BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN BRACKEN SHANNON OF SHELBY COUNTY, KENTUCKY

John B. Shannon was the son of Samuel Shannon and Martha Bracken. Samuel was
born in Lancaster County, Pa. and was a Captain of Militia moving west to the frontier
into Washington County, Pa. John was born in Washington County April 28, 1784. He was
still an infant when the family came to Shelby County, Kentucky in 1785. Samuel's
brother William was already in Jefferson County and had made many land acquisitions in
his and Samuel's names. William had been a Captain with George Rogers Clark as the
General Conductor of Commissary supplies at Fort Pitt and into the Illinois Territory
and The Falls Of Ohio. Southwest Pennsylvania was part of Augusta Co. at that time so
William is listed as a soldier of The Va. Continental Line
Thomas and John, two more of the brothers of Samuel and William also came to Shelby
County and had been in Albemarle and Augusta County, Virginia for several years. The
father (John Sr.) had been an officer in the French and Indian War and lead colonial troops
into northern New York from Lancaster County, Pa.
John married Polly Finley, daughter of John Finley and Esther Reid of Augusta county,
Virginia on October 30, 1804 in Shelby County. John was a Sergeant in the War of 1812,
first with troops at The Battle of The Thames and later at The Seige Of New Orleans. Both
John and Polly died very young, Polly in 1811 and John in 1819, and left several young
orphan children, all being taken in by the sisters and brothers of John. Many of these same
families that were neighbors in Pennsylvania emigrated into Virginia and Kentucky together
and intermarried for the next three generations. The Shannons, Reids, Finleys, Wallaces and
others.
My third great grandfather, Dennis Rearden, married Polly Shannon (daughter of John and
Polly) in Franklin County, Ky. on November 10, 1829. Dennis had lived in Shelby County with
his father before moving over into Franklin County.
I placed a headstone for Sgt. John Shannon in the old Shannon Cemetery on Taylorsville Rd.
on October 3, 2009 to commemorate his time served in the War of 1812. I also placed a
headstone for Capt. Samuel Shannon commemorating his time of service in The Revolution
in the Pennsylvania Militia and one for Capt. William Shannon for his time in the Revolutionary
War with the Illinois Regiment of The Virginia Continental Line. William , a bachelor was
killed by another Shelbyville resident in 1794 so is not recognized in The DAR or SAR
and does not have family.