Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-16

ly decided t. buy the properly at 1919 F
street northwest. This she did in 1862, pay
ing $4,CG0 in cash: for the ground and i'm
provements. The latter consisted of two
story frame house, with attic and cellar.
| The front door WIS reached by two stone
steps but when her niece returned from a
| stay in Illinois in 1873 she was obliged to
climb quite a steep hill TO get into the
house, cut having been made on F street
| to bring it to grade. This house was torn
down a short time ago to make room for
a business house, and at the time Of it's
demolition the front door was reached by
] a flight of four or five steps. At various
| times Mrs. Hanson improved her original
| purchase by the addition of brick front
| and a bay window.
| All this time Mrs. Hanson was industri-
ously n work adding TO her store bv wash
| ing and ironing. nursing the sick and small
| children and peddiing milk. She was skill
ful seamstress and sewed for some of the
! best known of Washington's elite at that
\ time In this work she was greatly aided
| by her four nieces, whom she raised with
| infinite care. They We're taught that
| work was the first principle in life and as
| a result they were able to Materially aid
| her in the building up of her fortune. Two
| of these nieces. the Oldest and the Youngest
survive Mrs. Hanson, being her nearest liv-
| ing relatives. These are Mrs. Eliza Muir
phy and Mrs. Julia Ash, the youngest and
Oldest of the four. Mrs. Murphy has been
| constantly with her aunt since her accident
ana 1t was due to her careful nursing that
| Mrs Hanson lived as long as she did
One of Mrs. Hanson's chief attributes was
| her fidelity to her brother, and woe betide
the person who spoke evil of him. She
aided him financially in a material way as
well as prompted him with good advice so
that while losing the money originally left
MIN by his master he was enabled at his
death to leave something substantial for
| his daughters, Mrs Hanson nieces whom
she reared.
Enterta;ns Distinguished Patrons.
In the course of time Mrs. Hanson's nieces
We're separated from her. two by death
| and the others by marriage but she
| lived on in her F street house turning the
establishment into high-class boarding
| house. Many senators were her patrons.
| as We'll as representatives, government
agents and commercial men who pre-
| ferred her house to,the hotels of Washing
| ton durfns the period just after the war
This boarding house was the pride of Mrs
| Hanson's existence and during the declIn-
! ing years she would often converse about il
| and refer to it with great pride. Her fund
| OF stories about great men of that period
| was ineXhaustible, and her long and con-
| slant acquaintance and association with the
| best families In Washington had enabled
her to better her mental qualities percenti-
| bly,. Mrs. Hanson never talked with a ne
| gro tWang or in the dialect commonly at
| trlbuted to her race, but rather with the
| soft southern drawl that made her natural
| ly pleasant voice most attractive
In 1899 Mrs. Hanson married Andrew
| Hanson, the ceremony being performed in
| st. Patricks Church by Rev. Father Done
| ian the assistant pastor. Her husband was
| a scraper by trade, but made more money
| by playing the violin at dances than in fol
| lowing his vocation. His eyes became af-
| hicted soon after his marriage and from
| that time until his death in 1875, at the age
| of seventy-seven years, he was a confirmed
| invalid. Mrs. Hanson fulfilled her part of
| the marriage contract, however, and stayed
| by him to the last, spending much of her
| hard-earned cash in order to afford him the
| best medical treatment.
| In October, 1892, suit was brought at law
| against Mrs. Hanson to compel her to va
| cate her house at 1919 f street the action
being brought by Francis G. Posey, and
! others. Francis Posey was cousin of An
| drew Hanson, and in his side of the case
| recited that property at that time owned by
| Mrs. Hanson had been bought with Mr..
Hansons money This suit dragged along
| for many years and was finally settled lust
| as 1t was about to be taken to the Supreme
| Court of the United States. Mrs Hanson
| won the suit. and Since then was allowed to
| live in peace and in the enjoyment of her
| property.
Transfers Valuable Realty.
A few months ago Mrs. Hanson sold her
| house at 1219 f street and removed to COB
| F street. The consideration she received
| Ioi hci piOpSily was TOo,tDU. Wnen she
removed to her new home her niece, Mrs
Murphy, solicitous for her safety begged
| to be allowed to keep house for her, but
| her offer was refused and Mrs Hanson
| went to live alone and in this way the ac-
| cident which happened to her was made
possible Mrs Hanson arose at o'clock
| the morning of June "a last and started to
| make tea on a gas stove. She was wear
| ing loose wrapper of some light material
| at the time, and it is presumed that the
-ln noy in nf,ynta afx Will h. a. -
| one witnessed the accident and no one
| heard her outcries or came to her assist
| ance for more than an hour. When she was
| finally discovered she was found living on
| a couch with her arm and side terribly
| burned. When questioned as to why she
| did not call some one, she said II she had
run out of the room or wasted time in
| calling she would have been burned to
| death. 1t was developed that she went
| from one room to the other while her cloth
| ing was still ablaze, and getting heavy
| blanket lay down on the floor and rolled
| herself in 1t. Those who found her found
| also the burned blanket in the middle of
| the room and spot where the flames had
eaten into the carpet and flooring In the
interval between the time she was burned
and when she was found Mrs. Hanson had
made paste of white of egg and flour and
had applied this to her burns.
| Was Horribly Burned.
When medical assistance was called 1t
was found that the skin and flesh on her
arm and side had been burned down to the
muscle, and it was necessary to dissect
this burned portion bit by bit every day,
She stood up well under the ordeal at first,
but her advanced age began to tell upon
her, and finally death ended all. Dr. Wade
| Atkinson, who attended Mrs. Hanson,
stated to a Star reporter today that her
vitality and constitution were wonderful
} | that he did not see how 1t could be possi-
| BILE for person half her age to live as long
as she did If burned as she was.
Mrs. Hanson was a woman of pronounced
opinions, who did not fear to. express them
i when she thought the occasion warranted
Her relatives often said about her: 'FIer
name is Julia and she's peculiar and this
saying fitted her characteristics exactly