More about the Cannon family

My last post here talked mainly about 2 documents that seem to be primary...authentic records of Ann Cannon's 1769 marriage in Goochland Va, of Jo. Cannon (which I assume is John) and of Nancy Cannon, mother of Robert Cannon who wrote a will in 1830 and is buried near her son in TN.  Her will lists her children, but as her husband had predeceased her, he isn't mentioned.

I looked briefly at the documents that had been included on Ancestry under John Cannon (1744-1806.) I  didn't take very long to delete the one about a 1750s Edgecomb County NC militia...he would have been a bit too young I think. He may well have fought in the Revolutionary War with that militia a bit later.  And his family lived in Caswell County, NC, near the Virginia state border, and not that near to Edgecomb County.  I then looked at a source that required my flipping back through several pages, an enumeration in Knox County TN for 1806. Actually there are several Cannon men listed as being in "Captain Bond's Company." They are John, Zachariah, Robert and Bartlett Cannon on page 76.

I finally found the introduction in Tennessee, Early Tax List Records 1783-1895...which described the law creating this census to pay for a prison. And what the 4 columns of numbers meant. But it didn't tell what the Captains actually were...if they served in any war (1812?) or were just the census takers. The header on the page gives the document's title of The East Tennessee Historical Society's Publications.

When I scrolled back to the page 68, I found another title: Early East Tennessee Taxpayers, "compiled by Pollyanna Creekmore, III, Knox County, 1806." She refers to a book written in 1946, also published by the East Tennessee Historical Society, so the date 1806 refers just to the date the original list was made.  This tax list had different percentages of various enumerations to be the taxes due.  The 5 areas being taxed were: 1) number of acres, 2) free polls (which meant free males ages 21-50 years, 3) slaves, male and female 12-50 years of age, 4) (number of) lots of merchant, hawker or peddler, and 5) studs kept for covering mares.

The list incudes 1254 names, Ms. Creekmore says. Of all the extensive footnotes, only one is given for Bartlett Cannon. It says he was a "Hatter, living in Grassy Valley, Knoxville Gazette, Jan 26, 1803."

I will list their amounts under the 5 categories, just to compare their standings in the community.

John Cannon        100 acres, no males, 2 slaves, no lots, no studs
Zachariah Cannon  122 acres, 1 male, no slaves, no lots, no studs
Robert Cannon     no acres, 1 male, no slaves, no lots, no studs
Bartlett Cannon    84 acres, 1 male, 1 slave, no lots, no studs

I hope this record has since been digitized, and will be contacting the Historical Society to learn more!  There were many other ancestors living in this area in 1806. But I don't want to look for them in the 1254 names!

What do I surmise from this list? John didn't live there, but 2 slaves did, who were working his 100 acres.  Bartlett, who was mentioned in Nancy Cannon's will as her son-in-law, was a hatter, and had a small farm, and just one slave...we don't know about any white women or girls, or even young children on this list.  Robert, who was probably John and Nancy Cannon's son didn't own any land, but lived somewhere by himself...possibly on his father's land?  Or more likely, Robert lived in another county, but got counted for being in the county at the time.  I believe he (and later his mother) lived and died in Roane/later Loudon County, Tennessee.

John Cannon may have died in Oct. 1806, or 1810, or even 1812.  (more searching needed here!)

And we know how he ended up owning 100 acres in Tennessee...and that he did fight in the Revolutionary War, under John Ellis.

"To John Cannon, Assignee to John Ellis, late a soldier of the North Carolina line during the late war." Dated Oct 11, 1796.

Oh, let's check what the definition of Assignee might be...
"Definition of assignee - a person to whom a right or liability is legally transferred., a person appointed to act for another." from English Oxford Dictionary.

So it's possible John Ellis got John Cannon to serve in his stead in the NC line!

I will bring some more documents here as a new insight into this man's service for his country, as Memorial Day is being celebrated soon to remember all those soldiers who gave their lives for this country.