JOHN J. HANSON, PASSED MIDN, USN

John Hanson '47

Date of birth: June 12, 1827

Age: 26

Loss

John died on August 25, 1853 at the naval hospital at Pensacola, Florida of an unnamed illness that had already killed a number of men aboard the steamship Vixen. John was the acting master of the vessel, which was described as "abandoned."

Other Information

He was born in, and appointed to the Naval Academy from, Washington, D.C.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

John was on the Columbia in 1846 and the Raritan in 1848. In 1849 he was on the Coast Survey and then on the Falmouth. He took sick in Mazatlán and was sent to the Naval Hospital in New York. During the August 1850 census in Washington, D.C., he was living with his father Isaac Hanson, age 60, a government clerk, and his brother-in-law Joel Kennard, age 30, a passed midshipman. Next door lived Lieutenant William McBlair and family. In 1851 John signed the letter to Congress with George Welsh and others regarding improvements to the rank of passed midshipmen.
In 1853 John was at the National Observatory and then assigned to the Vixen. On February 17, he wrote that the wardroom needed the following items which would add much to their comfort: an oil cloth, six chairs, curtains for berths, and a looking glass. They also need a chronometer and a comparing watch in the Master’s Department. On February 24, President Millard Fillmore and party sailed on the Vixen to the caloric ship Ericsson to inspect her. In May John had sealed orders to go to Tampico, Mexico. Major Mordecai’s expedition was to locate the claim of Dr. Gardiner about mines there. The Vixen returned to Pensacola about ten days before John’s death. The last published account had 16 men dead and 30 still in the hospital with the fever. John had two brothers who also gave their lives for their country. His brother Captain Weightman died of a disease contracted during the Florida war, and his other brother Captain Charles died at the battle of Contreras during the Mexican war.