My Genealogy Hound

Thomas J. Shannon, a successful and enterprising agriculturist of Vineyard Township, was born in this township April 7, 1842, and is the son of Alexander and Pernarza (Oliver) Shannon, both natives of Kentucky. They were married in Washington County, Ark., where each had moved with their parents when small, and reared a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters. The mother died at the age of thirty, and the father afterward married Mrs. Sarah Crutchfield, who bore him one child. The father is still living, is seventy-six years old, and has followed agricultural pursuits all his life. His son, Thomas J., reached years of manhood on the farm, and received a limited education in the common schools. In 1862 he enlisted in Company A, Second Cherokee Regiment, Confederate States Army, and served until the close of hostilities, being promoted to the rank of third lieutenant the last two years. Since the war he has followed agricultural pursuits. In 1867 he married Miss Cynthia Denton, a native of Tennessee, born February 3, 1846, and the daughter of Greenberry Denton. Eight children, five sons and three daughters, were the fruit of this union. Mrs. Shannon died November 16, 1887. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and an excellent woman. Mr. Shannon is the owner of 125 acres, of which ninety are tillable. He has made this county his home all his life, and is a man well respected by all who know him. He is a Democrat in his political principles.