Clement Hancock (abt. 1750 - 1781)

Descendants

Died 19 Nov 1781 at about age 31 in District 96, South Carolina, United States

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Biography

Captain Clement Hancock served with Little River District Regiment, South Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.

Clement Hancock was Killed in Action at Hayes Station, Laurens, South Carolina on 18 Nov 1781 during the American Revolution.

Clement Hancock is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A133211.

Clement Hancock is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: 338486
Rank: Lieutenant

Clement Hancock was born about 1750 (see discussion), and lived in the Ninety Six District (later Laurens County) South Carolina, where he served on juries in the county. We assume that Clement was a farmer, as were all of his sons.

He is named for the lists of 1778-1779 on the Petit-jury lists for Ninety Six district for the area of "Little River between Broad and Saludy" with his name spelled as "Clement Handcock". This list of men in the same area also includes a Joseph Hays, and a Daniel Williams. These two men were known officers of the Little River Militia, active during the American Revolution.

During the American Revolution, Clement enlisted at Charleston as a private in Colonel Anderson's unit, but in June 1780 became a Lieutenant in Colonel Casey's Little River Militia. Clement was killed with many others, including those other jury-serving neighbors at (Joseph) Hayes Station on 19 Nov 1781.^[1]

Colonel Joseph Hayes and about two dozen of his men had settled for a meal at the tavern owned by Hayes. The men had heard that "Bloody Bill" Cunningham and his group of Loyalists might be in the area but after several scouting parties had found nothing, the men were confident that all was quiet. As they began their meal, Captain John Owens rode up and warned the men that there was a fire at a nearby plantation house.

Hayes and his men immediately rose and went outside, climbing a hill to obtain a better view of what was going on at the neighbor's farm. They were then surrounded by Cunningham and his 300 Loyalists. Hayes and his men ran into a small block house on the hill for cover, but it was soon set afire with flaming arrows, so they surrendered.

Each man was forced to back out of the house and had their hands tied behind them, and all the men were attached to a long rope. They believed they would be marched to another location. However, as soon as the last man was attached to the rope, Cunningham started hanging them, and when that wasn't going fast enough, Cunningham drew his sword and started slashing and dismembering the Patriots, ordering his men to do the same. Fourteen were killed. Several men escaped, unfortunately, Lieutenant Hancock was not one of them.^[2][3][4]

We can assume that he and his wife were married about 1773, as their oldest child was born about 1774. Isabella remains in what becomes Laurens county, and as executor of Clement's estate petitions for his back pay and for use of their house. The will of their son, William, links the names of the children to Clement and Isabella.

There is no supporting information yet provided that demonstrates his father or his brothers.

Research Notes

Many different Wikitree biographies claim the Clement Hancock who was killed at Hays Station in 1781. There is plenty of confusion about how many Clement Hancocks were in the Virginia/South Carolina/Georgia/North Carolina region of the right age. There is a high likelihood that many of these Clement Hancocks are related, further adding to the confusion. Finally, there is a "Strange custom of giving two sons the same baptismal name, though by no means a general practice, yet has appeared in several well-known instances in Virginia Colonial life" (a quote attributed to a Mr Torrence in The Walker family, originally of the Yeocomico River section of Northumberland (subsequently Westmoreland) County, Virginia : stemming from William Walker (1622/23-1657) and through one of his descendants, Joseph Rabley Walker (1768-1816), who immigrated from Mecklenburg County in that state to South Carolina, circa 1806, and settled in Edgefield County near the town of that name a reference by Legere Walker and available on familysearch.com. It's not impossible that there are two brothers both named Clement Hancock would could have been in the area.

Specific overlap that still needs to be sorted out involves the resolution of the descendants of Hancock- 9544 (this page) and the Wilkes County George branch of Hancock-6654.

Only two other man surnamed Hancock or Handcock can be found on this list for the Ninety Six district: a John Hancock, found in the area "Between Turkey Creek and Savannah River", and a James Hancock, on the Grand Jury list for the Ninety Six District, for the "Upper Part of the Middle Division between Broad and Saludy Rivers". To serve on a jury, I'm assuming a fellow would have to be at least 21 years old, placing the birth year of these three men only as late as 1759; I'm also going to guess that after age 55 or 60 they would be unlikely to serve, putting their birth year unlikely to be before 1720.

