Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1889

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 412
THOMAS HANNA, deceased, who was for many years a prominent lawyer of Muscatine, was a native of Salem, Ohio, where he was born July 15, 1820. He was the eldest son of John and Sarah ( Cohn ) Hanna, the former a native of Ireland, and the latter an American by birth but of German ancestry. Mr. Hanna grew to manhood in his native town and received a liberal education in the public schools of that place, and then learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for a number of years. Arriving at man's estate he left Salem, and went to Rome, Perry Co., Ind., where he continued to work at his trade for a time.

August 31, 1842, at Rome, Ind., Mr. Hanna was united in marriage with Miss Eliza A. Connor, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter of Samuel and Sarah ( Morrison ) Connor, both of whom were natives of Virginia, and descendants of old Revolutionary families. To Mr. and Mrs. Hanna were born nine children, only six of whom grew to maturity : Hiram C., who served as a soldier in the late Civil War, in Company H of the 11th Iowa Infantry. He enlisted as a private in the fall of 1861, and was promoted to First Lieutenant. He participated in all the engagements in which his regiment took part, and was mustered out of the service at Louisville, Ky., Oct. 23, 1865. He died March 200, 1867, from disease brought on by exposure while in the service of his country. Esther E. is the wife of T. R. Fitzgerald, an attorney of Muscatine ; Mary D., became the wife of Charles Apperson, of Louisvill, Ill, and died at that place, June 23, 1872 ; Jennie H. and Bell S. reside with their mother in Muscatine ; and Kate G. wedded G. W. Weippeirt, and is a resident of Chicago.

While residing at Rome, Ind., Mr. Hanna was for several years Clerk of the court of that place, and devoted his spare time to the study of law.. In 1850 he bought a farm near Rome, Ind., and for about five years devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits. In 1856 he emigrated to Iowa, and first located at Wilton and began the practice of law, and two years later removed to the city of Muscatine, and continued the practice of his profession with marked success.

In 1864 Mr. Hanna was commissioned to take the vote of the Iowa soldiers in the field. In the fall of 1877 he was elected to the State Senate, and his death occurred March 4, 1880, before the expiration of his term of office. He was a stanch Republican in politics, and was a supporter of that party from the time it was organized. During his long residence in Muscatine all worthy public improvements and enterprises received proper consideration and encouragement at his hands. As a professional and business man, he possessed the entire confidence of the people throughout the county, with whom business or social relations brought him in contact.

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