters Kisiah & Lyda
thirty pounds & a feather Bed a piece to be paid to them in property.
at their marriage
Item. I give & bequeath to my oun est Dau ht Eli b th C
Negro Named Emela & also One featheryBedg g GP " Za e me
Item. I give & bequeath to my Wife Lyda One hundred Acres of-
Land the Original Grant in Clement Daviess Name & also the Whole
of ml Mooveable Estate & I do make Constitute & appoint my two.
Sons John & Isaac to be my sole Executors of this my last will &
Testament & I do hereby utterly Revoke Disannul & make Void all
other former Wills by me heretofore Ratifying & Confirming this
& no other to be my last Will & Testament & in Testimony hereof
have hereunto set my hand & Seal
Saml Cannon (SEAL)
Pronounced to be Samuel Cannons
Last will & Testament in the Presence
of u   _ ,-111: -;;;;g-;,_~__- _aaa i;,,__ __, _,_,_ ,_ _ _
(Will Book "A", page 109, Records of Newberry County, South Carolina)
II-2
lh.
Lydia apparently was born early in the eighteenth century and »
nothing is known of her early life or lineage. She may have been a
the daughter of Clement Davis, as a tract bequeathed her in her i
husband's will is designated as "the original grant in Clement
Davis' name." A grandson told his daughter (Correspondence of --
Mary Ann Criffeth, IV-108) at the beginning of the Civil War that
his grandmother was a great-aunt of Jefferson Davis, President of
the Southern Confederacy. This may be corroborated by the fact
that Jefferson Davis was born in Christian County, Kentucky, to I
which her family emigrated. Samuel Davis, father of Jefferson
Davis, settled in eastern part of Christian County. (Now just across
the line in ross County) about isoo and Jefferson Davie was been in 7
eastern part of the Village of Fairview, June 3, 1808. (History Q
of Christian County Kentucky, by Perrin, Page llo) `
She is enumerated in the First Census of the United States
\
(First Census of the United States, Heads of Families, South
Carolina, Page 76) as "Lidea Cannon", living in Newberry County in
Ninety-Six District in 1790, the head of a family consisting of four
white females and four slaves, but no white males. This data would ,
indicate a widow of some means, as evidenced by her freehold and 1
the number of slaves, living alone with three daughters or grand- 1
daughters. Immediately preceding her name is that of John Cannon,
the head of a family of seven persons; and following is the name 7
of Isaac Cannon, the head of a family of six persons. As the list
is given in the order in which the enumerator took the schedules
it is evident that the two sons were living on adjoining homesteads.
(Dr. J. A. Knox says (letter of June 8, 1910) that James (lleh) was
the youngest of five sons and that his mother was a widow at the time
of the Revolutionary War and that James was 18 years old at the time
of his escape from the British)
John Cannon ---- --~-------»---- ~--- ~--- ~-~~- ~~~-- ~~Unknown
(Unknown) Unknown
Seq. 1790
Reported by the First Census of the United States as living
in Newberry County, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina, in 1790,
the head of a family consisting of himself, his wife, four children y
under sixteen years of age, and one slave. I
He was granted one hundred acres of land in Craven County, South.
Carolina, on Broad River, December 1, 1772, which was probably about _
the time of his marriage.
His eldest son, Colonel Samuel Cannon, was born 1773; breveted
Major in Colonel Tucker's regiment in the War of 1812; elected Rep-
resentative in 1816 and 1818; died, July 22, l8h9.
(Can this be the "Colonel John Cannon" mentioned with "John `
Furman" in Chain's History of Christian County, Kentucky, as Revoe
lutionary soldiers?) He left no will but the record of the adminis~
tration of his estate is filed in Package 159, in Box oh, Estate 1660
in the Office of the Probate Court of Newberry County, South Carolina.
2

II~3.
115.
Isaac Cannon- ---- ------ ~- ------- » ---Unknown
(Unknown) Unknown
Seq. 1790
Reported in the First Census of the United States as living
in Newberry County, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina, in 1790,
the head of a family consisting of himself, his wife, three
children, all under the age of sixteen, and one slave.
