Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-23

tny, inc daughter OF JOSIAH quincy,
| also q rich Boston merchant. August
20. ITS. four months after the excit-
| ing scene at Lexington. They had
one son, John George Washington
Hancock. born three years after the
skating. in 1887. when he was about
| nine years old John Hancock died in
1898. when he was fifty-six years old,
and is buried in the old Creamery Gene
terry in Boston. adjoining the Common,
beside Samuel Adams. his companion
in flight from Lexington, and Paul Re-
we're. who brought them warning. The
old Creamery burial ground also con-
tains the graves Of several Of the early
governors OF Massachusetts,. the par
ents Of BENJAMIN Franklin and many
other famous people.
The love story Of John Hancock and
Dorothy O." as she is Familiarity
known. began in Quincy in
Youthful their childhood and con-
r.~,.r, tinued without interrupt
ton. AS her father was
| a widower, John Hancock's aunt ex-
ercised loving guardianship over her
| nephew's betrothed. The ladies saw
the fight on Lexington green from the
windows Of the parsonage. and when
the British troops had resumed their
march to Concord, were hastily driven
| by back roads to Woburn village, from
| there to Worcester and thence to Fair
feid, Conn.,, where they remained in
safety while Hancock went on to
philadelphia. Their refuge in Fair
field was the mansion OF Thaddeus
Burr. uncle of Aaron Burr, then
twenty-nine years old and already a
roue. "A handsome young man of
very pretty fortune" is the way Doro-
| thy speaks Of him. In the diary Of
her friend, Dorothy Dudley. ha is re-
ferred to In these terms:
| There is young man In camp
whom l have noticed again and again
as he passes the house. He is striking
| in appearance. though quite small and
boyish. His eyes are piercing and
| there Is something winning in his
SON Of Rev. Aaron Burr. president of
Princeton College, and grandson of the
Rev. Jonathan Edwards"
| For four months Aaron Burr besiesed
desperate Irritation. Notwithstanding her
engagement to the serious minded and
already famous president Of the Cont
mental Congress. 1t filled the atmo-
M pns9e OF the colony with .t scandal and
| elopement. John Hancock knew all
| about it, and suffered from the neglect
and indifference Of bis sweetheart. The
goss,ps OF Philadelphia were kept in
| ~ did not shield him. Under date Of
June 10. 1775. he writes:
My Dear Dolly: I am almost prevailed
on to think that my letters to my aunt
and you are not read. for I cannot OBJ
| tain a reply. I have asked a million
questions and not an answer to one.
begged you to let me know what things
my aunt wanted and you, but not one
word in answer I really take it ex-
much ceremony and reservedness, why
can't you use freedom in writing, be not
AFRAID of me. I want long letters !"
and beg. my dear Dolly. you will write
| the past If you will mend in future Do
ask my aunt to make up and send me a
watch string, and do you make UP
another and send me. I wear them out
doing. Adieu. my dear girl"
he concludes, land believe me to be, with
great esteem and affection. yours with
out reserve. John Hancock"
~
Dorothy Dudley Of Cambridge, Dorothy
Quincys most intimate friend, wrote to
Esther Livingstone Of
Aaron Burr's Philadelphia some few
rn:-A: months after the mar
HAltatioA' riage a tale Of charming
gossip about this filtration.
80 you have seen Mrs. Hancock? Is
she not charming! You cannot wonder
at Madame Lydia Hancocks fondness
ure for her nephew. You have heard
how carefully she guarded her against
the approach Of any invader upon Mr..
John Hancock's rights. visited Lex
ington the other day and trod the ground
| SO lately wet with the blood OF our noble
minutemen; went into Mr.. Clarke's
house, where King Hancock and Cit
zen Adams were lodged that memorable
| night before the battle. and walked
under the tree which am told sheltered
them during part of that time Of terror
I saw the bullet in the wall Of the attic
chamber where the family hid at the
time, and where Madame Hancock very
narrowly escaped death, a ball grazing
Mr.. Hancock. who had his coach and
| four at hand, left the town, accompan-
led by his Aunt Lydia and Miss Dorothy
Quincy. and rode to one Of the neighbor-
stage to Fairfield, Conn.
g" Aaron Burr Is a young man OF
fascinating manners and many accom-
| plishments. He was much charmed with
| insensible to his attentions; but Madame
Hancock kept q jealous eye upon them
both. and would not allow any advances
upon the part of the young man toward
the knot was tied that made them one,
she felt at liberty to breathe Imme-
| diately after the wedding they set out for
Philadelphia, which has been their home
ever since"
The record OF this notable event in the
clerks book at the Fairfield church is
as follows: THE Hon. John Hancock.
| esqr., and Miss Dorothy Quincy, both
of Boston. were married at Fairfield
August %, 1775.'
Dorothy O." as Mrs. Hancock, was
great success in Philadelphia and
reigned with grace and
Social dignity over the splendid
Dill. establishment Of the
o0AN' President Of the CONT
mental Congress. Washington, Lafayette
and all the soldiers and statesmen Of the
revolution were her adorers, and the Of
icers Of the French fleet were at her
feet. When they returned to Boston she
became equally famous for her hospital
ity and her loneliness. During the Brit
ish occupation the mansion Of king
Hancock was almost torn to pieces by
the soldiers, but when the patriots re-
covered the city 1t was fully restored
and was the center Of social events for
eighteen years. until the death OF John
Hancock In 1893.
for three years; then married James
Scott, a sea captain, who had given his
life to the service of the Hancock fam
lily, and spent the rest of her days in
happiness and contentment. AS Nine.
Scott she delighted the colony by her
brilliant conversation. her queenly man
ners and her beauty that refused to fade