Chase Hanson

Frontier RP

**Major** Chase Hanson (Born March 30th, 1867) is an American military officer, lawyer, politician, and jurist currently serving as the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court since 1900.

## Early Life and Education

Born in Central Virginia on the Hanson family plantation, owned by his grandfather Colonel Wilmer Hanson, a civil war veteran, in 1867. He was the second youngest child of Alaina Hanson, a southern heiress, and Brigadier General Colt Hanson, a military officer and former US Army Chief of Engineers. He grew up helping around the family land at an early age while receiving a private education until at 13 he began working for the local court as an aide. At 16, he was accepted into the Virginia Military Institute where he received his Juris Doctor degree in 1887. While at VMI, he served as a Cadet Battalion Commander. while at VMI he was initiated into Freemasonry and later raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason at Mountain City Lodge #67 in Lexington, VA in 1885, becoming the fourth generation of his family to do so.

## Military Career

Chase Hanson was commissioned into the United States Army's Judge Advocate General Corps immediately following his graduation from VMI and was stationed in Washington DC on a general crimes prosecution team. In 1889, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and send out west as a Legal Staff Officer for the 7th Calvary under the command of Colonel James Forsyth. In December of 1890, then 1LT Hanson having not seen much action and eager to see some, accompanied a detachment of Calvarymen to escort members of the Lakota tribe to the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota. The following day, after the arrival of the rest of the regiment, he accompanied Colonel Forsyth when the order was given to disarm the natives under escort in their camp, despite agreeing with the advice of a scout that disarmament may lead to violence. He was speaking to another young officer when a shot was heard to have gone off. After a volley answered a few shots from the natives, he ordered a cease fire to the surrounding soldiers around him, but to no avail. What occurred next was a massacre of the Lakota known today as "Wounded Knee". Once the smoke and noise from the initial carnage had subsided, he came to the aid of a child who was obscured by the smoke. The Lakota child was revealed to have taken a revolver from a wounded officer and attempted to fire at Chase, but it misfired, forcing Chase to draw his own weapon and shot the boy dead. Like many others in the 7th Calvary, he was rewarded for "bravery" and promoted to Captain and transferred to Texas where he was a Legal Staff Officer, and later a Defense Attorney for accused soldiers. In 1895, he was promoted to the rank of Major and transferred to Southern Maryland as a military judge where he sat on the bench until he took an early retirement in 1899.

## Government Employee

### Rank

State Judge

After receiving his discharge papers, he immediately took a train from Washington to Valentine, New Elizabeth where he sought out Bar Examiners to obtain a license to practice law. He received his Bar License, number 003, a week later and became a prolific criminal defense attorney representing organizations such as the Butchers, the Tumbleweed Cartel, and the Dappers. In May of 1899, he was appointed as the Attorney General of New Elizabeth by Governor Kevin Price, and assumed office on the 1st of June. Since taking office, he has presided over and ordered the execution of 4 individuals in Valentine as a Magistrate Pro Tempore.

On January 6th, 1900, he was appointed to the bench and sworn in as the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court, succeeding Ah Sahm. That same day, Arthur Frazier succeeded him as the 2nd Attorney General of New Elizabeth. In February of 1900, with New Elizabeth in a state of lawlessness, and a complete breakdown of all government process, he started a movement called the Provisional Government of New Elizabeth whereby he was elected the Provisional Governor of New Elizabeth on February 10th, 1900. Two weeks later, on February 24th, he was officially elected to the office of Governor for the newly created Commonwealth of New Elizabeth, after a referendum vote where members of the Committee for Public Safety were elected to various offices.

### Notable Cases

* 12-0237C, Cogburn v. New Elizabeth Sheriff's Office [1]
* 12-10785CR, People v. Boudreaux [2]
* 99-11241CR, People v. Joseph O'Hara et al

## Personal Life

Chase keeps a very private personal life, but is known to be very engrossed in his work. He has been known to; hunt, canoe, and ride around the wilderness of Ambarino. He is a known associate of Iris Spencer, Dr. Anna Banana, and Tonka Hillberd, and had recently attempted pursuing a relationship with State Surgeon General, Rina McKinnon, though to disastrous result. He also formally adopted Dr. Demi Hanson-Alharith into his family as his sister in later December 1899. He is currently married to State Surgeon General, Anna Hanson and they are expecting a child together.

## Group Affiliations

* Department of Justice (DoJ)
* New Elizabeth Sheriff's Office
* US Army (Formerly/Retired)