Warren Hancock: When the Trail Doesn’t Lead Further

Interpretive illustration of Hancock family life in the 1840s

A Quiet Chapter in the Hancock Family Story

There is a certain hope in family history research that every line will lead somewhere… a new generation, a new place, a new discovery. But not every line does.

Uriah Hancock and his wife, believed to be Lucy Leach, had a family in the early 1800s. Most of their children were likely born in New York before the family moved west into Ohio, where both were deceased by 1840. Of their children, three can be identified with confidence: 

• Warren Hancock, 
• Van Rensselaer Hancock, and 
• Derusia Hancock (spelling is uncertain.)

Each began in the same place, but their stories did not all continue in the same way.

Van Rensselaer Hancock, the line that leads to me, married Lucinda Parrish in Hancock County, Ohio, and they had three children: Jeremiah, Eliza, and Delilah. He later moved west into White County, Indiana, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying before 1877, with Lucinda following by 1882. 

Derusia Hancock married Jeremiah Wolford in Hancock County, Ohio. No children have been identified from this marriage based on current records, and further research is planned.

Warren Hancock appears in the records at the same time and place as his brother. In 1828, he and Van Rensselaer purchased land in Hancock County, Ohio through the Tiffin Land Office, and in 1829 Warren married Melinda Bates. By 1830, he was living in Delaware Township with his wife, and in 1834 Warren and Melinda sold land to Van Rensselaer, showing a continued connection between the brothers. 

After that, Warren moved on. By 1835, he had acquired land elsewhere in Ohio, and by 1840 he was living in Missouri. In Henry County, he continued purchasing land and building his life. He and Melinda had three sons: Joseph, Van Rensselaer, and George W. Hancock. The name Van Rensselaer carried into the next generation. Warren’s son Van Rensselaer Hancock died during the Civil War in 1863 while serving in the Second Kansas Battery.

Warren Hancock died before May 1848 in Henry County, Missouri, leaving no will. His estate was handled through the court, where his children were named as heirs, and his youngest son George was still a minor at the time. His land was divided, his older sons had already sold their interest, and only George retained a portion. George W. Hancock can be followed forward, eventually dying in Michigan in 1921, his death record confirming his parents as Warren Hancock and Melinda Bates. Warren’s line has not revealed anything new about his ancestors, yet he still matters

Warren Hancock’s life is still part of the story--part of my story. He was there at the beginning of settlement in Hancock County, Ohio. He moved west as so many did, and he owned land, raised a family, and built a life that can still be traced in the records. Even if his line does not lead further back, it anchors part of the journey, and without that part, the rest of the story is incomplete.

Sources

• Hancock County, Ohio, Deed Records, Warren Hancock and Melinda Hancock to Van R. Hancock, 16 Sept 1834; recorded 17 Nov 1834.
• U.S. General Land Office Records, Warren Hancock land patents, Hancock Co., OH (1829); Williams Co., OH (1835); Henry Co., MO (1843, 1845).
• U.S. General Land Office Records, Warren Hancock and Van Rensselaer Hancock land entry, Tiffin Land Office, Ohio, 10 June 1828.
• 1830 U.S. Census, Hancock County, Ohio, Delaware Township, Warren Hancock household.
• 1840 U.S. Census, Rives County, Missouri, Springfield Township, W. Hancock household.
• Henry County, Missouri, Probate Records, Estate of Warren Hancock, letters of administration dated 13 May 1848.
• Saturday Morning Visitor (Warsaw, Missouri), 17 June 1848, administrator’s notice for estate of Warren Hancock.
• Henry County, Missouri, Circuit Court Records, partition of estate of Warren Hancock, naming heirs Joseph, Van Rensselaer, and George W. Hancock.
• Michigan Death Certificate, George W. Hancock, 12 Oct 1921, Allegan County, Michigan.
• History of Hancock County, Ohio, pioneer accounts referencing Warren and Van R. Hancock (various editions, late 19th–early 20th century).
• Andreas, A.T., History of the State of Kansas (1883), entry for Second Kansas Volunteer Battery, listing Van Rensselaer Hancock.