John Hancock III (1736 - 1793)

Born 12 Jan 1736 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Dorothy (Quincy) Scott — married 28 Aug 1775 (to 1793) in Thaddeus Burr Mansion, Fairfield, Connecticut

Died 8 Oct 1793 at age 57 in Hancock Manor, Boston, Norfolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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John Hancock III participated in the American Revolution. Join: 1776 Project Discuss: 1776

Preceded by The Massachusetts Provincial Congress and new office created October 25, 1780 2nd Governor James Bowdoin

John Hancock III 1st Governor of Massachusetts 1780—1785 3rd Governor 1787—1793

Succeeded by Acting Governor Thomas Cushing 4th Governor Samuel Adams

Biography

John Hancock III is Notable.

Governor John Hancock III was a Founding Father in the American Revolution.

John Hancock III is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A050856.

John Hancock III is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: P-174340
Rank: Patriotic

John Hancock (1737-1793) was the son of Rev. John Hancock of Braintree and Mary (Hawke) Thaxter of Hingham.^[1] After his father died in 1744 he lived with an uncle and aunt, Thomas Hancock and Lydia (Henchman) Hancock.

He was educated at Boston Latin School and Harvard University. Just ten years after graduating from college, he inherited his uncle's very lucrative business and became the richest man in America at the time.

Hancock despised blind authority. Those beliefs led him to use his contacts and resources in the aid of the independence of the colonies. He was often engaged in revolutionary politics, first as a financier, and later as an outspoken public critic of British rule.

On March 5, 1774, the fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, he gave a speech strongly condemning the British. In the same year, he was elected president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.

On May 24, 1775, he was elected President of the Second Continental Congress. On 28 August of the same year, he married Dorothy Quincy in Fairfield, Connecticut.^[2]

Hancock is best remembered for his large, flamboyant signature on the Declaration of Independence, so much so that the word “John Hancock” is synonymous with "signature".

Because of the popularity of the Hancock name, many people claim to be direct descendants. However, Mr. Hancock and his wife only had two children, neither of whom lived to see their teenage years. Lydia Henchman Hancock died an infant and John George Washington Hancock died at age 9 — he fell through the ice while skating in a pond in Massachusetts.

Legacy

Ten US states have counties named in John Hancock's honor. They are: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Slaves

John Hancock is recorded in the report as owning five individuals with documented dates of ownership.

• Cato Hancock (abt.1747-1817)^{[3] [4]} Cato first appears in the 1764 will of Thomas Hancock (1703-1764), John’s uncle and guardian. Thomas Hancock was also a benefactor of Harvard College, leaving £1000 in his will to fund the Hancock Professorship of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages.^[5] The will stipulates that Cato should be manumitted when he turns 30. Cato also appeared in Lydia Hancock’s 1777 will in which she stipulates that he should receive 6 pounds, 13 shillings, and 4 pence from her estate “at the time he shall become free by my late husband’s will.” ^[6] As John and Lydia Hancock shared a home, Cato and the other enslaved people named in Lydia Hancock’s will lived in John Hancock’s house up to the time of her death. https://archive.org/details/manifestochurchr00chu/page/184/mode/1up
• Frank (1768-1771)^[6][3]
• Agnes (1777)^[4][6]
• Violet (1777)^[4][6]
• Hannibal (1777).^[4][6]

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZD3-VP6 : 15 January 2020), John Hancock, 1736.
2. ↑ Child, Frank Samuel. An Old New England Church, Established Religion in Connecticut (Fairfield Historical Society, Fairfield, Conn., 1910) Page 154
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} The Manifesto Church: Records of the Church in Brattle Square, Boston, with Lists of Communicants, Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals, 1699–1872 (Boston, MA: The Benevolent Fraternity of Churches, 1902), 184, 185, 187, 189): Internet Archive
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} "Appendix I: List of Human Beings Enslved by Prominent Harvard Affiliates." Legacy of Slavery at Harvard". Harvard University. p 5. Appendix link Full Report
5. ↑ Will of Thomas Hancock, Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers, AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017–2019, (from records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives, digitized images provided by FamilySearch. org), accessed April 2, 2021.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4} Will of Mrs. Lydia Hancock, Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers, AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017–2019, (from records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives, digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org), accessed April 2, 2021.

See also:

• Find A Grave Memorial# 440
• John Hancock on wikipedia
• John Hancock and "The Declaration of Independence"
• The Family Magazine (Redfield & Lindsay, New York, 1834-5) Vol. 2, Page 112: "He died of the gout, which was hereditary in his family."
• Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery
• Wikidata: Item Q272774