The
specific and distinctive office of biography is not to give voice to a
man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to
leave a perpetual record, establishing his character by the consensus of
opinion on the part of his fellowmen. Throughout Memphis Charles
Clinton Hanson is spoken of in terms of admiration and respect. His life
has been so varied in its activities, so honorable in its purposes and
so far-reaching and beneficial in its effect that it has become an
integral part of the history of the city and has left an impress upon
the annals of the state. In no sense a man in public life he has,
nevertheless, exerted an immeasurable influence on Memphis: In business
life as one of the most prominent factors in connection with the cotton
industry; in social circles by reason of a charming personality and
unfeigned cordiality; in public affairs by reason of his devotion to the
general good as well as to his comprehensive understanding of questions
effecting the progress of the municipality and the commonwealth.
Mr.
Hanson was born near Opelika, Alabama, March 29, 1867, and his youthful
days were spent in the usual manner of the farm bred boy. His early
education was acquired in the public schools of his native county and
while the opportunities of a college course were not accorded him he has
remained throughout his life a student of men and affairs, has delved
deep into literature and science and in the school of experience he has
also learned many valuable lessons. He has ever embraced the
opportunities that have come to him, never fearing to venture where
favoring opportunity has pointed out the way. Fortunate in possessing
character and ability that have inspired confidence in others the simple
way of his character and ability has carried him into most important
relations. After leaving home he obtained a position as railroad
telegraph operator at Eufaula, Alabama, and in 1890 he became the agent
for the railroads at that place. Soon afterward, however, he accepted
the position of chief clerk to the traffic manager of the Ocean
Steamship Company and the Central of Georgia Railroad at Savannah,
Georgia, and his next promotion made him terminal agent jointly for the
railroads at Augusta, while still later he was made special agent for
the executive officers of the Central of Georgia Railroad and the Ocean
Steamship Company at Savannah. Each step in his career has been a
forward one, bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities and
with his developing powers he has extended his efforts into new fields,
which have eventually brought him to a commanding position as one of the
representatives of the cotton industry in the south. His initial step
in this direction was made in 1898, when he leased the compresses of the
railroad and steamship companies, which he represented and three years
later he was at the head of the Atlantic Compress Company in Atlanta.
Still expanding his interests in this direction he became president of
the Gulf Compress Company in 1902 and in 1908 he came to Memphis, from
which point he owns and controls the long chain of compresses throughout
Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, which are operated under
the name of the Churchill Compresses. The mammoth enterprise that he has
developed has been most wisely guided through his administrative
direction and executive ability until he today occupies a point of
leadership in business circles, by reason of the extent and importance
of his interests and the keen sagacity which he displays in business
affairs.
In
June, 1889, Mr. Hanson was married to Miss Marie Adele Shorter, a
daughter of Colonel Henry R. Shorter, and they occupy a most attractive
home known as Hansonhurst, on Mr. Hanson's country place near Bolton
College. This excellent educational institution near which he lives owes
its existence in very large measure to the efforts of Mr. Hanson and
Judge Young, who rejuvenated the Bolton College farm, while Mr. Hanson
is now serving as chairman of the board of trustees of the school. For
seven years he occupied the position as a member of the state board of
education and he has been a trustee of the Shelby County Industrial and
Training School. There is no man in Memphis, who has manifested a deeper
or more sincere interest in educational affairs and he has one of the
most comprehensive libraries on education owned individually in the
entire country. Anything which tends to bring to man intellectual freedom
finds in him a stanch supporter. He is now the president of the Bureau
of Municipal Research and the president of the Memphis chapter of the
International Business Science Society. He succeeded the late Dr. R. B.
Maury as head of the Audubon Society for Shelby county and his labors
are a most effective force in the preservation of birds through actual
practice and through propaganda work as well. His farm in the vicinity
of Bolton College is a bird sanctuary. Politically Mr. Hanson is a
democrat but he has never sought nor held public office. No man,
however, more fully realizes the duties and obligations of citizenship
and he has given freely of his time and means in support of all
progressive public movements. He is identified with the Chamber of
Commerce and heartily endorses its thoroughly organized plans for the up
building of the city, the extension of its trade relations and the
advancement of its municipal standards. He is the secretary and
treasurer of the Mississippi Valley Compress Association. Fraternally he
is a Mason, who has taken the degree of both the York and Scottish
Rites and has become a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is also
identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Khorassan and
he has membership in the Kiwanis Club and the Memphis Country Club. He
infuses life and vigor into any organization with which he becomes
identified and he attacks everything with a contagious enthusiasm that
is far reaching in its results
Hansonhurst
Town in northeast Shelby County was a model community founded in the
1920’s by C. C. Hanson on the east side of Brunswick Road, across from
Bolton High School. Hanson claimed that Hansonhurst had greater wealth,
per capita, than any other town in the nation. He called attention to it
with a checkerboard marker at every curve along the crooked road to
Hansonhurst. The primary business was the Hansonhurst Creamery, which
could turn out 6,000 pounds of butter a day. Served
by a two floor ice plant with 25 tons of refrigeration, a 35,000 gallon
water tower stood on a 100 foot steel tower. There also was a gin, a
cotton warehouse, a machine shop, a large barn, two implement sheds, and
an electricity generator. A store in a brick building sold standard
merchandise at chain store prices. Hansonhurst failed in 1929, with the
hit of the Great Depression, and the Mississippi superintendent of banks
came to the Shelby County Courts for a foreclosure auction on the
courthouse steps in which the whole village, creamery and all, sold for
$30,000. Today you can drive past Hansonhurst without knowing you have
been there.
Source: Shelby County Archives / usgennet.org