Shannon Archives - Zalewski Family Genealogy

2017 Project

Major William Vaughan

Posted on 22 March 2017by Brian Zalewski

The ninth ancestor in my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2017 project is Major William VAUGHAN. He is my wife’s maternal 9th-great-grandfather. I was interested in this line since supposedly up within William’s ancestry is a connection to the royal lines of England. I’ve spent some time recently trying to confirm my wife’s connection to Mr. Vaughan. I’m pretty confident that he is her ancestor, it’s confirming everything beyond him to the royal lines that is getting difficult.

She is related to William through her mother â†’ her mother â†’ her mother (Marie R SHANNON) â†’ her father (George Washington SHANNON) â†’ his father (Nathanial SHANNON [1]) â†’ his father (Nathaniel SHANNON [2]) â†’ his father (Nathaniel SHANNON [3]) â†’ his father (Nathanial SHANNON [4]) â†’ his father (Nathaniel SHANNON [5]) â†’ his mother (Abigail VAUGHAN) â†’ her father (Major William VAUGHAN). You’re not going crazy, there are a lot of Nathaniels in a row. There are actually two more, Abigail’s husband was Nathaniel and his father is also a Nathaniel, making eight in a row.

Major Vaughan seemed like a pretty prominent man in the New England area in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Information says he was born in around 1640. Some info says he was born in Wales and some says he was born in Sussex in England, son of George and Mary (Boxall) Vaughan. His grandfather was Sir Roger Vaughan. He was in London to be educated in the mercantile profession by a man named Sir Josiah Child. He came to the new world from London in about 1664 settling in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

William was named one of the Royal Councillors of New Hampshire in 1681 and a Major, commanding the militia of the province. Soon after, he was imprisoned for nine months by what looks to be the (some say oppressive) new Governor of New Hampshire. It seems he had different views than the previous leader of the province. Under the new Lieutenant-Governor, he again commanded the Militia in 1690 and was reappointed to the Council in 1692. It looks like he also held the positions of Treasurer of the Province (1696-1698) and Register of Deeds (1697-1702). He was President of the Council from 1706-1715.

He married my wife’s ancestor, Margaret CUTT(S), in December 1668. Her grandfather was Hon. Richard Cutt of Bath in Essex County, England. He was a member of Cromwell’s Parliament.

Major Vaughan passed away at Portsmouth on 12 November 1719, at the age of 78. His large stone is located at Old Point Cemetery in Portsmouth.

In terms of DNA, I have yet to find Shannon matches in my wife’s DNA match lists. Though, I know there are some there as she has a lot of maternal matches.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Arnold & Shannon

Posted on 12 October 2014by Brian Zalewski

The thirty-third ancestor in my 52-week challenge is my wife’s maternal 3rd-great-grandmother, Rosina Winslow (Arnold) Shannon.

Multiple census sources note that she was born about 1824 in New York State (info says Three Mile bay in Jefferson County.) Her obituary in the Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Journal says that she was born in “West Canada” which is more than likely “Canada West” in terms of the 1851/52 Canada Census. Both of those locations are quite close physically as Jefferson County is very close to the Canadian border. Her parents are unknown to me, but they are both noted to have been born in New York State.

Sometime in 1838, she married Nathaniel SHANNON in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, which is right across the border from New York. In the 1852 Canada Census, the family lived on Wolfe Island in Ontario which is right on the border within the Saint Lawrence River. According to her obituary, the family left Canada and arrived in Wisconsin in about 1856, settling in the Portage County area. Nathaniel and Rosina had 10 children, including my wife’s ancestor, George Washington Shannon, whom I wrote about earlier in this series.

Nathaniel passed away in October 1878. Rosina passed away many years later on December 20th, 1899. An interesting note is that her son, Rudolph, died on this same day. I first thought maybe it was some sort of accident that took their lives together, but it seemed to be unrelated sickness. Rosina died from dropsy (now known as edema) and heart failure, while Rudolph died of pneumonia. She is buried with Rudolph at McDill Cemetery in Whiting, Portage, Wisconsin, near Plover and Stevens Point.

