Alexander Contee Hanson Sr.

Alexander Contee Hanson Sr. (October 22, 1749 – January 16, 1806) was an attorney who served as Chancellor of Maryland from 1789 until his death.

Early life Alexander Contee Hanson was born in Maryland on October 22, 1749. He was the eldest son of John Hanson and Jane (née Contee) Hanson. His father was a Revolutionary War financier and statesman, who was a signer of the Articles of Confederation and first President of the Congress created by those Articles. Alexander Hanson was educated at the College of Philadelphia and read law in Annapolis.

His paternal grandparents were Samuel Hanson and Elizabeth (née Storey) Hanson.

Career After his legal education, he planned to travel to England to be ordained for the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church, but his voyage ended in a shipwreck. He was rescued and taken to Philadelphia, where he became the Assistant Private Secretary to General George Washington. Hanson's cousin, and the future appointee to the Chancellorship, Colonel Robert Hanson Harrison was Washington's Chief Secretary. This appointment was made after the place had been offered to Robert Hanson Harrison, who was at that time Judge of the General Court, but had been offered a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. Harrison was strongly urged by Alexander Hamilton to accept the appointment, and finally declined the Chancellorship for this reason, but died on his way to take his seat. Hanson was about this time himself offered a United States district court judgeship, but declined. Together, they were the parents of three children:

Charles Wallace Hanson (1783–1853), a judge who married Rebecca Dorsey Ridgely (1786–1837) of Hampton, the eldest daughter of Charles Ridgely, governor of Maryland from 1815 to 1818. Mary Jane Hanson (1791–1815), who married Thomas Peabody Grosvenor (1778–1817), a U.S. Representative from New York.

Hanson seems to have been a religious man and of the kindest disposition. He was charitable, and many acts of kindness are related by his grandson. He took several young men under his care and treated them with a fatherly kindness. He died by a stroke of apoplexy January 16, 1806.

Honors Chancellor Hanson received the degree of LL.D. from one of the Universities, but the identity of the institution is not known.