John Hancock (Texas politician): Difference between revisions

{{other people| name =John Hancock}}

| term_start2term_end = March 43, 18751885

| predecessor2successor = [[RogerJoseph QD. MillsSayers]]

| term_start3term_end2 = March 43, 18711877

| death_placerestingplace = [[Oakwood Cemetery (Austin, TexasTX)|Oakwood Cemetery]]

'''John Hancock''' (October 24, 1824 – July 19, 1893) was [[Unitedan States|U.S.]]American [[judge]] and [[politician]]. As a member of the [[Texas Legislature]] he opposed the secession of [[Texas]] during the [[American Civil War]]. After the war he represented Texas in the [[United States House of Representatives]] as a member of the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]].

==BiographyEarly life==

John Hancock was born in [[Jackson County, Alabama]],<ref name="John Hancock">{{Handbook of Texas | name=John Hancock| id=fha46| author=| retrieved=1 JuliJuly 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> the seventh of ten children born to John Allen Hancock and Sarah Ryan Hancock.<ref name="John Allen Hancock">{{Cite web | title=John Allen Hancock | publisher= USGennet| url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/topic/afro-amer/upperla/pafg309.htm#10401 | accessdate=1 July 2010}}</ref> His older brother [[George Duncan Hancock]] was a veteran of [[Battle of San Jacinto]] and represented [[Travis County, Texas|Travis County]] in the [[Eleventh Texas Legislature]].<ref name="George Duncan Hancock">{{Handbook of Texas | name=George Duncan Hancock| id=fha45| author=| retrieved=1 JuliJuly 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref>

Hancock attended the [[East Tennessee University]] at [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]]. He later worked on his father's farm in [[Alabama]] before beginning his study of [[law]] in [[Winchester, Tennessee]]. In 1846 he was admitted to the Alabama bar.<ref name="Representing Texas: a Comprehensive History of U.S. and Confederate Senators and Representatives from Texas">{{cite book|last=Guttery|first=Ben|title=Representing Texas: a Comprehensive History of U.S. and Confederate Senators and Representatives from Texas|year=2008|publisher=BookSurge Publishing|isbn=978-1-4196-7884-4|page=77}}</ref> In January 1847 he moved to [[Austin, Texas]], where he practiced law. In 1851 he was elected district judge of the Second Judicial District for a term of six years. After four years he resigned to resume his lucrative law practice, as well as to engage in farming.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Hancock strongly believed that Texas should remain part of the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. In 1860 he was elected to the [[Texas House of Representatives]] as a [[United StatesSouthern Unionist Party|Unionist]]. After the secession of Texas in March 1861, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the [[Confederate States of America]] and was expelled from the legislature. During the Civil War he practiced law in the state courts but refused to conduct business or recognize the authority in the Confederate courts. He refused to take part in military service during the war, and in 1864 he fled to [[Mexico]] to escape conscription for the Confederacy. After the end of the war he returned to Texas and took part in the restoration of order, including serving as a delegate to the state [[constitutional convention (political meeting)|constitutional convention]] in 1866.

In 1870 he was elected to the [[United States Congress]] and served from 1871 to 1877. He served again from 1883 to 1885. He supported the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] policy of the [[Ulysses S. Grant]], which called for placing Native Americans on [[Indian reservation|reservation]]s under supervision of the federal government. While in Congress he helped in the passage of acts related to Native American policy. These acts included changing the manner of issuing rations to Native Americans on the reservations, stipulating that they were to be given once a week, as well as prohibiting Native American hunting-parties unless accompanied by [[United States Army]] troops. This latter policy ended raids by Native Americans from the reservations. He also helped establish a military [[telegraph]] around the Texas [[frontier]].

*[http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-5827:58 Entry for John Hancock] from the [https://archive.today/20121205004737/http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-5827 ''Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas''] published 1880, hosted by the [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ Portal to Texas History.]

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[[Category:MembersDemocratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives]]

[[Category:MembersPoliticians offrom the United States House of Representatives fromAustin, Texas]]

[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas]]