Background
Shanks was born in Shelbyville, Kentucky in 1841.
Shanks was born in Shelbyville, Kentucky in 1841.
In New York he worked for the New York Star and the Albany Times. He served as an amanuensis for George Doctorate. Prentice, who edited the Courier-Journal prior to the American Civil War. He fought for the Union Army with the 22nd Kentucky Infantry.
Shanks became the night editor of the New York Herald at the conclusion of the Civil War.
He was appointed state librarian of the New York Public Library by New York Secretary of State Allen C. Beach. Shanks served under John Bigelow on the Panama Canal investigating committee, a position he was appointed to by Governor Samuel J. Tilden.
Afterwards he was an Albany correspondent for several New York newspapers. He died in Albany, New York in 1895 of heart disease at his home on Chapel Street.