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Louisa Martha Wells

Louisa Wells Cannon, Louie, Louie Wells, Louise (Louie) Martha Wells Cannon

27 August 1862—16 May 1887

Emmeline B. Wells

Born 27 Aug. 1862 at Salt Lake City.1 Daughter of Daniel H. Wells and EBW.2 Often called “Louie” by EBW.3 Recognized for artistic and musical talents.4 Served as first general secretary of the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association, 1880–1887.5 Married John Q. Cannon, 10 Sept. 1886.6 Died 16 May 1887 at San Francisco.7

The First Fifty Years of Relief Society

8 Born at Salt Lake City; daughter of Emmeline Blanche Woodward and Daniel H. Wells. 9 Sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 10 Appointed secretary to Anstis Elmina S. Taylor in the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association general presidency, 1880. 11 Married John Quayle Cannon, 1886. 12 Died at San Francisco; buried at Salt Lake City. 13 (See Document 4.4)

Footnotes

  1. 1 “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. H, p. 364, Louisa Martha Wells, microfilm 183407, DGS 5270330 (restricted access), FHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 3 Jan. 2018), Louisa Martha Wells (KWJ8-85S).

  2. 2 “Endowments of the Living, 1851–1884,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. H, p. 364, Louisa Martha Wells, microfilm 183407, DGS 5270330 (restricted access), FHL. Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 504.

  3. 3 See, for example, EBW, Diary, 6 Aug. and 2–5 Sept. 1874.

  4. 4 “Local and Other Matters,” Deseret News, 15 Mar. 1876, 100. “Prospectus of The Contributor,” Deseret News, 13 Sept. 1882, 544. “Women of Deseret,” Deseret News, 30 Jan. 1884, 25. “From Saturday’s Daily: Feb. 8, The Bishops’ Party,” Deseret News, 13 Feb. 1884, 57. “The Art Show,” Deseret News, 4 June 1884, 31. “Local News,” Deseret News, 18 Feb. 1885, 1.

  5. 5 Susa Young Gates, History of the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from November 1869 to June 1910 (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1911), 85–86, 88–89.

  6. 6 Kenneth L. Cannon II, “The Tragic Matter of Louie Wells and John Q. Cannon,” Journal of Mormon History 35, no. 2 (Spring 2009): 166–167. “A Curious Case! John Q. Cannon’s Marriage,” Salt Lake Daily Herald, 9 Oct. 1886, 9. Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 236.

  7. 7 “Louie Wells Cannon Dead,” Salt Lake Daily Herald, 17 May 1887, 8. “Utah Death Registers, 1847–1966,” p. 218 (1887), Louie Wells Cannon, citing series 21866, from Utah Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Utah State Archives and Records Service, Salt Lake City. 

  8. 8 Augusta B. Joyce Crocheron, “Louise M. Wells,” in Representative Women of Deseret a Book of Biographical Sketches to Accompany the Picture Bearing the Same Title (Salt Lake City: J. C. Graham and Co., 1884), 127. “In Memoriam: A Tribute of Love,” Woman’s Exponent 16, no. 1 (June 1, 1887): 4. “Louie Wells Cannon Dead: Startling News Received from San Francisco Yesterday,” Salt Lake Herald, May 17, 1887, 8.

  9. 9 “In Memoriam,” 4. Carol Cornwall Madsen, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870–1920 (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2006), 20.

  10. 10 “In Memoriam,” 4. Crocheron, “Louise M. Wells,” 129.

  11. 11 “Salt Lake Stake Relief Society Conference,” Woman’s Exponent 9, no. 3 (July 1, 1880): 21–22. Crocheron, “Louise M. Wells,” 129.

  12. 12 “In Memoriam,” 4. Kenneth L. Cannon II, “Wives and Other Women: Love, Sex, and Marriage in the Lives of John Q. Cannon, Frank J. Cannon, and Abraham H. Cannon,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 43, no. 4 (Winter 2012): 76–79.

  13. 13 “In Memoriam,” 4. “Louie Wells Cannon Dead,” 8. Find a Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com, accessed Jan. 2015), memorial no. 47644844, Louisa [sic] Martha “Louie” Wells Cannon; Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, UT. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed May 2023), Louisa Martha Wells KWJ8-85S.