1866 Birth:961 Birth date of February or March 1866 taken from the Application for Letter of Guardianship for the five Cannady children dated 24 April 1877. On that application, it states that "Frankie" Cannady was 11 years old in February 1877. Birth place of Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana assumed based on that being the location in which parents August Cannady and Mary Grosjean were enumerated in 1870.

1870 U.S. Census:861 Frank enumerated in the household of his father August Cannady in the 7th Ward, Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana as a male, age 3, born in Indiana.

1877 Death of Father:146, p. 91. August Canada, white male, age 35, died 19 March 1877, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1877 Childrens' Guardianship:961 On 24 April 1877, Joseph Dwenger applied for and was granted guardianship of the five Cannady children and administration of the estate of August Cannady. On this petition, the children were identified as:
Mary F. Cannady, aged 12 years, August 31, 1876
Frankie Cannady, aged 11 years, February 1877
Emma Cannady, aged 6 years, August 17, 1876
Georgie Cannady, aged 6 years, Jany. 22, 1877
Flora Cannady, aged 5 years, April 17, 1877

1878 Guardian’s Final Settlement:961 On 4 September 1878, Joseph Dwenger, Bishop of Fort Wayne, reported that the estate of August Cannady "is chargeable with no property. Said wards are supported by him in his orphan asylum and home." Joseph Dwenger served as Bishop of Fort Wayne, Indiana from 1872 until 1893. Aurele J. Violette in Cathedral Museum Reflections2640 noted that "Bishop Dwenger was also deeply concerned about the care and education of orphans in the diocese. The facilities of the existing orphanage for boys and girls at Rensselaer were deemed inadequate, and in 1875 St. Joseph Asylum for boys near Lafayette was established on land that had been donated for that purpose."

1880 Census: Frank Cannady has not been located in the 1880 census enumeration. A George Kennedy, age 11, was enumerated3046 as resident of the St. Joseph Male Orphan Asylum and Institutional School in Fairfield Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana. It is possible, but not proven, that this is George Cannady, who would have been about age 8 at the time of the enumeration. Siblings appear to have been listed together in the enumeration, but Frank was not listed with George Kennedy and does not appear elsewhere in the listing. Perhaps Frank was adopted prior to the 1880 census enumeration of the Asylum, which took place on 12 June 1880. Sisters Emma2637 and Flora2636 were enumerated in the St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum for girls near Rennselaer in neighboring Jasper County.