Hancock Family Papers

The Hancock family of Boston included wealthy colonial merchant Thomas Hancock (1703-1764) and his nephew John Hancock (1737-1793), president of the Second Continental Congress, governor of Massachusetts, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. This collection, dated 1664-1854, contains business and personal correspondence, financial records, and legal papers of Thomas Hancock, John Hancock, and other relatives and associates, including Ebenezer Hancock (1741-1819; Harvard AB 1760), his sons John Hancock (1774-1859) and Thomas Hancock, bookseller Daniel Henchman (1689-1761), and merchant and slave trader Peter Faneuil (1700-1743).