Benjamin Franklin Hancock

Teacher. Lawyer. He was the son of Richard and Anne Maria Hancock. After being excluded by the Religious Society of Friends for marrying a non-Quaker woman, he left Philadelphia, and went to Norristown where he taught in the public schools. Later he studied law. Benjamin F. Hancock, Esq. was admitted to the bar on August 19, 1828. He was a manager of the Schuylkill Bridge at the foot of DeKalb Street. He also held positions in the Norristown Gas Company and the Norristown Insurance and Water Company. Later in life he was the Collector of Internal Revenue for the Sixth District. He wrote The Law without the Advice of an Attorney (1831). He was the husband of Sarah Hoxworth. He and Sarah were the parents of twin sons, Hilery B. Hancock and Civil War Major General Winfield Scott Hancock. They were also the parents of a third son, John who served as a colonel under his brother Winfield.