Andrew Jackson Hanscom
Andrew Jackson Hanscom (February 3, 1828 – September 11, 1907) was a pioneer Omaha, Nebraska lawyer, politician and real estate broker.
Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Andrew was the youngest child of Irving Hanscom, a pioneer of Macomb County, Michigan. He was sent to Detroit for elementary school, and later completed high school there, as well. At 17 Hanscom attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and during this period he served as first lieutenant of Company C., First Michigan Infantry, during the Mexican-American War. While in Mexico Hanscom commanded Thomas B. Cuming, which would be helpful again to him in the future.
After the war Hanscom came to Council Bluffs, Iowa and opened a mercantile. In 1854 he attended July 4 picnic during which the city was founded. That year he moved across the Missouri River and built a claim shack and small frame building near 15th and Farnam Streets in present-day Downtown Omaha. When Alfred Jones surveyed Omaha later that year he divided it into 320 blocks, after which point Hanscom discovered his claim had been reserved for schools. He quickly traded the land for a 400-acre (1.6 km2) claim belonging to Colonel Sam Bayliss. Late that year Hanscom was appointed colonel of the First Nebraska Regiment, and he helped found the Omaha Claim Club.
While working for A.J. Poppleton's law firm, he served as speaker of the first House of Representatives of the Nebraska Territory in 1855. He quickly made enemies within the House as a strong anti-slavery advocate, and clashed strongly with those of differing views, including J. Sterling Morton. As the speaker he was also the unofficial leader of the Omaha promoters in the House.
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