Finding John Hanson: A Chance Email Pays Off
How the location of Hanson's grave became unknown and was later found is because he was reinterred twice. The first reburial in 1878 was private and not publicized, causing his disappearance. The second in 2017 was how he was found.
St. John's Church Graveyard
1783
- John Hanson dies at Oxon Hill Manor in Prince George's County, Maryland, while visiting his nephew. A crypt is built for the first United States president to die and Hanson's body is placed in it.
2024
- Peter Michael and Mark Kennedy pool their John Hanson research, finding John Hanson's grave
Proof of John Hanson's Second Burial to the Addison Cemetery
- Kennedy's 19th century chain-of-title land record of Oxon Hill Manor reveals first John Hanson reburial was in 1878, proving Hanson went from crypt into the Addison Cemetery 400 feet away
- Kennedy's early 20th century newspaper articles prove crypt empty by then, also shown in his 1980s photos
Proof of John Hanson's Third Burial at St. John's Episcopal Church
- Michael's records of Smithsonian Institution 2017 forensics examination of 40 sets of remains from Addison Cemetery reveal a solitary unidentified elderly male who can only be John Hanson
- In 2017, all 40 in Addison Cemetery including Hanson are reinterred to the graveyard of St. John's Episcopal Church in Fort Washington, Maryland
- In April 2024, Peter Michael and three other Hanson descendants visit John Hanson's grave