Philip M. Shannon

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

Philip M. Shannon
Personal details
Born
Philip Martin Shannon

(1846-09-02)September 2, 1846
Bradford, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedNovember 22, 1915(1915-11-22) (aged 69)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Hattie M. McIntosh
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnion Army
Years of service1861-1862
Unit62nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

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 interestes 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]

References
  1. "Well-Known Oil Man Dies In This City". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 23 November 1915. p. 1. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Free Genealogy Biography of Philip Martin Shannon Pennsylvania Volunteer of the Civil War". Archived from the original on 5 January 2020.
  3. "First Wyoming Oil Wells". Archived from the original on 5 January 2020.
  4. "Waldorf Burglar Held In Bail". New-York Tribune. 17 January 1900. p. 4. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Pioneer Oil Man Stricken In Club". Pittsburgh Daily Post. 23 November 1915. p. 12. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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