COUNSEL GENERAL PHILIP C. HANNA OBITUARY

[Youngest child/son of George Hanna and Mary Melrose Hanna, born June 27, 1857, in Black Hawk County, Iowa]

Source: Waterloo Evening Courier and Waterloo Daily Reporter: Monday, February 18, 1929, Front Page and continued on page 2

GENERAL HANNA'S FUNERAL

WATERLOO'S OWN DIPLOMAT DIES IN SAN DIEGO, CAL.

End Comes at 1:30 A.M. Sunday After Sudden Heart Attack.

RETIRED RANKING CONSUL GENERAL OF THE U. S. A.

30 Years in Consular Work in Latin America; Once Backed by White Fleet.

Funeral services for Gen. Philip C. Hanna, 71, retired ranking consul general of the United States, son of the first white settlers in Waterloo, and revered as Waterloo’s grand old man, will be held here next Sunday afternoon in First Methodist church.

General Hanna died at 1:30 a.m. Sunday in a sanitarium at National City, a suburb of San Diego, Cal., where he had been taken in hopes of restoration to health.

He had suffered a sudden heart attack here in the Irving hotel.

Military Funeral Planned.

The body will arrive here at 10:20 a.m. Saturday and will be taken to Kistner’s mortuary. Funeral arrangements were being made today. It will be a military funeral, and members of the Grand Arm of the Republic, the United Spanish War Veterans, the American Legion and all other patriotic organizations of the city will pay tributes at his bier.

One of the speakers will be Rev. S. V. Williams, Ackley, Ia., formerly pastor of St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal church here and the son of another pioneer family.

Burial will be in Elmwood cemetery beside the bodies of his father and mother.

General Hanna’s brother-in-law, B. F. Knapp, Waterloo, and his niece, Mrs. C. E. Tayman, Heraldsburg, Cal., wife of Col. C. E. Tayman, U. S. A. retired, will accompany the body to Waterloo.

Sisters Will Remain.

General Hanna was an outstanding figure in his intense patriotism and as an honorable and honored citizen of Waterloo. Ever ready to participate in patriotic gatherings, his last address was made at a birthday party for Peter Woodring, 1021 Randolph street, on Oct. 27. Three days later he was stricken.

After several weeks in a hospital, he was taken to California, on Nov. 23, accompanied by his two sisters and brother-in-law. For a time he showed improvement, but subsequent strokes left no hope for recovery.

Statesman, Diplomat.

Philip C. Hanna, in the United States consular service for more than 30 years, participant in three revolutions, presented with a medal of merit by the American Red Cross, awarded a gold medal by the Mexican Red Cross, the only American elected to membership in the Monterey (Mexico) casino; statesman, peacemaker, diplomat and evangelist, was a man of prepossessing personality.

Of splendid physical proportions, towering above six feet in height, his soft, silken hair falling in waving billows upon his shoulders, his eye sparkling and kindly, his voice booming but mellow, General Hanna attracted attention wherever he went.

As a youth he was an evangelist, inspiring, thrilling, persuasive. His soul was aflame with enthusiasm. The fire of his zeal glowed until the last. Thrust into the vortex of South American revolutions, he had the bravery of a soldier, the zeal of a reformer and the calming influence of a peacemaker.

"I have always tried to the utmost of my ability to serve my country and my God," he frequently told his friends.

The d deep conviction, the love of service, the heroism and the industry of the pioneers were born in him. He was the son of God-fearing parents and his piety was an inherent quality.

Son of First Settlers.

Phil C. Hanna was the son of George W. and Mary Melrose Hanna, first settlers of Waterloo township. They came to the county in 1845, settling on the picturesque hill two miles west of the city. In 1853 the family moved to Waterloo and Phil was born June 27, 1857, in a brick house located where the Repass Automobile company’s building now stands on Park avenue west. Mary Melrose Hanna was a grandniece of Gen. Winfield Scott.

George W. Hanna, Phill Hanna’s father, was born Nov. 20, 1817, in White county, Illinois, and died Dec. 12, 1890. He married Mary Melrose in 1837. She died Nov. 6, 1912. They were the first permanent white settlers in Black Hawk county. George Hanna entered from the government part of the land contained in the first plat of Waterloo. He was one of the incorporators of the original town.

Phil was educated in the public schools and studied for the ministry. He acquired a ready gift of speech and was magnetic both as a political orator and as a preacher of the gospel. His talks always “struck fire.”

