We have the
ship logbook for two voyages taken by George on the ship Iris.
On October 29th, it says “Slaves all
in Good Spirrits – there Eyes Nearly Better”.
In November, 1798, the Iris arrived in Kingston,
Jamaica with 414 slaves.
Now I will jump
forward four generations.
My Uncle, Edwin Q. Cannon, Jr., known
as Ted, served as Mission President of the Switzerland Zurich Mission for three
years and while he was there, was responsible for a number of areas of the
church that were not covered by regular missions or stakes. Places like Greece,
Turkey, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Poland. While he was serving,
the church organized the International Mission and Ted was informed that when
he was released, the supervision for those areas he covered outside of
Switzerland would be handed over to the International Mission.
After Ted
was released, he was called by the International Mission President, Grant
Bangerter, to work on a committee and later as one of his counselors. When
James E. Faust succeeded Elder Bangerter, as president, he called Ted as his
first counselor.
As first
counselor, Ted became aware of a considerable amount of correspondence to the
Church coming from Ghana and Nigeria in West Africa, more than any other part
of the International Mission. Many of the requests were for missionaries, but because
the priesthood was withheld from the blacks, the church did not engage in
missionary activity there. One morning, President Faust told his counselors
that he was going to meet with the First Presidency and he was taking with him
a bundle of letters from West Africa. Ted had just received a letter from a
schoolboy in Ghana that he handed to President Faust to include with the
bundle. During the meeting, President Spencer W. Kimball asked about the bundle
of letters and asked that a sample be read to him. Elder Faust picked the
letter Ted had given to him that read, in part:
“I am filled with happiness as it
comes into my mind to write you today. I am a member of the Latter-day Saints
Church in Ghana…I have been told much about how this great restored Church was
founded by our great prophet, Joseph Smith, and still I am anxious to know more
about it through the reading of books about it. I have heard of the Book of
Mormon, which was…revealed and given to Joseph on the Mount Cumorah. I will be
very happy if a Book of Mormon is sent to me in order to read more about words
which the Lord gave to mankind through the Prophet Joseph Smith…Actually I wish
to become a pure Mormon and so I want to know more about Mormonism…I always
become happy when songs and hymns like Come! Come! Ye Saints and Come O Thou
King of Kings and some songs of Zion are sung in the church services…”
President Faust reported later that he noticed tears on
the cheeks of the First Presidency as the letter was read.
On
another occasion, Ted went with President Faust to BYU to meet with members of
the faculty who had experience in the areas of the world served by the mission.
One of the faculty was Merrill Bateman, later a general authority and President
of BYU, but at that time head of the School of Business. Brother Bateman spoke
of his experience teaching at the University of Accra in Ghana. He had visited
an organized group of Ghanaians who called themselves members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints even though they had not been officially
baptized. Brother Bateman had also been in Ghana as an official of Mars, corporation,
buying cocoa for their chocolate candy products.
On
June 9, 1978, the First Presidency issued a press release that announced that
every worthy man, regardless of race or color, may receive the priesthood. After
that, discussions by the International Mission Presidency about taking the full
gospel to Ghana and Nigeria took on high priority. More information was needed
about the thinking and activities of the groups calling themselves members. It
was determined that someone should visit and try to locate the various groups
and their members. In one discussion, Merrill Batemen was suggested as a likely
person because of his experience in West Africa. Brother Bateman was invited to
meet with President Faust, David M. Kennedy, who was the church Ambassador, and
Ted. After a preliminary meeting, President Faust asked Brother Bateman if he
would accept an assignment to go to Ghana and Nigeria, meet with the leaders
and return with recommendations. He agreed. Then, with no previous warning,
President Faust turned to Ted and said that Brother Bateman and Brother Cannon
should leave as soon as possible on the fact-finding tour.
Brother
Batemen obtained passports and visas with the help of Mars, Co., which had good
connections. Ted went through the correspondence from West Africa and selected
the most impressive letters and wrote to those individuals, about 50, giving
them proposed arrival schedules, hotels and itineraries. All they had were post
office boxes for addresses. They departed on August 12, 1978, not realizing
that they would arrive before the letters, as letters took more than a month. When
they arrived in Accra, Ghana, the only person there to meet them was a
representative of Mars, Co.
