John Hanson (Liberian politician)

John Hanson (died c. 1860) was an African American politician in Liberia. He served in Colonial Council and as a senator from Grand Bassa County following Liberia's independence in 1847. He was born into slavery, but he purchased his freedom and emigrated from Baltimore to Liberia at age thirty-six.[2] In Liberia, he joined the growing mercantile class. He also served as Commissary in the same county for several years, furnishing a house for the storage of arms and ammunition.[3] Hanson died in 1860, and was mourned as a "faithful and patriotic servant" by Liberian president Stephen Allen Benson.

John Hanson, c. 1856, from a daguerreotype attributed to Augustus Washington[1]

Senator Hanson has sometimes been misidentified as being John Hanson of Maryland, a white[4] politician who served as a President of the Continental Congress during the American Revolution.

References
  1. "American Colonization Society". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on Feb 5, 2010. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  2. Dinius, Marcy J. "The Camera and the Press" pg. 182
  3. "The Statute Laws of the Republic of Liberia" Vol. I, pg. 233
  4. Peterson, Audrey (March 6, 2009). "Black History Urban Legends". American Legacy. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009.
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