Biography

1762 - 07/23/1805

Major General John André Hanna (R6) Berks and Dauphin Counties 1792-1794 

Early Life:

Major General John André Hanna, born 1762, Flemington, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, British Colonial America; son of Reverend John and Mary MeCrea Hanna; classical education; moved, Pennsylvania before the end of the war; Princeton College, 1782; studied law, admitted, Lancaster bar, 1783; delegate, Pennsylvania State Convention, to ratify, Federal Constitution, 1787; secretary, anti-Federal conference, 1788; elected, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1791-1792; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1792-1794; unsuccessful campaign, United States House of Representatives, 1792; elected, lieutenant colonel, Third Battalion of Dauphin County, 1792; appointed, Brigadier General, Dauphin County Brigade, 1793; elected, Republican, United States House of Representatives, 1797-1805; appointed, major-general, sixth division, Pennsylvania Militia, Dauphin and Berks Counties, 1800; married, Mary Harris, daughter, Mary Reed Hanna; died, in office, United States House of Representatives, July 13, 1805 (aged 42–43), Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; interment, Harrisburg Cemetery (also known as, Mount Kalmia Cemetery), Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Career:

Studied law with former military colleague Stephen Chambers of Harrisburg, (then Lancaster County); admitted, Lancaster bar, 1783, one of Harrisburg’s first attorneys with Dauphin County’s formation.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Delegate, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention, ratified, United States Constitution, 1787.

Secretary, anti-Federal conference, 1788. 

Elected, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1791-1792.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 6th district, Berks and Dauphin Counties, 1792-1794. 

Elected, lieutenant colonel, Third Battalion of Dauphin County, 1792.  

Appointed, Brigadier General, Dauphin County Brigade, 1793; was in command during the Whisky Insurrection, 1793. 

Appointed, Governor McKean, major general, Sixth Division of Pennsylvania Militia, Dauphin and Berks Counties, 1800.  

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Unsuccessful campaign, United States House of Representatives, 1792.

Elected, Republican, United States House of Representatives, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th congresses, 1797-1805. 

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Not currently available. 

Legacy:

Ratification of the Constitution by the State of Pennsylvania; December 12, 1787.

In the Name of the People of Pennsylvania

Be it Known unto all Men that We the Delegates of the People of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in general Convention assembled Have assented to, and ratified, and by these presents Do in the Name and by the authority of the Same People, and for ourselves, assent to, and ratify the foregoing Constitution for the United States of America. Done in Convention at Philadelphia the twelfth day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

Married, Mary Harris, daughter of Harrisburg’s founder, John Harris and Mary Reed Harris. Daughter, Mary Reed Hanna, married, Honorable John Tod of Bedford, Speaker, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1811-1812; Speaker, Pennsylvania State Senate,1814-1815; congressman, United States House of Representatives, 1821-1824.

Grandson, Archibald McAllister, Thirty-eighth Congress, 1863-1865; not a candidate for renomination, 1864. 

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members H". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

John Andre Hanna (1762-1805) - Find a Grave Memorial