Early Life
John Hanson, Jr. was born at "Mulberry Grove" in Port Tobacco Parish in Charles County in the British Province of Maryland. The American National Biography lists Hanson's birth date as April 3, 1721, which in the modern calendar system is equivalent to April 14, although the older Dictionary of American Biography gives the date as April 13, 1721. Some older sources list a birth year of 1715. Hanson's parents were Samuel and Elizabeth (Story) Hanson. Samuel Hanson was a planter who owned more than 1,000 acres (4.0 km2), and held a variety of political offices, including serving two terms in the Maryland General Assembly.
John Hanson was of English ancestry; his grandfather, also named John, came to Charles County, Maryland, as an indentured servant around 1661. In 1876, a writer named George Hanson placed John Hanson in his family tree of Swedish Americans descended from four Swedish brothers who emigrated to New Sweden in 1642. This story was often repeated over the next century, but scholarly research in the late 20th century suggested that John Hanson was of English heritage and not related to these Swedish American Hansons.
Hanson had no extended formal education while growing up in Maryland, but he read broadly in both English and Latin. He followed the family tradition as a planter, extending and improving his holdings. About 1744 he married Jane Contee, with whom he would have eight children. Their son Alexander Contee Hanson, Sr. (1749–1806) was a notable essayist. Alexander Hanson is sometimes confused with his son, Alexander Contee Hanson, Jr. (1786–1819), who became a newspaper editor and US Senator.
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