Martin-Dade County FlArchives Biographies.....Hancock, John Charles 1858 - 
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Author: B. F. Johnson (1909)

John Charles Hancock

    Indiana and the other great States of the Middle West were settled largely
by the children of the New England settlers; and just as the hardihood and
fortitude of the New England pioneer were the foundation and mainstay of its
future growth and prosperity, so did their descendants in moving westward carry
with them those splendid characteristics. Among the offspring of this good old
New England stock is the subject of this sketch, John Charles Hancock whose
ancestor and namesake presided over the Continental Congress at the time of the
signing of the Declaration of Independence. John Charles Hancock was born at
Greencastle, Ind., on October 26, 1858. His father was Rev. Thomas Jefferson
Hancock who was prominently connected with public affairs of Indiana in his
time; his mother before her marriage was Miss Martha J. Wheatley, a lady whose
family was prominent in affairs of church in her native State -Ohio.

    John Charles Hancock received his preparatory education in the excellent
public schools of his native town and afterwards entered the Indiana State
Normal College from which he graduated in 1881, having taken a three years'
business course with special attention to business and commercial law. Shortly
after graduation he was employed in one of the largest manufacturing concerns of
his State and his knowledge of commercial law was of incalculable benefit to him
and to his company as he had charge of all its legal matters. He held this
position for twenty years.

    Mr. Hancock married early in life and the lady of his choice, Mamie L.,
daughter of Capt. George A. and Rosa A. Lentz, is a lady of exceptional grace
and culture. One child has been added to his small family, Charles Frederick
Hancock, and he is now at college, at Sewannee, Tenn., University of the South.

    In 1902 Mr. Hancock moved with his family to Stuart in Dade county, Fla.,
where he has acquired large property interests among which is a beautiful home
on the St. Lucie river. There he has given most of his attention to pineapple
growing which he considers the most profitable industry of the kind. He now has
three plantations with about one hundred acres, several acres of which are in
pineapples. While this has been his principal business he has other interests;
at the same time he finds time to write for the local and State papers and takes
an active interest in political affairs. In 1903 he was appointed Justice of the
Peace and is now serving as such and at the same time he is Notary Public and
Assistant Postmaster. He is also local representative of the First National Bank
of St. Augustine.

    As seen from the foregoing, Mr. Hancock is a very busy man, but all this
does not keep him from being an ardent outdoor sportsman; especially is he
interested in yachting and he is a member of the Gilbert Bar and Eau Gallie
Yacht Clubs.

    Mr. Hancock is a member and Lay Reader in the Protestant Episcopal Church
and is a prominent secret society man, being a member of the Woodmen, Odd
Fellows, Elks, Knights Templar and Mystic Shrine, in all of which he has held
official positions.

    "Judge" Hancock, as he is familiarly known by his friends is a an ardent
believer in "Sound Money" politically which may be accounted for by the fact
that he was personally known and intimately acquainted with the late Grover
Cleveland, who had a winter home at Stuart where they often fished together. He
is very optimistic as to the possibilities of the East Coast of Florida and
thinks there is a great future before it, financially and every other way.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

FLORIDA EDITION
MAKERS OF AMERICA
AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS
VOL. III.
Published under the patronage of 
The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida

ADVISORY BOARD:
HON. W. D.  BLOXHAM
COL. FRANK HARRIS
HON. R. W. DAVIS
SEN. H. H. McCREARY
HON. F. P. FLEMING
W. F. STOVALL
C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY

1909
A. B. CALDWELL
ATLANTA, GA.

COPYRIGHT 1909
B. F. JOHNSON

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