Portrait and biographical album of Ingham and Livingston counties, Michigan, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties ... the governors of the state and of all the presidents of the United States.

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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

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,
O(lio. His decease occurred in 'May, 1836, and his
bo(l lies interred in that cemetery. It was a
memorable and terrible occasion for our subject,
who was with his father a't the time of his death.
His mother had died in 1828, and is interred in
W vandot 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 wa3 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
subbject belongs comprises, besides hims.lf,1 sister. Sarall E., who married I)avid Longshore, and
and whose home is now in Iowa. ()ur subject's
brother, Capt. Joseph 0. 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. lie went with them on two memorable
journeys to Ft. Wayne and l)etroit. [He was only
tell ears 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 l)elaware County he was in attendance at the little log schoolhouse for about
three months each winter. The teacher that
lie had must have adapted himself admirably
to the temperament of his little pupil, for here
lie 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 twentyfour 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. lHe was at Fostoria for two years.
()n 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 (. 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 C'ounty.
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