Newton Cannon
Encyclopedia
Newton Cannon was an American
politician who was a member of the Tennessee State Senate from 1811 to 1812 and 1829 to 1830, the U.S. House of Representatives from 1814 to 1817 and 1819 to 1823, and Governor of the U.S. state
of Tennessee
from 1835 to 1839.
, North Carolina
, Cannon was the son of Minos Cannon, who served as a soldier in the Continental Army
. The family moved to the area that later became Williamson County, Tennessee
, around 1790.
Following a common school education, Newton Cannon tried several occupations as a young man, working as a saddler
, merchant
and surveyor
, and undertaking the study of law, before eventually becoming a planter in Williamson County.
, Maury, Bedford, Lincoln
, and Giles counties in the state senate in the 9th Tennessee General Assembly
(1811-1812). He served in the Creek War
of 1813 as a colonel
in the Tennessee Mounted Rifles.
In 1813 he was a candidate for United States House of Representatives
, losing the election to Felix Grundy
. He won election to the seat as a Democratic Republican the following year, however, in a special election held after Grundy resigned. Cannon was later re-elected to a full term in the House, serving from September 16, 1814, to March 3, 1817. In 1819 he accepted an assignment from President James Monroe
to negotiate a treaty with the Chickasaw
. He was again elected to the U.S. House for the 16th Congress and won re-election to the 17th Congress, serving from March 4, 1819, to March 3, 1823.
Cannon first sought the Tennessee governorship in 1827, losing to Sam Houston
. Subsequently he returned to the General Assembly as a state senator, representing Rutherford and Williamson counties in the 18th General Assembly (1829-1830). He was elected as a delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention of 1834, at which he served as chairman of the Committee of the Whole. When he ran for governor again in 1835, he won easily, defeating incumbent William Carroll
. Carroll had been a popular governor, but he was seeking a fourth consecutive two-year term in spite of a provision of the state constitution that limited a governor to three terms. Carroll maintained that the gubernatorial term limit
in the state's original constitution no longer applied because the 1834 constitution replaced the original constitution, but Cannon argued that the 1834 constitution was a revision rather than a replacement for the original constitution. Cannon's view apparently prevailed with the voters. Cannon's election was also aided by division among Tennessee Democrat-Republicans over the U.S. Presidential candidacy of Tennessee Hugh Lawson White
in opposition to the national party's choice of Martin Van Buren
.
An opponent of the policies of Andrew Jackson
, Cannon was the first member of the Whig Party to be elected governor of Tennessee. He became the first governor to benefit from increased powers given to the office by the state constitution of 1834. As governor, in 1836 he convened the first special session of the legislature in state history. Cannon was re-elected to a second term as governor in 1837. In his second term as governor, both houses of the General Assembly were controlled by Whigs, and the legislature approved proposals to create a new state bank
and to expand state support for internal improvements such as roads, railroads, and canal
s. An advocate for public education
, Cannon designated some revenues from the state bank to pay for schools. Cannon was publicly criticized for his implementation of the new laws. He failed to win a third term as governor, losing the election of 1839 by just 2,500 votes to a Jackson supporter, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives James K. Polk
, who later was to become President of the United States
. Cannon had initially been favored in the 1839 election, but he lacked skill in public speaking
and Polk outshone him as a campaign
er. Cannon wanted to run against Polk in 1841, but Whig leaders instead nominated James C. Jones
, thinking that Cannon would not be able to defeat Polk.
, whose policies he consistently opposed. Three different supposed interactions between the two men all have been suggested as explanations for the origin of Cannon's antipathy to Jackson. The earliest of these interactions involved a horse track
known as Clover Bottom that Jackson owned together with a pair of brothers, William and Patten Anderson. Cannon is purported to have lost substantial amounts of money and other possessions from gambling
at Clover Bottom, and is said to have blamed Jackson and the Andersons for his losses, suspecting them of fixing races
. The second encounter occurred in 1812, when Cannon served on a jury
in a trial
for one of three brothers who were accused of murder
in the death of Patten Anderson. After the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, Jackson is said to have shaken his fist at Cannon, saying "I'll mark you, young man." Perhaps the most compelling explanation is Cannon's disapproval of General
Jackson's military
leadership when he served as a detachment leader under Jackson's command during the Creek War. Cannon is said to have believed that Jackson had deliberately exposed Cannon and his men to unnecessary dangers.
