Transcribed from Goodspeed’s History of  Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present; Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketches of from Twenty-Five to Thirty Counties of East Tennessee, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Original Observations, Reminiscences, etc., etc. (Chicago and Nashville:  The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1887), pp. 962-987.  See footnote below for on-line access.

James S. HANCOCK, deceased, proprietor of the J. S. HANCOCK Planing Mill, Cleveland, Tenn., was born in 1845 near Bucktown, Polk County. He was a son of Capt. William HANCOCK, who was a farmer of Polk County. The subject of this sketch was for a short time engaged in the provision business, in which he did not succeed, and quit with $30 in his favor. He then turned his attention to mechanical pursuits, for which he had a natural inclination. He at first worked, for 40 cents per day, and boarded himself, but soon received better wages, and in course of time was able to open a shop for himself. In the beginning the machine was run by a man at a crank, afterward by horse power, and finally he had a full line of machinery run by steam. In 1867 he married Miss Fannie CHILDRESS, a native of Georgia, and graduate of the Masonic Institute at Cleveland. Four sons and two daughters were born to this union. Mr. HANCOCK died in 1886, leaving a valuable estate. Since his death, Mrs. HANCOCK has been at the head of the business, doing the corresponding, and attending to other important matters. She is assisted by her children, and has succeeded in a highly creditable manner.

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This biography was transcribed by Sherry Pollard. We thank her for transcribing all the Goodspeed’s biographical sketches.

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