On July 1, 1857, a baby girl was born in Llandudno, Wales, to Peter Hughes and Elizabeth Evans Hughes. Baby Mattie became Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, the first woman state senator elected in the United States.
But on that July day in Wales, she was the new baby joining her older sister, Mary.
A couple of years later, her parents converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mattie moved to the United States with her family. By then the family also included a new baby sister, Anne.
The trail to the Rocky Mountains was hard on the Hughes family. They spent a year preparing for the journey, with Elizabeth working odd jobs to support the family. Then, just days before their family entered the Salt Lake Valley, Anne died. Three days after their arrival, Peter died.
In December 2024, a statue honoring Dr. Cannon was installed in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.
Following the installation of her statue, the British Ambassador hosted a reception for 250+ at her residence, where Lt. Gov. Deidre M. Henderson announced the Martha Hughes Cannon Statue Oversight Committee was donating $10,000 to the North America Wales Foundation.
The same day that Martha’s statue was unveiled in Washington, D.C., a plaque honoring her was unveiled at the Llandudno Town Hall, her birthplace. It says: “In memory of Doctor Martha Hughes Cannon. Pioneer Doctor. First Woman State Senator in the U.S. Author of Utah sanitation laws. Member of the first State Board of Health.”
An article in “North Wales Live,” noted that “it is very appropriate that she should be recognised in Llandudno and Llandudno Soroptimists are pleased to have been invited, as an organisation which aims to educate, empower and enable women, to assist in this project.”
On the website Wales.com, there is a page dedicated to Dr. Cannon. Describing the environment in the mid 1800’s, they say “The missionaries could not have chosen a better place or time to look for troubled, restless souls. It was a time of great social upheaval, of poor harvests, of great want. It was a time of industrialisation, a time of revolution.”
Additionally, they say that Welsh converts “had the skills needed to build the new world.” Coming from a variety of communities, “the men knew how to read the coal seams and how to operate the iron furnaces. In the Welsh countryside, there were shoemakers, blacksmiths the carpenters. From Flintshire and Denbighshire came the builders and stonemasons. From the banks of the Cothi and Towy came smallholders and farm tenants; sensible, hard-working, conscientious folk who worried about their salvation.”
Last week, Henderson was in the U.K. for meetings on nuclear energy. Part of her trip included a short trip to Wales. The Welsh are working to build a nuclear facility in North Wales near Llandudno, where Martha was from. Henderson told the Deseret News that government leaders “are very much aware” of Dr. Cannon, and they are very proud.
When Cannon’s statue was placed in Washington, D.C., Henderson spoke of the battles and injustices faced by Cannon and others.
Martha and many others who have found themselves standing alone have felt the sting of injustice, “have fought for change that either never came or that we did not get credit for,” she said.
“Today,” she said, “is not the culmination of our efforts, but a continuation of them.”
Her call to action, felt in Utah and all the way in Wales, was to “do a little bit of good in the world, keep both eyes open and be intentional about remembering the past while looking to the future.”
Happy birthday, Martha!