Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Ambrose Shannon

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Descendants of Ambrose Shannon

Generation No. 2

2. ROBERT² SHANNON (AMBROSE¹) was born 1739 in Ireland, and died August 15, 1815 in Wilson County, Tennessee. He married FLORANNAH BOWEN (BOWLES) Abt. 1760.

Notes for ROBERT SHANNON:
Robert Shannon was born in Ireland in the 1730's, possibly the son of Ambrose Shannon. He crossed the Atlantic to North America around 1750. His future wife Florannah was on the same ship. (Entry in the Bible, ca. 1790 of Samuel Shannon, Jr., grandson of Robert. Robert was probably trained as a weaver. He is listed as a weaver at one time in the Virginia records. During this period the English Parliament had passed an Act prohibiting shipment of wool or wool products out of Ireland. Thousands of weavers were unemployed and sailed to North America or Europe. Robert setted in Pennsylvania. He married Florannah in 1758. His family migrated to Augusta County, Virginia, in the early 1760's.

Robert acquired 258 acres of land on the Middle Fork Holston River, Bear Creek, which was surveyed on January 20, 1774.

During the Revolutionary War, Robert was appointed Constable during 1777 to 1782. Robert was a Captain in the Pennsylvania Militia in 1777.

Robert sold his land of 342 acres in 1797 and moved with his family to what is now Lebanon, Tennessee (what was then part of North Carolina). His son John remained in Virginia.

Robert was involved in an Indian attack while taking dispatches to Governor Blunt in 1784.

Robert died in 1815. His decendents migrated to Alabama, Kentucky, Texas and California.

MORE ABOUT THE PENNSYLVANIA MILITIA...

The Pennsylvania Militia, 1777-1783:
The Pennsylvania Militia was organized under an act of March 7, 1777, which provided for compulsory enrollment by the constables of all able-bodied male whites between the ages of eighteen and fifty-three. Exemptions were extremely limited, and an estimated 60,000 men were enrolled. For purposes of administration and drill, Companies and Battalions of militia were set up on a geographical basis similar to the arrangement already familiar with the Associators. In many instances, members of the militia gave no military service beyond occasional routine drill, and some escaped even that. Only in extreme cases was any individual militia man required to drill with his neighbors as many as twelve times each year, and at most he was called upon to perform during the entire course of the war, two or possibly three, short tours of active duty. Many men listed on company rosters never drilled, and tens of thousands enrolled in the militia never experienced a single day of active duty. Avoiding militia calls was not difficult. A man who failed to report for drill merely paid an Exercise Fine. A militiaman called for active duty who found such duty inconvenient was permitted to hire a Substitute to march and fight in his stead. Frequently no substitute was furnished, but instead a Substitute Fine was paid. Militia fines became an important source of revenue. Membership in the Associators differed greatly from membership the militia, for, technically, enrollment in the Associators was voluntary, while membership in the militia was strictly compulsory with the obligation legally defined.

Pay for military service was often long delayed. Thousands of militiamen returned from tours of active duty unpaid, bearing only a slip signed by a commanding officer. General financial confusion and the collapse of wartime currencies made prompt payment impossible, but eventually, under an act of April 1, 1784, Pennsylvania compensated such payment for their active service and settled accounts with certain other public creditors by passing to them interesting bearing Certificates of the funded or Militia Debt. These certificates (bonds in the modern sense) were ultimately redeemed at face value. Unfortunately, when redemption came many of the original holders had long since sold their certificates at heavy discounts.

Part of the itinerary of George Washington found at http://www.sar.org/history/gwslept.txt from the Sons of the American Revolution, has Washington staying one night at the home of Robert Shannon's.

1777.12.19 to Dec 31 at Deborah Hewes (for six months) Valley Forge PA
1778.01.01 to Jun 18 at Deborah Hewes Valley Forge PA
1778.06.19 to same at Robert Shannon E. Norritown Twp PA
1778.06.20 to same at Jonathon Fell's Doyleston PA
1778.06.21 to June 22 at Richard Holcomb's Lambertville NJ
1778.06.23 to June 24 at John Hunt's Hopewell NJ
1778.06.25 to same at Thomas Weatherall Kingston NJ
1778.06.26 to same at Hezekial Stiles Cranberry NJ
1778.06.27 to same at John Anderson's Manalapan NJ
1778.06.28 to same at slept on battlefield after battle Monmouth NJ

More About ROBERT SHANNON:
Burial: Rowland Cemetery in Lebanon, Tennessee
Immigration: 1745, From Ireland to Pennsylvania
Military service: Pennsylvania Militia of 1777
Note: Soldier in American Revolution

Children of ROBERT SHANNON and FLORANNAH (BOWLES) are:

3.	i.	JOHN³ SHANNON, b. January 01, 1759; d. December 18, 1832.
	ii.	MARY MOLLIE SHANNON, b. Abt. 1760, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; d. Smythe County, Virginia; m. JAMES JOHN JACK BUCHANAN; b. 1789, Wythe Virginia; d. 1863, Tazewell, Virginia.
	iii.	HENRY SHANNON, b. January 10, 1766; d. September 25, 1844; m. JANE HAYES, March 22.
	iv.	ROBERT SHANNON, b. 1768; m. REBECCA BUCHANAN, April 11, 1790.

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