Master Surname Index



John Hancock

Ancestry of
John Hancock

Signer of the Declaration of Independence


Who was John Hancock?

John Hancock was an American patriot during the Revolutionary War. He is probably best known as the first signer of the Declaration of Independence where his large, iconic signature became the American synonym for the word signature. Very few Americans wouldn't know what to do if asked to put their John Hancock on a document.

John Hancock was a wealthy merchant prior to the revolution and he used that wealth to help support the American cause. He was also Boston's most well known smuggler. In 1775 he was elected President of the Continental Congress. After his stint in the Continental Congress, he returned home to Massachusetts where we became the first Governor of Massachusetts. The John Hancock Center in Chicago, the fourth tallest building in Chicago and the seventh tallest in the United States, currently bears his name.

Famous Kin

As a well known patriot of the American Revolution, it seems only fitting that John Hancock has kinship to a number of other prominent patriots including Samuel Prescott, the man who actually completed Paul Revere's midnight ride, Amos Lincoln, a Boston Tea Party participant, and Nicholas Gilman, a signer of the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. Presidents with family connections to John Hancock include, but are not limited to, Abraham Lincoln, Calvin Coolidge, Gerald Ford, Rutherford B. Hayes, and both Presidents Bush. Celebrity cousins include movie actor Matt Damon, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Sally Field. Other notable kin are astronaut Alan Shepard, poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, artist Norman Rockwell, and aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Family Facts

Richard Charlton

Richard Charlton, who died in 1522, is the 7th great-grandfather of John Hancock. He lived at Apley in the town of Wellington in Shropshire, England. Richard Charlton is one of those ancestors that can cause trouble for genealogists. In the case of Richard Charlton, it is the fact that he has two daughters named Anne. First, there is daughter Anne who married Randall Grosvenor. She is the 6th great-grandmother of John Hancock. Second, there is daughter Anne who married Francis Yonge. Douglas Richardson in his Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families (2013, Vol. V, p. 480) gives the following source as the evidence for the two daughters named Anne: Currier-Briggs, English Wills of Col. Fams. (1972), pp. 3-8.


Some of the most recently added connections of famous kin for John Hancock

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Taylor Lautner

TV and Movie Actor

4th cousin 8 times removed
via Anthony Eames

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Nat Faxon

Actor, Comedian, Director and Screenwriter

4th cousin 8 times removed
via Anthony Eames

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William Henry Moore

Co-Founder, U.S. Steel and Nabisco

16th cousin 4 times removed
via Sir William de Ros

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William Henry Moore

Co-Founder, U.S. Steel and Nabisco

18th cousin 3 times removed
via Sir William Longespee

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Styles Bridges

63rd Governor of New Hampshire

4th cousin 5 times removed
via Anthony Eames

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Jennifer Coolidge

TV and Movie Actress

15th cousin 6 times removed
via Sir Roger de Somery

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Seth Low

Mayor of New York City
President of Columbia University

16th cousin 4 times removed
via Sir William de Ros

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Seth Low

Mayor of New York City
President of Columbia University

15th cousin 3 times removed
via Sir Alan la Zouche

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Seth Low

Mayor of New York City
President of Columbia University

15th cousin 5 times removed
via Sir Roger de Somery

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William Woodbridge

2nd Governor of Michigan

16th cousin 2 times removed
via Sir William de Ros

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William Woodbridge

2nd Governor of Michigan

15th cousin 1 time removed
via Sir Alan la Zouche

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William Woodbridge

2nd Governor of Michigan

15th cousin 3 times removed
via Sir Roger de Somery

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Roger Nash Baldwin

Co-Founder of the ACLU

3rd cousin 3 times removed
via John Jacob

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Roger Nash Baldwin

Co-Founder of the ACLU

3rd cousin 4 times removed
via Thomas Gill

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Roger Nash Baldwin

Co-Founder of the ACLU

3rd cousin 5 times removed
via Thomas Lincoln

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Sam Waterston

Stage, TV and Movie Actor

4th cousin 6 times removed
via Anthony Eames

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Maj. Gen. Francis C. Barlow

Union Army - U.S. Civil War

4th cousin 3 times removed
via Anthony Eames

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Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard

Medal of Honor Recipient
U. S. Civil War

4th cousin 2 times removed
via Nicholas Jacob

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Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard

Medal of Honor Recipient
U. S. Civil War

4th cousin 2 times removed
via Anthony Eames

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Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard

Medal of Honor Recipient
U. S. Civil War

4th cousin 2 times removed
via John Otis

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George Winston

New Age Pianist

4th cousin 6 times removed
via John Otis

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George Winston

New Age Pianist

2nd cousin 7 times removed
via James Hawke

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Ben Jealous

President and CEO of NAACP

5th cousin 7 times removed
via Edward Gilman

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Ben Jealous

President and CEO of NAACP

4th cousin 7 times removed
via Anthony Eames

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Susan Dey

TV and Movie Actress

15th cousin 6 times removed
via Sir Alan la Zouche

View entire list of famous kin for John Hancock

Please note: The ancestor reports on this website have been compiled from thousands of different sources, many over 100 years old. These sources are attached to each ancestor so that you can personally judge their reliability. As with any good genealogical research, if you discover a link to your own family tree, consider it a starting point for further research. It is always preferable to locate primary records where possible. FamousKin.com cannot and does not guarantee the accuracy and reliability of these sources.