Encyclopedia Dubuque
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HANCOCK, Charles Thomas
Family History: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=youngdescendents&id=I78111
HANCOCK, Charles Thomas. (Dubuque, IA, Mar. 16, 1860-Dubuque, IA, Dec. 29,1913). The third son of John T. HANCOCK, Charles succeeded his father as head of the profitable wholesale grocery house of JOHN T. HANCOCK & SONS. In 1888 he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Iowa Jobbers and Manufacturers' Association. (1) A business leader in the community, Hancock was also active socially as a member of the board of trustees of ST. LUKE'S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. He served on the building committee that was responsible for the present church structure.
Hancock succeeded his father on the board of the LINWOOD CEMETERY Association and was instrumental in establishing the plantings of trees and annual flowers in the center of Grandview Avenue. He was elected chairperson of the Iowa Republican Central Committee in 1898.
By 1899 Hancock was recognized as a leader in Iowa of those who raise and raced horses. He was elected president of the Western Circuit and was also associated with the Great Western Trotting Circuit. He was in the business of breeding light harness horses at his HIGHLAND STOCK FARM and managed the local track. In 1899 an article in the Dubuque Herald noted Hancock was shipping sixty head of horses to New York for sale. The paper described some as having pedigrees "longer than the 'moral law.' Prices were 75% higher than the previous year for fine horses used in breeding. (2) In association with Bruce BALDWIN, Hancock was in charge of publicity for the futurity race held in Dubuque in 1899. In 1912 he held the same position for the race that was canceled due to bad weather.
In 1899 Hancock claimed that preparing for his sale of horses had forced him reduce his campaign efforts for the Iowa senate. (3) He had been expected to win until the Des Moines Trades and Labor Assembly issued an address "To the Laboring People of Dubuque" urging Hancock's defeat. The Assembly charged that Hancock was the candidate of those who wished to "discredit and debauch labor." Hancock's loss was seen as a boost to the political ambitions of Albert Baird Cummins who was seeking the nomination for United States Senator. Hancock, as a Republican, was not seen as committed to the Cummins campaign. (4)
Hancock is remembered today for his home located at 1105 Grove Terrace. In 1887 the positioning of home led Hancock to join others in seeking an injunction against the ELEVENTH STREET ELEVATOR. Hancock and others living in the area claimed that the elevator construction had obstructed the street with its pilings and trestle work. Those seeking the injunction also claimed that passengers on the elevator could look in their windows while the view from their windows was obstructed. (5) Constructed in QUEEN ANNE ARCHITECTURE, the HANCOCK HOUSE-1105 GROVE TERRACE became one of the city's most popular bed-and-breakfast locations.
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Source:
1. "Personal," The Herald, August 7, 1888, p. 4. Online: http://p8080-10.30.40.140.ezproxy.dubuque.lib.ia.us/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=76d75574-3467-4ecf-9df4-c2b7da149f1e/ResCarta/00000005/00000239
2. "Hancock to Ship Horses," Dubuque Herald, November 28, 1899, p. 8
3. Ibid.
4. "Did Cummins Beat Hancock?" The Herald November 14, 1899, p. 4 Online: http://p8080-10.30.40.140.ezproxy.dubuque.lib.ia.us/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=76d75574-3467-4ecf-9df4-c2b7da149f1e/ResCarta/00000002/00001426
5. "Eleventh Street Elevator," The Herald, November 11, 1887, p. 4. Online: http://p8080-10.30.40.140.ezproxy.dubuque.lib.ia.us/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=76d75574-3467-4ecf-9df4-c2b7da149f1e/ResCarta/00000006/00002230