 
16.
obeyed and was firmly tied to the horse, but on the march to camp
suddenly wheeled his mount into the dense underbrush and, in the
late dusk, outrode his ursuers and escaped. (James Knox, through
his sch, Dr. J. A. Knox? The boy must have enlisted soon after
this, (History of Missouri, by Louis Houck, Vol. III, Page 85)
and served until the close of the war.
It was at the beginning of the darkest chapter in the history
of the Revolution. General Clinton had taken charge in person of
the British campaign in the South, and in a short time had reduced
the whole of South Carolina to subjection to the British. Only
1I'u' Marion with about 25 men remained in the field in the entire
J province. It was in this hour of despair that American valor shore
ames Gannon "'° " ""'*'"""'- '"""~'-"* --Raohel Stark brightest. "Left mainly to her own resources," says Bancroft, "It
' (UiP» 1735) Cir. 1768 was through the depths of wretchedness that her sons were to bring
Cir- 1831 ter back to ter place in the Republic, after suffering more and
daring more and achieving more than the men of an other state"
(Bancroft's History of the United States, 1852-l8§3). A purely
1O`Samue1 Cssooo "'""" Oo# Z# 1756 °""` ""D@C Bs 1357 volunteer system sprang up after the loss of Charleston and the
§;"§°§§ Ggoooo "'""~ *-*Ms* 16, 1790 ~~~- --~Joo 13, 1371 eeetouetioo of the Continental army. The patriots who would not
1 :ly a Cannon ----~~- §ov H, 1791-" ""'-~-* SSP 12, 1869 take the oath of allegiance retreated to the swamps and mountains
1i_W§?§§ agnon' "*""" UV U, 1793- --~"»--~ May 3, 1362 and, maintained under Pickens, Marion and Sumpter that partisan
15_E1i gmthagnon----*EGP 123 1795 --~" ---Mar 7, 1861 warfare which became so famous, (American Campaigns by M. F. Steele,
l6_N Za 3 &nn°n"'" if 17f3'é "'"'"'" ""-' Cir 1339 Page hh) and the redemption of the State was accomplished by
1?_Ea§°Yi 3200" """' '"APP 22, 1 00 """"' "-*SSP 15; 1375 - volunteers, serving without pay, supplying their own horse and other
18_M§ Pacm anno" '""'" gag 18: 1301 "'"'"" ""-APP 11, 1857 ' equipment, and finding their own subsistence (McCrady's South
19 Ra;'gelag§§;1;;:::::;D;c 2 » 1833- ~---- ---glitr l82618?6   Carolina in the Revolution, Pages l3» 138).
.9 __"""""" g "
ggrgeiiah Cgoooo '"'" "'giP l8OS"" ""'"" °"'"' Gif 1 25 Among these was the young James Gannon, not yet sixteen years
22_M;re;;attang°n ""` cg" 187 """ " """"'"" Nov 9, 1837 of age at the time of his enlistment. General Pickens commissioned
23_Ja 3 Ge 9 a"n°n"'A P 1 12 """"" """ °"" D90 1: 1379 Colonel Casey to organize the Militia in "Ninety-Six" and James was
me anU°n """""" PT 17, 1315- **""*"' JQU 21, 1360 among those who volunteered. The story(of his service is best told
James Cannon was born, December ll 1762 (Headstone i fam' by himself in his penglon declaration' Buyeau of Pensions'
cgggggryé 3.5. Pensiog Li§EOofbl§hO gays he was 82 at thentimeltge waS7ington' D'C" Vol' I' Fage 62, File Nos 16' éau)
c s a en une , , u bo his declaration for a e si n' "
and his grave stone fix the date of his birth as 1762) in the gtgtec appe§;e§h;;f%;§ ig; §£SE§E;§&§¥'tiéDcoa;2;3&o§;tSggaiigcoln
of South Carolina in that Section of the District of Ninety~Six County Missouri new Sitting James Cannon 3 resident gf
late? to bo Known 35 Nowboorv GOUDty. It was at the time the fur- the county and state aforesaid, aged 70 years, who being
thest outpost of civilization, the extreme frontier, the line duly sworn according to the law doth on his oath make
msfkine tho inhabited portions of the United States in 1790 booolv the following aeeieretioe in order to obtain the benefit of
ioolodioe tho Diotriot of Nioots-Six (Century of P0Pulation Growth the Act of Congress passed June 7 1832 in root he entered
in tho Unitod Sbotoo, Paso 183- Immigration was rapid. however, service of the Unites States it tie yea? 1773 or 1779 in
;2gu§;;§§; g?m;§P2aih;gtiiggdtgézsgigorigyltho GOUHUY P0SSBSS@d & She State of South Carolina, in the company commanded'by
