The Historic Cannon-Barlow Home.

George Quayle Cannon (January 11, 1827 – April 12, 1901) was an early member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and served in the First Presidency. He was the church's chief political strategist and was dubbed "the Mormon Premier" and "the Mormon Richelieu" by the press. He was also a five-time Territorial Delegate to the US Congress.

The original tract of land was purchased from the United States Government in 1870 by Angus M. Cannon. 

In 1871 George Q. Cannon purchased the land from Angus Cannon.

Plural marriage:

Cannon practiced plural marriage and was married to five women simultaneously. 

Cannon frequently spoke in justification of the practice.

When the Supreme Court upheld the ban on plural marriage in the 1879 Reynolds v. United States decision, Cannon stated;

"Our crime has been: We married women instead of seducing them; we reared children instead of destroying them; we desired to exclude from the land prostitution, bastardy and infanticide. If George Reynolds [the man who was convicted of committing bigamy] is to be punished, let the world know the facts. ... Let it be published to the four corners of the earth that in this land of liberty, the most blessed and glorious upon which the sun shines, the law is swiftly invoked to punish religion, but justice goes limping and blindfolded in pursuit of crime.

Eventually, Cannon went "underground" with others in the church leadership as a fugitive from the federal authorities. In September 1888, Cannon surrendered himself and pleaded guilty at trial to charges of unlawful cohabitation under the Edmunds Act. As a result, Cannon served nearly six months in Utah's federal penitentiary.

Death and descendants:
Cannon died on April 12, 1901, in Monterey, California, at 74 years of age. Had he lived a few months longer, he would have become the President of the LDS Church: Lorenzo Snow died on October 10 of that year.


Cannon fathered 32 children, some of whom are;
Abraham H. Cannon, John Q. Cannon,  George I. Cannon, and Sylvester Q. Cannon, who all became general authorities of the LDS Church; 
Frank J. Cannon, Utah's first U.S. Senator; and Lewis T. Cannon and Georgius Y. Cannon, prominent architects in Utah.

Some of Cannon's prominent descendants include Howard Cannon, U.S. Senator from Nevada from 1959 to 1983, and Chris Cannon, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997 to 2009. 

The home was the showpiece of the Cannon farm and was built "for" George's wife Caroline Young Cannon to entertain guests, it is believed to have been completed in 1885.

On April 9th,1901 all real estate in the George Q. Cannon name was put into the George Q. Cannon Association, a corporation preceding George Q Cannons death.

On April 12th, 1901 George Q. Cannon died and George Q. Cannons' son Sylvester bought the property from Annie Wells Cannon in 1905.

Ianthus W. Barlow (1883-1975) purchased the home from Sylvester after moving into it at the request of Morris Kunz Sr. 

I.W then rented it for some time before purchasing it. Ianthus was also a practicing polygamous with four wives and eventually 39 children. He moved his three remaining wives into the home in the early 30's. 

The sale to I.W was for 10 acres including the house.

In late July (1939) the shake shingle roof caught fire from a woodburning stove being used in the home for cooking.

The third story suffered the majority of damage and even to this day the charred balusters of the stairs and interiors of doors still bear the scars of that fire.

Additionally there is a stairway to nowhere that leads to the empty rafters of the old third story but now is a crawl space to the roof. At the time the roof was repaired as best it could be, with many of the fundamentalists community donating labor and materials to rebuild the roof for I.W and his family.  

The home lacked any eaves or overhang for over 60 years.

The warranty deed was recorded on May 10th, 1943 several years after the third story had caught fire, the insurance proceeds helped pay off the balance of the home owing to the Cannons. 

Of note is that one year after recording the deed Ianthius was one of fifteen polygamists rounded up and arrested and imprisoned in the Boyden Anti-Polygamy raid in 1944 and without the home secured this could have been catastrophic for his entire family, especially with the prejudice at the time. 

Through the years Ianthus sold off portions of the land to various family members, leaving an acre and a quarter of property around the old home.

I. W. put the home in a family trust in the '60s because of concern that the property would have to be sold in order to settle the estate, and he wanted the home to stay in the Barlow family. 

Eslie, who was the President of Cleoseven Corporation which was formed by the seven sons of I.W's wife Cleo, proposed that the home be purchased by the Corp, provided that (I.W) and/or his last surviving wife would be able to live in the home rent free as long as they lived or so desired.

 Shortly thereafter in 1973 the wife Violet died unexpectedly and I.W followed in 1975. 

The corporation eventually purchased the home at market value in 1974. Leaving Cleo the remaining wife living in the home.

In 1977 Cleo passed away following a stroke. 

In 1979, after the passing of I.W, Violet and Cleo, Eslie and his 6 brothers sat at the kitchen table and Eslie, literally outbid his brothers to purchase the home from the Cleoseven Corp. 

The purchase resulted in a lawsuit by Eslies' other brothers and sisters who were excluded from the negotiations and was then settled out of court.

This is how the home appeared in the 70s prior to the numerous renovations done.

Although many of his brothers and sisters practiced polygamy, Eslie chose a different path for himself and after two previous divorces, in 1985 he married and then raised six wonderful children in the home with his wife Kristyne. 

Of note and a huge improvement not just only in appearance to the house but structurally as well is that in 2001, the damaged roof was completely rebuilt by Ralph Kunz, who is a great-grandson of I.W' and grandson of Morris Kunz Sr. 

Ralph, along with Eslie and Kristynes' young sons, Albert Eslie and Abe as helpers, worked many months and long hours, finally giving the home the "eaves" it had been missing.

Together E.O. and Kris made numerous updates and improvements to the home as well as the property during their 25 years of marriage together, They are now divorced (2012). The home is still in the Barlow Family. 

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