Preceded by The Massachusetts Provincial Congress and new office created October 25, 1780 2nd Governor James Bowdoin |
John Hancock 1st Governor of Massachusetts 1780—17853rd Governor 1787—1793 |
Succeeded by Acting Governor Thomas Cushing 4th Governor Samuel Adams |
Preceded by 3rd President Peyton Randolph |
John Hancock III 4th President of the Continental Congress 24 May 1775 - 1 Nov 1777 |
Succeeded by 5th President Henry Laurens |
Preceded by 12th President Richard Henry Lee |
John Hancock III 13th President of the Continental Congress 23 Nov 1785 - 29 May 1786 |
Succeeded by 14th President Nathaniel Gorham |
| This person was a President of the US Continental Congress Join: 1776 Project Discuss: US_CONTINENTAL_CONGRESS_PRESIDENTS |
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John Hancock (1737-1793), orphaned as a boy, was adopted by a rich uncle who had no children of his own. 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.
The influence of being a workingman, and then one of means may be what made Hancock so in touch with the people. He despised blind authority and those beliefs lead him to use his contacts and resources in the aid of the independence of the colonies. He spoke out strongly regarding British Rule and was often engaged revolutionary politics at first as a financier and later a 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. In August of the same year, he married Dorothy Quincy.
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 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, fell through the ice while skating in a pond in Massachusetts.
John Hancock was son of Rev. John Hancock of Braintree and Mary (Hawke )Thaxter of Hingham. After his father died in 1744 he lived with an uncle and aunt, Thomas Hancock and Lydia (Henchman) Hancock.'
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John Hancock is recorded in the report as owning five individuals with documented dates of ownership. - Cato (1764-1777) Cato first appears in the 1764 will of Thomas Hancock, 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. 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. 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.” 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. 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.
- Frank (1768-1771; Agnes (1777); Violet (1777); and Hannibal (1777). (see: 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): https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Manifesto_Church/Iufi5eVXCGoC?hl=en&gbpv=1
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John is 16 degrees from June Cash, 17 degrees from Patsy Cline, 25 degrees from Mickey Guyton, 15 degrees from Naomi Judd, 16 degrees from Loretta Lynn, 32 degrees from Rita MacNeil, 18 degrees from Reba McEntire, 20 degrees from Joy Kirkpatrick, 17 degrees from Dolly Parton, 18 degrees from Minnie Pearl, 18 degrees from Kitty Wells and 24 degrees from Andrew Turvey on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
H > Hancock > John Hancock III
Categories: Sons of Liberty, American Revolution | Signers of the United States Declaration of Independence | Signers of the Articles of Confederation | President of the Continental Congress | Massachusetts Governors | Granary Burying Ground, Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Latin School | Harvard University | Namesakes US Counties | Example Profiles of the Week | USBH Heritage Exchange, Needs Slave Profiles | USBH Heritage Exchange | Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Slaves | Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Slave Owners | American Founding Fathers | NSDAR Patriot Ancestors | NSSAR Patriot Ancestors
edited by Gina (Pocock) Jarvi
I found this obituary that claimed Lydia Hancock Wakefield (1813-1906) was a Granddaughter. However both children in this profile would not have descendants.
http://www.archives.gov/research/military/american-revolution/pictures/images/revolutionary-war-083.jpg