Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Nancy Penn SMITH
On Tuesday, March 30, 2010, Mrs. John B. Hannum, of Unionville, peacefully passed on to her reward.
She was fortunate to have been spared any great suffering during her final illness. The myriad horse-related injuries she suffered more than satisfied her fair share of that.
Nancy Penn Smith Hannum was born Dec. 13, 1919, on Long Island, N.Y., the daughter of Carol Harriman Penn Smith and Richard Penn Smith. She was the granddaughter of E.H. and Mary Harriman, and the niece of W. Averell Harriman, the former governor of New York.
Her mother and father loved fox hunting and, after the family acquired a farm in The Plains, Va., became joint masters of the Orange County Hounds.
Her parents' love of the outdoors, horses and hounds were passed on to her at an early age. After her father's premature death in 1929, her mother married W. Plunket Stewart and the family moved to Unionville, where her stepfather was master of Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Foxhounds.
Following his death in 1948 she succeeded him and remained master for more than 50 years, during which time she devoted 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week to conducting the hunt and caring for her horses and hounds.
As well as being an accomplished huntsman and field master, she was a respected horsewoman and formidable competitor in horse shows and point-to-point races.
As a trainer, she won the Maryland Hunt Cup twice with Morning Mac, the Grand National with her homebred, Our Ivory Tower, and the Cheshire Bowl 14 times with seven different horses.
She attended the Unionville School, Agnes Irwin, Foxcroft School in Virginia, from which she graduated in 1937, and Sarah Lawrence College.
She married John B. Hannum III in December 1940. The union produced three children, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
She was fiercely loyal to her family, her hounds and her community. Her most enduring legacy will be the more than 30,000 acres of pristine farmland, forests and streams in southern Chester County that have been permanently preserved through her leadership and foresight.
Continuing the tradition begun by her mother and stepfather who treasured their farmland and were instrumental in the King Ranch acquiring large tracts of land surrounding the Brandywine for grazing their cattle, she recognized that the open space, vistas and natural wildlife habitats of which she was so proud needed not just temporary stewardship but perpetual legal protection.
With this in mind, she was among the first people to voluntarily confer conservation easements on all of her property and was tireless in her efforts to have others do the same.
Generations to come will be able to enjoy the beauty of the Unionville countryside as a result of her generosity and persistence.
She was a founding board member of the Upland Country Day School. She also served on the boards of Chester County Parks & Recreation and the West Chester University Foundation, along with other civic activities too numerous to mention.
She was predeceased by her husband, former U.S. District Court Judge John B. Hannum; and her sisters, Carol and Averell.
She is survived by her three children, John B. Jr. and his wife, Anne, Richard P. S. and his wife, Ellie, and Carol H. Davidson; as well as the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Averell's son, Cuyler H. Walker, his wife, Katie, and their two children.
Services will be held at Brooklawn, her home, 1825 Newark Road, West Marlborough, on Tuesday, April 6, at 2 p.m.
| HOME | EMAIL | SURNAMES |
Return to The Pennocks of Primitive Hall website.
The information in this database may contain errors. If you find any questionable data, or if you have something to add my findings, please feel free to e-mail me by clicking on the "E-MAIL" link above. Thank you!
Page built by Gedpage Version 2.21 ©2009 on 07 July 2020