He married Lulu May Cornick in 1891. She died in 19088 and lies buried in Des Moines.

Few men in the consular service of this country had a longer, more turbulent or more brilliant career than General Hanna. His first service was at La Guaya, Venezuela, from 1891 to 1894. He was at Trinidad, W. I., in 1897; at San Juan Porto [sic] Rico, from 1897 to 1898. He was appointed consul general at Monterey, Mexico, Nov. 1, 1899.

Backed by White Squadron.

In his consular work in South America General Hanna was backed several times by the frowning guns of the United States battleships and the marines. At the time of the Crespo revolution in Venezuela, he incurred the enmity of the people by protecting American interests. This country was asked to recall him, but James G. Blaine, then secretary of state, refused.

“General Hanna is satisfactory to the United States and will remain until the close of the resolution,” Blaine replied.

Blaine sent the White Squadron under command of Admiral Walker to Venezuela. Troops were landed at Caracas and remained until peace was restored.

General Hanna was the last diplomatic representative of the United States to leave Porto [sic] Rico when the Spanish-American broke, and the first to return at the declaration of peace. As the representative of the United States government, he was landed from a warship to receive the surrender of the Spanish general commanding the island and to make arrangements for evacuation of the island by the Spaniards.

Here in Mexico Flood.

In August, 1909, a flood swept Monterey and northern Mexico, drowning more than 5,000 people. General Hanna, in co-operation with the American and Mexican Red Cross ministered to 90,000 needy persons. For nine months he kept open food stores and hospitals.

For these acts the consul general was thanked by President W. H. Taft and the American Red Cross. The legislatures of two Mexican states passed resolutions of thanks. Mexican women presented General Hanna a beautiful god medal. It was in this crisis that he was unanimously elected a member of the Monterey casino.

Once Huerta Prisoner.

Following the landing of United States troops at Vera Cruz in 1914, General Hanna was made prisoner of war by the Huertistas and accused of sympathizing with the revolutionists. When the Huerta troops evacuated Monterey, he was left in the statehouse. Thruout the revolution General Hanna was instrumental in preserving friendly relations between Mexico and the United States. He was acquainted with Villa and all the other Mexican generals. His love for the Mexican people was sincere and deep and the affairs of no country, up to the last, held a great charm for him than those of the southern republic.

During the time of stress in the revolution General Hanna made his headquarters in San Antonio, Tex.

General Hanna was an honorary member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the United Spanish War Veterans. He was a lecturer on Latin America and internal subjects and a member of 20 patriotic, historical, literary and commercial organizations.

General Hanna was decorated with the Order of the Liberator (Venezuelan) and was made honorary consul of Venezuela.

General Hanna was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and of the Waterloo Rotary club.

Three of Family Survive.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. George W. Hanna. Of these only three now survive. They are Mrs. Emily George and Mrs. B. Frank Knapp, Waterloo township, and Mrs. John Tiller, Mt. Vernon township. James Monroe Hanna, first born, died in infancy after the family arrived in Black Hawk county. Three other sons also are dead—John Q. A., George W., jr., and Wesley [would be John Wesley].

Surviving Nieces and Nephews.

Eighteen nieces and nephews of Gen. Hanna also survive the descendants of this pioneer family. They are as follows:

George W. Hanna, Skelton, Nev.; John Q. Hanna, jr., Blackwell, Tex.; Mrs. Pinkerton Lowery, Lawton, Okla.; Mrs. Temple Lewis, Gainsville, Tex., and Rex Lewis, Blackwell, Tex., who are the children of John Q. Hanna, deceased brother.

Rev. George A. Hanna, Beardsley, Minn.; Rev. Earl H. Hanna, Yelm, Wash.; and Mrs. Ward Hannah, Long Beach, Cal., children of Robert Wesley Hanna, deceased brother.

Mrs. T. Ayres Robertson, Monterey, Mexico; Mrs. Ingalls Swisher, Iowa City; Miss Consuello Hanna and Scott Hanna, LuVerne, Ia., children of George W. Hanna, deceased brother.

Herman Lewis and David Tiller, Cedar Falls, children of Mrs. John Tiller, surviving sister.

Mrs. C. E. Tayman, Healdsburg, Cal.; Philip Colton, Norman, Okla.; Dewey H. Colton, Topeka, Kan., and Mrs. L. J. Dean, Boy River, Minn., children of Mrs. Frank Knapp, surviving sister.