Urban W. Cannon
One of the most interesting things about the United States census of 1910 is the statistical history of agriculture. Here may be found a wide variety of information regarding every phase of farming. For instance, it is shown that the value of the 1,846 farms in Fayette county averages $14,494 per farm, with an average value for each acre of $84.93. The average acreage per farm is 135 acres, with 112 farms having from three to nine acres and forty-three farms having more than 500 acres. The interesting fact is set forth that 1,080 farmers operate their own farms, while others than the owners manage the remaining 746. An insight into the financial standing of the farmers operating their own farms is disclosed by the statement that 718 farms are free from mortgage. 354 are encumbered with mortgages, while eight made no report. It would pay every farmer to get hold of these valuable statistics and make a careful study of them since he would thus get into close touch with the growth of his county's agricultural property. One of the wide awake and successful farmers of Fayette county is Urban W. Cannon, of Paint township, whose interesting career is here briefly set forth.
Urban W. Cannon, the son of Levin W. and Jane (Cockerill) Cannon, was born April 30, 1850, in Adams county, Ohio. The Cannon family were one of the most prominent families in Adams county, Curtis Cannon, the grandfather of Urban W, being a hotel proprietor. A brother of Jane Cockerill, Col. J. R. Cockerill. had a national reputation as a representative from Adams county and a prominent attorney and soldier, Colonel Cockerill had a son. John, who was one of the leading newspaper men of Ohio for many years and died in Egypt while doing newspaper work in that Country. There were six children born to Levin W. Cannon and wife: Annabel (deceased), Esther (deceased), Urban W., Mrs. Anna Hamilton, Daniel C. and Mrs. Florence Hughes.
The education of Urban W. Cannon was received in the schools of Locust Grove, Ohio. He remained at home until his marriage at the age of twenty and then began to rent land in Adams county. He came to Fayette county in 1880 as manager of an estate of six hundred acres and proved to be a very successful farmer. In the nineties he bought his present farm of one hundred and eight acres about three and a half miles east of Jeffersonville in Paint township. He keeps his farm to a high state of productivity by scientific crop rotation and raises all of the crops of the section of the state. He always keeps as much live stock on his farm as he can feed from his own farm and adds not a little to his annual income from the sale of live stock.
Mr. Cannon was married December 26. 1870, to Amanda McNeil, the daughter of Joseph and Susan (Morrow ) McNeil. Both of Mrs. Cannon's parents are deceased and buried in the Fall Creek cemetery in Highland county, Ohio. To this union there were born five children, Curtis, Susan, John C., Harry, and Joseph, deceased. The first wife of Mr. Cannon died and in December, 1912, he married Mrs. Bertha (Holmes) Mergler, the widow of Joseph Mergler. Mrs. Cannon had one sonby her first marriage, Rowe, a resident of Greenville, Ohio.
Mr. Cannon is a Democrat of decided progressive inclinations and had always taken a deep interest in political affairs. He has served on the school board of his township. The whole career of Mr. Cannon has been such that he has won the hearty approbation of his fellow citizens and is held in high esteem by all who know him.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)