Martha Hughes Cannon

Martha Hughes Cannon about 1880

Martha Maria Hughes Cannon (born July 1, 1857 near Llandudno , Wales , † July 10, 1932 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American doctor, advocate of women's rights, suffragette and senator from Utah . She was the first woman in the United States to be elected a senator.

Early years

Martha Maria Hughes Cannon was born to Peter and Elizabeth Evans Hughes. Her nickname was Mattie. The Hughes family were baptized in Latter-day Saints of Jesus Christ and immigrated to the United States. She put on 30 March 1860 the ship underwriter of Liverpool, England, and came in on May 1, 1860 New York City at. With the help of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family left New York in 1861 and traveled to Utah. Shortly after the family's arrival in the Salt Lake Valley on September 3, 1861, Martha's sister Annie, who was almost two years old, died and was buried in an unknown grave. Peter Hughes died three days after the rest of the family moved to Salt Lake City on September 17, 1861, leaving behind his 28-year-old widow Elizabeth Hughes with two young daughters.

A year later, Elizabeth married the widower James Patten Paul, who had five more children. After this marriage, Martha had the surnames Paul and Hughes at different times. Later in life, Paul encouraged his stepdaughter to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor.

education and profession

Martha was already working as a school teacher when she was fourteen. She attended the University of Deseret and was a typesetter for Women's Exponent , a Salt Lake City women's magazine published by Emmeline B. Wells and part of the Relief Society. She decided to study medicine, and after graduating from chemistry school in 1875, she attended the University of Michigan Medical School from 1878 to 1881 . After that, she practiced briefly as a doctor in Algonac ( Michigan ). In 1882 she was awarded the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the Auxiliary School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania and a graduate of the National School of Elocution and Oratory . Martha returned to Salt Lake City and worked as a resident physician at the newly established Deseret Hospital from 1882 to 1886 .

Polygamy and exile

On October 6, 1884, Martha married Angus M. Cannon , 23 years her senior , the superintendent of the new hospital and a local leader of the Church of Jesus Christ LDS. She became the fourth of his six wives and gave birth to three children. Under pressure from the federal government, Martha left Utah with her daughter, Elizabeth Rachel, who was still a baby. She was trying to avoid providing evidence of her polygamy with Angus to the Federal Marshal . She also feared having to testify against others and thus divulge knowledge that she had acquired through obstetric activities. In 1885 Martha wrote:

“As a result, I am considered an important witness, and if it can be proven that these children were actually born, their fathers will be sent to prison for five years. (…) For me it is a serious matter to be the reason why a father who a lot of young children depend on is sent to prison. I don't care if these children have the same or different mothers - the fact remains that they all have little mouths that need to be fed. "

During the two years of their exile, mother and child lived in England , Switzerland and Michigan before returning to Salt Lake City in June 1888. Recently published correspondence between Cannon and her husband for this period gives an insight into the life of a polygamous family in Utah in the 19th century and also into the "underground" shortly before polygamy was abandoned. It was a time when many polygamous families went into hiding to avoid legal repression designed to tear polygamous families apart. "I would rather be a stranger in a foreign country and be able to carry my head upright among my fellow men", she wrote in her exile, "than to be a secret prisoner at home."

Political career

MH Cannon (back left) with suffragette leaders from Utah and elsewhere in May 1895

After 1888, Cannon resumed her practice in Salt Lake, teaching midwifery classes at Deseret Hospital. This school was later accepted into the University of Utah School of Medicine . She took an active interest in the work of the Utah Equal Suffrage Association and became part of the national women's suffrage movement . Cannon was a gifted speaker and served as a member of the Utah delegation to the Columbian Exposition , the 1893 Chicago World's Fair . In 1898, she traveled to Washington to speak before a committee of Congress as a request to give women the right to vote in the United States. Cannon believed that education and public service are vital for women. She wrote:

“Somehow I know that women who stay at home all the time have the most unpleasant homes there are. Show me a woman who thinks of something other than cookers and washtubs and baby diapers and I'll show you a successful mother nine times out of ten. "

In 1896, an electoral paragraph in the new state constitution restored Utah's right to vote for women. In a much-written election, she was one of five Democrats to run as state senators from Salt Lake County as "at large" . Women's suffrage activist Emmeline B. Wells and Cannon's husband Angus were among the Republicans .

Local newspapers reported that a leading Mormon polygamist had been defeated by his fourth wife. The Salt Lake Tribune , representing the Republican point of view, wrote in an editorial that Angus Munn Cannon deserved the readers' vote. The Salt Lake Herald, a Democratic newspaper, countered, “Mrs. Mattie Hughes Cannon, his wife, is the better man of the two. Send Mrs. Cannon to the State Senate and let Mr. Cannon, as a Republican, stay home to take care of the domestic economy. "

On November 3, 1896, Martha Hughes Cannon became the first woman in United States history to be elected Senator of State. She served two legislatures and was involved in health care. She led efforts to provide financial support for students with speech and hearing impairments, the establishment of a State Health Committee, and an Act to Protect the Health of Women and Girl Employees . Cannon's third child was born towards the end of her second term. After retiring from the legislature, Cannon served as a member of the Utah Board of Health and a member of the Utah State School's Pigeon and Dumb Committee. After her husband's death in 1915, Cannon moved to Los Angeles , where she worked for the Graves Clinic, near her son . She died in Los Angeles on July 10, 1932.

Web links

• Martha Hughes Cannon / Salt Lake Tribune
• Obituary by Angus M. Cannon (PDF; 39 kB)
• Women of the West Exhibits
• Utah Capitol rotunda with information on the Martha Hughes Cannon statue

Bibliography

• Constance L. Lieber, John Sillito (Eds.): Letters from Exile: The Correspondence of Martha Hughes Cannon and Angus M. Cannon, 1886–1888. Signature Books, Salt Lake City 1993, ISBN 0-941214-77-X .
• Patricia Lyn Scott, Linda Thatcher Patricia Lyn: Women in Utah History: Paradigm or Paradox? Utah State University Press, Logan UT 2005, ISBN 0-87421-625-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lieber, p. Xv
2. ↑ Lieber, p. 269
3. ↑ (see link, SL Tribune)