Civil War Artifacts of Michael William Shanahan
2nd Lieutenant
9th Mississippi Infantry
Company B
The above artifacts were passed on from Michael William Shanahan's wife, Sallie Margaret Potter Shanahan to her daughter Nora Mildred Shanahan Phillips. Nora then passed the items to her daughter, Aileen Phillips Moore who then passed them in August of 1981 just 6 years before her death in August of 1987 to the family at large. The items have been preserved and currently they rotate among various members of the family who attend the annual Shanahan Clan Family Reunion, generally passing to a member of whichever branch of the family is slated to be "in charge" of arranging the reunion for the following year. The branches of the family (for reunion purposes) are organized along the lines of Michael's children.
Michael and Sallie Margaret Potter Shanahan's children were:
Lena Estelle Shanahan Stewart
I believe, if I'm not mistaken that this collection of artifacts was passed at the last reunion to the Dennis Potter Shanahan branch of the clan and that the upcoming reunion is to be held somewhere in Texas where the majority of his living descendants now reside.
The above items are not the only artifacts that the family has in its possession. There is also a framed shadow box containing Michael's eyeglasses, his change purse(s), a confederate veterans reunion ribbon, confederate money, buttons from his uniform and various other items as well. Below is a photo of these artifacts, the quality of which is very poor and for which I apologise:
The last reunion was held in New Mexico in June of 2000 and was the first that I personally ever attended. I was very moved to see these items first hand and believed that I would remember what each and every item was; however, I now realize that I should have taken a better look (and better notes) as my less than trusty memory is failing me now and I can't quite make out what each item is based on my less than inadequate attempts at photography. It would be much appreciated if a family member who is more intimately acquainted with these items (or the family member who now has them in his possession) would contact me and fill me in on the details of each item in the collection. Please EMAIL me if you have the answers I seek.
Michael's Cvil War Sword may still be in the possession of a family member! Information recently passed to me by Jimmy Freeze is that Michael's Civil War Sword was known to be in the possession of Nora Mildred Shanahan Phillips, who passed it to her son, Mr. Paul Elwyn Phillips, Sr. who in turn passed it to his son, Mr. Paul Elwyn Phillips, Jr. better known to the family as "Skip". I am currently in the process of trying to locate "Skip" to determine if he still has the sword and will keep the family posted if I should be fortunate enough to be successful in contacting him.
