Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-09-06

was reelected IN 1850. In 1888 he was
elected Governor of Ohio over Joseph
Vance, who the Wings re-Dominated.
One point of great strength in that
canvass, was that he was the first
native Ohioau ever nominated for
Governor. In 1910 he WAS re-nomina
ted by his party, and was defeated by
Tom Corwin, the "Wagoner Boy. This
was what was known as the "Hard Ci-
de" ''Lcg Cabin" campaign, and al
though the questions of Bank Reform
and the Sub-Treasury entered largely
into the can nvass, ii was chiefly contest
ed on the alleged eXtravagance of the
Van Buren administration. In 1912
be was re-nominated against his will,
he alleging that he was too poor to be
and reelected over Tom
Corwin, but resigned April 13, IA, to
accept the appointment rendered him
Mexico, where he remained until the
of Polk's administration,
when he returned to st. Ciairsville.
after his return, he removed to
Cincinnati. where, owing to the ill
health OF his family, he remained but
six months. During the gold excite
ment in California in 1919, he organ
lied company of twenty-five men liz
this neighborhood, and became resrOn-
sible for the expense Of transporting
them and maintaining them for CIV
en- time, and went by way of Gaps
Horn to California, in search of treas
ure. The company operated few
months in the mines, but the employ
ment not being remunerative as their
dreams had pictured, they disbanded.
1t was q losing speculation to the Gov
ernor, and be located in San Francisco,
hoping to recuperate and retrieve his
fortune by the practice of the law.
He remained in Sau Francisco nearly
two years, when he returned again to
his old home, in st. Clairsville, and
resumed his professional career. In
1852 he was elected Representative to
Congress from this district, for the
term of '53 to 80, and in August, 1855,
he was appointed by President Pierce,
Governor of the Territory of Kansas,
to:succeed Andrew II. Reeder, of Pa,
and the latter part of August of the
next year, he was supplanted by John
w. Geary, of Penn. 1t was iD this po-
sition tibet the Governor gained nation.
al notoriety. After he Was removed
from his gubernatorial position, he re-
turned for his family, who had resided
here during his absence, and removed
with them to Lawrence, Kansas, and
established himself in the practice ol
the law, since which time he has been
a resident of Kansas. -,- .g.
In the debate on the bill of 1854 re-
pealing the Missouri Compromise and
thus opening the door to the extension
of slavery into Kansas and Nebraska
Wilson Shannon voted with the men,
5ers of the Slave States for the repeal
In fact, on all questions relating tt
slavery he steadily voted with the
Slave State members, in conjunction
with his Democratic colleagues from
Ohio, Messrs. Disney, Oids, and Green
The iHitiaf5 of the four led to their be
ling widely uhlished as the o G o
THE Slave Power. To hissubserviencS
to the intererests of slavery Shannon
owed his appointment as Governor o
Kansas. f...ls-s -, s.-,s- -.,-fr T,
Gov. Reedcr, who was the first Gov
arnor of Kansas, established a Terri
toriaI Government ia 1854. Much o
the lands had heen previously taken nI
by border ruf1ians and slave owners
Who had poured across the border from
Missouri, after the abrogatiOn of th'
Missouri compromise to organize: thu
| Territory in the interest of slave power
The action of Gov. Reeder, in refusing
| "a certify for certain members of Lth'
Legislature, in districts carried by th'
most palpable fraud and violence, caus
ID the slave interests to osuspicion the f
| leiity of Gov. Reeder to their caus
ind at last President Pierce in com phi
anee with the demands of the slav'
! partyremoved him and ndappointedShan
1on 10 his place, judging from his pas
record that he would be acceptable t,
that party. He was not mistaken in
lJhis, for Immediately on his arrival il
Kansas he placed himself in cofnmuni
.ation with the slave party leaders aat
Turing the scenes of turbulence and
violence that formed the preliminar,
stages of the Kansas War be alway,
used his power against the Free Soil
arS.
The latter encouraged by northern
public opinion and aid became formid
lible, and at lastsucceeded in effectine
a, Free State organization with Charles
Robinson as Governor. He was arrest
I'd and imprisoned four months, anG
| tie Kansas war was then. formally
topened. The last official act of Cover
nor Shannon was his conclusion of I
treaty. with the Free State leaders
August IL, 1856, by which he agreed t
.estore the cannon taken from the lat
| Ter at Lawrence and received in eX
'hange the prisoners taken by them al
Lecomptt u. A few days afterwards
lt1overnor Shannon was removed and
Iohn w. Geary appointed in his stead
after which time the Free State inter.
ssls rapidly gained the ascendant and
Governor Shannon was no longer po.
Iitical power in the Territory. S +
Governor Shannon was an able law
yer-was known as the best pleader al
| he st. Clairsville Bar, which for
many years had a merited reputation,
md as an advocate he was unsurpassed.
So profound were his legal attain.
ments, and so successful was his career
rs lawyer that his best friends de-
plored his entering into the political
Il ena, thus leaving field where bis
great legal ability shone the brightest.
In 1880, '3I and '32 he was the law
partner of Judge VIM. Kennon, who
survives him, and during their whole
lives they were devoted friends.
Two years ago this month, Governor
shannon visited st. Clairsville, and
was the guest Of his old friend Kennon.
That was the last time he visited Ohio.
Three daughters-Mrs.S Sallie Welsh.
who resides in st. Louis, Mrs. Mary
sherman, the wife of Gen. It. w. Sher-
man, resides at Newport, r.. l., and
another, Sue, who lives some.place in
the East, and one son, Osbun, who was
his law partner at Lawrence, all great