Governor John Hancock, III

1737 - 1793  (56 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and 3 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	John Hancock
  Prefix	Governor
  Suffix	III
  Birth	12 Jan 1737	Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, USA
  Gender	Male
  Prominent People	Founding Father USA
  Death	8 Oct 1793	Quincy, Norfolk Co. Massachusetts
  Burial	Granary Burying Ground, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  Siblings	1 Sibling
  + 1. Governor John Hancock, III,   b. 12 Jan 1737, Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, USA d. 8 Oct 1793, Quincy, Norfolk Co. Massachusetts  (Age 56 years) ▻ Dorothy Quincy,  m. 28 Aug 1775   2. Mary Hancock,   b. 8 Apr 1735   d. Yes, date unknown
  Person ID	I235936	Geneagraphie
  Links To	This person is also John Hancock at Wikipedia
  Last Modified	2 Jul 2002

  
  

  Father	Rev. John Hancock,   b. 1 Jun 1702   d. 7 May 1744, Braintree, Massachusetts, USA (Age 41 years)
  Mother	Mary Hawke,   b. 13 Oct 1711   d. Yes, date unknown
  Marriage	12 Dec 1733
  Family ID	F94474	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Dorothy Quincy,   b. 1747   d. 3 Feb 1830, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA (Age 83 years)
  Marriage	28 Aug 1775	Fairfield Co., Connecticut, USA
  Children	1. Lydia Hancock,   b. 1776   d. Yes, date unknown   2. John George W. Hancock,   b. Abt 1777   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Nancy Hancock,   b. 17 Feb 1783   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F94523	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	2 Jul 2002

  
  

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• Notes

  inherited the most profitable Boston merchant house when he was just 27. He was not a particularly successful business man in his own right and many of his grand schemes, such as the constitution of a monopoly in whale oil, failed. The introduction of the Stamp Act in 1765 was just the last of many restrictions the British put on their American colonies. It hurt New England's merchants as much as Virginia's planters and precipitated the events which led to the Independence war. John Hancock's difficulties with the British custom commissioners led him into the Independence movement and to one of its leaders, Samuel Adams. John Hancock became president of the Provincial Congress and later of the Continental Congress too. He is best remembered for his oversized signature on the Declaration of Independence. Despite relatively little mercantile success, (his inherited firm went out of business in 1775), John Hancock was still a wealthy man when he died, with an estate then estimated at 350'000 $. ************************** First signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 , Any person who signed that document was guilty of treason with the British government, and he signed it with very large handwriting and a flourish. His finances helped greatly in supporting the Revolution. president of the Continental Congress, Firts governor of Massachusetts from 1780-1793. ************************ a Delegate from Massachusetts; pursued classical studies; was graduated from Harvard College in 1754; a selectman of Boston several terms; member of the provincial legislature 1766-1772; president of the Provincial Congress in 1774; Member of the Continental Congress 1775-1778 and served as President of the Congress from May 24, 1775, to October 1777; first signer of the Declaration of Independence; served as senior major general of Massachusetts Militia during the Revolutionary War; member of the Massachusetts constitutional convention in 1780; Governor of Massachusetts 1780-1785; was again elected President of the Continental Congress on November 23, 1785, but resigned May 29, 1786, not having served on account of illness; again Governor of Massachusetts from 1787 until his death