Ohio Governor, Kansas Territory Governor, US Congressman. Born in Mount Olivet, Ohio, he attended Ohio University and Transylvania University. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in Ohio in 1830, and practiced in St. Clairsville. Shannon was unsuccessful as a candidate for election to Congress in 1832. The following year, he was elected as the Belmont County Prosecuting Attorney and served until his appointment as the Prosecuting Attorney for Ohio in 1835. A member of the Democratic Party, Shannon was elected as Ohio's 14th and 16th Governor, served from 1838 to 1840, and again from 1842 to 1844. As Governor, he worked to improve the state's banking system. He resigned on April 15, 1844 to accept an appointment by President John Tyler as the United States Minister to Mexico. He returned to the United States in 1845 when relations with Mexico deteriorated and war was imminent. In 1849, he led a group of miners to California during the Gold Rush and returned to Ohio in 1851. He resumed his legal practice until he was elected to represent Ohio's 17th District in the United States House of Representatives in 1852. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1854. Shannon was appointed by President Franklin Pierce as the second Governor of the Kansas Territory in 1855. Kansas was violently split over the issue of slavery, and Shannon, a southern sympathizer, was unable to control the territory's government. He was removed from office in 1856 and fled Kansas to avoid threats. He later returned to Kansas after the territory was admitted to the Union as a state and resumed his legal profession in Lawrence. He died in Lawrence in 1877 when he was 74 years old. His father, George Shannon, was an Irish immigrant and a veteran of the Revolutionary War. His oldest brother, George F. Shannon was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and a U.S. District Attorney. Another brother, Thomas Shannon, was a Congressman from Ohio, and a third brother, James Shannon, was a U.S. Diplomat to South America.