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Here are some excerpts from the book, PANOLA COUNTY HISTORY written about the Canons of Panola County. First,
Panola County lies due south of Memphis, TN, approximately 40 miles to the north. Between Panola County and Memphis lie Tate County
and Desoto County. Marshall County lies to the east of Desoto and Tate County and has its northern border on the TN state line. Tunica County lies to the west of Tate County and Desoto County. Lafayette County lies to the east, Quitman to the
west, and to the south, from east to west (to the Mississippi River), lie Yalobusha County, and Tallahachie County.
Having placed Panola County geographically, here's what Robert "Booma" Canon has to say. According to Booma, John Canon was born in Henrico County, VA, in 1675. (My ancestor, John Canon, Jr., is said to have been born in cotland in 1730). The VA John Canon's two sons, John II and William became large landowners in Henrico, Buckingham, and Albemarle Counties. William was granted 1700 acres at one point. John's son, Ephraim, moved to the Newberry District of SC. He served in the Revolutionary War and is listed in the first U. S. census. He died in 1803 and his will is said to still exist. His son, Ephraim II stayed on in SC.
In 1861, Ephraim II's third son, Henry, moved to Montgomery Co., MS with his wife Susie and their five children (Montgomery
County lies due south of Yalobusha County, placing it to the southeast of Panola County.) Henry was wounded in the Civil
War and died in the Confederate hospital at the University of Mississippi. He's buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Oxford, Lafayette County, MS.
His son, William Alexander Canon, married Amanda Campbell, sister of his brother James wife (no more information is given on
them). William and Amanda had seven children. "Mr. Will" was said to have been "a forceful character who loved money, bourbon, women, and horses." Until his death in 1937, he continued to drive everywhere in his buggy, refusing to drive an automobile.
Booma Sharpe Canon was the youngest of William and Amanda's children (Note: John McKnitt Alexander's sister, Jemima,
married James Sharpe - they were witnesses for Moses Moore's will, another ancestor - which raises an interesting possibility).
He married Elizabeth Pauline Harrison of Ashland in 1934. They lived in the Canon home in Vaiden for a while then moved to
Sardis, the county seat for the Second Judicial district of Panola County (because the county is divided by the Tallahatchie
River, it has two county seats). Booma died in 1961 and Pauline lived on in Sardis until her death in 1984. Their nephew,
Jesse Canon married Rosa Lee McCoy and they have one daughter, Gwendolyn.
Booma and Pauline's son Robert Morris "Booma" Canon still lives in Sardis but maintains a home in Washington, D.C. He
founded the Panola Playhouse and the Mississippi Arts County Commission. He worked with the University of Mississippi in
the arts program and was Director of the Arts Council of San Antonio, TX before moving on to the National Endowment for
the Arts in D.C. (I'm quoting Booma *G*)
It's possible that the first John Canon mentioned here is the same one to which my family is related. In the history of
Canonsburg, PA, the John Canon for whom it is named came from VA to PA where he gave the land on which Canonsburg was built to the town. My ancestor, John Canon, Sr. could have been born in Scotland and may have been this John Canon's nephew. (He moved from PA to NC) In the historical notes of Canonsburg, that John Canon is said to have come originally from VA and to have been a
good friend of George Washington. That John Canon built a mill there and died there. I suspect, since a mill was a very
lucrative business in those times, that if he had any sons, they would have stayed in PA. Very little is known about that John
Canon, oddly enough.
John Canon, Sr. from whom my family is descended, married Mary Alexander in PA prior to moving south to Mecklenberg,
NC according to family notes. He was born in 1730. According to his gravestone in Hopewell Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Mecklenberg Co., NC, he died in 1794 "at 64 years of age." Mary A. Canon died in 1798 "at 64 years of age." Her grave is also in the Hopewell Cemetery (Confirmed by telecon two weeks ago).
From the family notes, John and his brothers James and Joseph all came to NC at the same time. They all bought land in
Mecklenberg County and A. J. Humphreys, another descendant of John Canon, Sr. purported to have the book and page
numbers of the deeds when he transcribed them for my mother in about 1957. I wish that I could see them because there is some confusion surrounding one brother's name. This could well be due to the proximity of the VA Canons who may or may not be related.
John Canon, Sr.'s will is dated Oct. 13, 1786 and was probated in 1795. In the Book of Wills, it is in Book A, Page 204. His
wife was Martha Alexander, supposedly the sister of John McKnitt Alexander who witnessed all their transactions. In his will, he lists six sons and three daughters. Among the sons is John Canon, Jr. who was the father of Alfred Orville Canon, my great-great grandfather.
There is a strong possibility that the Canons in Panola County and I are related but in the many years that I've known Booma
Canon, we've never sorted it out. So little remains of the family history of the John Canon for whom Canonsburg was named
that it may never get sorted out.
I realize that much of this is conjecture, but I'm hoping that it stirs some debate so that I can get this sorted out in my mind.
Besides, I like detective work.
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