Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1897-12-17
ONE OF CAnTON'S CITIZENS.
The Pittsburg Leader Has the Follow.
ing to Say Of Judge Shannon.

Hon. Judge P G.. Shannon, one of the
most distinguished sons Pennylvania
has given to Jurisprudence, is in Pitts
burg visiting friends and relatives.
Time was when Jud sc Shannon called
Pittsburg his home and the city proud
ly proclaimed him her son. To this day
the distinguished jurist loves to ack-
sort Of kinship to the great
of western Pennsylvania,
for here he achieved his first promi-
nence as member of the bar and
bench, and here also reside one son and
two daughters.
Every old timer knows Judge Shan
non Just as every old timer recollects
the stirring events of ante-bellum days
and the period Of civil strife and politi-
cal apostasy which nearly wrecked the
sacred institution of liberty. In the
thick Of the fiery debates incident to
the abolition movement prior to the
war, as in the fury OF the sanguinary
conflict, the tall form, the powerful
and the magnificent oratory
OF Judge Shannon we're alwaye con-
spicuously in evidence to the glory and
the fame of the grand old Estate of
Allegheny"
Few men have had such eventful ca
reers as Judge Shannon. Born at New
Alexandria, Westmoreland county. in
1921, he has lived six years beyond
mans allotted time and is still in the
vigor Of life. Though rs years OF age
he might pass for 55 without any very
great shock to the student of human
nature
, In the early days Judge Shannon
came to Pittsburg to practice law. In
1862 Governor William Bigler appoint
ed him president judge Of the district
court Of Pennyslvania. a tribunal for
the trial of civil causes, which nas
given place to the common pleas courts
of today. Judge Shannon presided
over the court in this city and many Of
the countrys most distinguished bar
risters plead before him. The famous
secretary of war, Edwin M. Stanton,
not only argued many a cause before
Judge Shannon, but as his intimate
friend. Hon. A. w. Loomis, a noted
Whig of the period Hon. Moses Hamp-
ton, afterward Judge of the district
court; Thomas Williams, afterward a
member Of congress; George P. Hamil-
ton, Sr, Dunlop, the author of Dun
lops Digest; Colonel Sam W, Black,
Thomas NJ. Marshall, ST., Judge Shaler,
then partner of Secretary Stanton,
and others equally prominent in poll
tics and the legal profession, were
among the lawyers who daily appeared
in Judge Shannon's court. Judge
Shannon was on the district bench dur
ing 1852-53, but prior to that time he
was the nominee Of the Democratic
party for congress, his opponent being
Hon. David Ritchey, Wing. Judge
Shannon was defeated by only few
hundred votes. It was shortly subse-
quent to the congressional fight that he
was named to succeed Hon. Walter
Forward as presiding judge of the dis
trict court. Judge Forward was a
brilliant man and was afterward minis
ter to Denmark. When Judge Shan
non left the bench, Hon. Moses Hamp-
ton succeeded him, and he then took
up the practice of his profession. In
1862, at the personal solici alton of his
intimate friend. Governor Andrew j.
Curtin, the famous war governor of
Pennsylvania" Judge Shannon stumped
the state. Governor Curtin was can
didate for second term and Judge
Shannon was with him all through
that most bitter and memorable cam
paign. The governor was reelected by
majority of only $4,000 votes. The
copperhead sentiment was so strong
even in Pennsylvania at that time that
a tremendous fight was made against
Curtin. When the war broke out
Judge Shannon allied himself with the
Union Republican party, and was elect
ed on that ticket to the first general
assembly of the state after the firing
on Fort Sumter. He served two terms
and was member of all the important
committees In 1854 the Union League
club, of Philadelphia, and the executive
committee of the state solicited Judge
Shannon's services on the stump in
behalf Of the candidacy of Abraham
Lincoln. The Pittsburg jurist an
swered the summons and was a power
full factor in that remarkable campaign
which resulted in Lincoln's reelection
in the midst of the civil war.
Those were troublous days for Pitts
burg, but they demonstrated the valor
and loyalty of her sons, Judge Shan
non was prominent in the raising Of
troops to go to the front and partici
pated in every event of historical i'm
portance of those fruitful times Or
the Fonrth Of .Tnlv succeeding the frs