Editing Septimus J. Hanna (section)

==Early years==
Septimus J. Hanna was born one of ten children, to Susanna (née Miles) and  Samuel Cook Hanna in [[Spring Mills, Pennsylvania]] on July 29, 1845. The family moved from Center County to [[Cochranton]] in Crawford County in western Pennsylvania. His parents were of different religious backgrounds, Scottish-Presbyterian (his father) and Baptist (his mother). Together, they joined the Methodist Episcopal church, where they were active members.<ref name="obit" />

He attended public school there and later, went to [[Meadville, Pennsylvania|Meadville]] Academy. The onset of war prevented his further education. At the age of eighteen, Hanna enlisted as Stephen J. Hanna in Company H, [[138th Illinois Volunteer Infantry]], composed largely of soldiers of his own age. He was unanimously elected its captain during the last year of the Civil War.<ref name="obit" />{{#tag:ref|Hanna's Civil War pension was received in his own name, as Septimus J. Hanna.<ref>[http://www.fold3.com/image/897315/ Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, Illinois Infantry, Regiment 138, Company H: Hanna, Septimus J.] Fold3. Retrieved July 8, 2013</ref>|group=n}}

Hanna resumed his education after the war, studying law. He was admitted to the Illinois [[Bar (law)|bar]] in 1866. Later, he moved to [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]], where on September 21, 1869, he married Camilla Turley, a daughter of a prominent citizen there. He began his law practice in Council Bluffs as part of the firm Sapp, Lyman, and Hanna. At the end of his first year, when he was 23, he was appointed judge of the County Court, then in Council Bluffs.<ref name="obit" /><ref name="csj-89bio">[http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/1989/12/107-12/they-answered-the-call-septimus-j.-hanna "They answered the call: Septimus J. Hanna"] ''[[Christian Science Journal]]'' (December 1989). Retrieved July 9, 2013 {{subscription required}}</ref> He held the office one and a half years and later served as city attorney for several years. He also served as deputy United States district attorney.<ref name="obit" />