Thomas Hannan (December 25, 1757 - April 18, 1835) was an American Revolutionary War soldier and first Anglo settler of the Kanawha River region of Virginia (now West Virginia).
Biography Early life Thomas Hannan was born on December 25, 1757, in Frederick County, Virginia to Thomas Hannan and Lucretia Morris. In 1781, he married Elizabeth Henry.Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785-1940 (database on-line). Provo, Utah, US: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2014.
Military service Hannan first fought in Lord Dunmore's War at the Battle of Point Pleasant.Averill, James P. 1882. History of Gallia County. H. H. Hardesty & Co. Publishers: Chicago.Deeds and wills.Miller, Thomas Condit, and Hu Maxwell. 1913. West Virginia and Its People. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. At the start of the American Revolutionary War, he enlisted in the navy for one year."Pension Application of Thomas Hannan (Hannon), R4578." June 24, 1834. Transcribed by Will Graves. Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters. Cabell County, Virginia. Available online: http://revwarapps.org/r4578.pdf In 1781, several years after his initial term of enlistment, he was drafted into a rifle regiment and served at the Battle of Yorktown."Pension Application of Thomas Hannan (Hannon), R4578." June 24, 1834. Transcribed by Will Graves. Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters. Cabell County, Virginia. Available online: http://revwarapps.org/r4578.pdf
Western Virginia settler After the war, Hannan was granted nearly 1,000 acres of land and moved west,Davis-DeEulis, Marilyn. 1997. "Slavery on the Margins of the Virginia Frontier: African American Literacy in Western Kanawha and Cabell Counties, 1795-1840." In Diversity & Accommodation: Essays on the Cultural Composition of the Virginia Frontier, edited by Michael J. Puglisi. University of Tennessee Press. becoming the first Anglo settler of Cabell County, West Virginia (the current location of Huntington, West Virginia)Averill, James P. 1882. History of Gallia County. H. H. Hardesty & Co. Publishers: Chicago.Deeds and wills.Laidley, W.S. 1901. "The West End of West Virginia." The West Virginia Historical Magazine Quarterly 1:5-41. The West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society.Miller, Thomas Condit, and Hu Maxwell. 1913. West Virginia and Its People. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company.Brant, Fuller, & Co. 1891. History of the Great Kanawha Valley: With Family History and Biographical Sketches. Madison, Wisconsin. and one of the earliest settlers of the Kanawha and Ohio River Basin.Davis-DeEulis, Marilyn. 1997. "Slavery on the Margins of the Virginia Frontier: African American Literacy in Western Kanawha and Cabell Counties, 1795-1840." In Diversity & Accommodation: Essays on the Cultural Composition of the Virginia Frontier, edited by Michael J. Puglisi. University of Tennessee Press. He forged "Hannan's Trace," one of the original roads to the West from Virginia,Cantor, George. 1997. Old Roads of the Midwest. University of Michigan. the first roadway through what would later become Mason County, West VirginiaAverill, James P. 1882. History of Gallia County. H. H. Hardesty & Co. Publishers: Chicago.Deeds and wills.Cantor, George. 1997. Old Roads of the Midwest. University of Michigan. and Cabell County, as well as a principal route from western West Virginia and the interior of Ohio.Works Progress Administration. 1940. The Ohio Guide. New York: Oxford University Press. This path linked the then-capital of the Northwest Territory, Chillicothe, Ohio, to points in the Eastern United States. Hannan was a friend and neighbor of several other early settlers in the Kanawha Valley region, including Anne BaileyLewis, Virgil A., and C. Steven Badgley. 2009. The Life and Times of Anne Bailey. Badgley Publishing Company: Canal Winchester, OH. and Daniel Boone.Averill, James P. 1882. History of Gallia County. H. H. Hardesty & Co. Publishers: Chicago.Deeds and wills.
Legacy There is an historical marker for Hannan, erected in 2009 by West Virginia Archives and History, near Glenwood, West Virginia, on Huntington Road in Mason County. A number of institutions have been named for Hannan and his trail: Hannan Trace Elementary School in Crown City, Ohio Hannan High School and Hannan Public Library in Ashton, West Virginia Hannan District, Mason County, West Virginia
References
External links
Highway markers from the West Virginia Memory Project.