John Scanlon (September 10, 1841 – December 6, 1895) was an American farmer from Symco, Wisconsin who spent one term as a

Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an Political parties in the United States, American political party with an Competition law, anti-monopoly ideolog ...

member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

from

Waupaca County, Wisconsin Waupaca County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,812. The county seat is Waupaca. The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1853. It is named after the Waupaca River, a Menomi ...

Background

Scanlon was born in

Bunninadden Bunnanadden, Bunnanaddan or Bunninadden () is a small village in south County Sligo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the R296_road_(Ireland), R296 road, 9 km from Tubbercurry and 8 km from Ballymote. The village contains the p ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

, Ireland on September 10, 1841, the son of John Scanlon Sr. and Anna May. He received a common school education, and became a farmer. He came to Wisconsin in 1855, settled in Burnett, but moved to Waupaca County in 1856. He enlisted in the 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment on December 31, 1864, and participated in the

Battle of White Oak Road The Battle of White Oak Road, also known as The Battle of Hatcher's Run, Gravelly Run, Boydton Plank Road, White Oak Ridge was fought on March 31, 1865, during the American Civil War at the end of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign and in the begin ...

and the

Battle of Five Forks The Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, around the road junction of Five Forks, Dinwiddie County, at the end of the Siege of Petersburg, near the conclusion of the American Civil War. The Union A ...

in 1865. He and his unit (part of the famed

Iron Brigade The Iron Brigade, also known as The Black Hats, Black Hat Brigade, Iron Brigade of the West, and originally King's Wisconsin Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought ent ...

) were involved in the pursuit and capture of

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

's army, and took part in the

Grand Review of the Armies The Grand Review of the Armies was a military procession and celebration in the national capital city of Washington, D.C., on May 23–24, 1865, following the Union victory in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Elements of the Union Army in th ...

at Washington on May 3, 1865. He was mustered out July 3, 1865, when the regiment returned to Madison from Kentucky and was discharged.

Public office

He had held various local offices, including

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

treasurer and chairman of the town board of supervisors; and was a delegate to the Greenback state convention in 1877. He was elected to the assembly for 1879 from the 2nd Waupaca County district (the towns of Bear Creek,

Dupont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

Helvetia Helvetia () is a national personification of Switzerland, officially , the Swiss Confederation. The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing clothing, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Flag of Switzerland, Swiss flag, and commo ...

Iola Iola or IOLA may refer to: Places in the United States *Iola, Colorado, a ghost town *Iola, Florida, an unincorporated community *Iola, Illinois, a village *Iola, Kansas, a city *Iola, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place *Iola, Texas, a city *I ...

, Larrabee,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Little Wolf Little Wolf (, sometimes transcribed ''Ohcumgache'' or ''Ohkomhakit'', more correctly translated Little Coyote, 18201904) was a Northern Só'taeo'o Chief and Sweet Medicine Chief of the Northern Cheyenne. He was known as a great military tactic ...

, Matteson, Mukwa,

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, St. Lawrence and Union, and the first and second

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of New London), receiving 943 votes against 783 for Republican L. D. Moses (Republican incumbent Francis Guernsey was not a candidate). Scanlon was assigned to the

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

on town and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

organization. He ran for re-election for 1880, and was defeated by Republican

Nels Anderson Nels Anderson (July 31, 1889 – October 8, 1986) was an early American sociologist who studied hobos, urban culture, and work culture. Biography Anderson studied at the University of Chicago under Robert E. Park and Ernest Burgess, whose Con ...

, who drew 962 votes to 419 for Democratic former State Representative Michael Gorman and 345 for Scanlon.

After the Assembly

He returned to farming in Symco, but spent some time as a messenger for the

Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin The superintendent of public instruction, sometimes referred to as the state superintendent of schools, is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the Wisconsin state government and head of the Department of Public Instruction.W ...

office in Madison. He died in

Manawa, Wisconsin Manawa is a city in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,441 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History On July 5, 2024, the Little Wolf River flooded, forcing evacuations in Manawa and compromising the ...

in 1895.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scanlon, John 1841 births 1895 deaths Farmers from Wisconsin Irish emigrants to the United States Irish soldiers in the United States Army Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Waupaca County, Wisconsin People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Politicians from County Sligo Wisconsin city council members Wisconsin Greenbacks People from Burnett, Wisconsin Military personnel from County Sligo 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature