◄ At the left are two biographical sketches from one of John Newton Boucher's (1854-1933) book titled Old and New Westmoreland, Volume 2, Pub. 1918. The first is short biography of Robert Hanna and the second is an excerpt from the biography of William Crawford who was one of the first justices appointed to the Westmoreland County Court when the county was first established. Hanna and Crawford may have served side by side from the same bench. Hanna, in later years, seems to have retired from the bench at the Hannastown Courthouse.
Boucher wrote that there were few records to be found concerning Robert Hanna's career as a Justice.

Today, with the help of the internet, we can locate a few more records which can be found at:
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh/

As a matter of fact, Robert Hanna served as one of the justices at the "Orphans Court" when the court appoints guardians for the children of Isaac Robert Miller Jr. after his death in Oct. of 1775. This document is dated February 6, 1776. See excerpt below from partition book 3 of court records.▼

Below is another document find when we visited the Westmoreland County Court House in Greensburg, PA in the summer of 2009. It is the court record of Robert Hanna's will written on 19 Apr 1785 and proven on 2 May 1786. We know that Robert Hanna's wife was Elizabeth Kelly, and from another document we find that one of his daughter's name was Jeannette or Jennet and from the will, he mentions his youngest daughter, Susanna. Jennet and Mrs. Hanna were captured by Indians (some historic sources say that there were two daughters captured) at Miller's Blockhouse the same day that Hannastown was sacked in April 1782, They were returned in December of 1782. After Jennet/Jeanette/Jane was returned, she married Lt. David Hammond. See this page for more details about the Hannas and the Hammonds.

◄At the right is photo of a painting depicting what Hannastown, PA looked like before it was sacked by Indians and British soldiers in 1782 fighting the last dregs of the Revolutionary War.

Today there has been an accurate reconstruction of the town on the original site. It is place worth visiting if you are in the area close to Greensburg, PA

Please click here if you wish to see photos taken in 2009 of the Hannastown reconstruction and more facts uncovered that summer about Samuel Miller, the original owner and builder of Miller's Blockhouse

Just below is a Gmail I received on Aug. 12, 2014 from the grandson (James Bair) of Homer F. Bair who painted the drawing of Hannastown above. I am always delighted and grateful when I receive such a positive affirmation for what I post on my website.
Thanks, James, for writing Robert Hanna’s biography. Marla Miller Hembree

Thank you for posting the photograph of Old Hannastown on your family web site. I thought you might like to know that the painting was done by my grandfather Homer F. Bair (no “L”) in the 1930s. It was purchased by the Museum of Western Pennsylvania History which is now part of the Heinz Museum in Pittsburgh. Of course, Miller is a very common name, but his wife, my grandmother was a Rose Miller. Her grandparents emigrated from Glaurus, Switzerland in the 1840s to Western Pennsylvania. Their son, my great-grandfather, Fridolin Miller settled in Greensburg, PA.

Thank you for posting this picture. I had known about the painting, but this is the first time I had ever seen even a photograph of it.

James Bair, Ansonia, CT