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Shannon, Richard Cutts

lawyer, legislator, congressman, was born Feb. 12, 1839, in New London, Conn. He was educated at the public schools and at Colby university, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1862. He enlisted as a private in company H, fifth Maine volunteers in 1861, and was promoted to second sergeant, and in 1861 commissioned first lieutenant of the same company.

In 1862 he was commissioned captain and assistant adjutantgeneral of volunteers, serving continuously till the end of the war, receiving the brevets of major and lieutenant-colonel of volunteers. In 1871 he was appointed by President Grant secretary of the United States legation at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and served until 1875, when he resigned.

In 1876 he took charge of the Botanical Garden Railroad company, an American enterprise in Brazil, of which he subsequently became the vice-president and general manager, and finally the president. In 1891 he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to the Republics of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Salvador, and served until 1893. He was elected to the fifty-fourth and re-elected to the fiftyfifth congress as a republican.