James Cannon Jr
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This article is about a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. For other people with similar names, see James Cannon
Bishop James Cannon, Jr. was an American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1918. He was also a prominent leader in the temperance movement in the U.S.A. in the 1920s until derailed by scandal.
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[edit] Birth and Family
Cannon was born 13 November 1864[1]in Salisbury, Maryland, the son of James and Lydia R. (Pimrose) Cannon. The younger Cannon married Miss Lura Virginia Bennet of Louisa County, Virginia 1 August 1888.
[edit] Education
Cannon was educated in the schools of Salisbury. He earned his A.B. degree from Randolph-Macon College in 1884. He earned his A.M. from Princeton University in 1889.
The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon Cannon in 1903 by Randolph-Macon College. Princton University awarded him an honorary D.D. degree.
[edit] Ordained Ministry
He was admitted on trial by the Virginia Annual Conference of the M.E. Church, South in 1888. He served the following appointments: Charlotte Circuit (1888-89), Newport News (1889-91) and Farmville (1891-94). He then became the Principal of the Blackstone Female Institute (1894-1911), and of the Blackstone College for Girls (1914-1918). He also served as the editor of the Baltimore-Richmond Christian Advocate, a periodical of his denomination, beginning in 1904. Cannon also was the Secretary of Education of his annual conference for some years.
[edit] Temperance Movement
Cannon was the Superintendent of the Virginia State Anti-Saloon League, beginning in 1909, as well as Legislative Superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of America. After the death of powerful Anti-Saloon League leader Wayne Wheeler in 1927, Cannon, chairman of the Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals, emerged as the most powerful leader of the temperance movement in the United States. Journalist H. L. Mencken said of Cannon that "Congress was his troop of Boy Scouts and Presidents trembled whenever his name was mentioned."
However Cannon's short-lived power came to an end when he was forced to defend himself before a Senate committee against charges of financial irregularities as a lobbyist, before the General Conference of the Methodist Church on charges of immoral conduct, and before a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to violate the Federal Corrupt Practices Act.
His highly profitable stock speculations on margin with a corrupt securities firm, his hoarding of flour during World War I that was sold at a great profit, and his sexual affair with his secretary long before his wife's death all destroyed the reputation and influence of this once powerful dry (prohibition) leader. The expose was but one of the many factors contributing to the repeal of prohibition.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- The New Bishops in Christian Advocate (24 May 1918), Nashville: Methodist Episcopal Church, South, p. 56.[1]
- Kyvig, David. Repealing National Prohibition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1979.
- History of Anti-Alcohol Movements
