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A brief biography Michael William Shanahan was born on September 29, 1841 in County Limerick, Ireland. He was the son of Thomas SHANAHAN and Bridget LUBY. The children of Thomas Shanahan and Bridget Luby were:
Michael William Shanahan The oft repeated family tale goes on to say that after the death of his parents that Michael and his siblings were taken care of by his grandmother. It is unknown at this time if the grandmother who was in charge of the orphans was the mother of Thomas Shanahan or his wife Bridget Luby. The story indicates that while in the care of this grandmother, Michael's brother named Henry or Charles was drowned (at a young age) in a river nearby their home. There is also an indication that the home of Michael's grandmother was located nearby an old castle. Lena Estelle Shanahan (Michael's oldest daughter) recounted to her sister Sallie that their father Michael told her that he had climbed this castle's walls. So, while the exact place of the grandparent's home is not known, we are assuming that it is (1) in county Limerick, (2) near a river and (3) near to an old castle. Things were very difficult in Ireland for a long time after the famine ended and it is no great surprise that Michael decided to immigrate to America. Again, the facts of his immigration are scarce and depend mainly on the "family tale", but we do know from a newspaper article written in 1887 about his death that he immigrated through the port of New York in 1855 or 1856. We believe, but cannot absolutely prove, that he traveled aboard the ship Rocklight on 30 Sept 1856. The family stories say that the reason he felt the need to leave Ireland was that he was being educated to be a Catholic priest and that he vehemently rejected this course for his life. He accordingly stowed away aboard a ship bound for America. It seems that he was not discovered until the ship was well out to sea and at this point he was made to work to "pay" off his passage. The fact that stowaways were not shown much mercy during the peak years of Irish Immigration is well documented and while the nature of the tasks he was required to perform is unknown, the family story says he had a rough time of it as he was unused to physical labor and the tasks left him exhausted and his hands blistered. Michael remained in New York city but a few days, boarding at the Kerrigan Family house and then boarded a train and rode it to the end of the line - which brought him to the small town of Senatobia in DeSoto County Mississippi. Michael's elder brother Denis, arriving aboard the ship Plutarch circa 1857 went looking for his brother at the Kerrigan boarding house only to find he had already left and that he had not left a forwarding address. Denis at this time meets Ellen KERRIGAN, who he married 4 years later in 1861. At the date Michael arrived in New York, the immigration point was through Castle Garden (aka Castle Clinton). Even though Michael did not enter America through Ellis Island, our family has honored his memory by placing his name on the "Immigrant Wall of Honor". By the time the 1860 census rolls around, Michael is found still in the town of Senatobia in De Soto County, Mississippi. He works for and lives with the family of Andrew Jackson MOORE, a physician and merchant. Michael becomes acquainted with Andrew Moore's step daughter Sophie A. Ham, and they remain close friends for the rest of his life. Sophie is such a close friend that when exchanging letters he addresses her as "Sister" and it is she, who nurses and cares for him when he returns home to Senatobia (suffering from wounds received at Atlanta) at the end of the Civil war. In 1861 he joined the first company formed in Senatobia, Mississippi (Company I) which later reorganized in Pensacola, FL and was thereafter known as the 9th Mississippi Infantry, Company B. He fought in 11 battles that we know of and was wounded twice (once at the battle of Atlanta). View more information on Michael's Civil War record. The close of the war found him back in Senatobia, MS, alone and longing for a family on his own. On 4 July 1868, Michael writes to his sister Maggie (living in Kentucky at the time) and humorously requests that she begin a search for a possible mate for him among her new acquaintences. In this letter, he indicates that he does not think he will "ever marry in this country". However, shortly after writing this letter he met and married Sallie Margaret Potter, the daughter of a local Baptist minister, Daniel D. Potter and Mary Rebecca Smith. OOPs! After over 40 years of research it has finally been determined that the letter written by Michael on 4 Jul 1868 that he addressed to his "Dear Sister" was not actually written to his sister Maggie but rather to a dear friend of his whom he loved like a sister, one Sophie A. Slaughter nee' Ham. Almost every person referenced in this letter has now been positively identified - Read the Letter w/ all it's new updated information. They took up married life on a small farm in the Flat Woods located about 5 miles east of Coldwater, MS, where Michael taught school and farmed part-time. The children of Michael William Shanahan and Sallie Margaret Potter were:
