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William
Hanna
William Hanna was born in Litchfield, Connecticut about 1738. He was educated at Kings and "the Jersey college at Prince Town." Raised a Calvinist, he was licenced to preach by the presbytery of Litchfield in May 1760.
He
was called to the Albany Presbyterian church in 1761.
While in Albany, Reverend Hanna held a lot on Foxes
Creek, taught geography, and also studied law with
Peter Silvester. He was admitted to the New York
bar in 1767 but did not establish an extensive legal
practice. He served the Albany Presbyterian church
until 1767 when he removed to Schenectady to practice
law and teach classical languages. Later, he relocated
to New York.
While
in Albany, Hanna also became a client of Sir William
Johnson, who brokered his ambition to become an Anglican
missionary. In 1771, he sought ordination in the
Church of England. Rebuffed in New York, he went
to England and, in 1772, was ordained by the Bishop
of London. He then moved on to Maryland and Virginia
where he served for many years.
William
Hanna married twice: first to Hanna Lawrence in 1761
and then to Sara Turner of Maryland in 1778.
First
minister of the Albany Presbyterian church, well-educated
William Hanna was an unsuccessful cleric and attorney.
He died in Maryland in 1785.
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Notes: The
life of William Hanna is CAP biography number 8506.
He lived in Albany only a few years. This profile
is derived chiefly from community-based resources
and from Blayney, First
Presbyterian Church. He
is the subject of a sketch printed in the Documentary
History of New York 4:374, 447, 47-48.
By Stefan Bielinski, Colonial Albany Social History Project [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany]
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