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 American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology which was active between 1874 and 1889. The party ran ...

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. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

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 Menominee l ...

Background

Scanlon was born in Buninadin,

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...

, 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 begi ...

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 ...

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'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 human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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,

Helvetia Helvetia () is the female national personification of Switzerland, officially ''Confoederatio Helvetica,'' the Swiss Confederation. The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing gown, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Swiss fl ...

, Iola, Larrabee,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, Little Wolf,

Matteson Matteson may refer to: Places * Matteson, Illinois * Matteson, Wisconsin Matteson is a town in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 956 at the 2000 census. The former unincorporated community of Hunting was located pa ...

, Mukwa,

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

St. Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...

and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, and the first and second wards of

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa *New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town ** ...

), receiving 943 votes against 783 for

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 ...

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. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

on town and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

, 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 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 census. Geography Manawa is located at (44.460563, -88.919253). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ...

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 19th-century American legislators People from Burnett, Wisconsin Military personnel from County Sligo