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- First Burial
- 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.
1878- Second Burial
- John Hanson and three Addisons are transferred from the crypt to the Addison Cemetery 400 feet away
2017- Third Burial
- In 2017, all 40 in the Addison Cemetery including Hanson are exhumed and reinterred into the graveyard of St. John's Episcopal Church in Fort Washington, Maryland
2024- Identification
• Peter Michael and Mark Kennedy pool their John Hanson research, finding John Hanson's grave
- Kennedy's research shows that the crypt was emptied before 1900
- 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 April 2024, Peter Michael and three other Hanson descendants visit John Hanson's grave with its "Unknown" tombstone
2026- Memorialized
- Permanent monument installed at Hanson's St. John's grave
Proof of John Hanson's Presence at St. John's Episcopal Church
Since