Patrick Shannon and Elizabeth Shepherd

What I know of Patrick Shannon is through a bio of his grandson, John Shannon, whose father was Joseph Cresap 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, Ireland.

Our subject’s grandfather, Patrick Shannon, came to America a short time before the Revolutionary War, and espousing the cause of his adopted 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 memorable in 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 as a soldier 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 to-day entitled to that distinction.

Joseph C. Shannon later removed to Ft. Findlay, Ohio, where he started a store. He was afterward (578) elected 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 an 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 was 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 his 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 month 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, Mr. Shannon, having recently been converted, became a Methodist preacher in the North Ohio Conference. Those were days of the itinerancy, when a preacher 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 (579) in 1862, died in February, 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 light. 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 merit 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 should be 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 trial 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 true 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 wishes to send her boy 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.

So, we know Patrick Shannon was born in Donegal, Ulster, Ireland, that he married Elizabeth Shepherd, and they had a son Joseph Cresap Shannon.

They also had a daughter, Eleanor F., who married John J. Hendricks.

Brown’s History of Hancock Co. OH, Page 426:
Liberty Township

“On the 6th December, 1830, all of the territory lying between the present western boundary of Findlay Township and the Putnam County line, and extending from Wood to Hardin County, was erected as Liberty Township. This was only one row of sections narrower than Old Town, and embraced the present townships of Pleasant, Portage, Blanchard, Liberty, Union, Orange, Van Buren and three fourths of Eagle. The following March the lands now composing Blanchard, Eagle, Van Buren and the west half of Madison were cut off; and on the 21st of June 1831, the first election for justice of the peace was held in Liberty. William Wade, George Chase and Moses Predmore, George Chase, Nathan Frakes, Joshua Jones, James Caton, James McCormick, Amos Bonham, Addision Hampton, Zebulon Lee, John Mullan, William Wade, Alfred Hampton, Ebenezer Wilson, Charles Jones, Jacob Poe, James McKinnis, Robert McKinnis, Charles McKinnis and Philip McKinnis, total, 26. Benjamin Cummins received every vote cast and was declared elected. Of theses twenty-six voters, Zebulon Lee, of Orange township and Alfred Hampton of Findlay are the only survivers living in this county.”

2. From Brown’s History of Hancock Co. OH, pg 431:
Liberty Township
John J. Hendricks first settled in Amanda Township in 1826, and four years afterward removed to the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 8 (Liberty twp), building his cabin on the north bank of the Blanchard. He entered this tract February 5, 1830. His wife, Eleanor F., was a native of Ireland, and sister of Joseph C. Shannon, once auditor of the county. She was a very intelligent, well-read woman, thoroughly posted in the current topics of the day. Mr. Hendricks and family, after several years’ residence here, sold out and went to Indiana.

Another story of the Shannons from Hancock County, this time Hiram Shannon, Joseph C. Shannon’s son by, I believe, Malinda Vandivere Strother. Joseph Cresap Shannon appears to have been married three times, to Ruth Allgire who died 1828 in Wayndot County, Ohio, to Vesty Chamberlin who he married 1830 Jan 12 in Hancock County, Ohio, and then Malinda Vandivere Strother who survived him and can be found in the 1850 Findlay, Hancock, Ohio census.

Brown’s History of Hancock Co. OH:
H. S. SHANNON, hotel proprietor. Ada, was born in Hancock County, Ohio, August 7, 1832. He is a son of Joseph C. and Melinda V. Shannon, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Virginia. Joseph C. Shannon was a farmer. and Auditor of Hancock County at the time of his death, in 1836, and was among the pioneers of Hancock County. He was brought up on the farm, receiving only a common school education. Our subject decided upon the jeweler’s trade for his occupation. He learned it in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and worked at it for thirty years, spending fifteen years in Findlay, of Hancock County. In 1868, Mr. Shannon pursued the jewelry business in Ada, where he continued it for a number of y ears. Since 1879, he has been proprietor of the hotel south of the railroad depot, on John street. In May, 1883, became, proprietor of the new and elegant. “Young” Hotel, on North Main street. In 1875, Mr. Shannon married Eliza Down of English descent, who was a widow with two children-Hattie, the of oldest, who died January 8, 1882, and Freddie I., who is at school. Mr. and Mrs. Shannon are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, he is a Republican. In the years 1874 and 1875, he was the Mayor of Ada. He is a member of the School Board, a member of the Board of Health; has been a Township Clerk, and altogether he has filled nearly all the public offices of Liberty Township.

And, finally, we have Sarah Shannon, who married William Hackney, another daughter of Patrick and Elizabeth. I already believed this was the family of Sarah Shannon before I finally located the following evidence.

One of the oldest pioneers of Hancock County, Major Bright, great-grandfather of Nimrod W. Bright, of Amanda Township, located or entered 3,000 acres of land in this township, and was an extensive stock-raiser. John Huff, John Shoemaker, William Hackney and James Beard all came to the township in 1826. Huff entered the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 3, December 29, 1825, upon which he settled, but in 1828 he removed to Big Lick Township, where a further mention of him will be found. Shoemaker built his cabin on the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 18, which he entered December 18, 1826, and here he resided till February, 1829, when he also removed to Big Lick, where he died in the spring of 1882. * Mr. Hackney entered the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 3, November 4, 1824, and early in 1826 settled upon it. In April, 1826, he was elected one of the justices of Findlay Township, then co-extensive with the county. In April, 1828, he was elected county assessor, and auditor the following October. He then removed to Findlay, where he resided several years, Mr. Hackney was a man of good education, and one of the pioneer school teachers of the county. His wife was a sister of Joseph C. Shannon, also of Mrs, John J. Hendricks, The family went from here to Springfield, Ill., leaving no descendants in this county. James Beard settled close to Shoemaker in Section 18. He voted at the first county election in April, 1828. After many years’ residence he went to Indiana and there died.

http://www.heritagepursuit.com/Hancock/HancockChapXI.htm
History of Hancock County, Amanda Township

I have the Hendricks in the census in 1850 in Montrose, Lee, Iowa but otherwise haven’t tried to track the siblings of Sarah.

Source Citation: Year: 1850; Census Place: Montrose, Lee, Iowa; Roll: M432_186; Page: 403; Image: 248.
Michael FRY
Isaac MATTHEW
230/235 John H. HENDRICKS 54 Farmer $200 VA
Eleanor 40 KY
Joseph 28 Farmer OH
John 21 Farmer
William 19 Farmer
Sarah 17
Ansel 10 b. IN
Samuel 9
Albert 5 b. IA
(following household) Melvin Little