Lena Estelle Shanahan - b. 25 Apr 1871 All of Michael's children (except Mary Luby, who died as a young child) married and had issue. Main family surnames include STEWART, PHILLIPS, and FREEZE. Michael died on May 26, 1887 aged 45 years at his home near Coldwater. The cause of his death is not known, but his death at such an early age is generally attributed to hardships and wounds received during the war between the states. He is buried in the Palestine Methodist Cemetery. His tombstone is marked with the emblem of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons. Research into his association with this Order is currently in process. Mentions of bits and pieces from old family letters have revealed that both of Michael's siblings, Denis and Margaret "Maggie" Anne Shanahan, immigrated to America. (We are searching hard for the copies of these letters, at present we do not know which family member has them). Good News!! An original letter written by Denis Shanahan to his brother Michael William Shanahan has turned up at our most recent reunion. Letter is a partial only (missing some beginning pages) and is undated, but we believe that it was written circa 1864/65. Watch for this new letter to be transcribed in our Letters section of this web site. From the new letter we have found written by Denis Shanahan we now know that Denis immigrated shortly after Michael and that upon his arrival in New York City, Denis searched for Michael at a place where Michael had boarded (at least for a short while) in an establishment known as Kerrigan's boarding house. Denis didn't find Michael there, but he met and subsequently married a lady by the name of Ellen Kerrigan (who was also boarding at Kerrigan's boarding house and whom Denis met in the course of his searching for Michael). Denis Shanahan and Ellen Kerrigan had the following children:
(1) Patrick Henry Shanahan (died as an infant at age 4 months) Denis' son Thomas Shanahan was known to the family by the nickname of "T.J." and we known that he was somewhere in the Jersey City, NJ area and worked (at least for a short while) for the Cunard Shipping line as a stevedore. T. J. Shanahan is known to have corresponded with his Uncle Michael Shanahan and after Michael's death he continued to correspond with his Aunt Sallie M. Shanahan. From refernces made to these letters (by other family members) we know that T.J. Shanahan married a lady by the first name of Lizzie (probably short for Elizabeth) and that they had children. (Again we are searching diligently to uncover who in the family has these letters in order to more fully examine them for clues). Good News!! An original letter written by T.J. Shanahan to his Aunt Sallie Margaret Potter Shanahan has turned up at our most recent reunion. Letter is a partial only (missing some beginning pages) and is undated, but we believe that it was written circa 1892 or 1893. Watch for this new letter to be transcribed in our Letters section of this web site. The children of Thomas J. Shanahan and Lizzie (Elizabeth?) Shanahan were:
Johnnie Shanahan Margaret "Maggie" Anne Shanahan, Michael's sister, must have gone a different direction once she hit America's shores. She is known to have been living in Kentucky in 1868. She married Lee (?) and had at least one female child. From the two new letters which we recently found from Denis Shanahan and his son Thomas Shanahan, we now know that Maggie returned to the New York and New Jersey area and that she died there. Her spouse, (whose name we still do not know) outlived her. It is rather unclear if she was buried in New York City or in NJ, but we do know that her funeral expenses were born by an individual (not her husband) whose name was John B. Dick. EXCUSE ME...this info incorrect. The Maggie Shanahan who is referenced in TJ's letter was his SISTER who was named for his Aunt Maggie and she is the lady who married John B. Dick. Therefore we still do not know who Michael's sister, Margaret "Maggie" Anne Shanahan married! Please go to the Letters section of this website and read all the copious notes under these referenced letters. The search is on for any of the descendants of Michael's siblings. If you think you might be a descendant of or have a family connection to Denis or Margaret "Maggie" Anne Shanahan, Ellen Kerrigan, John B. Dick, or Thomas J. Shanahan, please contact me at the email address given below.
Notes: For many years I assumed that the name Luby was an Irish girl's given name (used as a middle name for both Bridget and Mary Luby Shanahan). However, evidence now supports the theory that LUBY is a surname rather than a given name. I base this conjecture on the fact that (1) LUBY is listed as a surname in the Griffith's Valuation Index of Ireland, and (2) The name Luby is not listed in the Griffith's Valuation as either a first or middle name for anyone in the entire country of Ireland. So the hunt is on for Bridget Luby (and the alternate spelling of LOOBY) and her family in Ireland. Fortunately, the Luby/Looby surname is relatively rare which may improve our chances for finding Bridget's family's place of origin in Ireland. Reference to Michael's offical cause of death has been found in an 1887 Newspaper article. To view a scan and transcription of the article, click HERE or click on the link Historical Background in the navigation map below. General Note: This biography is, of necessity, a work in progress. I am editing/adding/updating information as it becomes available. Because it is in a constant state of change I have not footnoted the sources for each new bit of data. Most of these sources, however can be found in the various family letters which we've uncovered over time. Scans and transcriptions of the original letters can be found by clicking HERE or by clicking on the Letters link in the navigation bar below. Each individual letter is extensively footnoted and it is for this reason that I have decided NOT to duplicate these footnotes in this bio. Kathy Rhodes 24 June 2001. |
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Newspaper articles can now be found
in
the Historical Background Section