Chambers County AlArchives News.....Locals are Member of First Family May 24 2004
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Ron Williams hopewellroad@yahoo.com July 18, 2004, 9:38 pm

Valley Times News: Past Times
Locals are members of First Family 

Oral family history, stories passed down from one generation to the next for 
centuries, is an interesting and debated part of genealogy. There are those who 
think that proven facts are the only things that belong in a family’s history, 
but wills, census records, and court documents don’t always make for good 
reading. That is why the oral family traditions are so important; they make the 
history come alive. Stick figures from our past leap to life. 

The descendants of Francis Marion Hanson, who came to the Valley (Chambers 
County, Alabama) in the years just after the Civil War, claim an interesting 
piece of oral history. It is a piece that has been confounding researchers all 
over the nation for many years. They claim to be descendants of the first 
President of the United States. 

Francis, or Frank, as he was called, was the son of Enoch Hanson and the 
grandson of William Hanson, pioneers of Monroe County, Georgia, where they 
enjoyed a pampered life. The old plantation home, where the Hanson’s lived, 
still stands just outside of Forsythe on a red-dirt road overlooking rolling 
hills. Tucked just inside the tree line is the family cemetery where 
generations of the Hansons are buried. 

Thousands of descendants of William Hanson are spread across the nation. In 
fairly recent years, as genealogy has become more popular, the descendants of 
this pioneer are making contact again. Families that had drifted apart almost 
two hundred years ago were again making contact, and it was discovered that one 
story had survived in many of the family lines---We are members of the family 
of John Hanson, the first President of the United States. 

“John Hanson,” you question. “The first President?” Yes, John Hanson, sometimes 
called “the Forgotten American”, is argued by some to be the nation’s 
first “Chief of State”. If fact, some radical historians argue, even today, 
that George Washington was indeed the eighth President rather than the first 
that history books record. 

Frank Hanson also brought this story with him as he crossed the Chattahoochee 
in the post war days. The Civil War had robbed the Hanson’s of their wealth, 
and Frank reportedly came to the Valley in search of gold, of which he found 
none. While here he taught at the school in Langdale, where he was known as 
Professor Hanson at the little school on Cemetery Hill.  

Frank finally returned to his native Forsythe, but he left three things here: 
Frank, Jr.(of Lagrange), Carrie Breedlove (of Langdale), and Kate Crowder (of 
Shawmut), three grown children who had followed their father to the Valley, who 
remained, and who leave many hundreds of descendants of the first “First 
Family” scattered all over the Valley today.  

John Hanson was a man who loved the idea of Freedom and who wholeheartedly 
supported the effort of the American Revolution.  He was born on April 3, 1721, 
at Charles County, Maryland, to the state’s most prominent family. His 
forgotten claim to fame is that he was the First President of the First 
Continental Congress in the U.S. Assembled. He was also a signer of the 
Articles Of Confederation. 

During Hanson’s term as President peace was negotiated with England.  Hanson 
ordered all foreign troops off American soil. He also established the first 
Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs 
Department. Hanson also left his mark each November. It was Hanson who declared 
the fourth Thursday of that month as Thanksgiving Day. 

“The Great Seal of the United States was first used on September 16, 1782, by 
President Hanson when he signed the orders for an exchange of military 
prisoners,” wrote Harry V. Martin, historian, arguing the most powerful point 
in Hanson’s defense. “In 1803, the U.S. Supreme Court discussed the legality of 
the Great Seal, ruling that it was created by the first President of the United 
States and has been used ever since. The Supreme Court ruled that the signature 
of the President and stamp of the Great Seal are necessary to consummate law. 
It was President Hanson who recommended the creation of the Seal and there have 
been no changes in it since it was created under the Hanson Administration…On 
July 24, 1789, President Washington requested the delivery of the Great Seal, 
recognizing that he was not technically President of the United States without 
it. In fact, the absence of the Seal created a need to call an emergency 
session of Congress. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson introduced a 
resolution that stated that ‘Washington accepts every condition, law, rule, and 
authority, under the Great Seal and the first President of the United States 
John Hanson.’” 

“On the 200th Anniversary of the surrender of Cornwallis,” continued 
Martin, “the Congress of the United States struck a bronze medallion showing 
Washington reviewing the troops. On the reverse side of that medallion is a 
commemorative to John Hanson, ‘First President under the Articles of 
Confederation’. John Hanson was more than a presiding officer of Congress; he 
was the first President of the United States and established traditions and 
institutions that are still preserved in the American Presidency. His name may 
be forgotten, but his work established the foundation of this nation.” 

The only thing harder than proving that John Hanson was the first President is 
proving that William Hanson descends from that famous Hanson family. It is 
known that the Monroe County William was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, 
which is just across the bay from Charles County, Maryland, and John Hanson’s 
beautiful home. 

Modern researchers agree that William is probably the son of Fauquier County’s 
Robert Hanson, even though William wasn’t mentioned in Robert’s will. Another 
family story states that William left Virginia for his wife’s health, a move 
that removed him from his father’s good graces and the family inheritance. One 
other fact that tends to support this theory is that Williams’ daughter named 
her son Robert Hanson. 

The tie to Robert is important in this story because he is the son of Samuel 
Hanson, of Maryland, brother of the forgotten John. And so the web is weaved. 
Descendants all over the country are trying to prove the connection to Robert 
and Samuel, which would prove for all of time that we descend from the family 
of the America’s forgotten hero, but don’t try to join the Son’s of the 
American Revolution with just a story. They will laugh you back across the 
Potomac.



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