In 1790, none of these three Hancock/Handcock men can be found in the US census for Laurens County. However, There is a widow, Isabelle Hancock, living in Laurens County. To determine which of these three Handcock/Hancock men is her late husband, we can compare the list of jury men from the 1779 lists to the 1790 census, and it indicates that Isabelle is living near men who served on juries with Clement Hancock, and not John or James. Isabella is the widow of Clement Hancock, who served on a jury in 1780 and is not longer living by 1790.

There is a "Jon Hancock" in the adjacent county, Edgefield County, who can be tracked through successive censuses to determine his year of birth to be about 1745. Given the description of the location of the John Hancock of the juries, it is a reasonable assumption to believe these are one and the same person. James Hancock, who also served on a jury, is not as easily tracked.

The widow, Isabella Hancock of Laurens county, collected an annuity for her husbands service in 1800. The estate of Clement Hancock petitioned for setting the back pay and expenses and those papers can be accessed at http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/ArchivesImages/S108092/S108092006500396000/images/S108092006500396000.pdf The quality of the document is difficult to read, but it clearly describes the death of Lt Clement Hancock concurrent with the death of Colonel Hayes.

These documents verify that Clement Hancock was a Lieutenant and that he died with Colonel Hays on 19th November 1781. The widow, Isabela Hancock, requested the payment be sent to her, dated the request in 1786.

One of the most contemporaneous accounts of the circumstances of Clements death is captured by the historian David Ramsay:

"In the close of the year 1781, when the success of the American army had confined the late conquerors to the vicinity of Charleston a desperate band of tories adopted the infernal scheme of taking their last revenge, by carrying fire and sword into the settlements of the whig militia. To this end major William Cunningham, of the British militia, collected a party, and having furnished them with every thing necessary for laying waste the country, sallied from Charleston. He and his associates concealed themselves till they arrived in the back settlements, far in the rear of the American army, and there began to plunder, burn and murder. In the unsuspecting hour of sleep and domestic security, they entered the houses of the solitary farmers, and sacrificed to their revenge the obnoxious head of the family. Their cruelties induced some small parties to associate and arm in self-defense. Captain Turner and twenty men had, on these principles, taken post in a house, and defended themselves till their ammunition was nearly expended. After which they surrendered on receiving assurances that they should be treated as prisoners' of war. Notwithstanding this solemn agreement, captain Turner and his party were put to instant death by Cunningham and the men under his command. Soon after this massacre the same party of tories attacked a number of the American militia, in the district of Ninety-Six, commanded by colonel Hayes, and set fire to the house in which they had taken shelter. The only alternative left was either to be burned or to surrender themselves prisoners. The last being preferred, colonel Hayes and captain Daniel Williams were hung at once on the pole of the fodder-stack. This breaking, they both fell, on which major William Cunningham cut them into pieces with his own sword, when, turning upon the other, he continued on them the operations of his savage barbarity, till the powers of nature being exhausted, and his enfeebled limbs refusing to administer any longer to his insatiate fury, he called upon his comrades to complete the dreadful work by killing whichsoever of the prisoners they pleased. They instantly put to death such of them as they personally disliked. Only two fell in action, but fourteen were deliberately cut to pieces after their surrender. Their names and rank were as follows: colonel Joseph Hayes, captain Daniel Williams, lieutenant Christopher Hardy, lieutenant John Neel, Clement Hancock, Joseph Williams, Joseph Irby, senior, Joseph Irby, junior, John Milven, James Feris, John Cook, Greaf Irby, Benjamin Goodman, Yancy Saxon."

This series of documents show that Clement Hancock and his wife, Isabelle, were residents of Laurens County, South Carolina, and that Clement was Lieutenant in Colonel (Levi?) Casey's regiment (Little River Regiment) and was killed with Colonel Hayes on 19 Nov 1781, and that his widow was living in Laurens Co, South Carolina in the year 1800.

Familial relationships of the Hancocks of Ninety Six district...perspectives from two later sources.

Syble Darlene Brooks Kenny, in her 1970 family genealogy , "Our Hancock Family" says that: "The tradition that has been passed to us is that three Hancock brothers came together to America from England in a very early day: their names were Wesley, John, and Clement Hancock. The first location where they settled is unknown at the time. The earliest definite location of of this particular line of Hancocks is in the rolling hills of Laurens County, South Carolina. This area of South Carolina's "Up Country" was settled by large immigration from western Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia beginning about 1751. It is probably that our Hancocks were among these pioneers."

