Richard T. Hanson Family Papers

Richard Tuite Hanson (1819-1895) immigrated to the United States from the island of Saint Croix in the Danish West Indies around 1850. His parents, Richard and Sarah Carty Hanson, emigrated from England to St. Croix, where their son Richard T. Hanson was born. He moved to the United States in approximately 1850 and began his career in the sugar industry, in which he would work until his retirement in 1897. He served as manager of Destrehan Plantation in St. Charles Parish from the early 1850s to 1863, when he moved to Ascension Parish. There he managed Evan Hall Plantation, which belonged to Henry McCall. Later, he purchased Peytavin Plantation outside Donaldsonville, where operated a sugar plantation in partnership with Dominique Bouligny and Bernard Lemann until his retirement in 1885. In addition to his involvement in the sugar industry, he served as postmaster of Donaldsonville for four years, and as president on the Donaldsonville police jury for twelve years. He died in 1895 and is buried alongside his wife and several children in Donaldsonville Protestant Cemetery.

Richard T. Hanson married Barbara Calderwood (1836-1914) in St. Charles Parish in 1853. Barbara was the daughter of William Calderwood, who emigrated from Kilmarnock, Scotland to the United States. He settled in Monroe, Louisiana where his brother, Dr. John Calderwood, was a well-known physician. Richard T. and Barbara Hanson had seven sons and seven daughters, thirteen of whom survived to adulthood. Among them was Margaret Calderwood Hanson (1855-1934), who was born at Destrehan Plantation. She attended State Female College in Nashville, Tennessee, followed by the Peabody Normal School in the same city. She began her career as a teacher at Ferrell's School for Boys in New Orleans, followed by Esplanade High School, where she later became vice principal. She retired from teaching as principal of the New Orleans Normal School and was a well-known figure in education in Louisiana.

References
Fortier, A. (1914). Hanson, John D., M.D. In Louisiana: Comprising sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, arranged in Cyclopedic Form (Vol. 3, pp. 623-624).
Kendall, J. S. (1922). Miss Margaret C. Hanson. In History of New Orleans (Vol. 3, pp. 1047-1048). Chicago, Ill.: The Lewis Publishing Company.
Miss Margaret Hanson, Brilliant Educator is Claimed By Death. (1934, December 8). The Donaldsonville Chief.