Hon. Arthur John Hannan
The vocation of railroading has attracted many young men when starting out in life, and has proven a field rich in opportunities for those who are willing to scorn hardships, face dangers and prove fidelity to the systems by which they are employed. The engineer knows that on his judgment, formed in the fraction of a second, the fate of his train may depend. The engineer's position is not the top of the ladder, though no place in the world's work has greater responsibilities. Firing and running a locomotive constitute one of the best vocations to develop a man's best qualities. It is not unusual, therefore, to find men holding high positions in business and public life who began their careers as hostlers and firemen. In this category is found Arthur John Hannan, mayor of Ironton, who but a few years back was to be found balancing himself on the rocking floor of the tender, tossing coal into the insatiable firebox, and subsequently handled the throttle of a powerful locomotive. Although now retired from railroading, owing to an accident which all railroad men may be called upon to face, Mayor Hannan has not forgotten the discipline of his early training, nor the value of the judgment which it brought.
Arthur John Hannan was born July 26, 1880, at Ironton, Ohio, and is a son of John and Katie (Campbell) Hannan. His father was born in Lawrence County, Ohio, November 11, 1859, and is now the oldest conductor on the D. T. & I. Railroad, having been in actual service since 1878 and during this time has had but one accident. Mrs. Hannan was born at Ironton. in 1864, and has been the mother of seven children, as follows: Arthur John, Carl C., Louis, Clarence, Raymond, Marjorie and Elsie.
Until fifteen years of age Arthur John Hannan attended the public and high schools of Ironton, and at that age secured a clerkship in the offlce of the Iron Railroad, where he remained six months, thus securing his introduction to railroading. For three months thereafter he was a tie inspector at the elevator of the same company, and then became a locomotive fireman, remaining with the Iron Railroad for 3½ years in that capacity. Firemen as a rule are picked men, and have to be, for theirs is the most tremendous physical task of all, the increasing grate-area of fireboxes of big engines having brought the limit of their effort distressingly close. Mr. Hannan, during the time he stood on the heaving, pitching steel deck in front of the furnace door, showed he had the muscle and endurance necessary to shovel from 15 to 20 tons of coal in 8 to 12 hours, and when his term as fireman was completed, in 1897, he was given an engine on the D. T. & I. Railroad. There he continued at the throttle until 1910, when in a head-on collision, at Sand Cut, 1¼ miles north of Ironton, he lost one of his legs and was compelled to retire from the service. He was ill for seven months, and when he recovered was elected justice of the peace of Lawrence County, in 1911. During the two years that he thus acted he displayed his official and executive ability so well that in the fall elections of 1913 he was elected mayor of Ironton, taking office January 2, 1914. He has proved himself a capable executive, and is giving the people of his community a sane, progressive and business-like administration. Although his time is given unreservedly to his official duties, Mayor Hannan is interested in the business growth and welfare of his city, and is interested in the Marting Iron & Steel Co. and in the Etna Building and Loan Association of Ironton, of which he is also a director. He continues to maintain membership in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and is also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Junior Order United American Workmen. With his family, he attends the Pine Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
On September 19, 1900, Mr. Hannan was married at Ironton to Miss Lettie Wilson, daughter of John Wilson, of this city, and four children have been born to this union, namely: Gerald, Arthur John, Jr., Clarence and William.
From "A Standing History of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio" by Eugene B. Willard, Daniel W. Williams, George O. Newman and Charles B. Taylor. Published by Lewis Publishing Company, 1916