This post is 33 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Boston to the West Indies

Posted on 25 August 2014by Brian Zalewski

The twenty-seventh ancestor in my 52-week challenge is my wife’s maternal 8th-great-grandfather, Nathaniel SHANNON. Nathaniel is one of seven Nathaniel Shannon’s in a row in my wife’s ancestry, starting with this Nathaniel’s father, born in Ireland in circa 1655 all the way through to her 3rd-great-grandfather, born in New Hampshire in 1816. He also had a son named Nathaniel, but my wife did not descend from him.

This Nathaniel was noted to be born on 9 December 1689 in Boston, British America (or today’s Boston, Massachusetts) to Nathaniel and Elizabeth Shannon. It also states that he was baptized at the famous Old South Church in Boston on 22 December 1689, but I don’t seem to have a source for that (Shame on me.)

Sometime in late 1714, he married Abigail VAUGHAN, daughter of Major William VAUGHAN and Margaret CUTTS. Abigail’s line through her father is my wife’s connection to British Royalty. It’s a bit unconfirmed at the moment from this end, but I am slowly working on sourcing all of the connections.

His occupation is listed as Merchant Seaman, so he was probably not home all that much as he traveled the oceans. His death is recorded in Barbados in the West Indies when he was 34 years old. I’d love to confirm this or get more information on it. While it sounds adventurous and fascinating, it was probably due to disease or injury and, sadly, not fighting pirates (or being a pirate.)

This post is 27 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Where Did George Washington Go?

Posted on 20 April 2014by Brian Zalewski

The tenth ancestor in my 52 week challenge is my wife’s great-great-grandfather, George Washington SHANNON.

George was born on September 11th, 1859 in the small town of Stockton in Portage County, Wisconsin. His parents were Nathaniel SHANNON & Rosina Winslow ARNOLD. He was the eighth child of ten and according to the data I have, the first born in Wisconsin.

On October 3rd, 1899, he married Mary DAKINS, the daughter of William DAKINS and Helen WARNER in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. About a year later, the couple’s one, and only, daughter was born, Marie SHANNON. Tragedy struck in 1904, when Mary died of peritonitis, which can be caused by things such as abdominal trauma or even appendicitis.

Not much is known about George after Mary’s death. His daughter, Marie, is found in the 1910 Census living with Mary’s parents. There is no matching George Shannon in the 1910 Census. Though, in the 1920 Census, there is a widowed “G W Shanon”, born in Wisconsin in 1860, living in Winan, Rice, Kansas, though that lists his parents as having both been born in Ireland, which is very false.

There is also an inmate at the Albany County Penitentiary in New York in 1905, born in the United States in 1858. Though, not sure why he would be in Albany, New York only a year after his wife’s death, but it’s not an impossibility. More than likely, though, he is the widowed Geo Shanon living in Plover, Portage, Wisconsin working for the Geo D Warner family (his mother-in-law’s maiden name was Warner) in the 1905 Wisconsin Census.

He is listed, in my database, as having died in February 1930 in Limon, Lincoln, Colorado. There is no source on the information and I really don’t know where it came from, but I leave it in there just in case there is something to it. Maybe one day we’ll track him down.

This post is 10 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

Genealogy of the States

Genealogy of the States: Colorado

Posted on 25 January 2014by Brian Zalewski

The next state in my Genealogy of the States list is Colorado. There are also not very many connections to Colorado, but it does show up.

The only main connection is that my wife’s great-great grandfather, George W SHANNON, passed away in Limon, Lincoln Co., Colorado in about 1930, though there isn’t a lot of evidence for it. After his wife died in 1904, we kind of lose him.

I’ve searched through records and can’t seem to track him, though I did find a 1905 Wisconsin Census record that is more than likely him, but he is still in Wisconsin and it is only one year after his wife’s death. The Colorado connection may just be a red herring.

Family Tree Saturday Genealogy Fun

SNGF: Matrilineal Line

Posted on 1 October 2011by Brian Zalewski

It’s time for another one of Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun posts.

List your matrilineal line – your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!
Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.
Post your responses on your own blog post, in Comments to this blog post, or in a Status line on Facebook or in your Stream at Google Plus.
If you have done this before, please do your father’s matrilineal line, or your grandfather’s matrilineal line, or your spouse’s matriliuneal line.
Does this list spur you to find distant cousins that might share one of your matrilineal lines?

