Elizabeth Wells Cannon (December 7, 1859 – September 2, 1942), also referred to as Annie Wells Cannon, was a prominent women's suffragist in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

who served in the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district conta ...

from 1913 to 1915 and again in 1921. She was also president of the

Daughters of Utah Pioneers The International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers (ISDUP, DUP) is a women's organization dedicated to preserving the history of the original settlers of the geographic area covered by the State of Deseret and Utah Territory, including Mormon pi ...

and a charter member of the Utah

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

Early life

Elizabeth Ann "Annie" Wells was born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, on December 7, 1859, the daughter of General Daniel Hammer Wells (1814-1891) and Emmeline Blanche Woodward (1828-1921). She had 29 siblings. She attended the Deseret University.

Career

Elizabeth Wells Cannon worked for fifteen years as a reporter and assistant editor for the ''

Woman's Exponent The ''Woman's Exponent'' was a semi-official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that began in 1872. It published articles advocating for women's suffrage and plural marriage, in addition to poetry and other writings. ...

'', a Utah Suffrage paper published and edited by her mother Emmeline B. Wells, and she contributed verse and prose to various magazines and newspapers. Carol Cornwall Madsen, ''An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), p. 44 She was a member of House of Representatives, an author of measures for social welfare and art. She was the director of the Library Board. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Relief Association, national historian and twice state president of the Service Star Legion, and honorary member for Utah for the National Woman's Relief Society. In 1883 she wrote ''The History and Objectives of the Relief Society'' and co-authored the Relief Society Handbook. She was chosen by

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

to be Utah's chairman for the European Relief Drive. In 1918 she was associate vice-president of the American Flag Association. She was a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, the American Woman's Association, the Utah Woman's Press Club, the Order of Bookfellows.

Personal life

In 1879 Elizabeth Wells married Col. John Quayle Cannon (1857-1931). They lived in

, finally settling at 1354 South 9th West; and had twelve children, eleven of whom lived to adulthood, and three of whom served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: # George Quayle Cannon (1881-1967) # Louise Blanche Cannon (Andrew) (1884-1967) # Margaret Cannon (Clayton) (1886-1977) # Daniel Hoagland Cannon (1889-1954) # Eleanor Addy Cannon (1891-1892) # Emmeline Cannon (Martineau) (1893-1972) # Cavendish Wells Cannon (1895-1962) # Katherine Cannon (McKay) (1897-1947) # David Woodward Cannon (1899-1973) # Abraham Hoagland Cannon (1899-1992) # John Quayle Cannon (1901-1980) # Theodore Lincoln Cannon (1904-1966) Elizabeth died in Salt Lake City, of

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition w ...

, and is buried at

Salt Lake City Cemetery The Salt Lake City Cemetery is a cemetery in northeastern Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, that is one of the largest city-operated cemeteries in the United States. Description The cemetery is located above 4th Avenue and east of N Street in ...

Publications

References

External links

The Annie Wells Cannon Papers at the University of UtahAnnie Wells Cannon journals, Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee Library, L. Tom Perry Special CollectionsEmmeline B. Wells and Annie Wells Cannon papers, Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee Library, L. Tom Perry Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, Elizabeth Anne Wells 1859 births 1942 deaths Latter Day Saints from Utah American suffragists Deaths from cancer in Utah Cannon family American newspaper journalists American women journalists Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma Members of the Utah House of Representatives People of Utah Territory Presidents of Daughters of Utah Pioneers Women state legislators in Utah People from Salt Lake City 19th-century American women politicians 19th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians