| Notes |
- Portrait and Biographical Album Ingham & Livingston Counties, Michigan
Col. John A. Shannon
Col. John A. Shannon. Although of alien ancestry, our subject and the
family to which he belongs have been conspicuous for the services they have
rendered their country, both in the Colonial times and during the more recent
strife between the North and South. Now living a quiet, bucolic life upon his
farm on section 10, Vevay Township, Ingham County, he whose portrait appears
on the opposite page was born in Wyandot County, Ohio, on the banks of the
Tymochtee Creek, October 19, 1826. He is the son of Joseph C. and Ruth
(Allgire) Shannon. The father was born in Ireland and was a son of Patrick and
Elizabeth (Shepherd) Shannon, natives of County Donegal, Irelan
Our subject's grandfather, Patrick Shannon, came to America a short
time before the Revolutionary War, and espousing the cause of his adopt
country, did good service in that war. He served under the direct command of
Washington and was with him in that winter that will ever be memorab
American history, which was spent in terrible suffering, at Valley Forge. He
was a man of large means, but his great heart could not endure the sight of
suffering that could be relieved by his pocket book, and he spent his
substance in relieving the necessities of the soldiers, so that when the war
was over he was left with very little. With his wife he then returned to
Ireland for a short time to settle their property and convert it into money.
It was while they were on that trip that our subject's father, Joseph Cresap
Shannon, was born. The grandfather then came back to America and settled in
Kentucky, where his son was reared, and whence he enlisted in the Black Hawk
War, being a non-commissioned officer therein. After that war was over, Joseph
C. Shannon apprenticed himself to a tanner in Fayette County, Ohio, and
remained with him for two years. During his apprenticeship he became
acquainted with our subject's mother, who was a native of Fairfield County,
Ohio, and they were married before a great while.
After the marriage of our subject's father he was engaged in
agricultural work upon his father-in-law's farm for a few years and then
located in Wyandot County, where he entered land and also built a tannery. At
the time of the birth of our subject his parents' nearest neighbor lived at a
distance of two miles. Joseph C. Shannon became so popular with the Wyandot
tribe that they conferred upon him the unusual honor of making him a chief. He
attended their council meetings, and the fact that he was so favored proved to
be a great protection to him and his family. Our subject has inherited the
title of chief in the Wyandot tribe, and is today entitled to that distinction.
Joseph C. Shannon later removed to Ft. Findlay, Ohio, where he started
a store. He was afterward County Auditor, and was serving in that capacity
when he dropped dead on the ground which is now used as the cemetery in
Findlay, Ohio. His decease occurred in May, 1836, and his body lies interred
in that cemetery. It was a memorable and terrible occasion for our subject,
who was with his father at the time of his death. His mother had died in 1828,
and is interred in Wyandot County. His father was after that twice married.
There were three children by the first marriage. By the second marriage there
was one son, C.C. Shannon, now deceased, who was a soldier in the late war. He
left several children. By the third marriage there were three children, two
daughters who died in youth, and one son by name Hiram Strother Shannon, a
silversmith by trade; he lives in Minerva, Ohio, where he keeps a hotel. The
immediate branch of the family to which our subject belongs comprises, besides
himself, a sister, Sarah E., who married David Longshore, and whose home is
now in Iowa. Our subject's brother, Capt. Joseph O. Shannon, who now resides
in Nebraska, was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion.
As a boy between the ages of six and ten, our subject spent many days
with the Wyandot Indians. He learned their customs and also became familiar
with their language. Being a favorite with the braves, he was taught to use
the bow and arrow with the skill and expertness of one of their own tribe. He
went with them on two memorable journeys to Ft. Wayne and Detroit. He was only
ten years of age or thereabouts when his father's death occurred, and w
after that sad event sent to live with his mother's sister, a Mrs. Rachael
Murphy, of Delaware County, Ohio. With her he made his home until he was about
sixteen years of age. He remembers that, as a boy, it was far greater pleasure
for him to follow the Indians about, to hunt and fish, than to go to school,
but while in Delaware County he was in attendance at the little log
schoolhouse for about three months each winter. The teacher that he had must
have adapted himself admirably to the temperament of his little pupil, for
here he became fond of his studies, and so great a reader that it was h
delight to lie in front of the blazing logs in the fireplace and devour
anything that came within his reach. At the age of sixteen he successfully
passed an examination and received a license to teach. His career as a
teacher began immediately, and for his services he received $10 per mon
during the first term. He afterward attended Granville College, in Licking
County, Ohio, until his senior year, managing to teach at the same time during
vacations. He had, however, over-estimated the strain that his constitution
could endure, for his health failed him and he was obliged to leave school.
His college course up to that time had been paid for by working upon the farm
connected with that institution and also by teaching, which he followed for
nine years.
In 1850, when about twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, M
Shannon, having recently been converted, became a Methodist preacher in the
North Ohio Conference. Those were days of the itinerancy, when a preach
traveled about on horseback carrying with him only what he could take in his
saddlebags, and when, there being comparatively few churches in the country,
the schoolhouses or private residences were the places of meeting. He traveled
all over Northwestern Ohio, and was stationed in Toledo for a year, although
his first year was spent in Bryan, Williams County. He was at Fostoria for two
years.
On March 26, 1854, Mr. Shannon was married to Miss Lucy M. Bassett, of
Grand Rapids, Ohio. Their marriage was celebrated in Wood County. The lady was
born in Erie County, Ohio, February 15, 1832. By this marriage there have been
born four children, whose names are: Anna A., Lillian E., Alpheus G. and
Katie. The eldest daughter was born in Waterville, Lucas County, Ohio, June
29, 1855. She married Otto Caple and they live in Vevay Township, Ingham
County. Their children are: Harry, who was born in Indiana, August 21, 1877;
Lillie E., born in Indiana April 1, 1879; John A., born in Vevay Township,
Ingham County, April 2, 1885, and Ruth, also born in this township, January 9,
1887. The second daughter, Lillian E., born March 4, 1860, in Fostoria, Seneca
County, Ohio married Edward B. Caple January 19, 1887, and lives on section
10, of this township. Alpheus G., born in Ohio in 1862, died in Februar
1866. Katie, who was born in 1873, died in that same year.
In Wood County, Ohio, our subject became connected with the military
committee that made its headquarters at Perrysburg, Ohio. His talent in speech
making was in requisition, as he made an appeal for volunteers throughout the
State. He himself enlisted in the One Hundredth Ohio Infantry, Company A, and
was made Captain of the Company. He was in the battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo.,
in 1861, before he had become a soldier, and his patriotism taking fire he
seized a musket and entered the thick of the fight. He now says that he wanted
to prove whether he was brave enough to stand under the fire of the enemy.
After entering the army in 1862, he was assigned to the Army of the Ohio, and
was under Burnside's command, having received his commission as Captain July
15, 1862. His services having received honorable mention, he was promoted by
Gov. Tod to the rank of Major, May 13, 1863. He had studied civil engineering
and was enabled to assist O.M. Poe, now living in Detroit, in laying out the
fortifications at Knoxville, Tenn.
Previous to this Mr. Shannon had been detached from the regiment and
was on Gen. Burnside's staff, but while engaged on the work of the
fortification he was transferred to the staff of Gen. Tillson. After the plans
for this work were completed, he was ordered to take charge of their
construction according to the specifications that had been made. To relieve
the troops that were worn with excessive duty he was ordered to employ negro
labor in constructing the fortifications and January 6, 1864, he received an
order to organize a regiment of colored heavy artillery. The regiment was to
consist of twelve companies of one hundred and fifty men each. It received the
name of the First United States Colored Heavy Artillery, and our subject was
appointed its Colonel. As is so frequently the case where worth and mer
receive their reward and promotion, our subject was not spared the pain of
jealous shafts. Gen. Tillson did all he could to belittle his work and
loyalty, but our subject came out of the affair with flying colors and was
promoted to the position of Lieutenant-Colonel May 11, 1864, and to the rank of
Colonel November 4, 1864. On January 15, 1865, while in the line of duty, our
subject's horse stumbled and fell, and rolling over him, crushed the bones of
the chest, and by this catastrophe he was ruptured and otherwise disabled.
Thus incapacitated for active work, he offered his resignation May 13, 1865.
It was accepted, and he returned to his home.
Previous to his entering the army our subject had studied law, and
after his return home he was admitted to the bar in Columbus, Ohio, to
practice before the Supreme Court of Ohio. It was a gratifying tribute to his
ability as a man and an attorney that so early in his career he shou
elected Prosecuting Attorney for Wood County, Ohio. There he continued in the
practice of his profession until he was stricken down with sickness in 1884.
His removal to his present home took place in 1885. He is now retired from
active life and makes his home with his daughter. His wife still lives and is
the faithful companion of his days of trials as she has been of his days of
success.
In his experience during the war, when there were so many incidents of
oppression and wrong done by the soldiers on both sides, Mr. Shannon gave a
brilliant example of the magnanimity that should ever characterize a tr
soldier and a gentleman. The helpless and oppressed never turned away from him
without succor or encouragement, and offenders against the weak and helpless
were most summarily dealt with.
The following letter is a copy of an order by our subject to one of
the Southern men who had in his possession a little negro boy, whose mother was
very desirous to have him:
"HDQRS. FORAGING EXPEDITION, Atchleys Mill, Sevier Co., Tenn., January 3d,
1865"
"Mr. Dugan:
The bearer, Minnie desires to get possession of her little boy, Frank. I
regard her claim as better founded than yours. She wished to send her boy to
school. You, I understand, have said that no Yankees, or others, should take
him. If she is not allowed peaceful possession of her own child, I shall send
and take him by force of arms." (Signed) John A. Shannon, Col. Comdg. Foraging
Expedition.
|
Bassett Family Association Database
1826 - 1894 (68 years)