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.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Senator_John_Hanson_%28photo_by_Augustus_Washington%2C_ca._1856%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Senator_John_Hanson_%28photo_by_Augustus_Washington%2C_ca._1856%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
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
edit- ^ "American Colonization Society". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on Feb 5, 2010. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
- ^ Dinius, Marcy J. "The Camera and the Press" pg. 182
- ^ "The Statute Laws of the Republic of Liberia" Vol. I, pg. 233
- ^ Peterson, Audrey (March 6, 2009). "Black History Urban Legends". American Legacy. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009.