John Hanson

This c. 1770 portrait of John Hanson by John Hesselius hangs in the Maryland Historical Society Museum in Baltimore Maryland.

“John Hanson was born in Charles County, Maryland to a prosperous landholding family. Although he was not formally educated, he followed in his father's footsteps and pursued political office while also working as a merchant. In 1779, Hanson was a member of the Continental Congress, eventually serving as the First President of the United States Congress Assembled. Generations of historians considered him the first President of the United States, but more recent scholarship asserts that this was an overstatement of his power. Despite that, Hanson ranks among the important patriots during the Revolutionary War period.” --  Maryland Historical Society

Given to the MD Historical Society in 1972 at the bequest of Mrs. Alice Lee Thomas Stevenson, this portrait seems to be the one illustrated in Douglas Hamilton Thomas' book: John Hanson, President of the United States in Congress assembled, 1781-1782, and labeled as belonging to the author. 

John Hanson

[From Portrait in Possession of Douglas H. Thomas]

See my treatment of John Hanson's Statue in Frederick for more on the mythology surrounding John Hanson and the Jane Hanson Memorial in Frederick's Mt. Olivet Cemetery for another look at Jane and John Hanson.