After
a nights rest, they arose on Sunday morning and hired a taxi to look for the
local group calling themselves “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints” with whom Brother Bateman had previously met. After several frustrating
hours of searching, they had no success. Then Ted remembered a crude sign he
had noticed along the way: “Church of Jesus.” Obeying a strong impulse, he told
the taxi driver to turn around and go back to the road marked by that sign.
They noticed a humble little building with several men in front. Among them Brother
Bateman recognized Matthew Koomson, who had previously been active in the group
he’d met with. He had left that group and started his own Church of Jesus but
was still in touch with the groups Ted and Brother Bateman were looking for. He
agreed to lead them to the heads of those groups in Cape Coast and
Sekondi-Takoradi. This was the same Cape Coast where Captain George Cannon
obtained African slaves 185 years earlier.
The
next morning Ted and Brother Bateman drove to Cape Coast in a taxi, only to find
that the leader there, Joseph (Billy) Johnson was visiting Lagos, Nigeria. But
his landlady greeted them, saying proudly, “Well, I am a Mormon” and gave Ted
an address where he could be reached. They then went to the rented building
where Johnson’s congregation held their meetings.
 |
| Rented hall in Cape Coast. James Ewudzie is standing to the left. |
The interior
decoration included a life-size statue of the Angel Moroni with a
trumpet, as shown on the cover of the paperback Book of Mormon, a painting of
Joseph Smith in the sacred grove and pictures of the Savior. On the front of
the pulpit were pictures of a black Bible and blue Book of Mormon and a
blackboard listed the Sunday hymns, including “Come, Come, Ye Saints.”
 |
| Interior of Cape Coast hall. James Ewudzie stands to the right. |
In
Secondi-Takoradi, the founder-leader and owner of the meeting house was the
Prophetess Rebecca Mould. She made a good impression on the visitors. The man
responsible for the initial founding of nearly all the groups in Ghana was Dr.
R.A.F. Mensah, who was in Accra. He first heard of the church through
correspondence with a Lillian Clark in England. In 1962, Lillian had received
six lessons from LDS missionaries and sent the tracts to Dr. Mensah, although
she was never baptized. The tracts converted Dr. Mensah, and his friend,
Clement Osekre, and they began to preach the gospel to others. They converted
strong leaders like Joseph Billy Johnson, Rebecca Mould and Matthew Koomson,
who organized their own groups in other towns and continued to spread the
gospel message, despite persecution. Ted and Brother Bateman met with Dr.
Mensah and Osekre, gave what encouragement they could, and moved on to Nigeria.
In
Nigeria they found a greater variety of groups, more individuals with a history
of contacts with the church and a few more member families. In Calabar, which
was near Bonny, where Captain Cannon had obtained slaves on several occasions, Ted
and Brother Bateman prayed together in their hotel room that they might find
the leaders they were seeking. They went to the hotel lobby and asked the desk
clerk about the names. No recognition. So they spoke in a loud voice and read
the list of names they were seeking, asking if anyone knew them. A man who had
just come in to the lobby to buy a paper spoke up, “I know Ime Eduok [one of
the names on the list]. I’m his boss. He’s probably locking up his office right
now.” The man took them outside and put them in a taxicab, telling the driver
where to take them. They found Ime leaving his office as they pulled up. Ime
and his wife were among the very few native Nigerians already members of the
church. They had been baptized in Los Angeles seven years previously while
attending school there. He was employed by the Cross River Lines ferryboat
company and knew many of the groups in that area calling themselves by the name
of the Church. He took them to the Cross River State and introduced them to
many of the leaders they were seeking.
They
met Newton Miller Aganyemi in Lagos. He and his wife, Shade, had joined the
church while he was a student at the University of Utah. At an impromptu
meeting by the hotel pool, Ted asked Newton what he would recommend for future
church action in Nigeria. He mentioned he had been patiently waiting until the
church could come to start an organization and hoped to receive more teaching
materials in the interim until that time came. The next morning, Ted recorded
in his journal:
“Early in the
morning before arising, I had very heart-warming thoughts about the experiences
we had had thus far…The tears came to my eyes to the point of having a moist
pillow as I thought of Newton Miller Aganyemi and his sweet spirit and the fact
that the barrier had been removed for so many of God’s children…Again as I was
mouth in our morning prayers, I felt the warmth of the Spirit in such abundance
that I could hardly speak for shedding tears of gratitude and joy.”
