The fifth of eight children, LeGrande Cannon was born April 16, 1847 in Logansport,Indiana and spent his youth in Indiana and Wisconsin. His railroad career started in 1864 when he was hired as a clerk and operator for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad in Boscobel, Wisconsin. He then worked for several different railroads in a wide range of office positions before his appointment as assistant to the president and comptroller of the Colorado Midland Railroad.

He was hired by the NNRy in 1906 to serve as the Vice President and General Manager following the departure of Mark Requa. He settled into the position and served through the formative years of the railroads operations which included the construction of much of the East Ely Yard facilities, purchase of the steam locomotives and passenger cars that are still in service.
NNRy conductors lauded Cannon as “a true American, an efficient manager and a noble gentleman; one who acquired the respect of his employees by understanding their needs and fighting for them, which still holding true to his trust and maintaining his position as director. He had the courage of his convictions but was never too proud to listen to reason.”
As a person that abhorred idleness he could be found hard at work on various projects including serving as the director of the Western Association of Railroads shortly before his death on January 26, 1920.

Railroad employees mourned his passing and remarked “in our many dealings with Mr. Cannon we always found him the real American gentleman, one who could and would say No without modifications,when he deemed himself in the right. He was courage personified-a fighter, but as square one; an employer who the American workmen love to deal with. We sincerely regreat the passing of Mr. Cannon.”