Brooks Kenny continues to tell the family tradition of Revolutionary war Hancocks from Laurens county, stating that three Hancock brothers - Clement, John and William, all served in rebel militia and that only William survived.

Brooks Kenny relates the words of Julia Ann Hancock Slack in a letter from 1939 "Our great great grandfather, John Hancock (I), was killed by the Tories....the Tories cut our great-great grandfather all to pieces and great great grandmother only knew it was his body by the homemade clothing she had woven and made herself". (She uses the numerical system to differentiate the many John Hancocks in her family)

Brooks Kenny believes that Bill Cunningham, known to have been responsible for the death of Clement Hancock, was also responsible for the death of his brother John Hancock.

Brooks Kenney's tree traces her family to John Hancock I, and believes the William Hancock who died in 1805 and left a will was the third brother, and not the son of Clement who was killed in 1780.

Yet, a grand daughter of this same William Hancock, Mary Gaines Hancock Finley, expressed a different opinion, in a 1904 newspaper story, saying that William Hancock, her grandfather, was a Revolutionary soldier in a South Carolina regiment and was killed in battle. And that William was the son of Isabella and Clement Hancock, and that he had brothers John, Clem, and Jim and two sisters.

I believe all these stories contain a lot of truth, but some of the details may have evolved. I have found Rev War documents for Laurens county Hancocks William, Clement (heirs) and John, which indicates that at least one John Hancock survived the war, and that Clement was definitely killed. None of the documents that I could read contained any reference to the age of the men, which is unfortunate.

Sources

1. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 4 April 2024), "Record of Clement Hancock", Ancestor # A133211.
2. ↑ Hayes' Station Battle Memorial, online at Familypedia Fandom ( https://familypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Hayes_Station_Battle_Memorial# : accessed April 5, 2023)
3. ↑ "The Battle of Hayes' Station," online at Revolutionarywar.us (https://revolutionarywar.us/year-1781/battle-hayes-station/ : accessed April 5, 2023)
4. ↑ "The American Revolution in South Carolina: Hayes' Station," Carolana.com, Little River, SC: 2020. Online at (https://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/revolution_hayes_station.html : accessed April 7, 2023)

• South Carolina, US Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890
• US Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 . Document: Jury Lists, 1779, Acts #1123 [at SC Archives]; Page Number: 14; Family Number: 58. Town: Little River Bottom, Broad and Saludy.
• Jury Lists of South Carolina, 1778-1779 Section: Miscellaneous Act No. 1123 - The Determination of Jury Lists for District Ninety-Six, page 94. accessed through ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/48258/images/JuryListsSC-001084-95?xxre=&backlabel=return
• Guignard, James S., Treasurer At Columbia, Report, Including A Summary Statement Of The Transactions Between Feb. 18, 1801 And Sept. 30, 1801; A General Statement Of The Tax Payable At The Treasury In Columbia For The Year 1800; And A List Of Approximately 140 Pensioners Paid At Columbia, Giving Name Of Pensioner, District Of Residence, And Date Last Paid. Date: 11/23/1801Record details: Date: 11/23/1801Series: Governors' Messages (S165009) Document Type: Report Images: Online Identifiers: Archives ID: Series: S165009 Message: 0810 Page: 00005 ignore: 000 accessed at http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/
• Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. Moss, Boby Gilmer. Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994. Accessed through Ancestry.com. Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
• Ramsay, David, MD. The history of the revolution of South Carolina, from a British province to an independent state in two volumes Vol II p 273. Printed by Isaac Collins, Trenton New Jersey 1785. accessed https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_History_of_the_Revolution_of_South_C/NNFVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=hancock
• Hancock, Clement, Account Audited (File No. 3288) Of Claims Growing Out Of The American Revolution. Date: 1776 C. or later http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/ArchivesImages/S108092/S108092006500396000/images/S108092006500396000.pdf

(note: the archivesindes.sc.gov website can be searched to find all the documents relating to Clement and Isabella. )

• "Our Hancock Family" by Syble Darlene Brooks Kenny, Fort Smith Library, Fort Smith, Arkansas
• Mt. Pleasant, Iowa Free Press, July 21, 1904: Mary Gaines Finley Sharp-Gleanings from the life of one of America’s Noble Pioneer Women.