DS P S~ aptain Matthew Gillespie as a volunteer, and went to guard
a small station called Edgile Station, and afterwards removed
Uni? one inoidsnt Of his borhood hoo oomo down to us, an loe1~ to Doggeo'e Station--After the death of captain Gillespie,
dent of the early d&Y5 °f the AmQ?i°%n,Revolution. His older he served under a Capt. William Gray and was engaged in
§;§Eh;£sh§;;Ba;eZgiggagiih tg;ea§?€;2d ho 3; tge §0UUESS§iS0H W&S scouting parties against the tories-ithat he went with
- '=B,_oon a an o marau ng several hundred men under Col. Levi Case after a lar e
farigs descended on the place and finding a fine stallion owned by number of gories called Gunninghamfs Men? and followeg these
9 on 1? HSked James to whom the animal belonged. "It is mine,' q men several days and until they were dispersed in a swamp in
rooroodod Jomoo- "Theo so# oo ood_Pido him." they commanded. James dl, the lower pert of s. Carolina eos took from them horses, coats
and, gcc, He thinks he served nearly two years, principally

17.
against the pories--gud was then drafted in a company commanded by
Capt. John Virgin, and crossed the Tennessee River after Indians
and ponies and killed some of each. There were several hundred of
our men in this expedition, all mounted and commanded by Gen'l
Pickens, and was out this time about three months, which was in
the winter season--god he volunteered under Capt. Thomas Starke,
and was engaged two years and more under Said Starke in scouting
parties against the Qories--phat he was born in Newberry County
in the State of South Carolina, the year l7o2~-phat he did not
bring any record of his birth from his father's house which he
left soon after the war--phat he moved soon after the pevolutionary
war to Robinson County in the State of TGDD6SSG6*"§Qd in the year
1797 or 1798 he moved to Christian County, and in the year 1817 he
cams to Lincoln County, gg, where he now lives--ge does not recollect
that he ever received any discharge from the service."
JL JL JL JL JL 'L JL JL }L é' J' .FL
- n .|\ n n rn "n .- A n If 4-F n
"Be it remembered that on the twenty~seventh day of June
A»D., Eighteen Hundred and Thirty~three, personally appeared before
me undersigned, a Justice of the Peace within and for said County
of Lincoln, James Cannon, whose name is signed to the within and
foregoing Declaration for a pension, who being duly sworn, deposeth
and he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his
service; but according to the best of his recollection, he served
not less than the periods mentioned below, and in the following
grades: For two years I served as a private, and volunteer, and
mounted, under Captains Calaspie and Gray; for three months I
served as a drafted soldier, and mounted, under Captain John
Virgin, and for two years I served as a private, a volunteer, and
mounted, under Capt. Thomas Starke, making in all four years and
three months, All of this time I was under the command of Colonel
Levi Casey, as a Colonel, and according to the best of my reool~
lection I entered the service of the United States sometime in
the year A.D. l778, and continued in the service until peace was
made,
His
James X Cannon."
mark.
"Personally appeared in open court William Coats of Calloway
County, Missouri, aged sixty-two years last December, who being
duly sworn according to law, says that immediately after the
close of the gevolutionary par he became acquainted with James
Cannon, whose name is subscribed to the foregoing Declaration,
and that he has lived many years as a neighbor to said Cannon,
and that he has often heard said Cannon, and he thinks others
tell of his serving in the pevolutionary war, that he heard this
immediately at the close of the war, and that he has no doubt that
said Cannon served in the war as he has stated, and he never heard
this doubted by any person
Sworn and subscribed to
this hth day of February, William Coats."
1833, in open court,
lllg?,__l
aptp