According to my blog, it seems I did this line for myself already. Though, I will post it again in case something is more up-to-date. I will do my father’s line and also my wife’s line since I haven’t really inspected those before. Here is mine, first.

My matrilineal line:

Brian J ZALEWSKI
Sharon THIELKE married John ZALEWSKI
Marge DeBROUX married LeRoy THIELKE
Mildred Vida VAN PRICE (5 Jul 1903 Mattoon, Shawano Co., Wisconsin – 29 Oct 1994 Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin) married Leon DeBROUX
Minnie May MUHM (12 Jul 1879 Norwood, Langlade Co., Wisconsin – 6 Jul 1959 Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin) married Pieter Fransiscus VAN PARIJS
Ida W SCHAVANDIE (6 Sep 1852 Germany – 12 Nov 1934 Antigo, Langlade Co., Wisconsin) married Peter MUHM
Anna RASCH (? in Germany – ??) married Lawrence SCHAVANDIE

Unfortunately, my matrilineal line is one of the few lines in my tree that is somewhat short, though I have not done a ton of research on it. I have done a DNA test, so I do have my mtDNA information. According to the latest 23AndMe info, my Maternal Haplogroup in H11a. I have made my 23AndMe Maternal Line page public, so you can view more details there. It does match the German ancestry that I find in my research.

Next is my father’s matrilineal line, though there is no mtDNA haplogroup info since my DNA does not have that information. Only his DNA (or his sibling’s) would show that.

Surname Saturday

Surname Saturday: SHANNON

Posted on 5 February 2011by Brian Zalewski

The SHANNON surname first appears in my wife’s family tree at her maternal great-grandmother, Marie R (SHANNON) BANNACH. From the looks of it Marie didn’t have a very good start to her life. Her mother, Mary (DAKINS) SHANNON died when Marie was only four years old. Then, as far as we can tell, her father, George Washington SHANNON, up and left as she is next found in the 1905 Wisconsin State Census living with her grandparents (Mary’s parents.) I have not yet been able to track down George, but some signs point to him dying in Colorado in about 1930.

George’s father is Nathaniel SHANNON, born in 1816 in Gilmanton, Belknap Co., New Hampshire, where the SHANNON family lived for many generations. If naming conventions had been used, his name should’ve been Nathaniel Shannon VII. From this point on my wife is descended from seven Nathaniel Shannon’s straight back to her 9th-great-grandfather Nathaniel SHANNON who was born in about 1655 in Ulster County, Ireland. The seventh Nathaniel also had a son named Nathaniel, but we have not traced it any further. The original Nathaniel Shannon is somewhat famous, at least in death, as he is buried in the famous Old Granary Burial Ground in Boston, Massachusetts with the likes of Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams. According to his headstone (to the right, click to bigify), he was also a Naval Officer of the Port of Boston. This is as far back as we can currently trace the SHANNON line in my wife’s tree, though from this line is where my wife theoretically connects to the Royal Line via the second Nathaniel SHANNON’s wife Abigail VAUGHAN.

Weekly History

Weekly History: August 22nd – 28th

Posted on 22 August 2010by Brian Zalewski

Weekly History for our family for this week. As always, you can find any date on the Dates & Anniversaries page.

August 23rd

1714 – Married – Nathaniel SHANNON & Abigail VAUGHAN – Nathaniel and Abigail are my wife’s 8th-great-grandparents on her mother’s side. Nathaniel was born in Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts in 1689. Abigail was born in Portsmouth, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire in 1683. They were married at Ipswitch, Essex Co., Massachusetts. Nathaniel passed away in 1723 in the West Indies. It is not known why he was there exactly, maybe on business. Abigail lived much longer and passed away in 1762.

August 26th

1869 – Born – Felix BANNACH – Felix is my wife’s great-great-grandfather on her mother’s side. He was born in German Poland, in what is now probably Poland. He married Mary WOJACK in 1894 in Portage Co., Wisconsin. Felix passed away on 31 Oct 1943 in Waukegan, Lake Co., Illinois.

