WILLIAM T. SHANKS, residing on a farm one and a half miles east of Fletcher, in Brown Township, comes of an old and respected family of Miami County. He was born in the southern part of Brown Township, September 16, 1849, and is a son of Daniel and Jane (Yates) Shanks.

Peter Shanks, grandfather of William T., was the first of the family to come to Miami County; he came from Pennsylvania and entered the tract in the southern part of Brown Township which has since been known as the old Shanks homestead. He also entered the eighty acres to the west of it, but was obliged to give it up. He continued to live on that farm until his death at the advanced age of ninety-three years. His trade was that of a cooper. His wife died on that place at an early age.

Daniel Shanks, father of the subject of this record, was born on the home place in Brown Township, and continued to reside there throughout life, dying at the age of sixty-two years. His first marriage was with Jane Yates, Who died at the age of forty-five years. They were parents of the following children: Lear, who died at the age of five years; William T.; Seymour, who lives in South Dakota; Josephine, who lives on the home place and is the wife of George Pence; Sarah Jane, deceased wife of H. Lane; and one who did not survive birth. Mr. Shanks formed a second marital union with Miss Charlotte Gaskell, by whom he had the following issue: Clara, Frank, Effie, Maude, Blanche, George, and Lilly.

William T. Shanks was educated in the common schools of Brown Township and worked on the home farm until his marriage in 1872. He then rented various places in the township until 1891, when he purchased his present farm of fifty-five and one-half acres. In 1901, he erected a modern residence, which is complete in all its appointments and is finished in five kinds of natural wood. It is one of the best houses in this section. He carries on general farming and tobacco raising, and is rated among the well-to-do and progressive citizens of the township.

November 14,1872, Mr. Shanks was married to Miss Elizabeth Lane, a daughter of Isaac Lane of Brown Township, and they have one son, Lawrence Earl, who attended business college at Piqua and is at present bookkeeper for the Stewart & Brown Company of that city. Politically, Mr. Shanks is a Democrat and has served six years as township treasurer and ten years as member of the School Board. He is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows, its auxiliary lodge, the Rebeccas, the Encampment, I. O. O. F.; and the Knights of Pythias. Religiously, he is a member of the Baptist Church at Fletcher.