Poem Written by Sallie Moina Shanahan Freeze$1$ $$ for her only brother Dennis Potter Shanahan For My Only Brother Somewhere my only Brother$2$ $$ With business cares distraught and I such a busy mother We don't write as one ought But gone are Father$3$ $$, Mother and Sister far away$4$ $$ How I long for News of Brother as I think of him today. Watch oe'r us angel mother$5$ $$ Lest we should drift apart Yet my love for my only Bro- Lies deep within my heart. What ever cares depress you Or Joys to make life bright, I pray that God may bless you and that you soon will write! Mrs. Sallie Freeze Notes: $1$ $$ Sallie Moina Shanahan was born on 16 Oct 1883 in Coldwater Ms to parents Michael William Shanahan and Sallie Margaret Potter. She married Daniel Franklin Freeze on 18 Aug 1901 in Coldwater, Ms and raised a family of 7 children. $2$ $$ Dennis Potter Shanahan was born on 25 Nov 1873, the only son of Michael William Shanahan and Sallie Margaret Potter. Wed Ellen Wilkerson in Aug 1900 and very shortly after that moved out to Texas. His sister Sallie also moved to Texas for a while but after a few years moved back home to Mississippi. Sallie always adored her brother and must have missed him keenly. $3$ $$ Sallie's father died on 26 May 1887 when she was a very young child; her brother Dennis Potter then "became the man of the family" and seems to have been a rather father-like figure to Sallie. $4$ $$ The sister who is far away is Lena Estelle Shanahan (born 25 Apr 1871) who wed Seaborn Randall Stewart on 24 Dec 1890 and who also moved and remained the rest of her life in Texas. $5$ $$ I believe that Sallie Moina quite literally meant her mother here and not angel in the conventional sense. All of Sallie Margaret Potter Shanahan's children adored her and thought of her as an "angel". Sallie Margaret Potter Shanahan died on 10 Mar 1921 and it is assumed that this poem was written sometime after this date. Note: Transcribed by Kathy Rhodes from a photocopy of the original poem which is written in Sallie Moina Shanahan Freeze's own hand. Click here to view the original poem. Return to Shanahan Genealogy Home Page