Philip M. Shannon Explained

Philip M. Shannon
Birth Name:Philip Martin Shannon
Birth Date:2 September 1846
Birth Place:Bradford, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Place:Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Party:Republican
Spouse:Hattie M. McIntosh
Allegiance: United States
Branch:Union Army
Serviceyears:1861-1862
Unit:62nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
Battles:American Civil War

Philip Martin Shannon (September 2, 1846 – November 22, 1915) was an American politician, businessman, millionaire, and soldier who discovered oil in Wyoming.

Life

Philip Martin Shannon was born in 1843, in Bradford, Pennsylvania and during his childhood he worked on the oil fields during the early Pennsylvania oil rush. He discovered the Shannon Oil fields, which were named in his honor, in the early 1880s and gained controlling oil interests in Texas and Alabama oil fields.[1] In 1861, he enlisted into the 62nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, but was later honorably discharged in 1862 due to wounds he received from the Battle of Gaines's Mill. In 1874, he was elected as the Burgess of Millerstown and in 1876 ran for a seat in the Pennsylvania legislature, but did not receive the Republican nomination at the state convention. On June 18, 1881, he married Hattie M. McIntosh and in 1885, he was elected as mayor of Bradford.[2]

In 1884, he visited Wyoming and in 1889, he discovered oil in Wyoming at the Salt Creek Oil Field and later built an oil refinery in 1894.[3] In 1900, Harry Oscar Lordon, a veteran of the Spanish–American War, attempted to rob Shannon and was found underneath his bed in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.[4] On November 22, 1915, he died in his Duquesne Club apartment in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[5]

Notes and References

  1. News: Well-Known Oil Man Dies In This City . 23 November 1915 . The Gazette Times . Pittsburgh . https://web.archive.org/web/20200105130426/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41723129/pittsburgh_postgazette/ . 5 January 2020 . live . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: Free Genealogy Biography of Philip Martin Shannon Pennsylvania Volunteer of the Civil War . https://web.archive.org/web/20200105132042/http://www.pacivilwar.com/bios/shannon_philip.php . 5 January 2020 .
  3. News: First Wyoming Oil Wells . https://web.archive.org/web/20200105131114/https://aoghs.org/petroleum-pioneers/first-wyoming-oil-well-3/ . 5 January 2020 . live.
  4. News: Waldorf Burglar Held In Bail . 17 January 1900 . New-York Tribune . https://web.archive.org/web/20200105125821/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41723086/newyork_tribune/ . 5 January 2020 . live . 4 . Newspapers.com.
  5. News: Pioneer Oil Man Stricken In Club . 23 November 1915 . The Pittsburgh Post . https://web.archive.org/web/20200105130800/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41598685/wyoming_oil/ . 5 January 2020 . live . 12 . Newspapers.com.