John Hancock Authorizes (and Receives) His Own Pay as Governor of Massachusetts, in a Rare Document Signed Twice

The pay period was during the first year of the United States government that he did so much to help establish, and covers the time during which George Washington made his first tour of the eastern states as President, and was personally received by Hancock

Hancock had been a thorn in the side of the British since the 1760s after the Stamp Act, and as one of Boston's most affluent merchants and least loyal to the crown, he gave tacit support to the Boston Tea Party. In 1775 he was named as a Massachusetts delegate to the Second Continental Congress. Then the illness of Peyton Randolph, which caused the office of President of Congress to be unexpectedly vacant, thrust Hancock into history. On May 24, 1775, he was unanimously elected to succeed Randolph as President. Hancock was a good choice for several reasons: he was experienced, having often presided over legislative bodies and town meetings in Massachusetts; his wealth and high social standing inspired the confidence of monied interests and conservative delegates, while his strong association with Boston radicals made him acceptable to that camp. When in this position, he advocated and voted for the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and became the first man to sign it when the signatures were affixed on August 2.  In late 1777 he retired from the presidency, and as a Congressman from Massachusetts he signed the Articles of Confederation. The new Massachusetts Constitution went into effect in October 1780, and Hancock was elected that state’s first governor, winning in a landslide with over 90% of the vote. He served a number of terms as governor, in an era when gubernatorial elections were held annually.

In January 1788, when the proposed U.S. Constitution was presented to the states for ratification, Hancock was elected president of the Massachusetts ratifying convention. The Constitution did not yet contain a Bill of Rights, and this led many to oppose it at the time. As the Massachusetts convention was drawing to a close, the result in doubt, Hancock gave a speech in favor of ratification. The convention narrowly ratified the Constitution by a vote of 187 to 168, making Hancock's support probably the deciding factor in the ratification. Without Massachusetts it, is questionable whether the U.S. Constitution would have ever achieved ratification by enough states to be put into effect.

On March 4, 1789, the First U.S. Congress under the U.S. Constitution met in New York. It achieved a quorum on April 1, and on April 30 George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States.

On April 6, 1789, John Hancock was reelected Governor. He had been dissatisfied with the performance of Lieut. Governor Benjamin Lincoln, so he advocated to run for that post his old friend and mentor, Samuel Adams. The relationship between Hancock and Adams went back for a quarter century, and was marked by friendship, respect and trust. Until he came into his own as President of the Continental Congress, many people considered Hancock to be the protégé of Adams. So although by this time the men had some policy differences, they were not on material issues, and with Hancock’s support Adams was elected.

In June 1789 Hancock sent a message to the General Court (the Massachusetts state legislature) approving of the new U.S. government. He asked the state to support the Union, while taking measures at home to support education and raise funds by taxation. In October, President Washington made a grand tour of the eastern states and stopped in Massachusetts. His reception, wrote a historian, was “such as had never before been given to any individual”. There were processions and receptions, and “the people were universally animated with all those sentiments of gratitude and veneration for their distinguished benefactor, which a sense of his imminent virtues and services was calculated to inspire; and manifested their feelings by every suitable demonstration of joy and exultation”.  Hancock, too ill to attend the reception for Washington that he himself had helped plan, received Washington privately.

Pay order signed twice, Boston, September 17, 1790, commencing “Commonwealth of Massachusetts, By his Excellency the Governour”, and continuing “You are by and with the Advice and Consent of Council, ordered and directed to pay unto his Excellency John Hancock Esq., Governor of the Commonwealth, the sum of Two Hundred Pounds in full for one quarter’s salary commencing 26th of August last & ending the 26th of November next [following], agreeable to an act of the General Court, for which this shall be your sufficient Warrant.” This is signed by Hancock as Governor, and also by the Commonwealth Secretary John Avery and Treasurer Alexander Hodgdon. On the verso, the document is docketed as “Entered blotter No. 13”, and this is also signed by Hancock. This is the first double signed document of Hancock we have had, and also our first signed order for his own pay in serving his state and nation.