Henry Towne Bannon (June 5, 1867 – September 6, 1950) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

for two terms from 1905 to 1909.

Life and career

Bannon was the grandson of Irish immigrants, Edward and Bridget Dervin Bannon. His father, James. W. Bannon (1841-1916), was a

Scioto County Scioto County is a county located along the Ohio River in the south central region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 74,008. Its county seat is Portsmouth. The county was founded March 24, 1804, from Adams ...

Common Pleas Court judge (1884-1887), attorney and businessman in Portsmouth. Henry Bannon was born in

Portsmouth, Ohio Portsmouth is a city in and the county seat of Scioto County, Ohio, United States. Located in southern Ohio south of Chillicothe, it lies on the north bank of the Ohio River, across from Kentucky, just east of the mouth of the Scioto River. ...

, Bannon attended the public schools of Portsmouth,

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in Columbus in 1885 and 1886, and graduated from the

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1889. Bannon had two brothers, Arthur H. Bannon and James W. Bannon, Jr., and a sister Charlotte Bannon. He studied law. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1891 and practiced in

, along with his brother Arthur and his father, both of whom were attorneys, as well. He served as prosecuting attorney of Scioto County 1897-1902.

Congress and later career

Bannon was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Congresses (March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1909). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1908. He resumed the practice of law and served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, and 1940. He served as a director of the First National Bank, National Bank of Portsmouth, Oak Hill Savings Bank, and the Selby Shoe Co.. He also engaged in literary pursuits.

Death

He died in

, September 6, 1950. He was interred in Greenlawn Cemetery.

Local History

Bannon wrote two popular books on local Portsmouth and Scioto County history. ''Scioto Sketches: An Account of Discovery and Settlement of Scioto County, Ohio'' was published in 1920 and described Indian settlements and early interactions with European settlers, historic flora and fauna, and Indian mounds and relics. Bannon's second book, ''Stories Old and Often Told: Being Chronicles of Scioto County, Ohio'', was published in 1927 and it expanded on his previous work to include the War of 1812, early transportation in the area, and early industry, among other topics.

Indian Head Rock

Bannon's interest in Indians and local history is reflected in his efforts to document and publicize the

Indian Head Rock The Indian Head Rock is an eight-ton sandstone boulder, which had rested at the bottom of the Ohio River, until September 2007 when it was retrieved by a group of local divers, led by amateur historian Steve Shaffer of Ironton, Ohio. The recover ...

, a local artifact, which he examined in 1894 and 1920. He wrote an account of the Indian Head Rock for the Ohio State Archaeology and Historic Society which was published in the society's journal in 1921. https://archive.org/details/ohioarchologic30ohio, pp. 71-74

Publications

* - local history * - local history

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bannon, Henry Towne 1867 births 1950 deaths People from Portsmouth, Ohio Ohio State University alumni University of Michigan alumni County district attorneys in Ohio 20th-century American politicians Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio