Hon. Louis Benjamin Hanna, born on August 9, 1860, in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, has established a successful political career through primary elections. He is the choice of his party’s voters to represent his state in Washington during the next congress. Coming from a lineage of diverse backgrounds, including Scotch, Irish, English, and French descent, Mr. Hanna received his education in various cities and settled in North Dakota in 1881. Engaged in farming and finance, he founded a bank and held positions in several financial institutions. His dedication to public service led to his election as a member of the state legislature and later as a state senator. Championing the people’s interests, especially advocating for good pure food laws, Mr. Hanna is highly regarded within his party and holds a prominent position in the state.
Hon. Louis Benjamin Hanna – Successful competition from a political point of view is a good criterion of a man’s worth in the estimation of the public if the test comes through a primary election like the one recently held for the purpose of securing candidates for public office.
Mr. L. B. Hanna, the choice of the voters of his party for representation of his state in Washington during the next congress, was born at New Brighton, Pa., August 9, 1860. He was the son of Jason R. and Margaret A. (Lewis) Hanna, natives of Ohio and Massachusetts respectively. His father was of Scotch and Irish descent, and his people came to this country in 1750. Jason R. Hanna was a car builder and served as captain of Company C, Sixty-third Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, during the Civil War. The ancestors on the mother’s side, who were of English and French descent, came to America about 1631.
Mr. Hanna received his education in the public schools of Cleveland, Ohio, Pittsfield, Mass., and New York City. He came to North Dakota in 1881 and has been engaged in farming and in financial enterprises since 1886. He founded a private bank at Page, N. D., in June 1886 that afterwards became incorporated as a state bank, with Mr. Hanna as its president. He also became interested in the First National Bank of Fargo in 1899 and its vice president, and in May 1908, was elected its president.
Mr. Hanna was elected to the state legislature as a member of the lower house in 1895, and in 1897 he was elected to the senate, and again elected to the state senate in 1905. While representing his state in that law-making body, Mr. Hanna, ever mindful of the people’s interests, strongly advocated the enactment of good pure food laws; and his representation of the rights of the people generally along all such lines has secured for him the best wishes of his party in general, as evidenced by his recent success at the polls.
Mr. Hanna was married in 1885, in Minneapolis, Minn., to Miss Lottie L. Thatcher, a native of Massachusetts. Four children were granted to them as follows: Margaret E. died in June 1894; Jean E., Dorothy L., and Robert L.
Mr. Hanna has filled numerous local offices and is one of the best-known men of the state.
Source
C.F. Cooper & Company, History of the Red River Valley, Past And Present: Including an Account of the Counties, Cities, Towns And Villages of the Valley From the Time of Their First Settlement And Formation, volumes 1-2; Grand Forks: Herald printing company, 1909.