John Hancock Collection

John Hancock (1737-1793) was a prominent Boston merchant and leading statesman during the American Revolutionary War period. A 1754 graduate of Harvard College, he served as its treasurer from 1773 until 1777.

Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, Hancock moved to Boston after the death of his father, the Reverend John Hancock (1702-1744) and lived with his uncle and aunt, Thomas (1703-1764) and Lydia Hancock (1714-1776). Upon graduating from Harvard, Hancock entered into his uncle’s prosperous trading business; in 1763, he became a partner. With the death of his uncle in 1764, Hancock took charge of the business and much of his uncle’s estate. As one of the wealthiest merchants in Massachusetts, John Hancock was conscious of the adverse effects of the British tariffs enacted after the French and Indian War (1755-1763), and was often involved in the escalating clashes between colonists and representatives of the crown. In early 1765 Hancock was elected a selectman of Boston, and later that year Hancock emerged as a vocal opponent of the Stamp Act. In May 1766 he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Against the backdrop of growing political conflict, Harvard appointed Hancock Treasurer of the College on July 30, 1773. The Hancock family was among Harvard’s leading benefactors in the 18th century. Family contributions to Harvard included £1000 from Thomas Hancock's will to establish a professorship in Oriental languages and John Hancock's generous donation of books in 1767. But Hancock’s attention to the College waned as his civic responsibilities increased. On October 14, 1774, Hancock was elected president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. He left for Philadelphia on April 22, 1775 to act as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. He served as President of the Continental Congress from 1775, moving from Philadelphia to Baltimore in December 1776 to avoid the approaching British troops. Hancock returned to Philadelphia in early March 1777 until Congress was once again forced to relocate, this time to York, Pennsylvania in September. Finally in October 1777 a leave of absence was approved and Hancock returned to Boston.

Hancock's congressional responsibilities complicated his role as Harvard’s treasurer. By the beginning of 1775, he was nearly unresponsive to the repeated pleas of the College for information about its financial status. For more than two years, the Corporation tried to manage the school's funds while requesting action from their Treasurer. The Corporation elected a new treasurer on July 14, 1777, and Hancock learned of his dismissal from a newspaper advertisement.

In the closing years of the war, Massachusetts citizens elected Hancock governor in 1780. Hancock began a second term in 1784, but resigned on January 29, 1785 due to illness. Though his health problems continued, he was reelected governor in 1787 and continued in the position until his death on October 8, 1793.

Hancock married Dorothy Quincy (1747-1830) in 1775. Their two children, Lydia Hancock (1776-1777) and John George Washington Hancock (1778-1787) died in childhood.