.
He was the father of ten children. A daughter, Rachel Adeline Cannon Maney, was for many years an owner of the Oaklands
estate in Murfreesboro
. The Civil War
journals of a grandson, also named Newton Cannon, were published in 1963 as The Reminiscences of Newton Cannon: First Sergeant, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, C.S.A.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician who was a member of the Tennessee State Senate from 1811 to 1812 and 1829 to 1830, the U.S. House of Representatives from 1814 to 1817 and 1819 to 1823, and Governor of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
from 1835 to 1839.
Early life
Born in Guilford CountyGuilford County, North Carolina
Guilford County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In 2010, the Census Bureau estimated the county's population to be 491,230. Its seat is Greensboro. Since 1938, an additional county court has been located in High Point, North Carolina, making Guilford one of only a handful...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Cannon was the son of Minos Cannon, who served as a soldier in the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
. The family moved to the area that later became Williamson County, Tennessee
Williamson County, Tennessee
Williamson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010 US Census, the population was 183,182. The County's seat is Franklin, and it is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is named after Hugh Williamson, a...
, around 1790.
Following a common school education, Newton Cannon tried several occupations as a young man, working as a saddler
Saddle
A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures...
, merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
and surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
, and undertaking the study of law, before eventually becoming a planter in Williamson County.
Political career
Cannon entered political office in 1811, representing Williamson, RutherfordRutherford County, Tennessee
Rutherford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, it is the state's fifth-largest county by population with 262,604 people, an increase of 44.3 percent over the 2000 population of 182,023. Its county seat is Murfreesboro, which is also the geographic...
, Maury, Bedford, Lincoln
Lincoln County, Tennessee
Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. , the population was 31,340. Its county seat is Fayetteville. It is named for Major General Benjamin Lincoln, an officer in the American Revolutionary War.-History:...
, and Giles counties in the state senate in the 9th Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...
(1811-1812). He served in the Creek War
Creek War
The Creek War , also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, began as a civil war within the Creek nation...
of 1813 as a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the Tennessee Mounted Rifles.
In 1813 he was a candidate for United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, losing the election to Felix Grundy
Felix Grundy
Felix Grundy was a U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator from Tennessee who also served as the 13th Attorney General of the United States.-Biography:...
. He won election to the seat as a Democratic Republican the following year, however, in a special election held after Grundy resigned. Cannon was later re-elected to a full term in the House, serving from September 16, 1814, to March 3, 1817. In 1819 he accepted an assignment from President James Monroe
James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
to negotiate a treaty with the Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
. He was again elected to the U.S. House for the 16th Congress and won re-election to the 17th Congress, serving from March 4, 1819, to March 3, 1823.
Cannon first sought the Tennessee governorship in 1827, losing to Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
. Subsequently he returned to the General Assembly as a state senator, representing Rutherford and Williamson counties in the 18th General Assembly (1829-1830). He was elected as a delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention of 1834, at which he served as chairman of the Committee of the Whole. When he ran for governor again in 1835, he won easily, defeating incumbent William Carroll
William Carroll
William Carroll was Governor of Tennessee from 1821 to 1827 and again from 1829 to 1835. He and John Sevier are the only two persons to serve twelve years in that office.-Biography:...
. Carroll had been a popular governor, but he was seeking a fourth consecutive two-year term in spite of a provision of the state constitution that limited a governor to three terms. Carroll maintained that the gubernatorial term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
in the state's original constitution no longer applied because the 1834 constitution replaced the original constitution, but Cannon argued that the 1834 constitution was a revision rather than a replacement for the original constitution. Cannon's view apparently prevailed with the voters. Cannon's election was also aided by division among Tennessee Democrat-Republicans over the U.S. Presidential candidacy of Tennessee Hugh Lawson White
Hugh Lawson White
Hugh Lawson White was a prominent American politician during the first third of the 19th century. He succeeded Andrew Jackson and served in the United States Senate, representing Tennessee, from 1825 until his resignation in 1840, and was a Whig candidate for President in 1836...
in opposition to the national party's choice of Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
.
