New John Hanson statue planned for Frederick

The John Hanson Memorial Association plans to erect a statue of Hanson at the Frederick County courthouse.

That effort got a boost Tuesday when the Frederick County Commissioners unanimously agreed to accept the association's donation.

Hanson was the first president in the United States elected under the Articles of Confederation. He lived in Frederick and was elected Nov. 5, 1781, to serve as the president of Congress.

The county owns the ground where the statue will be placed, outside the John Hanson house facing Court and Patrick streets.

The association is paying for the $100,000 statue with the help of a $50,000 state grant. Members estimate it will be in place by 2010.

County maintenance costs will be minimal, said Austin Abraham, director of the county's management services division.

The statue is planned to be "larger than life," between 7 and 8 feet tall.

Peter H. Michael, president of the association, said that while people remember July 4th as Independence Day, it wasn't until a government was in place that the country was really born.

The nation's founders gathered and chose Hanson to help lead the nation, he said.

"In that all-important convening in Independence Hall of the new nation's best that morning, when the last star finally aligned for the actual birth of the United States, all eyes fell on Frederick 's John Hanson, who was elected unanimously."

Michael believes Hanson should not be forgotten.

"The time is long past due to honor this Fredericktonian and pivotal national founder with a memorial," he said, "and what better place to do it than in Frederick , which John Hanson adopted as his home town and where he rose to national political prominence."

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