7. Due to his religious beliefs and practice of polygamy, George Q. Cannon was denied his duly elected seat in Congress and was later imprisoned for refusing to relent
An early member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, George Quayle Cannon operated as the new denomination’s chief political strategist. Serving four terms as the Territorial Delegate from Utah to the United States Congress, first elected in 1872, his re-election in 1880 sparked the first of many controversies. Winning against Liberal candidate Allen Campbell by 18,567 votes to 1,357, the territorial governor nevertheless certified Campbell as the winner on the grounds that, as a polygamist, Cannon was in violation of federal law and incompatible with the oath of office.
Disputing side-by-side in Congress their right to the seat for over a year, in the end, the House of Representatives eventually dismissed both candidates and seated John Thomas Caine in their place instead. Exploding the issue of polygamy into national attention, the Edmunds Act, signed on March 23, 1882, strengthened the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862. Making polygamy a felony, revoking the franchise from participants and barring them from public office, Cannon was imprisoned in September 1888 for refusing to abandon his religious convictions. In 1894, with the impending entry of Utah as the 45th state, Cannon was pardoned by Grover Cleveland.