After
two weeks in West Africa, Ted and Brother Bateman agreed that their
recommendation to the First Presidency would be to send missionaries and go
forward, with caution. In early September, Ted presented a report to the First
Presidency, in a meeting that included Brother Bateman.
About two weeks
later, Ted got a call from President Kimball asking him to write up something
about his findings in Africa that could be used in a talk. His response became
part of President Kimball’s talk at the pre-Conference seminar for Regional
Representatives. As a counselor in the general Relief Society presidency, Ted’s
wife, Janath, was present and heard President Kimball’s memorable words: “What
did the Lord mean when he stood atop the Mount of Olives and said to the
twelve, ‘And ye shall be witnesses unto me…unto the uttermost parts of the
earth’? These were his last words on earth before he went to his heavenly
home.” President Kimball continued: “What about Africa? They have waited so
long already. More than one-tenth of the entire population of the world is
living on the African continent…Are they not included in the Lord’s invitation
to ‘teach all nations.’? Are they not included in ‘the uttermost parts of the
earth’?” President Kimball read paragraphs from letters Ted had provided,
including one from Joseph Billy Johnson that ended with, “We therefore solemnly
declare in the name of Jesus Christ that God has prepared the groups in Ghana
for you, for we have nowhere else to go, but look forward to your sending to us
missionaries to help us understand the Church better, for it is our burning
desire to live by the faith of this Church in order to attain its standards.”
At
General Conference, on Saturday, September 30, 1978, the revelation on the
priesthood was ratified and President Faust was sustained as the newest member
of the Quorum of the Twelve.
The
next Monday, Ted and Janath met with Elder Faust and David Kennedy and were
asked to spend a year in West Africa. They immediately accepted. The next
morning, Ted and Janath, Rendell and Rachel Mabey, Elder Faust and David
Kennedy met with the First Presidency. Ted had earlier suggested Brother Mabey
for missionary work in Africa. Brother Mabey had been on seven big-game hunting
safaris in Africa and had an adventurous spirit. In the meeting, the First
Presidency officially called the two couples as representatives of the International
Mission. They were cautioned to move slowly, to be wise and careful and to lay
a solid foundation. When asked when he would like them to leave, President
Kimball replied with a twinkle in his eye, “We would like you to leave yesterday.”
They
arrived in Lagos, Nigeria and Ted contacted several people he had met on his
previous visit. On November 18th they set off in a cab to find
Anthony Obinna. The taxi driver was unable to find the address and was soon
lost. Ted was impressed to inquire about Obinna from a man with a withered arm.
The man knew Obinna and got in the cab and took them directly to Obinna’s
village.
Obinna
was converted to the Church in 1965. He was visited three times in a dream by
“a tall person carrying a walking stick in his right hand”. The personage took
him to “a most beautiful building” and showed him everything in it. During the
Nigerian civil war, when he was confined to his house, Obinna picked up an old
September 1958 copy of the Reader’s Digest and was surprised to find on page 34
a picture of that same building, with the heading “The March of the Mormons”
The picture was of their temple in Salt Lake City. Because he recognized the
building as the one in his dream, he read the entire article and found it was
about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I knew I had found the
truth.” Anthony wrote letters to Church headquarters, and LaMar Williams, in
the Missionary Department, was impressed. Although he could not send
missionaries or promise official recognition, he sent Obinna the standard
tracts, manuals and Books of Mormon, the monthly Ensign, New Era, Children’s
Friend and the weekly Church News. He also sent Obinna a program to follow for
Sunday church services. After Lamar Williams was called to preside over the
Gulf States Mission, Obinna’s church contacts languished, yet he persisted,
despite ridicule from his villagers. On September 19, 1978, Obinna wrote the International
Mission, “I am surprised for not hearing from you for quite a long time and my
letters to you are no longer replied to. Should I believe that the preaching of
the gospel of Jesus Christ is not for Nigerians?…LeMar S. Williams did all he
could to help us know more about the church. Since he left for the Gulf State,
every thing appears as dead as a dodo.”
