San Bernardino County and Riverside County, California Biographies History of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties By: John Brown, Jr., Editor for San Bernardino County And James Boyd, Editor for Riverside County With selected biography of actors and witnesses of the period of growth and achievement. Volume III, the Western Historical Association, 1922, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, ILL This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter. JOHN F. HANNA While he has made considerable investment, has been interested and is still interested in orange culture and has taken an active part in local affairs, John F. Hanna practically laid aside the heavy responsibilities of his business career when he came to Riverside more than fifteen years ago. Mr. Hanna was associated with some of the greatest ranching and livestock enterprise of the Middle West, and has a very interesting family record. He was born in Crawford County, Ohio, September 18, 1847. His parents were Samuel and Catherine (Hofman) Hanna, both natives of Pennsylvania, his mother of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. His father was of an old American family of Scotch-Irish descent, established in the Colonies before the Revolutionary War. One branch of the family was represented by the great Ohio Politician and party leader, Mark Hanna. Samuel Hanna was a youth when he accompanied his father to Ohio and settled in the timber and developed a farm out of the woods in Crawford County. Because of physical incapacity Samuel Hanna could not qualify for service in the Civil War. He was a United Presbyterian, and for many years was closely identified with that sturdy sect. He was musically gifted, with a fine tenor voice, and sang in church and at many large conventions. John F. Hanna was educated in private schools in Ohio, and in the Savannah Academy in that state. His early life was spent on a farm, and after the death of his father, he took the management of the old homestead. At the age of twenty-seven John F. Hanna married a daughter of David Rankin, who was one of the world's greatest farmers and stockmen. At that time David Rankin's interests were largely centered in Illinois in the corn belt. John F. Hanna after his marriage became foreman of the Rankin ranch at Biggsville, Illinois, remaining there two and a half years, and then took charge of another Rankin farm twelve miles south, operating in partnership with Mr. Rankin. After three years Mr. Hanna moved to Northwestern Missouri, where David Rankin had bought some thirty thousand acres of land. A large part of this was planted to corn, and the immense industry thus entailed made Rankin known as "the corn king of Missouri." David Rankin also became founder of the new town of Tarkio, and John F. Hanna was associated with him in the early days of that substantial old college town. He was associated there in the mercantile business with Mr. Rankin and Mr. Hunter. He also bought 1,280 acres four miles east of Tarkio, and farmed it for many years, and his sons still operate this tract. Mr. Hanna was identified with the first store in Tarkio, and this store sold ninety thousand dollars worth of goods the first year. David Rankin and family were among the most generous contributors to the United Presbyterian School, Tarkio College, and John F. Hanna for many years was a member of the Board of Trustees of the college. Mr. Hanna came to Riverside in 1906 and bought an orange grove of nine and a half acres on Victoria Avenue. This grove he sold recently, but is still interested in other groves. He is a lover of Riverside both for its natural attractions and as a community. He has been a member of the City Council and acted as mayor for about six weeks while W. L. Peters was absent from the city. For three years he was president of the City Council. Mr. Hanna has been a determined opponent of the liquor traffic all his life. He became identified with the prohibition cause while living in Ohio, continued this interest while in Missouri, and after coming to California served as president of the Riverside County Dry Federation and was once its treasurer. He has been active in republican politics, and his personal patriotism is as deep seated as that of the family of which he is a member. As a youth he ran away from home and tried to get into the Union Army, but his father took him back. He has been an elder in the United Presbyterian Church, since he was twenty-one, and all together has served as Sunday School superintendent twenty-five years and still teaches a class. He and Mrs. Hanna practically organized the United Presbyterian at Riverside. Mr. Hanna married Miss Nettie V. Rankin, who was born in Illinois. Her brother, John Rankin, is president of the Rankin Farm Corp- oration. Her youngest brother, W. F. Rankin, died several years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Hanna return to Missouri every summer, drive about over the ranch and the district, and visit old friends, and associates. The two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Hanna are Charles E. and John Winfield Hanna. Charles married Miss Winifred McCaughan, a native of Iowa. Her father spent his last days in Durango, Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hanna have four children: Dorothy, Phyllis, Charles Frederick and Robert. John Winfield Jr., who married Ella G. Gibson, a native of Iowa, has two children: John Jr., and Patricia. The younger son of Mr. Hanna, John Winfield Hanna, is vice-president of the First National Bank of Tarkio and vice-president of the Rankin Farm Cooperation. These sons live at Tarkio, are graduates of Tarkio College and Princeton University and they have the active management of the Hanna farms and also the portion of the great Rankin Estate owned by Mrs. Hanna. Pages 1075 to 1077. Transcribed and submitted by Sally Kaleta, February 2010.