Hancock, John

1737 - Born on January 12th in Braintree (now in Quincy), Massachusetts. An American Revolutionary leader and first signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

1754 - Hancock entered a mercantile house in Boston owned by his uncle Thomas Hancock, who later left him a large fortune.

1765 - He became a selectman of Boston.

1969 - Hancock was a member of the Massachusetts General Court.

         - He was chairman of the Boston town committee formed immediately after the Boston Massacre to demand the removal of British troops from the city.

1774-1775 - Hancock was president of the first and second provincial congresses, and he shared with Samuel Adams the leadership of the Massachusetts Patriots.

         - Hancock was a member and served as the president of the Continental Congress.

1780 - Hancock was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention and in the same year was elected governor of the state.

1785-1786 - He served in Congress under the Articles of Confederation and then returned to the governorship.

1788 - He presided over the Massachusetts Convention that ratified the federal Constitution, although he had been unfriendly at first toward the document.

1793 - Died October 8th in Quincy, Massachusetts while serving his ninth term as governor.