Hugh Hanna, First Hanna In Vox, SC

Hugh Hanna was the first known Hanna in the Lynches Lake and Vox region outside of Johnsonville, SC. He is the ancestor of most of the Hanna descendants in this area (excluding the families of Richard Hanna in the Hannah community.)

Hugh Hanna (Sr.) was born circa 1759, possibly in Ireland or Scotland.  A soldier in the American Revolution, he came south with General Nathanael Greene and joined General Francis Marion's Brigade where he was wounded in battle. The bullet extracted was preserved by descendants but its current location is not known. Hugh was a large land and slave owner and farmer on Lynches Lake. He erected the first water wheel for operation of a rice and grain mill.  At the time of his death, Hugh owned the following known enslaved persons: Cupid, Young Scipo, Elvira, Peter, Venus, Dinah, Sam, Lizza, Crissa, Mercury, Juno, Young Mercury, Nellie, Young Juno, Young Sam.  Others were unnamed in his 1842 will. 

1790 Land Plat near Lynches Lake
A 1790 land plat record shows Hugh Hanna was granted 246 acres on Lynches Lake. The plat lists as such:
South Carolina:
I do hereby certify for Hugh Hanna a tract of land containing two hundred & forty six acres (surveyed for him the 15th January 1790) situate in the District of Georgetown on Lynches Lake and hath such form, marks, and boundings as the above plat represents.
Given under my hand the 29th April 1790
John Burgess
Francis Breman, S.G.

Hanna died in 1842.  His obituary was published in the Winyah Observer, September 3, 1842: 

Died at his residence in Williamsburg district in the neighborhood of Indiantown, on the 7th August, Mr. Hugh Hanna, in the 83rd year of his age.  The deceased was in our district, we believe the last survivor of that noble band of patriots who fought under Marion (General Francis Marion, "Swamp Fox").

Hugh Hanna fathered several children with two wives.  Both wives, Sarah Burrows Hanna and

Obituary from the Winyah Observer, 
3 Sept 1842

Elizabeth Barr Hanna, are buried in unmarked graves near Hugh's grave at the Garden of Memories (Hugh Hanna Family) Cemetery in Vox.  The compiled genealogy information of Hugh Hanna's children is as follows:


Hugh Hanna (1759-1842) first married Sarah Burrows (1776-1807), daughter of John Burrows and Elizabeth Scott.

Their children were:
Hugh Hanna, JR (1790-1839) m. Elizabeth Kirkpatric Barr
William Hanna (1794-1846)
Margaret Hanna (1798-1871) m. James H. Barr, Jr
John Hanna (1801-1829) 
Sarah Hanna (1804-1823)

After Sarah's death in 1807, Hugh married 1810 to Elizabeth Barr (1782-1835)
Their children were:
James Henry Hanna (1811-1861) 
George Washington Hanna (1812-1855) m. Mary Brockington
Samuel Davis Hanna (1816-1863) 
Joseph Franklin Hanna (1817-1891) m. Mary Ellen Timmons in 1856
Calvin Hanna (1819-1885) m. Cadness Ann Eaddy, Susannah Jane Parsons
Elizabeth Ann Hanna (1821-1870) m. William Paisley, Wilson Rogers

Hanna Cemetery, Vox SC

Questions about Parentage
It was speculated but not proven that Hugh Hanna was the brother of Robert Hanna, and son of the progenitor in America (Thomas Hanna).  Even recent DNA evidence has not been able to support this claim. In fact the book A history of the Hanna family : being a genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Hanna and Elizabeth (Henderson) Hanna, who emigrated to America in 1763, written by Charles Elmer Rice and published in 1905, claims that Robert Hanna's brother Hugh was an apprentice in Bucks County, PA and married a woman named Rebecca. This Hugh died in 1821 and has an existing tombstone in that area, dispelling the possibility that would be our Hugh in South Carolina.

New yDNA evidence from a direct male descendant of our Hugh Hanna indicates that Hugh's line is also not closely related to the Richard Hannah line from Hannah-Pamplico.  It had been speculated that Hugh and Richard may have been relatives, but this appears not to be the case.   

This recent yDNA test shows a close relationship to another group of Hannas, some of whom spell their name Hannon, Hanner, Hannah and Hannay. Folks with the first three spellings settled in Maryland in colonial times. The Hannay who Hugh's line is somewhat closely related was born in Scotland, not far from Sorbie, about 1814. This is in the modern area of Wigtonshire, in what is now know as Dumfries and Galloway. The Hannays have been in Wigtonshire a long time, with one apparent ancestor there as early as 1296. They appear in deed records by the 1400s, and in some records even earlier. [DNA evidence confirmed by Jett Hanna, administrator for the Hannah-Hannah-Hanna-Hanney DNA project at FamilyTreeDNA].

At Sorbie, there is a tower that is owned by Clan Hannay, a modern membership organization whose leader can trace roots back to owners of the tower. There are several, unrelated branches of Hannas and Hannays that can trace back to this area of Scotland, so it's difficult to say with certainty if Hugh was directly related to owners of the tower. 

Information compiled by Josh Dukes

For more information, visit Johnsonville History's Hugh Hanna: First Hanna in Vox

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