The Ezekiel Airship and Rev. Burrell Cannon

Subject: The Ezekiel Airship and Rev. Burrell Cannon Fri 03 Aug 2007, 7:12 pm

"Before the Wright Brothers had their place in the air over Kitty Hawk, N. C. in 1903, an East Texan had designed an Airship that could fly and had raised funds to build it. The Rev. Burrell Cannon, pastor of the Baptist Church in Pittsburg, Texas was the inventor of the Ezekiel Airship and in August of 1901, he convinced his acquaintances that his airship would fly and that it could be maneuvered by a lever within the inner wheel. This allowed for a vertical take-off.

"Rev. Cannon made the Bible his life study, and it was from the Book of Ezekiel that he got the idea for his wheel-within-a-wheel Airship.

"' The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the color of beryl: and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.' (Ezekiel 1: 16)

"His stock company raised $20, 000.00 and the first Ezekiel Airship was built in Pittsburg, Texas at P. W. Thorsell's Foundry. Upon completion, the Airship was shipped by rail to St. Louis where it was to be exhibited. A storm blew it off the flat bed car near Texarkana, Texas and the first model was completely destroyed.

"The second Airship was built in Chicago, and a pilot by the name of Wilder flew it off the earth. But as the Airship lifted into the air, it struck the top of a telephone pole and knocked the bottom of the Airship out. This catastrophe caused Cannon to give up his flying machine.

"From 1914 through 1921, Rev. Cannon made his home in Longview, Texas and at his death in 1923 he resided in Marshall, Texas.

"Although 74 years of age at death, he was in the midst of technically perfecting a cotton picker and boll weevil destroyer.

"' And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.' (Ezekiel 1:19)"

Taken from an information sheet provided by the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce

http://www.pittsburgtxmuseum.com/airship.html

http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/cannon_ezekiel.html
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Wrangler Joined : 25 Sep 2007 Posts : 16

now i am diggin on the more recent unfound stuff on this very historic aspect, and it is difficutl, why........... that place almost does not exist, from its original setting..... the beginning of flight is a money maker in the mid to late 1890s, while it is the patent, edison created the invention craze, which lasted until 1921 or 21,, edison and mark twain have a lot in common, they were inventors and the areo plane is one o f the great indications of the men who could and the men who could not make that event in money and occasion. the 20 th century really came to birth out of the late 19th, the areoplane is more of a great freak to realize.........i am still working on this topic for a writer i am working with.....it is really a special topic not ot be taken for granted, if it is in print for 21 more time in the next 5 years it is a story with no mystery...... a dead goose.freak stories are the things mystery has to breath and sigh.....msj9ic is the preformance of which mystery can become a full companion to the 5 senses.then you have wonderment......... and your public is spellbound by the vison, thus the ezakel areoplane in 1900......

Wrangler Joined : 25 Sep 2007 Posts : 16

this is a great story with a photo or go to the site photo and see the old timers in the area, it should be a hot adventue kind of a tolbert texas, only leave out the tolbert. beside that the story has so much evidence of the pioneer and the problems that would come with dreaming to go to the stars.