County of park: St. Charles County
Location of lark: US-61, Dietrich Rd., Shelter #3, N of Flint Hill
Marker Erected by: St. Charles County Parks Department
Marker Text:
CANNON FAMILY CEMETERY
The Cannon family first settled this land in 1811. The Cannons owned approximately 180 acres of the now 603-acres Indian Camp Creek Park. The majority of the land was sold by the Cannon family to Ferdinand Stohlmann (aka Fred Cook) in 1900 for a sum of $9,000 dollars. This parcel of land stayed with the Stohlmann/Cook family until 1972 when Marie R. Cook sold the land to Harold Benzinger. This farmland changed hands two more times before the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Department acquired the land in 2000 to establish Indian Camp Creek Park.
A Catherine (Groce) Browning (Sept. 15, 1816-Feb. 20, 1888) - Catherine was related
to the Cannons through marriage. Catherine married Young Browning on January 5, 1847. They
had three children, Elizabeth, James Thomas, and Emma Browning. In 1868-69, Catherine and
her son, James Thomas Browning, were the defendants in a court case brought by John B. Allen.
Mr. Alen claimed a "moose colored Jack" was injured by the defendants. The case states that
Catherine Browning and her son Thomas "did maliciously or wantonly kill said jack," which had
wandered onto their property, a crime classified as a misdemeanor. The plaintiff was seeking fifty
dollars in damages. The jury was instructed that the "owner of the land, in driving out an animal
that has strayed into his field, must do it with such reasonable care as to avoid doing
unnecessary injury or he will be liable to the owner of the stray for damages sustained." Despite
this warning, the jury found in favor of Catherine Browning and her son, required the plaintiff to
pay all court costs amounting to $27.65. Catherine Browning died at the age of 71 in 1888.
Her Tombstone reads, "May her soul rest in peace."
B Daniel W. Cannon Jul. 22, 1875-Mar. 20, 1888) Daniel was the son of George M. Cannon
and Darah C. Cannon. He was 13 years of age at the time of his death. His epitaph simply reads,
"Rest in Peace."
C George M. Cannon (Nov. 30, 1830-jan. 1, 1906) -George Cannon was the eldest son born to
Phillip and Elizabeth Cannon. Born on the family homestead in 1830, he lived nearly his entire
life on the farm having left only once for any length of time, which was from 1853 to 1856 when
he traveled to California. sources written during the time describe Mr. Cannon as " a man brought
up to habits of industry and to a frugal manner of living, he has, of course, been a success as a
farmer." He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church, and George served as a
deacon in the Eagle Fork Presbyterian Meeting House. George Cannon expanded the family
farming operations and began to specialize in raising stock.
C Sarah C. (Lewis) Cannon (Jun. 29, 1840-Feb. 2, 1921)- Sarah was the daughter of James
E. Lewis and Elizabeth (Groce) Lewis. Sarah married George M. Cannon on June 30, 1858, in the
home of the bride's parents. Together, they had ten children, Edward, Elizabeth, James T.,
Sarah Ann, George R., Philipp S.,[sic] Oma May, Daniel W., Albert B., and Lucy Ann Cannon.
D Sarah Ann Cannon (Feb. 7, 1848-Aug. 27, 1924) - Sarah Ann was the youngest daughter of
Philip and Elizabeth Cannon. Her tombstone reads, "She Hath Done What She Could," she was
76 years old.
E Nancy L. Cannon (Sept. 14, 1842-Jan. 1861) - Nancy was the daughter of Philip S.
Cannon and Elizabeth Cannon. She died at the age of 19. Her epitaph reads:
Dearest sister thou hast left us,
Left a world of pain and care.
"Gone to Heaven to be an angel,
And a crown of glory wear."
F Philip Samuel Cannon (May 19, 1804-Apr. 3, 1856) - Philip S. Cannon was the only son of
Joseph and Nancy Cannon. He grew up on the family homestead on Big Creek. He was a farmer
all his life, a trade at which he was very successful. Philip grew mainly wheat in the fields of his
family's old homestead. He married Elizabeth (McCoy) Cannon in 1827. Together, they had ten
children. Elizabeth died in 1849 and is buried next to her husband. After the death of his first
wife, Philip Cannon married Susan Ann Keisler (Kisler) on February 9, 1851, in Lincoln County.
This second married produced two children: Mary Jane Cannon born in 1852 and Robert Cannon
born in 1854. According to county probate records, Philip Cannon had a sizeable farming
operation for the times. Records show that at the time of his death, the farm consisted of many
animals including 7 pigs, 26 sheep, 8 lambs, 2 goats, 8 cows/heifers/steers, 5 horses, 1 mule
and 20 geese; plus a large amount of wheat that needed harvesting. Due to his success as a
farmer, Philip was able to leave his family a comfortable estate when he died. Philip Cannon
passed away in 1856 at the age of 51. His family paid twelve dollars for his coffin.