After
meeting with Obinna and being impressed, Ted and Brother Mabey agreed that a
baptism would be in order on a return trip. Three days later, on October 21,
1978, the first official group baptism and organization of an all-black branch
of the church occurred in West Africa.
 |
| Obinna group baptism. |
The baptisms took place in a secluded, tree
shaded pool of the Ekeonumiri River, where the surrounding bushes served as
dressing rooms. Four handmade white robes were passed on to waiting candidates
as the baptisms proceeded. Lacking any official forms, Janath recorded in her
journal the names of those being baptized and confirmed. Of the 19 people
baptized that day, 16 had the last name “Obinna.”
 |
| The first baptism: Anthony Obinna. |
The Aboh Branch
was organized and Brother Obinna was set apart as branch president, his
brothers as counselors, and his wife as president of the Relief Society.
Joseph
Billy Johnson, whom Ted had met on his first trip, was the key to success in
Ghana.
 |
| Ted Cannon and Joseph Billy Johnson. |
As mentioned earlier, Johnson had received tracts from
Dr. Mensah and had been converted. During “a month of continuous reading” he
had read and believed the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Articles of
Faith and some pamphlets. He had a profound spiritual experience he wrote about
as follows: “One early morning of March 1964, while I was about to get up to
prepare for my daily chores, the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me and my spiritual
insight was enhanced…I heard a voice from heaven speaking to me saying,
‘Johnson, if you will take up my word as I will command you to your people, I
will bless you and bless your land.’ Trembling with fear, I replied, in tears
saying, ‘Lord by thy own help I will do whatsoever thou would command me.’ From
that day onwards, the Spirit of the Lord constrained me to propagate the
Restored Gospel to my people.” After that, Brother Johnson traveled about
spreading the gospel and establishing branches of the church.
After
arriving in Accra, Ghana, the Cannons and Mabeys spent two days frustrated by
government red tape and difficulty in finding Ted’s contacts. After a scenic
trip on a government transport bus, Joseph Billy Johnson was waiting for them
in Cape Coast. Ted had also found Dr. Mensah and Clement Osekre to bring along
for the first official baptism in Ghana. Ted did most of the interviewing of
the 89 candidates for baptism. The baptism of 89 people took place on December
9, 1978 at a beach just east of Cape Coast. Some large offshore rocks broke the
force of the waves and other rocks on the beach provided some privacy for
clothes-changing.
 |
| At the first baptism in Ghana, just east of Cape Coast. The young baby is now James Ewudzie's bishop in Cape Coast. |
 |
| The first baptism in Ghana, just east of Cape Coast. |
Ted baptized R.A.F. Mensah
first, as “the first one in Ghana, so far as we know, to develop an interest in
the Church.” This may have been ground Captain George Cannon walked as a slave
trader. Ted was also pleased to baptize ten year old Brigham Young Johnson,
whose name “seemed to exemplify the
long, patient wait of Brother Johnson.” Ted recorded, “The water was warm and
pleasant, but it was not always as deep as we would have liked it, especially
when we had tall men and big women whose feet and knees wanted to come out when
their heads went in.” Confirmations took place at water’s edge. The
confirmations continued into the night, under the glow of the moon.
The
next day, December 10, 1978, the first branch of the Church in Ghana was
organized at Cape Coast, with Joseph Billy Johnson as president. 31 men were
ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood.
 |
| The ordination record kept by Janath Cannon: EQC is Edwin Q. Cannon. |
Two
days after the first baptism, another baptism was held for 36 people from
Moree, who had walked six miles to Cape Coast. Their leader was the prophetess
Martha Mills. Her group was added to the membership of the Cape Coast Branch
until it later became a separate branch. Two days later, the prophetess Rebecca
Mould, of Sekondi, was baptized along with 124 from her congregation. Already
called “Mother Mould,” she became known as “Mother President of the Relief
Society” in the Sekondi Branch.
 |
| A Relief Society Presidency. |
 |
| Relief Society Sisters. |
Back
in Nigeria, at Ikot Ekong, near Bonney, where Captain Cannon had obtained
slaves, they interviewed and baptized 182 people, confirmed them, and organized
them into four branches, all in one day.
 |
| A large baptism: unknown area. |
There, Patient Ime was the first black man in West
Africa to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.
