James C. HANNA, b. 1854
James C. Hanna, possessing untiring
and quick perceptive power that enables him
to form his plans readily and execute them with
dispatch, has since 1896 been a prominent
representative of the productive industries of
Oskaloosa, being now president of the Hawkeye
Overall Company. His business record has
demonstrated the truth of the saying that
success is not the result of genius but is the
outcome of clear judgment and experience. A
native of Des Moines county, be was born on
12th of March, 1854. His paternal
grandfather, James C. Hanna, came to Iowa to make
a permanent location on the 1st of September,
1837. He had visited the state in 1836 and the
following year removed to Iowa by wagon,
bringing his money in a nail keg. The farm
which he purchased has since been in possession
of the family and has always been free from
debt. It is now owned by James C. Hanna
and his sisters and is a valuable and well
improved property. The grandfather prior to
coming to Iowa had been engaged in
merchandising in Union county, Indiana. He was a
prominent and influential citizen of Des Moines
county, esteemed for his genuine personal
worth and admired for his business successes.
He was killed by an ox dragging him down
years after he came to Iowa, being at that
time forty-four years of age. His wife
survived him and died at the age of eighty-four
years.
James L. Manna, father of our subject, was
born in Indiana and after reaching adult age
was married to Elizabeth Moore, a native of
Virginia and a daughter of Francis Moore,
who was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and
on coming to America settled at Moundsville,
West Virginia. He became a resident of Des
Moines county, Iowa, in 1837, improved a
farm there, built a brick residence and successfully
carried on general agricultural pursuits
for a long period. He was a prominent and
helpful member of the Methodist church and
took an active part in settlement building and
in the church work, doing all in his power to
promote the cause of the denomination with
which he was affiliated. His life was honorable
and upright and he left behind him an
untarnished name.
The marriage of James L. and Elizabeth
(Moore) Hanna was celebrated in Iowa in
1839, having settled in Des Moines county with
their respective parents previous to that time.
Mr. Manna turned his attention to general
agricultural pursuits, entering eighty acres of
land from the government. His labors resulted
in the improvement of a splendid farm and as
his financial resources increased he extended
the boundaries of his property until his aggregate
possessions included six hundred and forty
acres of valuable land in Des Moines county.
He too, was deeply interested in the
intellectual and moral progress of the community and
put forth effective energy and effort for the
upbuilding of the church in his locality. He
was likewise president of the school board, was
township trustee and justice of the peace, while
for a period of twenty-four years he served as
postmaster of Parrish. Over the record of his
official career there fell no shadow of wrong
or suspicion of evil, as at all times he was loyal
to the trust reposed in him, discharging his
duties with ability of superior order. In the
family were eight children and those yet living
are as follows: Rebecca, now the wife of Isaac
Philips, who is living on the old homestead
farm; Franc, the wife of T. E. Rhodes, of New
London, Iowa; James C., of this review; John
M., of Kansas City; Sadie, the wife of Dr.
Harry Zaizer, of Burlington, Iowa; Elizabeth,
the wife of W. P. Cleaver, of Oskaloosa; W.
B., a physician at Mass, Michigan; and Mary
E., who became the wife of R. A. Alexander
and died November 6, 1904, at the age of fifty-
four years.
Mr. Hanna pursued his early education in
the public schools and afterward attended the
Denmark Academy at Denmark, Iowa, Howe's
Academy at Mount Pleasant and the Iowa
Wesleyan University. He was reared upon the
home farm and after completing his education
took up his abode on a farm in the home
neighborhood in 1878, comprising one hundred acres
of land from the government, on which his
grandfather settled when he removed from
Virginia to this state. For a number of years
thereafter Mr. Hanna carried on general
agricultural pursuits, cultivating and improving his
farm until the 3rd of March, 1891, when he
sold that property and removed to Monmouth,
Illinois. While living upon the farm he
rebuilt the house, making it one of the best
residences in the neighborhood. He made several
radical changes for the convenience of raising
stock and carrying on his farm work and in
his business there was very successful. While
living upon the farm he also served as township
trustee of Danville township, Des Moines
county, was a school director and also president of
the board.
In May, 1896, Mr. Hanna came to
Oskaloosa and organized the Hanna Manufacturing
Company of which he became president. A
plant was located in the old Simpson church
building, where the business was conducted
until 1901, when a new building was erected
on First street, the business having outgrown
the original capacity. On the 1st of March,
1905, they removed to the old Crookham mill
property and rebuilt the present building forty-
four by one hundred and twenty feet and two
stories in height with basement. They manufacture
working men's clothing, including
overalls and engineers' jackets. The business
was originally carried on under the name of
the Davenport Garment Company, but today
is known as the Hawkeye Overall Company.
The plant is equipped with the latest improved
machinery, including two needle machines and
a Reese button hole machine and altogether is
one of the best equipped factories in the west.
The company was incorporated for thirty
thousand dollars with a paid-in capital of
fifteen thousand dollars. Its product is sold in
Texas, Oklahoma, Indian Territory, Kansas,
Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois and is
officered as follows: J. C. Hanna, president;
R. K. Davis, vice-president; and John A.
Crookham, secretary and treasurer.
On the 5th of February, 1878, Mr. Hanna
was married to Miss Fanny E. Stanforth, of
Cans county, Nebraska, who died October 15,
1882, at the age of twenty-eight years, leaving
two children, Jessie M. and J. Elbert. He was
again married September 1, 1886, his second
union being with Miss Sarah J. Findley, by
whom he has one child, Mildred F., born February 12, 1894.
Mr. Hanna belongs to the Modem Woodmen
camp. He is a progressive citizen,
distinctively a man of affairs and one who has
wielded a wide influence. Since coming to
Oskaloosa his success has been uniform and
rapid. Justice has ever been maintained his
relation to patrons and employees and those
who are in his service know that promotion
will come in recognition of capability and
loyalty. He has been watchful of all the details
of his business and of all indications pointing
toward prosperity and from the beginning has
had an abiding faith in the ultimate success of
his enterprise.
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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy
Iowa Genealogy
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