G Elizabeth (McCoy) Cannon Ju. 25, 1812-Jul. 12, 1849) - Her Epitaph reads:
"O Let us think of all she said,
And all the kind advice she gave.
And let us do it now she's dead,
And sleeping in her lonely grave."
Elizabeth was the daughter of Daniel McCoy and Rachael Zumwalt. Elizabeth married Philip S.
Cannon on March 15, 1827. Together, they had ten children: Julia Ann, George Moore, William
Riley, Rachel, John B., Daniel (David) Mac, Nancy L., Elizabeth E., Nathaniel, and Sarah Ann
Cannon. The youngest children (John b., Daniel M., Nancy L., Elizabeth E., Nathaniel, and Sarah
Ann) were orphaned when their father Philip passed away in 1856. The responsibility of raising
the younger children fell to their older siblings: Julia, George M., and William. The older children
also took care of their half-brother and sister, Robert and Mary Jane Cannon. Though Mary Jane
and Roberts's mother was still living and remarried, the children remained with the Cannons,
who provided the children with shoes, clothing, food and an education.
H Joseph Cannon (1760-Apr. 3, 1843) - Joseph Cannon married Nancy Sitton, of North
Carolina, and settled in Tennessee. They came to St. Charles County in 1811, where they settled
a farm on this land in the Upper Cuiver Township. The History of St. Charles County 1765-1885
describes Joseph Cannon as " a great hunter and Indian fighter, and had many great
adventures." A story of one of these "great adventures" is told in a book published in 1876
entitled, St. Charles Co. Mo. Biographical Sketches for Pioneer Families of Missouri. According to
the tale, once while hunting bear in a nearby woods, Joseph Cannon "once tracked a bear to a
hollow log, and began to kindle a fire to smoke it out; but as he was stooping down to blow the
flames, the bear sprang out of the log and threw him on his back, it then ran away. Joseph was
so badly scared he never saw the bear any more." During the Indian War of 1812, he and his
family lived in Kennedy's Fort. Kennedy' Fort was built in 1811 on the property of Thomas
Kennedy, a former Colonel in the American Revolution. The fort was a square structure with two
blockhouses angling in the square. Kennedy's Fort was located about 1 mile east of present day
Wright City in Warren County and about ¼ mile south if I-70.
I Nancy (Sitton) Cannon (1765-Jan. 20, 1845) - Nancy Cannon and her husband, Joseph
Cannon, had five children (Philip, Sarah, Rachel, Keziah, and Nancy). Philip married Elizabeth
McCoy and had 10 children. Sarah married Jack Beck, of Lincoln County. Rachel married Raphael
Florathay and lived in Iowa; while Nancy married John Creech, of Lincoln County. Keziah never
married, and she died single. Nancy Cannon died at the age of 80 in 1845. Her epitaph reads:
"Mother thou art gone to rest,
And this shall be our prayer.
That when we reach our journeys end,
Thy glory we shall share."
X ** Possible Fieldstone Graves **
In addition to the gravestones there are possible, additional graves marked by simple fieldstones.
These rock grave are indicated by long flat rock placed in the ground in a perpendicular fashion,
which are meant to resemble formal gravestones / tombstone. According to a family scrapbook
kept by the descendants of James T. Cannon, the family cemetery contained all of the graves
mentioned in the above text and three additional graves. The first one listed in the family-kept
list, but unaccounted in the cemetery, is Ethel Browning, born August 11, 1891 and died Jan. 14,
1897. Second is Mary Catherine Browning, born March 30, 1893 and died April 29, 1894. The
third is Anna Belle Browning, Feb. 13, 1911 and died August 12, 1912.
The use of rocks as grave markers can be for any number of reasons. Some of these include: 1)
a family could not afford to purchase a carved gravestone. During Depression years, there was
often times not enough money to purchase gravestones, and the rock markers were never
replaced over the years. 2) Lack of a local stone mason. 3) Graves of slaves. 4) Presence of
adored family animals and pets.
It is not exactly known why these graves were marked by simple fieldstones. The most likely
reason why these graves were simply marked with rock would be that the family could not afford
to purchase formal tombstones. During the 1890's and early 1900's, the national economy went
through a series of financial panics, starting in 1890 and continuing in 1893, 1896, 1901, 1907,
and 1910-11. the Panic of 1893 may have been extremely hard on the Cannon family, as it
caused a sharp decrease in the prices for export crops such as cotton and wheat - a major crop
for the Cannon family.