After
returning to Cape Coast, Ghana, on January 28, 1979, all thirteen baptisms were
performed by black priesthood holders: President Johnson and John Cobbinah.
This was followed by the first standard sacrament meeting in Ghana. Ted
explained the order of the sacrament and the various priesthood offices.
President Johnson brought boiled water and bread for the sacrament. At the end
of the meeting, President Johnson and five other men became the first natives
of Ghana to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.
The
next day, at Assin Foso, the best available place for baptism was a small
running stream too shallow for complete immersion. After finding some men with
shovels and buckets, Ted helped them dig out boulders, a tree limb and 20
buckets of sand to create a shallow trench in the bottom of the stream. There
the baptism candidates were told to sit, then be laid back, while another
helper held down the feet, thus immersing the whole body. Kneeling in the rocky
stream bed, Ted baptized all but two of the 79 baptized that day. The next day
Ted baptized the boy whose letter had so touched President Kimball.
President
and Sister Faust arrived in Nigeria on February 17, 1979. The next day, they
visited the Aboh Branch.
 |
| Ted Cannon, James E. Faust, Rendell Mabey and Aboh Branch Priesthool leaders. |
President Faust spoke of his testimony of
Christ and promised them that a temple would be built in Africa some day. As a
footnote, a temple was dedicated in Nigeria in 2005, 26 years later, and a
temple was dedicated in Ghana in 2004, 25 years later. That afternoon Elder
Faust baptized five people.
 |
| James E. Faust and his first baptism. |
Ultimately,
the Cannons and Mabeys had visa problems and had to leave Ghana and spent the
rest of their time in Nigeria. In the meantime, several other missionary
couples had been called to Africa and Ted spent most of his time training new
leaders. By the time they left Africa, the Cannons and Mabeys had baptized
1,725 people, organized 35 branches and 5 districts.
I find it personally significant
that the first area where Captain George Cannon obtained slaves in Africa was
Cape Coast, which is also the area where his great great grandson, Ted,
performed the first baptisms in Ghana, gave the priesthood for the first time
in Ghana, and established the first branch of the Church in Ghana. That the area where Captain Cannon first
became captain of a slave ship, the area he last visited for slaves, and
obtained more slaves than any other, Bonny, was very near the area where Ted
organized the second through fifth branches of the Church in Nigeria, and first
gave the Melchizedek priesthood to a
black man in West Africa.
I know that the scripture talking
about the fathers being drawn to their children and the children to their
fathers does not exactly apply in this circumstance, but to me there is
something almost redemptive about a descendant of a slave trader, who enslaved
many black people and took them away from their homes and families to a new
land, being the first person to bring the restored gospel to the descendants of
those enslaved peoples, to give them the keys for eternal life and eternal
families, and to tell them to stay at home and build up the Church and to
ultimately be free. To me, this is made more significant by the fact that during his lifetime, Ted knew that
Captain George Cannon was a slave ship captain, but he had no detailed
knowledge about where Captain Cannon had been or that they shared common ground
in Africa. This is all information that has come to light recently.
Update: August 27, 2013.
My cousin, Russell Cannon, son of Ted and Janath Cannon, is currently serving an LDS mission in Ghana. He has visited with James Ewudzie of Cape Coast who identified himself in several of the pictures above and identified the photos from the first baptism near Cape Coast. James was the fourth person baptized in Ghana, after RAF Mensah, Clement Osekre and Joseph Billy Johnson (and the only one of the four still living). James was first counselor to Billy Johnson in the first branch in Ghana and later first counselor to Billy Johnson in the district presidency.
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| James Ewudzie and Russell Cannon (son of Ted Cannon) in Ghana in 2013 |
The information about Ted Cannon came from Janath Russell Cannon & Edwin Q. Cannon Jr., Together: A Love Story (Desk-top Publishing: Salt Lake City, Utah, 1999).
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