JOHN SHANTON, an agriculturist of Carroll township, is descended from natives of the "Blue Grass" State. His grandfather, Abram Shanton, was born in Bourbon county, Ky., where his boyhood was passed on the farm. In 1820 he and his family moved to Pickaway county, Ohio, where he died, leaving several children. Raymond Shanton was born and reared in Kentucky, and came to Ohio with his father in 1820. He was married to Margaret, daughter of John McClain, a native of Kentucky, and their children were Jane (wife of Lewis Fry), Margaret (married to J. D. Kline, of Ross county, Ohio), Nancy (deceased) and John. The father died about sixty years ago. John Shanton was born July 22, 1830, in, Pickaway county, Ohio, where he attended the log- cabin school, and studied from the text-books of the day, viz.: Webster's Speller and Calculator. In 1848 young Shanton left his native State, and went to Pennsylvania, locating in Fallowfield township, Washington county. In 1849 he was married to Louisa Fry, at which time he had but 5 cents with which to begin housekeeping. She was born in 1820, a member of the prominent Fry family of Washington county. Mr. and Mrs. Shanton moved to Belle Vernon, Fayette Co., Penn., the year after their marriage, and he worked on a sawmill there for several years. In 1855 they went to Ross county, Ohio, where he conducted a hotel four years. They then returned to Washington county, and locating on a farm, followed stock raising and distilling. He now owns eighty-seven acres of good land, and has accumulated a comfortable property, notwithstanding the fact that he lost about $6,000 by fire in the distillery. Politically he votes with the Republican party.

Text taken from page 1410 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed January 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published January 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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