Biographical Note
Benjamin Franklin Hancock was born October 30, 1799 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked as a school teacher and then as a lawyer in Norristown. He also worked for the Norristown Gas Company and the Norristown Insurance and Water Company. In addition, he was in the 1860’s a collection for the Internal Revenue Service.
Raised a Quaker, he was excluded from the Society of Friends when he married a non-Quaker, Sarah Hoxworth. He was the father of Major General Winfield Scott Hancock as well as of two other sons, Hilary and John.
Hancock died on February 1, 1867.
Scope and Content
This collection of papers contains many legal papers, including estate papers and eviction notices, as well as some of Hancock’s personal papers. The personal papers are almost entirely financial in nature and include stock certificates and several documents from Hancock’s time as a collector for the Internal Revenue Service. Two of those documents have been signed by President Andrew Johnson.