Additional Details

  • Record No:1.855
  • Subject/Title:Cannon, Newton
  • Artist:Cooper, Washington B.
  • Date Created:1845
  • Owner/Location: TN State Museum 505 Deadrick Street. Nashville, TN 37243 Web Contact: TN State Museum
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  • Frame Dimensions:Frame 24.50 X 29.50
  • Materials/Media:Oil on canvas.
  • History:The artist's account book states that he began painting a portrait of Governor Newton Cannon September 13, 1845.
  • Notes:Newton Cannon (1781-1841) was born in North Carolina and worked as a saddler, merchant and surveyor before studying law and being elected to the legislature of TN in 1811. He joined volunteers and went to fight in the Creek War, serving as Colonel. After the war, he was elected to Congress, succeeding Felix Grundy. An anti-Jacksonite, Cannon was the first Whig governor of TN, the party having been formed in opposition to Jackson's presidential policies. Elected Governor of TN in 1835, Cannon is remembered for reforms in state government which accompanied the adoption of the new state constitution in 1834, the Seminole War in Florida in 1836, and the capture and imprisonment of the notorious land and river pirates headed by John A. Murrell. The Tennessee Blue Book.
  • Categories:Portrait paintings; Governors; Politicians; Andrew Jackson; Seminole Wars; Men.