With his friend Henry Hodges, Shanley came to the lead mines in the
Wisconsin Territory's Lead District, first to
Hardscrabble in 1826, then to
Beetown in 1827. They came to
Cassville (where they built a log warehouse) in 1828; and in 1831 they became the first settlers in Lancaster, in what would later become
Grant County, Wisconsin.[1][2] On the prairie south of what would become the city of Lancaster, Hodges and Shanley built a double
log cabin which served as a refuge for travelers in the region.[3]
Politics
Shanley was elected to serve in the House of Representatives (the
lower house of the
Wisconsin Territorial Assembly) as one of the seven members from
Iowa County, which at that time was far more extensive. He served in all three sessions spanning the period from October 25, 1836 – June 25, 1838.[4] He was a
Whig.[5]
In January 1838, an
academy was chartered in Cassville, and Shanley served as one of its
trustees.[8] In 1844, a
threshing machine was built for Shanley at his place near Lancaster, apparently the first in the county; it is unclear whether "place" means farm or not.[9] In 1849, Lancaster was organized as a
town. In 1850 and 1851, Shanley served on the town's board of supervisors (equivalent to a
city council).[10]
^Butterfield, C. W. Grant History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Containing An account of its settlement, growth, development and resources; an extensive and minute sketch of its cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories, churches, schools and societies; its war record, biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; the whole preceded by a history of Wisconsin, statistics of the state, and an abstract of its laws and constitution and of the constitution of the United States Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1881; p. 478]
^Holford, Castello N. History of Grant County, Wisconsin: Including Its Civil, Political, Geological, Mineralogical, Archaeological and Military History, and a History of the Several Towns Lancaster, Wisconsin: The Teller Print, 1900; pp. 398, 596
^Shanley, Thomas. "Selections from the Lancaster Wisconsin Herald: 'Thomas Shanley's Platform' [August 29, 1846]" in, Quaife, Milo M., ed. The Movement for Statehood, 1845-46 Publications of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin: Collections, Vol. XXVI; Constitutional Series, Vol. I. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1918; pp. 353-54