John Hancock
He was asked to be the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. His signature was the biggest and now because of that his name has become a synonym for the word signature.
He was born Jan. 23, 1737 in what was Braintree Mass. and is now know as Quincy. He died Oct. 8, 1793. He went to Harvard and was trained for business in Londen, England. He was brought up by his uncle Thomas Hancock, a wealthy merchant, who adopted him on his father's death.
After graduating from Harvard in 1754, he joined his uncle's firm, and ten years later he took over its management, becoming the wealthiest merchant in New England. In 1766 he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature. He joined the protest against the Stamp Act and other British regulatory measures. Hancock won the esteem of Massachusetts patriots when the British customs collectors in Boston launched what amounted to a vendetta against him. The commissioners sought to trap him into a technical disobedience of the port provisions of the Sugar Act of 1764, but Hancock stood his ground, and the charges were dropped.
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