Relatives of the Pennsylvania Canons Please Read This.
For years we have assumed that Col. John Canon and his brother were from Virgina but I found a document written by a man who was at the Whiskey rebellion meetings and knew John.
And here is what he wrote: "J. Canon was from Chester County, Pennsylvania, had long been a respectable citizen south of the Monongahela, lived in the town called by his name, had attached himself to the government of Virginia, and favored the idea of a new state. He was afterward a member of the Legislature, and was an early advocate for the Federal constitution, and a supporter of General Neville's intrest in the county."
This is a direct copy from History of the Western Insurrection in western Pennsylvania commonly called the Whiskey Insurrection. Written by Henery M. Brackenridge 1794, Reprinted by his son Alexander Brackenridge, ESQ. 1859.
I copied this from an original 1859 copy there is a reprint avaliable the text can be found in chapter 4's notes on the letter calling to arms men at Braddock's Field.
If this is true which I'm 100% certian all southern claims can be wrote off. The area which the Canon brothers came to was part of Virginia and not part of Pennsylvania until much latter. This is why Virginia is used by the DAR and because his 1st commision comes from the Virginia courts he was a part of on Tuesday April 29, 1777 as a Colonel. His 2nd commision comes in 1781 from the county of Washington Pennsylvania Territory as Sub-Lieutenant in charge of Cecil Township. I have also come across George Washington's reasons for firing John if anyone is interested.
If this can all be researched further then the family history would be changed and thus corrected after 200 years. The next big task for all of us related to Col. John is to find were he was burried at even Canonsburg doesn't know this one.