John Shannon (c. 1759-1815)

Sources:

US Federal Census 1790, Pendleton District, SC.

US Federal Census 1800, Pendleton District, SC.

US Federal Census 1810, Pendleton District, SC.

Land Records, Pendleton District, Pickens, Anderson, Oconee counties, SC. 1790-1830

Probate Records of Estate of John Shannon, Pendleton District, SC, 1815.

John Shannon was listed on the 1790 US census in the Pendleton District of South Carolina.  Documentation establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that this is the same John Shannon who was the son of Thomas Shannon of Wilkes County, Georgia.  John’s oldest son is named Thomas, a son named Owen appears in both families, Thomas Sr, held lands in Franklin country Georgia after the Revolution and Pendleton District, South Carolina was originally part of Franklin County, Georgia.

When genetic testing became available, it was quickly established that John’s descendants shared the same rare yDNA with a family line which could document direct descent from Owen, son of Thomas/Eleanor, of Wilkes country, GA thus validating the documented evidence.

The 1815 estate papers of John Shannon of Pendleton District list six sons, Thomas, Owen, John, William, Aaron, Moses, and one daughter, Margaret Holland.   Only one of these children, Aaron, is known to have survived long enough to appear on the 1850 and 1860 census which gives his birth year as 1799 or 1796.  He is also the only son we have a gravestone for which gives his birth year as 1797 based on his age at death. He was probably born sometime between late 1796 and early 1797.  Published oral family history of the descendants of Aaron state that he was the youngest child in the family.

This family is included on the 1790, 1800 and 1810 US census living in the Pendleton District of South Carolina.   In 1790, there were 4 males under 16 and 3 males over sixteen living in the household of John Shannon.  Land records indicate that John’s brother, Owen, was also living in the area at that time, so he and his family are probably included in John’s household.   Who the third adult male is we don’t know but it might be brother Thomas.   Only two females are listed, one of whom would be John’s wife.

In 1800, the resolution improves a bit.   We have 2 sons listed 10-15 years, 4 sons listed under 10, and a daughter also 10-15.

In 1810, there are 4 sons listed 16-25, and 2 listed 10-15, with no daughter listed.   This means that none of the six sons were born after 1800.  2 were born 1795-1800 and 4 were born before 1795.

I have never found anyone on the 1820 census that conforms reliably to any of these men.  This seems strange, but could be explained if they were in the process of moving along isolated frontier trails to their future homes at that time.   

In 1830 we find Thomas and Owen living in Pickens Co., AL, both age 40-50 and Moses in Tennessee age 30-40.  Aaron is in Tuscaloosa Co., AL age 30-40 as expected.  We know that these men are the sons of John of Pendleton because deeds on file in Pickens, Co., SC (formed from Pendleton) in 1830 show them all granting their title to lands from John’s estate to Moses.

John and William cannot be reliably identified in 1830, and there is some evidence that John was no longer living at that time.

Putting all of this together we have Thomas, Owen and Margaret born ~1785-1790, and Aaron born 1797.  William still has underage children in the mid 1830’s, so we can speculate that he is the other son born after 1795 along with Aaron.   We can also speculate that Moses is named for Moses Perkins who is thought to be the father of the William Perkins living near to the Shannons in 1790, so possibly also the father of ‘Sarah’ Perkins.  I think John is the third son born in 1790 and perhaps an infant on the census that year and listed as one of the four ‘under 16’ sons. 

I think the son birth sequence was: Thomas (named for grandfather, Thomas of Wilkes), Owen (named for brother Owen, which is a little odd unless it was an older family name, a great grandfather of some significance?), John (junior), Moses (for maternal grandfather Perkins?), William (after Captain William Perkins, Sarah’s brother?), and Aaron (biblical?).  Daughter Margaret was probably named for either paternal or maternal grandmother.  Interesting that Thomas Sr. and his son John both had an older daughter named Margaret. 

Figuring out the descendants of these siblings isn’t straight forward.  Only William, Aaron and Moses left any kind of traceable family records. Pickens County, Alabama records were destroyed in the 1870s.   We really don’t know which of the other three brothers everyone else descends from.

The 1830 US census for Pickens co., AL gives us the only information on their families that we have.   Thomas is listed with one son, age 15-19, which corresponds to a son born in 1812, so 17 or 18 when the census was taken. This corresponds to the single family of William Shannon we find in nearby Kemper county, MS, who’s descendants carry the same YDNA.   

Owen is listed with three sons, age ranges 0- 5, 5-9,15-19.   There are a number of Shannon families we find later in Tippah County and McNairy County, TN, who have descendants who carry the same YDNA we do, and this would seem to be the children from Owen, but it is odd that none of them seem to have a son named Owen. Also, there are more Shannons in that area then can be accounted for from Owen, and  they don’t quite align with the three age ranges from the 1830 census. So, we don’t know. 

 By process of elimination, this leaves only brother John with no confirmed family record, who I believe was the husband of Patsey Cockerham, and ancestral to my line.  We know that Patsey was not the wife of Aaron, Moses or William, and she doesn’t fit comfortably as either the wife of Thomas or Owen. None of the other five brothers have a son in 1830 in the age range to be John C. Shannon (1816-1896).  This only leaves brother John as the best candidate for this line.   After the 1840’s, John C. Shannon seems to be quite independent of these other lineages.