Hancock was born in
Springfield, Massachusetts to Thomas Hancock III and Amy Ward. In 1830, while living in
Ohio, Hancock heard Latter Day Saint
missionaries Parley P. Pratt,
Sidney Rigdon, and
Oliver Cowdery preaching in
Mayfield. Convinced by their words, Hancock was baptized in the
Latter Day Saint church on November 16, 1830. He married Clarissa Reed on March 20, 1831. Hancock wrote the words of the twelve verse-song sung at the placing of the
Far West Temple cornerstones in 1838. Hancock followed the Latter Day Saints as they moved to Missouri, and then to
Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1844 Hancock became a member of the
Council of Fifty, and in 1846 joined the
Mormon Battalion. In
Utah Territory, he became a member of the
Utah Territorial Legislature. He served a full-time mission for the Church attempting to grow cotton in southern
Utah. Hancock helped settle
Manti, Utah;
Payson, Utah;
Harrisburg, Utah;
Leeds, Utah; and
Washington, Utah. He was ordained a church
patriarch in 1872. He died in Washington, Utah on June 10, 1882, at the age of 79. Like many early Latter Day Saints, Hancock practiced
plural marriage. Hancock was married to five wives, three of whom eventually divorced him; he was the father of 18 children. ==See also==