Perhaps it is because he lived in Kearney so briefly, less than a decade; perhaps it is because it was so long ago, but today the name of Charles E. Hanson is almost unknown in Kearney. However, during his time he was described as one of Kearney's "most energetic, public-spirited men." He certainly did make his contribution to Kearney.

        Charles E. Hanson was born in Sweden on November 19, 1855, and in 1869 came to the United States. He settled in the Chicago area where he spent the next ten years of his life farming and driving a team. In the spring of 1879, he moved to Phelps Center, Phelps County, Nebraska. Phelps Center (once located about seven miles northwest of Holdrege) had been platted that year by Victor Rylander and Leander Hallgren, who had been promoting Swedish settlement in the area since 1873. In 1879, their efforts at last succeeded when a great tide of Swedish settlers came into the county. Charles E. Hanson lost no time in finding a place for himself at Phelps Center. He went into the agricultural implement business and sold broom corn seed as a side line. On July 11, 1879, he was appointed Postmaster of Phelps Center and served in that post until November 4, 1881. On April 22, 1880, he married Miss Ida H. Hallgren.

        In the spring of 1882, Charles E. Hanson, his wife, and young son, Arthur, moved to Kearney, Nebraska. However, he did not cut his ties with Phelps Center - not immediately, at least. His brother-in-law, Leander Hallgren, may have been a factor in this. Leander Hallgren worked unceasingly for Phelps Center. It was one of his great joys when Phelps Center became the county seat in 1879. In 1883, he laid out his own Hallgren's First Addition to Phelps Center. So, for whatever reason, Charles E. Hanson did not immediately abandon Phelps Center. He left his brother, Gus A. Hanson, in charge of the implement business there and leased the remainder of his property.

        Once settled in Kearney, he opened a farm machinery store along Central Avenue, south of the railroad tracks. He also built a brick business building at 1914 Central Avenue at this time, but for the most part his involvement with Kearney affairs was still low-key.

        In only a few years, it became very apparent that Phelps Center was doomed. First in 1883, the long hoped for railroad missed the town; and then in 1884, the newly-founded town of Holdrege gained the county seat. Now even Leander Hallgren could see that it was over for Phelps Center. In 1885, he vacated his Addition to the town and moved to Kearney.

        Once his connections to Phelps Center were broken, Charles E. Hanson became involved in Kearney's development with unchecked enthusiasm. In the fall of 1884, he expanded his business to include a line of hardware. At the same time, he proudly announced he was sole agent for the Garland Patent Steam Roasting and Baking Pan. It could cook your turkey brown in 30 to 50 minutes. The next year, he began work on the first of three houses he would build in Kearney. This is the fine ornamented cottage that still stands at 723 West 22nd Street, present home of the Kearney Woman's Club. In 1886 he tried for even greater goals when he started putting up a two-story business building of St. Louis red pressed brick at 2113 Central Avenue. That same year, for a couple of months, he operated a hardware store at Elm Creek before selling it. In August of 1886, he was elected assistant chief of the Wide Awake Hose Company.
 

First house built by Hanson,   723 West 22nd Street, 1886.   (A. T. Anderson photo)

Second house built by Charles E. Hanson,   1320 9th Avenue, 1888.   (A. T. Anderson photo)

        Then things started to fall apart for him. Apparently he had over-extended himself. The store at 2113 Central Avenue became a financial swamp for him, making it necessary for him to enter into convoluted business agreements to free himself from the burden of debt he found himself under. He also experienced personal tragedy at this time. Less than two months after the family moved into the new house at 723 West 22nd Street, his young son, Arthur, died on April 24, 1886, at the age of 5 years. After these losses, Mr. Hanson was not too active for awhile. The house on 22nd Street was sold to W. A. Downing in 1887, and the Hansons moved to a house on the corner of Second Avenue and 25th Street.

        By 1888, Charles E. Hanson had regained his footing. Again he immersed himself in the affairs of the town with the same old enthusiasm. Kearney by this time was beginning to enter into its boom period, and the real estate business was becoming a very lucrative venture to enter. This attracted Charles E. Hanson. He opened a real estate office in the Midway Hotel and busied himself once more. In the spring of 1888, the Illinois and Nebraska Loan and Trust Company was incorporated by Mr. Hanson and Nelson A. Baker of Kearney and two Chicago men. It was formed to deal in real estate and advertised that it had 500,000 acres for sale in Buffalo, Phelps, Kearney, Dawson, Keith, Perkins, Chase, and Cheyenne Counties. Mr. Hanson was secretary and western manager of the firm. He led many excursions of land seekers to Nebraska.
 

Is this the third house built by Hanson  in East Lawn in 1889, and later moved   to 2301 Avenue B?  (A. T. Anderson photo)

Hanson Building, 2113 Central Avenue, 1886.   (A. T. Anderson photo)

        That same year (1888), he also returned to his old love of house building. He purchased lots in Kenwood Choice Addition to Kearney and put up the interesting towered house that still stands at 1320 Ninth Avenue, but he did not stop there. The next year, he purchased lots in the 1800 block of 34th Street in East Lawn 2nd Addition to Kearney and put up another house. It was not long before he found that he had gotten carried away from his better judgment again. As a result, he found himself in the same old financial quick-sand as before. This time he was under a leaden debt of nearly $10,000.00. He sold his house on Ninth Avenue to the Stoddard family and turned the East Lawn house over to the Midway Land Company which eased things greatly, but for Mr. Hanson, there was to be no recovery this time.

        In 1890, he left Kearney and moved back to Chicago. There he continued to be involved in the real estate business. However, tragedy followed him there too. In May of 1892, he lost another child, a daughter, not yet two months old. Undoubtedly he also suffered from the Panic of 1893, since real estate values were one of the first things to fall as a result of the Panic. On May 10, 1893, after a long illness, Charles E. Hanson died of Typhoid Pneumonia at the age of 37 years. His body was brought back to Kearney and buried in the Kearney cemetery beside his two children. Ida Hanson returned to Holdrege, Nebraska, where she had brothers and sisters. She never remarried, but kept her family of one son and two daughters together by her own efforts. She died April 6, 1925, in a modest house on Hancock Street in Holdrege and was buried beside her husband and children in the Kearney Cemetery.

        Although he may be almost forgotten today, Charles E. Hanson did leave a legacy. The domestic architecture of Kearney is enriched because of his labors. Even his name lives on. His brother, Gus A. Hanson, married in 1893, and when his first child, a son, was born in 1894 he was named Charles E. Hanson after his late uncle. That Charles E. Hanson in turn named one of his sons Charles E. Hanson.1 So he is not entirely forgotten after all.

1. This Charles E. Hanson is presently (1989) director of the Museum of the Fur Trade at Chadron, Nebraska, and his son, James A. Hanson is the present director of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
 
 

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