John Hancock Sr.

Col. John Hancock Sr. (March 1, 1671—December 6, 1752) was a colonial American clergyman, soldier, planter, politician, and paternal grandfather of American politician John Hancock III.

Hancock taught the Grammar School at Cambridge, Massachusetts starting in 1691. He was invited to preach at Lexington, Massachusetts in 1697. He graduated from Harvard College in 1689 and was ordained that year. He served as minister at Lexington, Massachusetts from 1689 to 1732. His son Thomas Hancock (1703–1774) was a merchant in Boston who built the Hancock-Clarke House for his father. His son, Col. John Hancock Jr. (1702–1744), was also a minister and was father of the politician.

He is buried at the Old Burying Ground in Lexington, Massachusetts.