August 27th

1723 – Died – Nathaniel SHANNON – Nathaniel is my wife’s 9th-great-grandfather on her mother’s side. He is the father of the Nathaniel mentioned above. He was born around 1655 in Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland. In around 1688, he married a woman named Elizabeth, surname unknown. He is buried at the famous Old Granary Burial Ground on Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts; burial location of people such as Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

1778 – Born – Jonathan WARNER – Jonathan is my wife’s 5th-great-grandfather on her mother’s side. He was born in Pittsford, Rutland Co., Vermont. He married Anna RIPLEY sometime before 1802. Together they had 7 children. It is unknown when Jonathan passed away.

Tombstone Tuesday

Tombstone Tuesday: Rosina Shannon

Posted on 15 June 2010by Brian Zalewski

When we were last visiting my in-laws up in central Wisconsin, we decided to take a trip a few miles east to the Plover, Wisconsin area. It turns out that a few of my wife’s ancestors settled in that area and were supposed to be buried nearby. We took a drive out there one morning and happened to find a cemetery in Whiting, Wisconsin where our info said they were buried. It turned out to be the correct one, fortunately. We were looking specifically for Nathaniel & Rosina (ARNOLD) SHANNON, my wife’s maternal great-great-grandparents. There were a lot of SHANNONs in the cemetery and we did find Rosina’s headstone. Unfortunately, due to the position of the sun, it is very hard to make anything out on the stone. I’m pretty sure it says, “Rosina – wife of N Shannon – Dec 18 1824 – Dec 20 1899.” There was an Nathaniel SHANNON buried next to her, but since it was a Civil War stone I don’t think it was her husband since he would’ve been in his 50s when that war was fought. More than likely that is their son, Nathaniel. We didn’t find her husband’s burial spot, but we may have missed it on the side of her’s or another’s.

[ Find-a-Grave link ]

Weekly History

Weekly History: May 23rd – 29th

Posted on 23 May 2010by Brian Zalewski

My family history for this week. As always, you can find this information out at any time on the Dates & Anniversaries page.

May 25th

1922 – Died – Ignatz Peter SZULTA – Ignatz is my 3rd-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born 30 Jan 1849 in Bukowa GÃ³ra, SulÄ™czyno Parish, Kartuzy County, Pomorskie, Poland, a small parish near Gdansk. In 1870, he married Nepomuncema SYLDAKT before emigrating to Wisconsin in about 1881. He passed away in Milwaukee and is buried there at Holy Cross Cemetery.

May 26th

1770 – Died – Andreas UHL – Andreas is my wife’s 7th-great-grandfather on her father’s side. He was born in Rothenburg, Obdertauber, Bavaria. He married Elisabetha FABER in 1728. He passed away in Neipperg, Baden, Germany and is buried there.

May 27th

1879 – Born – Mary (DAKINS) SHANNON – Mary is my wife’s great-great-grandmother on her mother’s side. She was born in Dayton, Waupaca Co., Wisconsin. In 1899, she married George W SHANNON and had one child, Marie R SHANNON. Mary suddenly died in 1904 in Keene, Portage Co., Wisconsin. Little Marie was sent to live with Mary’s parents and George, it seems, went off to Colorado.

2006 – This is also our 4th wedding anniversary.

May 28th

1842 – Born – Mary Jane (LINT) DIETER – Mary Jane is my wife’s 3rd-great-grandmother on her father’s side. She was born in Ohio. She married Frederick DIETER in 1868 in Fox Hollow, Wisconsin. They had 12 children including her ancestor Emma DIETER. She passed away on 20 Oct 1913 at Fox Hollow and is buried at Emmanuel Cemetery in Richland Co., Wisconsin.

May 29th

1816 – Born – Nathaniel SHANNON – Nathaniel is my wife’s 3rd-great-grandfather on her father’s side. He was born in Gilmanton, Belknap Co., New Hampshire. He married Rosina ARNOLD in 1838. They had 8 children together, including the above-mentioned George W SHANNON. He passed away on 26 Oct 1878 in Stockton, Portage Co., Wisconsin and is buried nearby in Whiting.