An opponent of the policies of Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, Cannon was the first member of the Whig Party to be elected governor of Tennessee. He became the first governor to benefit from increased powers given to the office by the state constitution of 1834. As governor, in 1836 he convened the first special session of the legislature in state history. Cannon was re-elected to a second term as governor in 1837. In his second term as governor, both houses of the General Assembly were controlled by Whigs, and the legislature approved proposals to create a new state bank
State bank
A state bank is generally a financial institution that is chartered by a state. It differs from a reserve bank in that it does not necessarily control monetary policy , but instead usually offers only retail and commercial services.A state bank that has been in operation for five years or less is...
and to expand state support for internal improvements such as roads, railroads, and canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s. An advocate for public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
, Cannon designated some revenues from the state bank to pay for schools. Cannon was publicly criticized for his implementation of the new laws. He failed to win a third term as governor, losing the election of 1839 by just 2,500 votes to a Jackson supporter, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives James K. Polk
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...
, who later was to become President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. Cannon had initially been favored in the 1839 election, but he lacked skill in public speaking
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
and Polk outshone him as a campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
er. Cannon wanted to run against Polk in 1841, but Whig leaders instead nominated James C. Jones
James C. Jones
James Chamberlain Jones was the Governor of Tennessee from 1841 to 1845, and a United States Senator from that state from 1851 to 1857...
, thinking that Cannon would not be able to defeat Polk.
Opposition to Andrew Jackson
Throughout his political career, Newton Cannon was known for his personal and political antagonism toward Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, whose policies he consistently opposed. Three different supposed interactions between the two men all have been suggested as explanations for the origin of Cannon's antipathy to Jackson. The earliest of these interactions involved a horse track
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
known as Clover Bottom that Jackson owned together with a pair of brothers, William and Patten Anderson. Cannon is purported to have lost substantial amounts of money and other possessions from gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
at Clover Bottom, and is said to have blamed Jackson and the Andersons for his losses, suspecting them of fixing races
Match fixing
In organised sports, match fixing, game fixing, race fixing, or sports fixing occurs as a match is played to a completely or partially pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. Where the sporting competition in question is a race then the incident is referred to as...
. The second encounter occurred in 1812, when Cannon served on a jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
in a trial
Trial
A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...
for one of three brothers who were accused of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
in the death of Patten Anderson. After the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, Jackson is said to have shaken his fist at Cannon, saying "I'll mark you, young man." Perhaps the most compelling explanation is Cannon's disapproval of General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Jackson's military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
leadership when he served as a detachment leader under Jackson's command during the Creek War. Cannon is said to have believed that Jackson had deliberately exposed Cannon and his men to unnecessary dangers.
Death and burial
Cannon died in Nashville at the age of 60 in 1841, just two years after his last candidacy for governor. He was interred in a cemetery on the grounds of his estate in Williamson County near AllisonaAllisona, Tennessee
Allisona is an unincorporated community in Rutherford and Williamson counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee.Tennessee State Route 11 runs through the community, which is the location of the James Wilhoite House, which is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.Allisona formerly had...
.
Family
Cannon was married twice. In 1813, he married Leah Pryor Perkins. She died in 1816. In 1818, he married Rachel Starnes Willborn.He was the father of ten children. A daughter, Rachel Adeline Cannon Maney, was for many years an owner of the Oaklands
Oaklands Historic House Museum
Oaklands Historic House Museum is in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA. Oaklands Mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a local landmark known for its unique Italianate design....
estate in Murfreesboro
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
. The Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
journals of a grandson, also named Newton Cannon, were published in 1963 as The Reminiscences of Newton Cannon: First Sergeant, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, C.S.A.