J. Hanna
Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales
The vault that contains the remains identified as those of J. Hanna is one of only two such structures in Old Bayview Cemetery. The other is identified as the final resting place of J. S. Vickers. The vaults look to be almost identical and may indicate a common fabricator. The location of the Hanna vault is near the burial sites of John Woessner, the Nelsons, and the Meyers (parents of Mrs. Nelson). Most of these are burials from the mid-1880s so possibly the date of the burial of J. Hanna is also around that time. The most noted "Hanna" in the early history of Corpus Christi is the Professor Hanna who was in charge of the first public schools organized in 1871 by Stanley Welch who had come down from San Antonio and eventually settled in Corpus Christi. Mr. Welch was a local attorney and subsequently a district judge (assassinated while monitoring elections in 1906 down in Rio Grande City). In one history of the early school systems this first educator, Professor Hanna, is named as Wm. N. Hanna so J. Hanna may have been one of his relatives. Some early historical testimony also says that along with Mrs. Conklin he later opened a private school about 1873. In the 1880 census of Calhoun County (Indianola p. 312B) there is also a John Hanna who is a 27 year old native of Texas and working for the railroad at that time. Of course, he too could have been brought to the Corpus Christi area with the building of the railroads under Mr. Nelson. This makes him a possible candidate as the one identified as "J. Hanna" as his involvement with the railroad could explain his burial location near the Nelson children who died in 1881, 1885, and 1887. Mr. John P. Nelson, their father, was in charge of building the San Antonio and Aransas Pass RR under Uriah Lott and Capt. M. Kenedy. This Mr. Hanna could not have been still in Indianola after the second hurricane that hit that city (in the 1880s) and sealed its fate as an abandoned port. The Nelson family was in San Diego, Texas in 1880, but were residents of San Antonio by the time of the death of their daughter Blanche Mabel Nelson (1887). Another group of family members with "Hanna" as the last name settled in the Robstown and Banquete area, but they appeared to have come to this area later than "J. Hanna". These include Claud Hanna (born 29 Dec. 1895 in Victoria and died 26 Feb. 1974). In the nearby area is found a Wm. Leo Hanna who was born in the Goliad area about 1889, but again there is no known evidence of his family's connection to Corpus Christi.
Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell (18 October 2007)