C. H. CANNON. On the first train which legally ran into Guthrie on the day of Oklahoma's opening. C. H. Cannon was a passenger, and during the intervening years has been actively associated with the development of the territory. His account of the early days of Guthrie's existence is very interesting, throuwing light upon many things which have bee unexplained hitherto, saive to some of his acquaintances. Though nearing his three-score and ten milestone, he is active in mind and body and possesses the energy and enthusiasm of many men in middle life.

Of Scotch-Irish descent, he is a son of Isaac and Nancy (Thomas) Cannon, natives of Delaware. The father, whose birthplace was near Smyrna, was a farmer and blacksmith, and in 1815 removed to Attica, Ind., pursuing his trade while the Wabash & Erie Canal was being constructed. In 1844 he bought some land in Union township, Fulton county, Ind., and built the second house put up in the township. After the close of the Civil war, his wife having died, he returned to his native state, and there passed his last years. His patriotism had been severly tested, as he contributed four manly sonts to the Union cause, two of the number being sacrifices upon the altar of their country. Joseph and Isaac were connected with the Eighty-seventh Indiana and Greenup and William were soldiers in the Twenty-sixth Indiana Infantry. Greenup was taken captive and died from the expposures and privations of his prison life; William was kiled at the battle of Prairie Grove, and Isaac received a wound in his right leg. He now lives in Lafayette, Ind., and Joseph is a resident of Kewanna, Ind.

The eldest of eight brothers and sisters, C. H. Cannon was born September 17, 1832, in the neighborhood of Smyrna, Del., and was reared in Indiana. Though he mastered the details of farming and blacksmithing, his education was not neglected, and after being graduated in the logansport Seminary he taught school for four terms in Fulton county, Ind., and then continued in that vocation in Jasper county, same state, until 1862. That year he entered the service of the government and was made postmaster of the postal department at Louisville, Ky., his chief business consisting in forwarding mail to the constantly-moving regiments in the South. The arduous tasks connected with the office told upon his not over-strong consitution, and in 1864 it became necessary for him to tender his resignation and return home. When comparative health had been regained he engaged in merchandising in Kewanna, Ind., and soon was made postmaster of the place, holding the position until the fall of 1865.

At that time Mr. Cannon located in Kansas City, Mo., where, for three years he was in the employ of a wholesale grocery house. Then, going to Longton, Kans., he carried on a mercantile enterprise until 1885, when he removed to Howard, Kans., and there engaged in the livery and transfer bsiness. The most crushing affliction of his life befel him there, for on June 4, 1886, his establishment was destroyed by fire, his loss being about $10,000, and though this amount represented many years of indefatigable labor on his part, this was the least of his trouble, for his son George lost his life in his efforts to save the property. Leaving the town, Mr. Cannon went to Arkansas City and became the manager of some stone quarries. As before stated, he came into Oklahoma on the first train legally entitled to bring home-seekers. Nevertheles, about four thousand people already were in possession of Guthrie and a great problem rested upon the shoulders of defenders of law and order. Mr. Cannon was honored by being chosen to serve on the provisional council of Guthrie, and during the thirty-three days of his incumbency the charter and by-laws of the future city were framed. Selling one of two lots which he had located near the land office, Mr. Cannon took up his abode on Capitol Hill, where he was elected and served as its first mayor, and, in fact, the only one, for the four suburban towns of Guthrie were soon incorporated with it. Prior to that event he had been admitted to practice before the Department of the Interior, as he was well versed in the land laws. September 22, 1891, he located a claim in the present Lincoln county, and with his only surviving son was ocupied in imporving and cultivating the place until in the fall of 1899 they sold out, in order to engage in their present line of buisiness. Our subject has become one of the leading business men of Chandler, where he has a transfer business and employs three wagons in transferring and freighting goods.

In national affairs Mr. Cannon is an uncompromising Republican, though not a politician nor office-seeker. In the fraternities he is associated with the Odd Fellows only.

In Jasper county, Ind., Mr. Cannon married Eliza Kenton, the great-granddaughter of Simon Kenton, the noted frontiersman and Indian fighter. Mrs. Cannon is a native of Champaign county, Ohio. Of her three sons, two died in Kansas, namely: Charles and George, and Harvey is engaged in the transfer business in Ripley, Okla.

Transcribed from Portrait and Biographical Record Of Oklahoma, Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1901. Page 1225. Digitalized copy provided for transcription by George Cannon. Transcription by Carolyn Ward.