Hanson-Allen Family

Julia Allen Hanson's Obituary

Fort Myers News Press, Florida, USA, 30 November 1934

Death Takes Mrs Hanson at Age of 91

Pioneer Community Leader, Active in Civic Life, here for a Period of 50 Years

Mrs Julia Allen Hanson, 91 year old pioneer clubwoman and widow of the late Dr. William Hanson, died at 2 o'clock yesterday at her home in Monroe Street in the presence of her entire family who had gathered with her for a solemn observance of Thanksgiving - knowing it would be her last. Mrs Hanson had been confined at home for the last year but celebrated her 91st birthday on November 7th and had retained a keen interest in civic and national affairs until the last.

Known as the 'Most Beloved Woman in Florida' and the 'Mother of all Women's clubs.' Mrs Hanson was the first active clubwoman in Fort Myers and over a period of 50 years has been identified with practically every forward looking movement in South Florida. She was one of the founders of the Fort Myers Women's Club in 1885 and was president of the organisation for 29 years.

Two Sons Survive

Mrs Hanson is survived by two sons, W. Stanley Hanson, well known for his activities with the Seminole Indians, and Bernard Hanson, at present visiting Fort Myers. She is also survived by four grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 4 o'clock this afternoon at St. Lukes Episcopal Church with Rev. F.A. Shore officiating. Lawrence A. Powell has charge of funeral arrangements. The active pall-bearers, selected from pioneers associated with the Hanson family, will be Martin Shultz, N.G. Stout, Vernon Widerquist, B.C. Foxworthy, Ben P. King and David Richards. Honorary pall-bearers will be R.A. Henderson Jnr., Frank B. Tippins, L.M. Stroup, W.P. Henley, Sampson English, Edgar J. Blount, John M. Boring, William Jeffcott, Henry Colquitt, Carl F. Roberts, Capt. M. Johnson, A.H. Andrews, M. Gonzales, T.J. Evans, Frank P. Bailey, George E. Hosmer, Peter O. Knight, Harry Hendry, and Capt. J.P. Menge.

Mrs Hanson was born in London, England, November 7th 1843, and came to the United States in 1880 after her marriage to Dr. Wm. Hanson, a noted physician. Her father was a well known architect and designed the classic approaches to the famous London Bridge. Her brother, Dr. Alfred H. Allen, was one of the famous chemists and doctors in England and published many authoritative papers.

Belle of London

Those who have always known Mrs Hanson as a beloved silver-haired woman with a keen twinkle in her young eyes, may not know that she was once described in English publications as one of the "most beautiful titan haired girls in all England." She was painted by Byrne-Jones and Sir John Millais. She was a society favourite of that time and an intimate acquaintance of such famous figures as the Duke of Wellington, Charles Dickens, Lord Tennyson, Anthony Trollope, Prince Arthur, the Duke of Devonshire and Florence Nightingale.

But it is the part that Mrs Hanson played in the development of South Florida for which she is best known. The Woman's Who's of America (1914-15) devoted several paragraphs to reporting her many activities. Besides being well known as a writer, artist and speaker, Mrs Hanson played the role of 'mother' to everybody and everything in Fort Myers and her refined influence was of great importance in the formative stages of the pioneer community.

Came from Key West

Her first activity after coming to Fort Myers from Key West with Dr. Hanson in 1884, was to start working to establish a church in Fort Myers. To this end she fostered two Episcopal women's organisations which raised the funds to build the first church a few years later. But her enthusiasm and ability extended to other fields and she was identified with the organisation of the first W.C.T.U., the Women's Club, the Friday Musicale, the Palmetto society, the first reading association which led up to a Public Library, the Cemetery Improvement Association, the first Lee Memorial Hospital Association, the first Sunday School, and the first Federation of Women Club. She also founded the first Needlework Guild and for many years was chairman of the Seminole Welfare Committee of the Florida Federation of Clubs. She was a Deputy Commissioner of the Florida Game and Fish Department and was recognised as a writer and artist on the subject of bird life in Florida. She was instrumental in the passage of many laws for the protection of bird life and the care of the Seminoles.

Interest in Politics

During the past few years, Mrs Hanson retired from active participation in many of the organisations which she had helped to found. But she retained her interest in politics to the last. On her birthday last year, when asked her opinion of President Roosevelt, she replied: "The right man in the right place at the right time."

With Mrs Hanson confined to her home, dozens of friends made it a practice to visit her and discuss any important step of any organisation in which she was previously a leader. She never lost interest in the trend of the times and her mind was clear and bright until the last few days of her life. She had wanted to live to be 91 and did so. Then she wanted to live until her son W. Stanley's birthday, which was on (not recorded on transcript).

A Teacher of Graces

Fort Myers has had some famous characters, good, bad and indifferent. There was the roaring cowboy, Dennis Sheridan, slain in a street scene during his tough moments by the mid mannered, soft spoken, stout hearted city marshal, L.M. Stroup. There was Capt. F.A. Hendry, the benevolent leader of pioneer times, and the broad shouldered Capt. 'Bill' Towles, strong man of a later date. There was Col. Peter O. Knight, who was the spark plug of the village when a youth of 18, and Stafford C. Cleveland, the erudite and eminent editor who, at three score years, uprooted himself from the solid country of western New York to come and start a backwood newspaper.

And there was Mrs Julia A. Hanson who lived and sparkled among these and other mighty men of the times from that day to yesterday. Like the most virile of them she left her mark on the community. She came here in the mid-eighties, the bride of the late Dr. William Hanson. A ravishing beauty, she had been painted by famous artists and toasted by the gallants of England. Reared among gentlefolk and educated in the culture of the world's highest civilisation, she found herself, a matron in the maturity of middle age, plumped down in a straggly pioneer village in the tropical wilds of South Florida.

The English are the most adaptable of people and Mrs Hanson possessed all the qualities of her race. It is not of record that she pinned for 'Home.' Instead she busied herself making one here. And in doing so she helped, as much as any other, to endow Fort Myers with the charm which captivates all newcomers. Through her knowledge, and by her interest, she promoted the culture of the town from the day of her arrival in the lusty past to the times as recent as her final illness.

This finished woman from Old England did not  find exactly a barren field in the rough settlement on the Caloosahatchee to which she came. There was culture here, brought first by the officers of the Army Post and later by Southern aristocracy roaming this way before the Civil War and driven here in search of new homes after that dread conflict. Into their circle Mrs Hanson fitted and with them she worked to widen it. She became their leader and their leader she remained until her health broke within the past year.

Her keen mind of her alert youth became the brilliant intellect of sedate years. Her bright and happy character mellowed with age. She was as delightful a companion when her locks had turned to silver as when she was the titan haired bell of the 70s. Admired, respected, beloved, she wielded a potent influence in the development of the town to which she was devoted. This is a better city because she lived and laughed and taught her graces among our people for 50 useful years.

Footnote: This obituary was evidently written by 'Fridgman', presumably a Fort Myers journalist. The original copy this one was transcribed from, was typed in the 1930s by Mrs Rhodes, Principal of Palmerston North, Girls High School, who was boarding with Ida and Ralph Allen at the time.