Gifted athlete and early Chevrolet dealer was Wes Hanson

Nelse Wesley "Wes" Hanson was a natural-born athlete who excelled in many different sports. He also owned the Fairbury Auto Chevrolet dealership for 48 years, from 1919 to 1967.

Wes Hanson was one of Fairbury's most gifted athletes. He was a star player on the Bon Ton Limits basketball team and was one of the best golfers in Central Illinois.

The family story of Wes Hanson began with the birth of his father, Frank Levin Hanson, in Sweden in 1850. When Frank L. Hanson was 16 years old, in 1866, he emigrated from Sweden to Paxton. Frank learned the harness trade and worked in a harness shop in Paxton.

In 1875, Frank Hanson married Mary Charlotte Peterson in Paxton. Mary Peterson was born in 1856 in Katilistad, Sweden. Frank Hanson was 24 and Mary Peterson was 18 when they married. They had five children.

In 1887, the Frank Hanson family moved to Roberts. Frank continued his trade as a harness maker in Roberts until he moved to Goodland, Indiana, in 1903. In 1908, Frank Hanson moved to Fairbury and worked as a harness maker at Mapel Brothers on Locust Street.

In 1921, when Frank was 71, his health began to fail. Frank had to retire after working 55 years as a harness maker. Frank Hanson died in 1925 at the age of 75 and was buried at Graceland Cemetery.

The youngest of the five children of Frank and Mary Hanson was Nelse Wesley Hanson. He was born in 1889 in Roberts. Wes was 10 years old when his family moved to Fairbury. He attended local schools through the eighth grade.

Wes Hanson was a naturally gifted athlete. He enjoyed skating, baseball, basketball and swimming as a youth. Starting around 1910, Wes played on men's basketball teams, including the Bon Ton Limits from Fairbury.

In 1914, Wes Hanson and Carl Goudy opened an Excelsior motorcycle dealership in Fairbury. Wes and Carl were good friends and played basketball on the Bon Ton Limits team. The Bon Ton was a drugstore west of the Langstaff Clinic on Locust Street. This drugstore sponsored a men's basketball team and named it after the drugstore. They played their games in the Locust Street Opera House. Steidinger Meats now occupies the location of this opera house.

In 1881, Jacob Hollenback and J.T. Clemens started the Fairbury Bottling Works. Their bottling facility was located off First Street in the alley between Hickory and Ash streets. In 1890, C.C. Hollenback and his brother-in-law, Frank Combes, bought the bottling works from the estate of J.T. Clemens. They operated the bottling works from 1890 until 1910.

Frank Combes married Miss Belle Hollenback. One of their children was Esther Marie Combes, born in 1894 in Fairbury. Esther grew up in Fairbury and married Wes Hanson in 1915. Wes was 25 years old and Esther was 21 when they married in Fairbury. Wes and Esther Hanson had no children.

In 1916, Wes purchased a garage from Herman Lies. In 1919, Wes was awarded a Chevrolet dealership. Wes named his company the Fairbury Auto Company.

After being awarded the Chevrolet dealership, Wes hired 13-year-old Spud Schlipf as a "gopher." A gopher meant the person would go for parts and things for the dealership. Spud eventually purchased the dealership in 1967. Spud is considered the "father" of Fairbury auto racing because he started the midget car races in 1946.

In 1922-23, Wes owned a racing car that saw action many times on the American Legion half-mile dirt track. The driver of that auto was Doyt Atha from Lafayette, Indiana. Wes never drove the car.

Wes Hanson was an exceptionally talented golfer. He was a charter member of the Indian Creek Golf Course when it was established in 1926. Wes was the Fairbury golf course's annual champion for many years. Wes Hanson won the Bloomington City Championship in 1944. He captured the top title at the Pontiac Country Club every year from 1937 through 1945. Wes continued to participate in senior golf championships later in life.

Some employees at the Fairbury Auto Company with Wes Hanson were Lyle Winterland, Joe Schlitz, Milton Mullins, Lyle Corkhill, Harold Friedman and Kenneth Hanshew.

In 1933, the Third Street Opera House manager dreamed up a "mystery couple" wedding as a publicity stunt to attract more patrons to his theater. After several weeks of publicity about the mystery couple, the wedding was held on the theater stage. The groom was Mr. Martin Hacker, and the bride was Mrs. Nellie Hayden. Twenty-three Fairbury merchants donated wedding gifts to the newlyweds. The most significant wedding present was a brand new 1933 Chevrolet that Wes Hanson and the Fairbury Auto Company donated.

Wes Hanson was one of the charter members of Knoll Lodge. Wes eventually became the only living member of the 20 members who formed the club in April 1919.

Mr. Hanson was stricken with heart problems during the last few years of his life. In that era, very little could be done with patients with heart issues.

On a sweltering August day in 1961, Wes was playing the game he loved, golf, at the Indian Creek Golf Course. He suffered a heart attack at the course and died by the time a friend drove him to the Fairbury Hospital. Wes Hanson was 71 years of age when he died. Wes was the oldest active Chevrolet dealer in the Chicago Zone. This zone included Chicago and extended as far south as Colfax. Wes was buried at Graceland Cemetery. Esther Hanson died at 90 years of age in 1985.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Dale C. Maley Fairbury history column on car dealer Wes Hanson