My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE SHANNON. The Shannon family is one of the oldest in Montgomery county, dating back to colonial times, and it is undoubtedly of Scotch-Irish origin. When Montgomery county was separated from Philadelphia in 1784, a commission was named to purchase ground on the Schuylkill river, near the mouth of Stony creek, on which to erect a courthouse and prison. One of the members of this commission was Robert Shannon, who was a man who stood high in the community.

George Shannon, cashier of the First National Bank, was born in Norristown, November 5, 1821. He was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Harner Shannon, whose other children were Ann, James, Rose, John, Joseph and Samuel Lane, all now deceased.

The father was a tanner in early life and later a farmer, residing a few miles above Norristown, he having inherited the farm from his father. The grounds of the Hospital for the Insane occupy a portion of the Shannon farm. When Samuel Shannon was well along in years, he sold the farm and removed to Norristown, where he died March 18, 1859, aged seventy- eight years. His widow, born December 11, 1785, died March 20, 1879, in her ninety-fourth year. Both were members of St. John’s Episcopal church at Norristown, he being a member of its choir. He was a Whig and later a Republican in politics, and filled the positions of school director and road supervisor in Norriton township for a number of terms. The grandfather of George Shannon was James S. Shannon, also of Norriton township. Like other members of the family he was a member of the Episcopal church (St. James’,) at Evansburg. Shannons were vestrymen at the old log church as far back as 1721. The wife of James Shannon was Elizabeth Lane, of another prominent family of the vicinity.

The maternal grandfather of George Shannon was John Harner, a resident of Whitemarsh and a successful farmer. He died on the old homestead, near Flourtown, well advanced in years. His wife was Rosanna Rutherford and they had a large family of children.

George Shannon was educated at the Norristown Academy, a noted institution in its day, under William M. Hough and other teachers. In 1842 he entered the Bank of Montgomery County, now the Montgomery National Bank, as a clerk, and soon rose to the position of teller, which he held until March, 1855. He then engaged in the manufacture of linseed oil, erecting a steam mill on Ford street, Norristown, pursuing this vocation successfully for a number of years. In 1864 he sold his oil interests and became one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Norristown, and has been its cashier ever since.

Mr. Shannon served as a school director for nearly a dozen years, being an efficient member of the board, and for nearly the same length of time he was a member of the town council.

April 16, 1850, he married Arabella, daughter of William and Eliza Steinmetz, old residents of Montgomery township, now deceased. They had two children, Flora A. and Walter. The former married J. Roberts Howell and some years after his death, W. Hodge Bennett. The couple reside at Norristown.

Walter died at the age of thirty-four years, leaving a widow, who was Elizabeth Jarrett. He also left two children-George and Walter Lane Shannon.

Mrs. George Shannon died in 1895. She and her husband were brought up in the Episcopalian faith and were always prominently identified with that church. Mr. Shannon is one of the trustees of the will of Wright A. Bringhurst, who left a large estate, the income of which is used in supplying the necessitous poor of Norristown and other places with food and fuel, the money bequeathed being invested in dwelling-houses by the trustees, and the rents used for these charitable purposes. Mr. Shannon is a life member of the Montgomery County Historical Society, taking an active interest in its work and aiding in the accomplishment of its objects by every means in his power. Politically Mr. Shannon is a Republican. He was a director of the Sunbury & Lewistown Railroad for a number of years, but that road has been merged into the Pennsylvania system and has no longer an independent organization.

Mr. Shannon has resided since 1885 in a handsome residence on West Main street which he built in 1885. Having spent a long and useful life in the community, he is esteemed and respected by all who know him. Few men at his age are more active or more capable of attending to business than he. With all his faculties unimpaired, he takes a deep interest in all that is going on in the world around him.