Ednah Meek Cannon - Daughter of James and Anna Cooper Meek

The Children of James and Anna (Cooper) Meek

Samuel Meek (great-grandfather) 1824 - 1902

David Cooper Meek (Samuel's twin) 1824 - 1901

Enoch Meek #1 1825 - 1901

                     Hiram   1826/7 - 1909  (Elizabeth's twin)

Elizabeth  1826/7 -1907 
Seth     1827 - 1845

Sidnah  1830 - 1872
James  1833 - 1865

*Ednah  1834 - 1910

John  1836 - ?

Beulah  1837 - 1912

Enoch #2   1840 - 1864

Solomon  1842 - 1917

What a sad tale is the life of Ednah Meek Cannon!
Ednah (Edna), the third daughter of James and Anna Meek, was born January 13, 1834, in Beaver, Pennsylvania.  The marriage records of Columbiana County, Ohio, listed the marriage of Ednah Meek to George W. Cannon:

"The State of Ohio, Columbiana County.  I certify that on the 28th day of June 1860, Mr. George W. Cannon and wife, Ednah Meek, were by me legally joined in marriage.  Benjamin Taylor. Justice of the Peace."

Just a month before, the Republican Convention had chosen Abraham Lincoln as its presidential candidate, and the country was alive over the issue of slavery.

Ednah and George settled somewhere in the corner of Mahoning and Stark counties.  It is likely that the county borders shifted over time as the censuses put them in Mahoning County, but Ednah's obituary stated that she spent most of her married life in Stark County and their children were buried in Stark County.

  In June 1863, George, a resident of Smith Township, Mahoning County, registered for the Civil War draft.  He reported that he was 28 years old, married and a laborer. The record did not indicate that he was drafted or paid a substitute for service.

The Federal Census of 1870 found the couple still in the Smith Township location.  George, 36, was working as a railroad hand and owned real estate worth $1200.  Ednah was 33, keeping house, with their two children, Laura B. 6, and Lillie M., 3.  The couple had already lost two sons: Thomas S. Cannon, on April 22, 1863, aged 1 year, 10 months and 7 days old, and an unnamed infant son on April 3, 1867 at the age of 3 days.  And in just a few years, on December 13, 1872, their daughter, Lillie, would pass away at the age of 5 years, 8 months and 12 days.  All of these children were buried in the West Beech Cemetery in Stark County, Ohio.  What a tragedy for this family!

The year 1880 found the Cannon family in Leetonia, Salem Township, Columbiana County, Ohio, on June 22, 1880, when the census was taken.  George was 45 and working as an engineer, perhaps on the railroad.  The children listed were Laura B., 15, and George G. (George Gideon), 7.  

George W. Cannon died in 1880 and if this were not enough heartache, another tragedy struck Ednah just a year later on August 31, 1881, when their son, George, died at about the age of 8.  We also know from Ednah's obituary that the last living child, Laura, died in about 1885 at the age of 20.  George, the son, was also buried at the West Beech Cemetery, but I could not find Laura's or her father's tombstones there.

So, by about 1885, all of Ednah's family was gone!  She was alone.  According to her obituary, a few months after her husband's death, she moved to Hicksville, Ohio, where so many of her other siblings had settled. First, she might have lived with one of her siblings, but soon a house was purchased in Hicksville and it is there, in the 1900 census, Ednah is found living with her youngest brother, Solomon.  Edna M. Cannon was 66 at that time, a widow, who listed herself as a landlady.  She did own the home in which they lived and she was listed as head of the family.  Solomon was single, 57, and working fairly steadily as a day laborer.  He reported only two months that year when he was not employed.

By 1910, the tables were turned and Solomon was listed in the census as the head of household at the house on Edgerton Street.  Solomon, 67, and Edna Cannon, 76, reported they had their own income. Sadly, just a few months after the census was taken, Edna died on September 21, 1910.  Her obituary suggested that perhaps all her life struggles had left her a rather embittered, eccentric woman.

The above clipping is so blurred that I have transcribed it here:
Ednah, daughter of James and Edna Meek,was born in Pennsylvania January 13, 1834.  She was married to Geo. Cannon in 1861, in eastern Ohio, and died in Hicksville, September 21, 1910, aged 76 years, 8 months, 8 days.  She was one of 14 children, 10 sons and 4 daughters. Only two survive, a sister, Mrs. Beulah Sensenbacher and a brother, Solomon Meek.  When Mrs. Cannon was in tender years, her parents moved from Pennsylvania to Columbiana Co., O.  Her married life was lived in Stark county, Ohio.
There her five children were born and there they all died, 4 of them while very young, one only, living until 20 years old.  The loss of her(e) children was a sorrow that never left her heart, and at times, it almost caused her to fight against Providence and it embittered her life somewhat.  Her husband died 21 years ago, and a few months afterward, she came to this county, residing with her brother, Solomon, on the farm for 4 years, and then they came to Hicksville which has been their home since.
She was a suffer(er) for a number of years.  These sufferings together with her sorrows through life, and the effect heredity and environment have upon one, had much to do with the life she lived and the temperment she possessed.  Many of Mrs. Cannon's neighbors testify that she was a kind and accommodating neighbor and that she had a warm place in their hearts and that they were glad to administer as she had need.
Mrs. Cannon became a member of the church many years ago. Before her health failed, she was frequently at services, but a number of years she did not feel able to go.  She had her peculiarities, almost eccentricities, but the Lord knew them all and He alone is able to put the proper value on every life.  During her last weeks she turned her thoughts more upon the state of her soul and the future life.  She liked to have Christian prayer and song and scripture in her presence.  While she was gradually failing, some were surprised she went so quickly.  The funeral in charge of her pastor, Rev. Heims, was held in the Methodist church Friday morning, Sept. 28, 1910.") 

I looked long and hard for Edna's burial place, but after reading the article below, I had the clue I needed to find it. In the Hicksville Tribune, September 22, 1910:

 Edna Meek Cannon's cremated remains are buried in Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne, Indiana.