Sketch of William Hancock, Warren County, Missouri

>From "A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri, with numerous
sketches, anecdotes, adventures, etc., relating to Early Days in 
Missouri" by William S. Bryan and Robert Rose, Published by Bryan,
Brand & Co., St. Louis Missouri, 1876.
**********************************************************************

William Hancock was a pioneer of both Kentucky and Missouri.  In the
former state he helped to fight the Indians and guard the forts, and
experienced the dangers and privations of those times.  He came to
Missouri among the first Americans who sought homes here, and was the
first settler on the Missouri River bottom, in Warren County, which
has since borne his name.  He was married in St. Charles County to a
Miss McClain, by whom he had three children, two daughters and a son 
named William Jr.  The latter died at home, unmarried.  One of the
daughters, named Mary, married Captain Hamilton, and they now live on
the old homestead.  Captain Hamilton served with distinction in the 
War with Mexico.  The other daughter married Dr. George Y. Bast, of
New Florence, MO.  Mr. Hancock was a jovial man, and fond of practical
jokes.  He and Anthony Wyatt and Jacob Darst once took a flat boat 
loaded with pork and peltries to Natchez, Mississippi, and while there
they concocted a plan to show Darst, who was a devil-may-care sort of
a man, as a wild man of the forest.  Accordingly they rigged him out
in an appropriate costume, and exhibited him with great success, the
room being crowded with visitors during the entire exhibition.  Darst
enjoyed the joke equally as well as his two companions, and they all
reaped a substantial reward for their pains.  Hancock and John Wyatt
ran for the Legislature once, and the vote was a tie.  They tried it
over, and tied again, when Hancock withdrew and let Wyatt have the
office.

====================================================================
     USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing
         free information on the Internet, data may be used by
         non-commercial entities, as long as this message
         remains on all copied material. These electronic
         pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit
         or for presentation by other persons or organizations.

         Persons or organizations desiring to use this material
         for purposes other than stated above must obtain the
         written consent of the file contributor.

         This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb
         Archives by: Penny Harrell <Incog3678@aol.com>

====================================================================